‘By ward and word, spell and will, tell me of the Demon King!’ Again he opened and closed his hand and the imp shrieked in agony. Then with a wave he released his magic and the imp drew a deep gasp of air.
The creature cringed and whispered as if terrified of being overheard outside the room. ‘The Demon King is greatest of all! He hears what is said; he sees what is done. He rends and eats, and no one escapes him. He rails at the gate, waiting for the final opening.’ Suddenly the creature’s eyes widened, and it stiffened as if struck from behind, then its eyes rolled up and it fell forward.
Amirantha stood and sweeping his hands in an arc, inscribed a dome of energy above the garden. ‘Brace yourself!’ he shouted.
The sky above them exploded, the calm blue of the afternoon instantly changed to a raging blast of yellow and white, blinding anyone who glanced upward. Even through the mystic shield, the heat swept down over them like waves of torment. Pug was but an instant behind the Warlock with his own counter-spell, and the heat vanished as he neutralized the inferno.
Gulamendis, Father-Bishop Creegan, and Sandreena were all just reacting, as Jommy dived for the ground, seeking to be as close to the cool soil as was humanly possible.
As the flames above vanished Pug swept his hand around him in a circular motion, incanting another spell of protection.
Then from another part of the building a massive silver bolt of energy sped into the sky, arching quickly out of view.
Amirantha said, ‘What was that?’
Pug glanced around to make sure everyone was all right, then knelt to examine the fallen form of the imp. ‘That would be my wife. Whoever sent that mystic comet down on our heads is about to be repaid. It’s a nasty trick she learnt before I met her. If our attacker has no protective wards in place, he’s about to get back worse than he gave. That energy bolt requires far more protection than mystic fire does. It could melt a house.’ Dropping the arm of the imp, he said, ‘It’s dead.’ Looking at Gulamendis he added, ‘I think.’
‘As dead as it can be here in this realm. It will slowly reform back in the. . .’ He pointed. ‘Look.’
The figure of the imp faded into transparency then mist, then was gone within a moment.
‘It will reform, as I said, and I will be able to summon it once more.’
‘With demons, there’s dead and then there’s dead,’ said Amirantha. ‘I was going to ask you later how your warriors have been killing them.’
‘With every weapon and spell we can muster,’ said Gulamendis.
‘There’s one of your problems, then,’ said Jommy. Both Demon Masters looked at him and Amirantha said, ‘Yes, he’s right.’
Gulamendis nodded. ‘No one believed me when I told them that, short of complete destruction through very powerful magic, the demons were only ever banished to their own realm.’
‘And if they rested up a bit, they could come back through any open gate into this realm,’ said Jommy.
‘An army that cannot be destroyed, only delayed?’ asked Tomas.
‘Oh, demons can be destroyed,’ said Sandreena. ‘I’ve destroyed more than one myself. Completely and utterly.’
Father-Bishop Creegan indicated agreement. ‘It’s the magic of the gods that obliterates them. If you can stun one long enough to utter a specific oath or spell, the creature is utterly destroyed.’ But he sounded worried. ‘But those are rare cases, Pug. Most of our magic is banishment. We do not belabour the difference when we teach that magic, but the majority of demons we deal with are merely sent back to the demon realm.’
‘How difficult will it be to deal with a host of them?’ asked Tomas, pointedly.
The old cleric sagged visibly as he admitted, ‘Impossible. Even if I should muster every priest, priestess, monk and nun of every god as well as all the martial Orders, each would only be able to destroy one or two each day. The magic is difficult and exhausting.’
Pug let out a sigh as Miranda came storming into the garden. ‘What was that?’ she asked accusingly. ‘Half of the outer buildings are on fire and we have a lot of very frightened students, not to mention a few who were badly burned. It’s a miracle no one was killed.’
Magnus also appeared and looked ready to do battle. When he saw his mother’s mood he said nothing.
Pug glanced at his elder son and said, ‘Caleb? The others?’
‘Everyone is fine, as far as I can tell,’ he answered. ‘Whoever erected that barrier saved this building and this is where most of the heat struck. There are fires in the outer buildings, but they are being dealt with.’
‘Good,’ said Pug. Looking at his wife, he continued, ‘That retaliatory bolt you threw back along the path of the incoming spell, do you have any sense of where it went?’