“I guess the best we can do now is try to rebuild and hope they will succeed,” Galen ended the matter before pointing toward the next one. “You should get going. The sooner you talk to Atraune’s guild master, the sooner you can bring back some news.”
“You’re right,” Quentin agreed back up from the sofa. “Hopefully, the old man will be there this time.”
“I’m not sure if I’ll be able to drop by after meeting with Felix, but if nothing else, Valerie and Quentin will come over to share whatever we learned.” The dark elf stated as he too stood up and headed toward the door.
“Thank you,” Zola hummed. “We’ll be waiting for you then.”
Once they left the manor, Quentin couldn’t help but share his thoughts with his companion.
“Do you think they will really leave if things go south?”
“You heard what Galen said. Zola’s duty lies to her people and not to the land itself. If the church fails and the demons go on a rampage, then leaving the kingdom is likely their only chance.”
“Menelrond won’t be safe for long either.”
“No, it won’t. All right, enough with this depressing shit. Let’s see if old Felix has some new information for us.”
The runes of the gateway lit up, sending the two to Atraune, its light dissipating as they found themselves in the familiar reception hall.
“Sir Regis,” the young woman from the previous day greeted him as he turned toward the reception desk. “Grandmaster Felix is waiting for you in his study.”
“Thank you.” He replied curtly before they headed upstairs.
“Enter.” The familiar aged voice resounded from the other side of the door at the end of the hallway, prompting the dark and the paladin to enter the room.
Inside, they found bishop Emil and Felix sitting by the desk. The outlanders walked closer, giving a slight nod to the elderly men.
“I’m glad to see you two could make it so early,” the bishop remarked. “We’re supposed to leave for another meeting about an hour later.”
“It looks like you two are quite busy lately.” Quentin said as they sat down.
“And for a good reason.” Felix answered.
“I take it the church is busy dealing with the demon incursions that keep popping up around the border areas of Ecragurne.”
“We are indeed forced to split some of our troops from the main forces to deal with the threats, but they’re not enough to completely distract us from the main issue. We have already questioned and freed nine noble houses from the demonic influence with another six being planned for today.” Emil explained while shifting in his seat.
“And the Exiled Court is just taking it without any retaliation?” The paladin looked at the man puzzled.
“Not at all,” Felix shook his head. “They immediately forced his majesty to call upon the church, ordering it to cease its actions of harassing the nobility.”
“Harassing them? I think we’re way past the harassing part,” the dark elf sighed. “I’m pretty sure it’s obvious what the church is trying to do, especially with all the spies the court has everywhere.”
“It is,” the bishop agreed. “Which makes it all the more curious why they didn’t outright attack us or order his majesty to send the royal army against the church.”
“Perhaps they are trying to stall for something or simply doing damage control.” Quentin reasoned.
“That’s highly unlikely,” the dark elf disagreed. “They plan to summon a bloody archdemon and have the king under their thumb. There’s no reason for them to hold back at this point unless they have a good reason for it.”
“And this is where the problem lies,” Felix sighed. “Our people came to the same conclusion yet no one has an answer to the question of why they are keeping things so civil. They could have summoned demons closer to the larger church-owned forts to hinder our efforts, but nothing so far.”
“What about the people in the capital? They must have noticed that something is wrong.” Quentin inquired.
“As of yesterday afternoon, the capital is under lockdown due to the increased threat of the church’s behaviour.”
“The church? Being the threat? The people can’t be so foolish as to believe it.” The paladin argued.
“It’s not a question of foolishness, but rather that they can’t go against the king’s word.” Felix stated.
“Or they might be trying to prevent us from doing anything by holding the civilians as hostages?”
“Could be both,” Regis hummed. “Or they could be trying to convert them into demonic collaborators to bolster their forces.”
“That is indeed a possible reason,” bishop Emil sighed worriedly. “However, many of the people have left the capital after the coronation since his majesty proclaimed that the country was once again safe to travel. The people wanted to seek out their relatives and friends, so there were far too few civilians left for such purposes. Not to mention that they would be only good for living shields since they aren’t trained warriors.”
“Hostages then.” Quentin deduced.
“Playing the guessing game won’t help us,” Regis stated. “The more important question is what will the church do now? Even if we manage to free the nobility from the demonic influence, it’s clear as day that his majesty has been compromised. How are you going to deal with him?”
“That depends on how many of the lords are we able to turn toward our cause,” the bishop answered. “I don’t wish to sound like a warmonger, but our only course of action now is to gather the army of the church and the nobility and march against the capital.”
“And what if they’re not there?” Quentin asked. “You might end up marching in there, only to find an army of demons and no king.”
“When the capital got locked down, they activated a spell only accessible to the royal family. It disabled every gateway throughout the city. To prevent the enemy from entering through the gateways hidden in the capital. This however also trapped them in there.”
“Well isn’t that convenient for them? I take it the city walls are also heavily enchanted and fortified as well. I have to agree with Quentin. This is a trap. They want you to go there and lose a bunch of your forces while trying to take over the capital.”
“I’m sure that’s what they are expecting, but we have spies in the city as well.”
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“Who might have been exposed and turned by the court, feeding you false information.” Quentin argued.
“The servants of the clergy can’t be influenced by demonic powers,” Emil reminded the paladin. “And they have all made up their minds. They are willing to sacrifice their lives and those close to them for the sake of the greater good.”
“And they say that the king is still there?” Regis tried to calm the strained conversation.
“Yes. His Majesty is still in the castle, waiting for the still-enthralled nobles to march their armies and join forces with him against the church.”
“Can’t your people intercept those nobles?”
“That is the plan,” Felix reassured the two. “By the time the soldiers arrive in the capital, hopefully, they will be all on our side.”
“What about us? Thornfell isn’t exactly a military power worth mentioning. We have maybe seventy soldiers if we count together all the guards. None of them are above the second tier.”
“We are not yet desperate enough to call upon your army of seventy,” Emil stated with a smirk before standing up. “However, you and your fellow outlanders are more than welcome to join us, given your reputation as highly skilled mercenaries.”
“I cannot make that decision alone.” The dark elf stated, watching as the elderly spellcaster and the bishop began to prepare to leave.
“I understand,” the priest nodded. “Still, we should get going. It’s better to get there early. Right, Felix?”
“Indeed. Hopefully, we’ll be able to tell you more by this time tomorrow.”
“Very well,” Regis nodded as he and Quentin also got up from their seat. “We won’t take up more of your time then, but we’ll drop by tomorrow morning.”
“Good luck with the nobles.” Quentin remarked as the two left the room.
After they returned to Thornfell using the gateway, Regis shared his thoughts with his companion.
“I can’t shake off the feeling that something’s not right,” he said as they left the portal room of the manor. “The Argents are well-known schemers, yet all of what we’ve been told so far feels too simple.”
“I don’t know,” Quentin shook his head. “Sometimes things are just simply straightforward. Maybe they believe that if they could keep us out long enough to summon their archdemon then they’ll win.”
“Perhaps you’re right, but it still doesn’t feel...”
“Regis,” he heard a familiar voice from the side as Letty showed up at the end of the corridor. “When did you two get back?”
“A minute ago,” the loremaster replied. “What about you? I thought you would be at the greenhouse as usual.”
“I already checked up on the plants, but I kept getting distracted. Anyway, how did things go at Mistfield and Atraune?”
“I leave you two to it,” Quentin excused himself. “In the meantime, I’ll inform the others, then I’ll ask Valerie to bring me over to Mistfield.”
“Thanks,” Regis nodded. “Tell them we’ll try to bring more information tomorrow.”
“Sure.” The paladin agreed as he waved goodbye and left the manor.
“Come,” the dark elf invited Letty to the study. “I’ll tell you what we’ve learned in Atraune.”
True to his promise, Regis spent the next couple of minutes recalling the conversation he had with Emil and Felix. By the time he was done, the wood elf became just as morose as he was.
“I don’t know what to say but it does feel strange. Are they that confident in being able to repel the church and the nobles long enough to summon the archdemon?”
“I don’t know. Then again, I have no idea what it takes to summon one in the first place.”
“Have you tried asking Osmond or Valerie yet?”
“No, but I doubt they would have an answer. Neither of their families would have been willing to make deals with demons.”
“That doesn’t mean they don’t have at least some information on the matter. Valerie is a warlock after all.”
“I guess it can’t hurt to try,” he sighed as he channelled some arcana into his far-caller. “Osmond. Valerie. You there?”
“I’m here,” he heard simultaneously from two different voices resounding in his ears. “What do you need?”
“Do either of you know what it takes to summon an archdemon?”
“Why?” Valerie asked back immediately. “Do you want to summon one of your own to fight against theirs or something?”
“No, but it occurred to me that we have no idea what it takes to summon one, so we can’t even make a guess at how long we have until the Exiled Court summons theirs.”
“I can’t say that I know much about the subject,” Osmond claimed. “It’s not something that a necromancer would need to know.”
“I read every book I was allowed from my family’s archives,” Valerie said. “But none of them mentioned anything about demon summoning either. However, as you know, my great-grandmother’s a succubus from one of the many infernal realms. After finding out about it, I tried to find a way to contact her.”
“Judging by the fact that you have her as your patron, I guess you succeeded.” Regis noted while Letty sat on his lap to listen in to the conversation.
“I tried to low-key get my hands on the summoning ritual so I could make contact and believe it or not, it was one of the Argents who gave it to me.” “You’re shitting me, right?” The loremaster asked back with Letty looking just as befuddled as he was.
“No, I’m serious. His name was Gerald and believe it or not, he was the kindest and sweetest guy I had ever known. He also hated his family to the core and was kind of disinherited by them for supposedly being gay.”
“They descend heritage him because he was... gay?” Letty asked aloud.
“No, they disinherited him because he French-kissed Fabien in front of everybody at one of the great family meetings.”
“That must have been... awkward for the Argents.” The loremaster noted.
“That’s quite an understatement, given that he was arranged by the families to be my fiance.” Valerie chuckled.
“Oh shit!” Letty couldn’t help but burst out laughing as both she and Regis imagined the scene unfolding in their minds.
“After that in the debacle, he was sent to England for boarding school and to live with his uncle, another exiled family member while they quickly appointed his twin brother, Etienne as my new fiance.”
“Damn,” the dark elf sighed. “I always hated the political bullshit of the big families.”
“Same,” Valerie sighed. “Anyway, after he safely settled down in England, we kept contact and when I needed the summoning ritual, he was more than happy to share some of the family secrets with me. The story went on after that as you can imagine. I reached out to my grandma, and she was happy, we made a pact and now I’m here.”
“Cool story,” Osmond hummed through the far-caller that connected them. “But how’s that going to help us?”
“It’s going to help because apparently, all summoning rituals follow the same three steps. First, you must make a small offering so that you can make contact with the targeted demon. Secondly, you negotiate terms. And lastly, you make a sacrifice according to the negotiated contract. The higher the rank of the demon the larger the sacrifice that’s needed and the longer the ritual takes. From what I know, directly summoning a specific demon of the first tier takes about an hour or so and a sacrifice worth ten cows or humans.”