The two exhausted elves did so, and Pug said, ‘I can see from your appearance that you’ve been through a lot recently. I expect you’d prefer a hot bath, meal, and bed before any long interro-gation, so I’ll keep this brief and we can delve into all we need to know from one another tomorrow.’
‘That would be welcome, Pug,’ said Gulamendis. ‘But I feel compelled to report two things; first, I think we’ve found something never encountered before. On the abandoned world of Telesan we discovered an ancient human fortress, but the demons have occupied the fortress and are keeping prisoners.’
Pug remained motionless, then nodded once and said, ‘I see.’
‘I don’t know if you do,’ said the Demon Master. ‘Demons don’t take prisoners. They eat everything they can and move on. It’s as if they’ve somehow changed from what I’ve always known them to be.’
‘Isn’t that a conclusion you and Amirantha reached after your pet demons betrayed you to Dahun and Belasco?’
Gulamendis said, ‘That was…yes, we did, but that was us being confounded at how their behaviour changed. This is evidence that their nature has changed. They’re becoming more like us.’
Pug again nodded. His dark eyes studied both elves for a moment, then he said, ‘You said there were two things?’
‘They seem to be at war with themselves.’ He described the attack by one army of demons upon another, the illusion of Maarg, and surprising organization of the operation.
When Gulamendis was finished, it was his brother who said, ‘Right before we abandoned Andcardia, we began to notice some demons in the field did not simply throw themselves at our defences, but seemed to be instructing other demons, organizing them in a rough fashion, sending them in waves against specific areas of defenders. I didn’t think too much of it at the time, because it wasn’t my job to think about it, and I was preoccupied with running for my life…
‘However, what we saw on Telesan was far beyond that. There were demons organized into units, camped as humans or elves would camp, with officers, pickets, and even what I took to be a command tent; the attacker came down the hill in multiple columns, coordinated by some unseen overseer, since the demons we thought to be in command were simply illusions.’ He sat back, obviously bordering on exhaustion.
Pug was silent for a long time, then said, ‘We have much to discuss. But it can wait until you’re recovered from your ordeal.’
Gulamendis handed the journal he was carrying to Pug and said, ‘You might find this interesting. I know I did, and I don’t understand half the things he wrote.’
‘Who?’
‘The author, Makras, I think?’ He sighed. ‘I don’t really know. He had a little tower, in which there were many books and scrolls, and he kept copious notes and journals. This was the one I found conveniently on the work desk, else I might not have noticed the information that got us to the portal we used to come here.’
‘Very fortuitous,’ Pug observed. ‘Please, if you don’t mind, find your own way downstairs to the common room and feed yourselves. Brandos’s wife, Samantha, has taken charge of the kitchen. She should have food for you. Then Jason will find you a place to sleep. I’ll have water heated for a bath.’ He stood, then said, ‘Though where we’ll find clothing to fit you…?’
‘We’ll get by,’ said Laromendis. ‘We can wear these a while longer if we must.’
‘Perhaps some fresh robes while your clothing is washed?’ suggested Pug. ‘In any event, please eat and rest, and tomorrow we have much more to discuss.’
The two elves left his study and Pug looked at the book handed to him by the Demon Master. He didn’t even need to open it to know who authored this work. He recognized the symbol on the binding. But to satisfy himself, he opened it and saw the glyph on the first page. ‘Macros,’ he said softly.
Pug let out a long sigh. Had Macros lived on that world and advised some alien ruler, or was this another false lead left for him by the Trickster God?
‘Kalkin!’ Pug shouted. ‘Is this your handiwork?’
Silence was his only reply.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN - Ancient Histories
PUG HELD UP HIS HANDS.
The others in the room fell silent as he said, ‘We have three issues before us. What the elven brothers have brought us is important and worth further investigation,’ he nodded at the considerably cleaner pair of taredhel magic users. ‘It also supports our recent observations of changes in the Demon Legion’s behaviour.
‘The book that Amirantha found,’ he continued, pointing to a massive volume lying on the table before him, ‘is still being examined, and may give us a far more fundamental understanding of our enemy’s nature and purpose.’