To Basset’s credit, he fought the enchantment for several seconds, until the magic’s power actually burst a blood vessel in his eye. Then, as the blood spread across the orange sclera of his eye, Basset’s resolve faded, to be replaced by docile dullness.
“I am yours,” he intoned. “I will never question you again.”
Abbot closed his eyes for a moment, drawing the magic back into himself. When he opened them again, he was all smiles.
“That’s good. I am so glad to hear that, Basset. I mean, your other option was a quick and painful death, so you’re better off as a mindless lapdog anyway.”
He climbed to his feet and graciously helped Basset to his.
“You’ve had a fall,” he explained, in a doctor-patient voice. “And I’m helping you to your feet.”
Basset blinked dreamily. “I will never question you again.”
“Oh, never mind all that now. Just sit down and do whatever I say.”
“I am yours,” said Basset.
Abbot slapped his cheek gently. “And the others said we wouldn’t get along.”
Abbot returned to his own chair at the head of the long table. The chair was high-backed and made from various animal parts. He settled into it, paddling the armrests with his palms.
“I love this chair,” he said. “Actually, it’s more of a throne than a chair, which brings me to our main business here today.” Abbot reached under a leather flap in the chair and pulled out a roughly fashioned bronze crown.
“I think it’s about time the council declared me king for life,” he said, fixing the crown on his head.
This new king-for-life idea would be a tough sell. A demon pride was always ruled by the fittest, and it was a very temporary position. Abbot had only survived as long as he had by mesmerizing anyone who dared challenge him.
Most of the council had been under Abbot’s spell for so long that they accepted the suggestion as if it were a royal decree; but some of the younger ones shuddered with violent spasms, as their true beliefs wrestled with this new repugnant idea.
Their struggles didn’t last long. Abbot’s suggestion spread like a virus through their conscious and subconscious, subduing revolution wherever it was found.
Abbot adjusted his crown slightly. “Enough debate. All in favor, say graaargh!”
“GRAAARGH!” howled the demons, battering the table with gauntlets and swords.
“All hail King Leon,” prompted Abbot.
“ALL HAIL KING LEON!” the council mimicked like trained parrots.
The adulation was interrupted by a soldier demon who burst through the lodge’s flap.
“There’s a ...there was a big ...”
Abbot whipped off the crown. The general population wasn’t ready for that yet.
“There’s a what?” he demanded. “A big what?”
The soldier paused, catching his breath. He realized suddenly that he’d better communicate the bigness of what had happened on the mountain, or else Abbot was liable to behead him for interrupting the meeting.
“There was a big flash.”A big flash? That didn’t sound big enough.
“Let me start again. A huge flash of light came from the volcano. Two of the hunting party were nearby. They say someone came through. A group. Four beings.”
Abbot frowned. “Beings?”
“Two demons, maybe. But the other two, the hunter doesn’t know what they are.”
This was serious. Abbot knew it. These beings could be humans, or worse still, surviving warlocks. If it was a warlock, he would surely guess Abbot’s secret. All it would take was one demon with some real power, and his hold on the pride would be gone. This situation had to be contained.
“Very well. The council will investigate. Nobody else goes up there.”
The soldier’s Adam’s apple bobbed nervously, as he was about to bear bad news. “It’s too late, Master Abbot. The entire pride is climbing the volcano.”
Abbot was halfway to the door before the soldier finished his sentence.
“Follow me!” he shouted to the other demons. “And bring your weapons.”
“GRAAARGH!” roared the spellbound council members.
Artemis was surprised at how calm he felt. You would think that a teenage human would be terrified at the sight of a pride of demons climbing toward him, but Artemis was more nervous than terrified, and more curious than nervous.
He glanced backward over his shoulder, into the crater they had just climbed out of.
“The pride comes before a fall,” he said softly, then smiled at his own joke.
Holly overheard. “You certainly pick your moment to develop a sense of humor.”
“Usually I would be planning, but this is out of my hands. Qwan is in charge now.”
No1 led them along the rim of the crater toward a low rocky ledge. There was a wooden rod jammed into the ground beside the ledge, and hooked over the rod were dozens of silver bangles. Most tarnished and soot-caked.
No1 wiggled a bunch over the top of the rod.
“Dimension jumpers leave these here,” he explained, passing them out. “Just in case they make it back. No one ever has, until now. Except Leon Abbot, of course.”
Qwan slipped a bangle onto his wrist. “Dimensionjumping is suicide. Without silver, a demon will never be able to stay in one place for more than a few seconds. They will drift between times and dimensions until they are killed by exposure or starvation. Magic is the only reason we’re here. I am amazed this Abbot person made it back. What is his demon name?”
No1 squinted down the mountain pathway. “You can ask him yourself. That’s him, the big one elbowing his way to the head of the group.”
Holly squinted down at the pride leader. “The one with the curved horns and big sword?” she asked.
“Is he smiling?” No1 asked.
“No.”
“That’s Abbot.”
It was a strange reunion. There was no hugging, no champagne, and no teary-eyed reminiscing. Instead there were bared teeth, drawn swords, and threatening behavior. The latest batch of imps were especially eager to skewer the newcomers and prove their valor. Artemis was the number-one target in the group. Imagine, an actual live human here on Hybras. He didn’t look so tough.
Artemis and company had stayed put on the ledge, waiting for the demons to come to them. They didn’t have to wait long. The imps arrived, breathless from the climb and just dying to kill something. If it hadn’t been for Qwan, Artemis would have been ripped to shreds on the spot. In fairness, Holly had something to do with keeping Artemis alive, too. She tagged the first half dozen imps with a charge from her Neutrino strong enough to send them scurrying back to what they thought was a safe distance. After that, Qwan managed to hold their attention by conjuring a multicolored dancing monkey in the air.
Soon, every demon who was able to climb the mountain had done so, and they were all staring at the magical monkey.
Even No1 was entranced. “What is that?”
Qwan fluttered his fingers, causing the monkey to somersault.
“It’s a simple magical construct. Instead of allowing the sparks to roam on instinct, I marshal them into a recognizable form. It takes time and effort, but in time you will have this micro control, too.”
“No,” said No1. “I mean what is that?”
Qwan sighed. “It’s a monkey.”
As their numbers grew, the demons became more and more agitated. The warriors crashed horns in a show of strength. They bashed each other’s chest plates with their forearms and made a big show of sharpening their swords on stones.
“I miss Butler,” said Artemis.
“Me too,” said Holly, scanning the crowd for the greatest threat. It wasn’t easy to decide. Every demon in the crowd seemed as though he were on the verge of hurling himself at the new arrivals. Holly had seen 3-D models of demons, of course, but she had never seen the real thing. The models were accurate enough, but they couldn’t capture the bloodlust in the creature
s’ eyes, or the eerie whines that curled out of their noses as battle fever possessed them.
Abbot barged through to the front of the group, and Holly instantly trained her weapon on his chest.