Chapter 22 Part 1

ASSAULT

"By all that's holy tell you're kidding," Rathe gasped. The very thought of walking up to the gate and knocking was insane at best.

"I am not kidding, but perhaps I had better explain further," Gage replied.

"Oh, do tell," Coran urged. "Tell me, brother dear, how you plan to do that."

"Our friend who keeps visiting us every two hours is going to provide us an escort."
In the dim light of the Citadel, Dylan could see his master grinning, and then a smirk appeared on his brother's own face. "That's dangerous, and father would not approve."

"Father is not here, and Uncle Armegon would love it."

"What are you two talking about," demanded an agitated Crystal.

"He wants us to sneak in under the guise of slaves," Coran told her. "Remember the story father used to tell us about the straw golem and the tin golem and the lion who could talk? Remember how they got into that castle? Well it's similar," Coran explained.

"And how are we going to get the devil to cooperate?" Crystal asked skeptically.

"I am going to dominate him," Gage answered.

"Whoa, fellow," Crystal was very upset. "That's not a walk in the park and you know what happens if you fail?"

"I know all too well, but he is a minor devil and I will have the advantage. So I do not think I will fail."

Crystal went silent, but Dylan could stand it no longer. They had been talking around something and he wanted to know. "Master, what are you going to do?"

Gage sat his charge down and knelt in front of him. "I am going to try to subdue the devil who is on lookout. It is a form of mental combat. If I win, then the devil must do what I say until I release him. It is the law that they live by."

"But if he looses, then he'll wind up like those slaves out there," Crystal cut in, "and so will we."

There was a hint of irritation in Gage's voice. "Do you have a better idea?" he asked. I do not know how long Cindy will be safe in there. I think we need to take some risks."

Crystal was clearly unhappy, but she bit her lip and turned away. "We are going to have a long talk about this later," she said over her shoulder.

Dylan had never heard Crystal so angry and he had never seen his master so hurt by her words.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked Gage.

"No," his master told him. "But if something happens, if something goes wrong stay with Coran. He will protect you." It dawned on Dylan just how dangerous the plan his master was proposing was going to be.

Give me a moment to get ready, he told Coran as he removed his cloak and robe. He wore a pair of shorts and ankle high boots. Then he took some dirt and rubbed it on his skin, making him look as if he had been dressed like that for some time. He mussed his hair and spat on his hands and rubbed them against the rocks to get them dirty.

"Okay here is what will happen," he said. "I will go and lay out in the open where the devil will see me. He will think that I am a slave trying to escape. He will try to dominate me and when he does, I will turn it against him. He will think I have a broken will and no strength, so when I hit him with my will, he should not be expecting it. The battle should be quick."

"'Should', being the operative word," Crystal muttered, but after a pleading glance from Gage, she went quiet.

"I'll be nearby watching," Coran interrupted. "If it looks like it's going badly, I can kill the devil, or at the very least distract it until Gage can disengage."

Gage took Crystal's hand in his own for a few moments, neither saying a word, but a whole conversation passed in just that touch. Then Gage left the hidden pavilion with Coran close behind him.

That was the worst part. The wait was nearly unbearable. They knew from earlier observation that the sentry could take as much as two hours to arrive, so there was no telling how long they would have to wait before they could find out if Gage and Coran had been successful.

A thousand notions passed through Dylan's mind. He thought of all the many things that could go wrong. It occurred to him that Gage was the only one who could perform the necessary spell to get them out of Nessus, and only Gage or Coran could summon one of the archmages. If they both were killed, they would be stranded in the lowest plane of the Nine Hells. Their food and water was already more than half gone. At what point would starvation force them to surrender or die?

That thought led to a curious question, and partly out of desperation to occupy his mind, Dylan posed a question. "The whole time we have been here, I haven't seen any sign of farming or anything. How do the devils feed themselves?"

Crystal looked up from where she had been rummaging through a pack. "Devils are not alive in the sense that we think of life," she told him. "They are a different form of life. They do not eat food. They feed off emotions of sorrow and fear and other negative feelings. That is why they are always trying to get the souls of those whose lives are full of darkness down here."

"That is why evil people come here when they die?"

"Essentially. A soul burdened by evil naturally gravitates to these lower planes. The devils reside here for that reason."

Dylan nodded and tried to pass the time by thinking about what she had told him and focused on his studies. Of course she would know, he reminded himself. She was the daughter of a high priest.

Crystal was darning the knee of her spare trousers. It was obvious that the action was being done to take her mind off what was going on. She kept glancing out the front of the pavilion, and twice she had to stop her sewing and rip out the misaligned seams and start over.

Rathe sat with his back to the others. He sat with his battle axe across his lap making long strokes with a sharpening stone. The stone mad a whispering hiss as it passed across the blade.

Dylan kept watch. It was not really necessary as everyone was awake and alert. The day had not been difficult and no one was really tired. Some of them had taken naps while they had watched the Citadel during the day.

Dylan maintained his vigil for at least an hour before he heard a noise. He strained his eyes, but the light coming from the Citadel was not enough for him to see what was happening. The noise did not sound like a fight or struggle, but like small pebbles falling down the side slope from above. He hoped that a large rock did not fall onto their pavilion as the canopy would never hold it up.

A few minutes later, a figure emerged from the dark. As it drew closer, Dylan could make out the figure of Coran. He had a smile on his face and he was soon followed by Gage and the devil that they had seen earlier. Gage pointed to a place outside the pavilion and the devil obediently sat on the ground, it's eyes wide and staring. Those eyes were not mindless, but burned with hatred. Those eyes followed Gage wherever he went.

"That was not as hard as I expected," Gage told them as he sat down. There was a huge welt across his back. "He was totally unprepared for my attack."

"I thought you were going to lose it when he used that whip on you," Coran added.

"It did shock me," Gage admitted, "but it also infuriated me. I think I could have made a fair sorcerer if I had chosen to go that path."

Crystal had abandoned her sewing immediately upon seeing them arrive. She quickly attended to Gage's back with a salve and fussed over his injury quietly.

Rathe stood at the entrance to the pavilion looking down at the devil. "He is under your control?" Rathe asked, fingering his newly sharpened axe.

"Yes," Gage answered. "Every now and then he tries to fight back, but I have sufficient strength to hold him until we are done."

"So now what do we do?" Rathe asked.

"I want to take some time to pump this guy for information," Coran suggested. "We might be able to get something useful."

Gage had finished dressing again. He and Coran went over to where the devil sat. Gage and the creature stared at each other intensely. Sweat broke out on the mage's forehead, then the devil looked down and bowed its head. "He will answer your questions," Gage told his brother. "He will speak the truth, but beware, he may try to leave things out and use only half truths."

Coran nodded then addressed the devil. "What is the cause of lights we have seen in the distance at night?"

The devil, eyes still boring into Gage, turned its head only slightly. It's breath stank of rotted meat and its voice reminded Dylan of grain pouring from a sack. "The three who are one have invaded from the realm of men. My Lord Asmodeus has rallied the armies of Nessus to repel them."

"How does the battle go?" Coran pressed further.

"The three have withdrawn, but still remain in Nessus."

"What does your lord plan to do next?"

"I am not privy to my lord's plans."

"What do the other Dukes of Hell do?"

"I do not know."

"What do you think they will do?"

"I think they will watch for an opportunity to overthrow my lord, or they will watch for an opportunity to save my lord and gain his favor."

"Ask him where Cindy is," Crystal demanded. Her impatience was understandable as Cindy was her responsibility.

Coran nodded and again addressed the devil.

"Do you know who Cindy is?"

"No," it answered.

"Are there mortal hostages in the Citadel?"

"Yes."

"We seek a young mortal woman of about 15 or 16 years in age. She was brought here only recently. Do you know of her?"

"I do not."

"Where do they keep such hostages?"

"In the Tower of Solitude," the devil struggled visibly and Gage, jaw tight reasserted his will on the creature. Dylan felt a tightening behind his eyes.

"If you do that again," Gage informed the devil harshly, "I will crush you like an insect."

"What did he do?" Crystal asked.

"He tried to dominate or possess Dylan to hold as a hostage and gain his own release."
Crystal put an arm around Dylan and pulled him closer to her as if she could protect him.

"You have him under control?" Coran asked.

"Yes," Gage answered. "You may continue."

"How do I get to the Tower of Solitude?" Coran asked.

The devil began to give directions, but it quickly became apparent that without a map or knowledge of the interior of the Citadel, that those directions were useless.

"Can you lead us to the Tower of Solitude?"

"Yes," the devil answered, a bit too quickly for comfort.

"How is the Tower of Solitude defended?"

"There are two guards at the entrance to the tower and one guard on each level."
Coran considered this then asked a final question. "Will any of the guards know where Cindy is?"

"If she is there, they will know," the devil answered.

"Do you know of the Ebony Staff?"

"I know of it."

"Do you know where it is?"

"I have no direct knowledge on that matter."

"Explain that answer." Coran seemed a bit agitated.

"The staff can only be wielded by a mortal hand, and at present that is the hand of Miguel of the House of Blackheart, a slave."

"Where is this Miguel?" Coran asked.

"In the Tower of Solitude with the other prisoners," the devil answered.

Coran left the devil and returned to the pavilion. "I think this will actually work," he told them. "The only problem we will have is in monitoring what the thing says to other devils. They don't use common tongue with each other."

"I can tell," Gage answered. "It will require a spell and the spell only lasts for about two hours, but I will be able to understand what it is saying."

"So we get it to lead us into the Citadel as slaves, then to the Tower of Solitude. Once we get in there, we can attack and dominate one of the other devils and learn where Cindy is, get her and then get out of here and back home," Coran added.

"Can you dominate another devil and keep this one under control at the same time?" Rathe asked Gage.

"I do not know," Gage admitted. "If I did not have to do anything else, I believe I could, but if something comes up and I need to concentrate on a spell or something, I think they would both try to break free of my control and I would not be able to stop them."

"We can't risk that," Crystal insisted. "We can't just let this one go when we're done with him. He'll either attack us or alert the others."

Rathe had the answer. With his back to the devil, he drew a single finger across his throat. "Problem solved," the huge Minotaan said.

"We'll have to leave a lot of our stuff behind," Coran decided. "We can drag some of it lashed to our backs like pack mules, but we can't wear anything other than what the slaves are wearing."

"Once we get inside, our devil will escort us to the tower as if we were new prisoners. Once we are in the tower and in control of another devil, there will be no need to try to hide our true identity." Gage added.

"Then let's get ready," Crystal urged. "Cindy's suffered long enough." She began disrobing. Dylan turned his back and also began to strip down to his loincloth. He felt very conspicuous.

Coran took down the pavilion and cut the tarp into rough squares and made ponchos for each of them. They tied the ponchos with rope and used the rest of the tarp and rope to make baggage packs. Then they strapped the packs onto each other. Rathe carried the bulk of the load including armor and weapons. The food and water and spare clothing they abandoned. With any luck they would no longer need those things. They did make use of the water, however to make mud which they applied liberally to hide the good condition of their foot wrappings and the boots underneath also to hide the good condition of their exposed flesh and hair.

Gage was speaking to the devil. Dylan only heard some of what was being said, but it was enough that he could tell that Gage was instructing the devil in detail what was expected of it, and what it was to do.

"You will not seek to escape, you will not attempt to warn the other or reveal my control over you. I can speak your tongue and will know if you do," the mage warned his servant. "You will act as a slave driver and we will act as the slaves. Once we are inside, you will lead us to the Tower of Solitude under the guise that we are delivering supplies and that we are prisoners to be locked away."

Dylan was unable to hear any more because the devil and Gage began to converse in a series of hisses, snarls and grunts, that Dylan assumed to be the devil's language.
When they were ready, the last of the rope was used to tie them together in the form of a pack train of slaves. The devil had his whip and cracked it in the air as Gage instructed.
They walked boldly across the packed ground to the end of the causeway. Then they followed the causeway through the marsh toward the outer gate of the Citadel of Despair.

The ploy worked surprisingly well. Apparently the devils did not even remotely expect such a guise and when the doors to the Citadel opened, there were only a few words and mutterings exchanged between the devils manning the gate and the one they had enslaved. The devils that handled such menial labor and duties were of the lowest caste.

Dylan saw many more of different types of devils as they went deeper into the dark corridors of the Citadel. Occasionally they would pass a higher ranking devil and he would force them to pause as he passed. On occasion a ranking devil would inspect Crystal with lusty eyes, but eventually would move on.

The interior of the Citadel was like a tunnel of sorrow and sadness. The halls were like a tomb or ancient crypt. The smell of brimstone was everywhere and it made Dylan's eyes sting. They had been walking for an hour and even Rathe was showing signs of tiring from the burden of the heavy pack.

They had passed numerous passages all marked in a sharp and angular lettering when finally the devil driving them indicated one passage in particular. They turned down that path and passed into a large open courtyard. The place was littered with bones and several huge devils, monsters from the darkest of dreams were feeding on some poor creature and barely even noticed them pass, which was fortunate, because the sheer presence of the horrors made Dylan's knees go weak.

It was another half hour when finally they turned down a smaller corridor that ended at a set of doors that were closed. Two devils that resembled more of what Dylan pictured devils to appear as stood there. They had the lower legs of goats and horns on bald heads with a flesh tone not too unlike Rathe. They also possessed tails and carried spears.

The devil driving them spoke harshly and the two guards looked at each other for half a moment before one shrugged and opened the door to let them inside. The door closed behind them as they filed into the building and faced another devil seated at a desk. The devil at the desk looked over them critically and stood. He appeared more human. His eyes were red and he sported a head of slicked back black hair and a goatee. There were horns on his head also, and when he opened his mouth, his breath smelled of sour milk and his teeth were jagged.

Their slave told the story of how they were servants delivering supplies and were to be locked away as prisoners. This brought a frown to the face of the higher ranking devil. He was more suspicious of things out of the ordinary and their plan was in jeopardy.

Suddenly there was a shuffle behind them and Dylan felt a hard tug on the rope knocking him off balance and sending him to the floor. From his place on the floor, Dylan saw Rathe reach out with a huge hand and grab the devil by the head. He twisted sharply and there was an audible snapping sound, then Rathe lifted the devil off the ground and slammed him violently against one wall.

"Sorry," the Minotaan offered as they all untied themselves. "He wasn't buying into our ploy."

"You did just fine," Gage answered. Now if you can take care of our other problem, we can move forward with finding Cindy and that staff.

Dylan turned his head. He did not want to witness what happened next. Just as he was averting his gaze, he saw the eyes of the devil that they had enslaved. It knew it was about to die, but could not break free of Gage's domination. What a terrible way to die.

Rathe was much more quiet the second time, and soon they were dressed again and armed. "We go up the stairs and find someone who can lead us to Cindy and the staff," Gage ordered.

Coran and Rathe took the lead. They moved as quietly as possible. Rathe had elected not to carry his metal armor and instead wore only leather. Coran's armor, though still mostly metal was sewn to a leather base garment so the metal plates did not normally touch.
Gage had one hand in his spell bag and Crystal and Dylan brought up the rear, Crystal keeping a constant eye behind them for signs of pursuit.

The stairs to the first landing were not long and they soon against a wall near a corner. Around the corner, they could hear sounds of movement and some quiet speech. They waited a few moments, but to wait too long invited the risk of discovery. "Remember," Gage told them, "we need one alive. The rest need to be dispatched as quickly as possible."

Rathe nodded then took a deep breath and with battle axe in one hand, he turned and ran around the corner with Coran right behind him. Gage also rushed forth and then Dylan and Crystal followed.

By the time Dylan and Crystal rounded the corner, the battle was over. One devil, one of the minor caste devils, had been cloven in two by the battle axe and another devil, one like the one they had encountered at the bottom of the stairs stood against a wall with Coran's sword point at its throat.

Gage stood before the devil. "You know what I am," he said in common speech. The devil's eyes narrowed as he nodded. "Good, do not make this any harder than it is. Do as you are told and you will be set free. Try deception or disobey and you will end up like all the others who have opposed us. Is that clear?"

"It is," the devil answered.

"Good. We seek two things. First we seek a mortal girl of age fifteen or sixteen. She was brought in a few days ago."

"I know of whom you speak. She is in this tower, three doors down. She is unharmed and unspoiled."

Crystal and Dylan both ran down the hallway counting doors. Dylan's heart was pounding violently as he came to the door and yanked it open.