Chapter 1

Mariel was very enthusiastic partner when it came to sex. Our first night after our marriage was a voyage of discovery, for the both of us. I wondered if the Gods had a hand in that.

Ever read or heared someone saying... ‘kissing their partner was an electric experience’? Or you ‘got a jolt of lightning’ or experienced a shock of some sort? I thought I had that with Darla, but no...

Kissing Mariel was a bolt of pure bliss. It also led to her first time having sex. Yes, she was a virgin when we married. After the initial first time, which was a little uncomfortable for Mariel, she turned into a very eager and willing student.

Salvadi had offered us a very nice hunting lodge in the mountains in his kingdom. At Vostich’s urging, I took him up on it, and was glad I had. It made a perfect honeymoon spot.

Mirwana surprised Mariel and me with a new set of apartments in the palace after we returned from our honeymoon. I had gotten to know my young bride better on our getaway. She was a shy person with new people, but once you got to know her, she blossomed. She had a very sweet personality, and was very intelligent. Young Trayla came along as her ‘lady’ in waiting.

Besides teaching Mariel, um, sex, I continued her magical education. She was very good and caught on very quickly to the things I taught her. What did surprise me, was that Trayla had the ability to do magic, also.

Oh, she was not a powerful magic user, but she was becoming competent with the basic spells and low-level magics. When I taught her a couple of spells I would term mid-level, she struggled. It took everything she had, to do just one, and she was exhausted after casting it.

Trayla’s problem was her connection to the magic field was very weak. I had decided that when I returned to Landkur, I would make a collector that she could use. That would allow her to cast bigger spells, and the power would be provided by the storage device.

With the storage device, she could cast a couple mid-level spells before it had to recharge, or she could do endless basic spells which would hardly drain the device at all. I could make it so it continuously drew in and stored power from the magic field. There would be a cut off point where it would collect only so much, because it was full.

It was late summer, now. I was still leery of going to the temple. The Gods having returned just now, worried me. From what I understood, they had been asked to leave and stay away physically by the Creator Of All. Now it seemed they were allowed back. I got a chill that ran up and down my spine, particularly at the back of my neck.

Since it was a warm, clear day, I asked Mariel what she thought of having a picnic. There was a spot out by a part of the lake, that I knew would not be crowded with people. I had seen it as I overflew the area, while practicing flying in my dragon form.

She was agreeable. Of course, the little minx (Trayla) had to come along, also. So we gathered the picnic supplies and when we were ready, I teleported us to the spot I wanted. Perfect! It was a little cove that had a nice sand beach, and was hard to get to from landward.

Trees populated the area, but did not crowd it. All in all, it was a great place for a picnic. I had brought a blow up beach ball with me. [Hey, it was included in the supplies Vivian bought. Don’t ask me.]

I blew it up, and we had fun playing ‘keep it off the ground’ while trying to get the other party to drop it. Trayla was very adept at the game, and did her best to double team against me, with my wife.

We finally got hungry, and got the food out. It was good! Fried chicken, ham, bread. I had brought cold sodas along, and they went well with everything. I had made potato salad, again. Everyone who ate it seemed to love it!

I leaned back against a little hill, and watched my wife and Trayla walking along the shore, dipping their feet, and running back from waves, laughing. I smiled. It was a beautiful day, and life was good.

I saw the girls look my way, then they took a look out to sea. Finally, they started to take off their clothes!

“Hey! Someone might see you! I know you didn’t bring swimsuits!” I shouted to them.

“You said it yourself. No one comes here. I think, with one exception, only a dragon could see us. And you don’t count, you’re my husband,” Mariel said, still removing her clothes.

“Well, what about young Trayla? Won’t she be embarrassed about me seeing her without clothes?” I asked, as they got closer to me, each with an armful of outer clothing.

“I trust you. Besides, it’s not like I have anything to look at, yet,” Trayla said, pulling off what passed for an undershirt in this land. That was followed by her pants, which were like old-fashioned 1800’s bloomers on that other earth.

I looked away from Trayla, and watched my wife strip her clothing. Yes, she had a nice body. Mariel removed her pants, and was now as naked as Trayla.

“Well, are you going to join us or not?” Mariel said archly.

I thought for a moment as these two naked girls looked at me. Correction. One naked girl, one naked woman. What the hell.

“Sure, give me a minute, and I’ll be ready,” I told them.

I quickly undressed and we all ran splashing into the water. We splashed each other, dunked each other, and swam. We had a great time. We got out, but none of us had thought to bring towels. We lay out in the sun, drying the old fashioned way. All in all, it was a very good day.

We finally dried off enough to get dressed. We sat and talked about nothing, really. Trayla was curious about learning more magic. I had her practice a couple small spells. She got them down very quickly.

One involved a small levitation spell, and another was a defensive shield. You couldn’t go wrong with a defensive shield. After she had it in place, I cast a few spells at her, watching her shield as I hit it with them.

Her shield would fluctuate a little. That was due to her uncertainty, which was why I was being careful with my spells. I didn’t want to overwhelm her. She needed to build confidence in her abilities, and me crashing her shield right away, wouldn’t do that.

Mariel helped out by cheering each time Trayla staved off one of my attacks. Trayla had a big grin on her face. She looked so pleased to have managed to hold me off. I finally stopped and nodded. Then I advised her on ways to keep her shield stronger and more firm.

Trayla and I took turns casting at Mariel. Trayla was very enthusiastic, but could not breech Mariel’s shield. I cast more powerful spells, and finally decided to stop before I actually got through. She had a very good shield; but I knew, after the second or third spell, that I could have breeched it. It would have taken a big spell, but it would have gone down.

A shadow went over us. I looked up. A dragon and rider was circling. I reached out and contacted the dragon.

«Am I needed back in Landkur?» I asked it silently.

«Nay, Lord. I am the guard assigned to ensure you and your family’s safety, as commanded by Fithian,» answered the dragon.

Great. Now I couldn’t take care of myself. I sighed. Ok, I understood. Still, it was aggravating to me.

“Well. We have been tracked down. Shall we return to the city? It just isn’t the same with a guardian flying overhead,” I said sighing.

“You mean you only just now noticed the dragon” Mariel asked me.

“Yes, why?” I asked her.

“Didn’t you hear me say with the exception of a dragon, none could see us? I was talking about the dragon that was above us since about 20 minutes after we got here,” Mariel said with exasperation.

“Oh,” I replied eloquently.

The girls laughed at me. Great. Here I was, ‘the big important magic user’, ‘the man with a connection to the Goddess Ishla’, and I wasn’t aware of a dragon overhead. I snorted at myself. I really had to learn to pay better attention to my surroundings.

Swimming always made me hungry. Since we had gone through all the food already, I told them I was ready to head back. With only a little grumbling from Mariel (and a loud protest from Trayla), we gathered our picnic remains. I deflated the beach ball, and we packed everything for the teleport back to the palace.

After we got back to the palace, Mariel and Trayla went their separate ways, most likely to their apartments. I was intercepted and with a most politely worded command. I was asked to make myself available for Mirwana.

I brushed off my clothes, and made my way to her waiting room. As I entered, I saw that a priestess of Ishla was already seated there. She rose, and nodded to me. I nodded back politely.

I did not know how to treat someone who was a representative of an actual Goddess. She smiled and reseated herself. I took a seat opposite her. I wondered what this did to her world view. I was a direct descendant of the Goddess she served. Did that make me something special, or something to worry about?

Shortly, the both of us were summoned into Mirwana’s office. She had coffee and coco set up. I raised an eyebrow. This was definitely from my stash! Mirwana just grinned, and asked the priestess if she wanted something.

I helped myself to a cup of coffee and saw a bowl of refined sugar. More of my dwindling supplies seemed to have migrated to Mirwana’s office for her use. I poured a cup of coco for the priestess and asked her if she wanted sugar added. She declined, and sipped her drink daintily.

“Now, then. I asked the priestess of Ishla to come and explain the God’s return to the land. I have not heard an explanation yet, and I know you haven’t either, Paul,” Mirwana said simply.

The priestess sighed, and put down her cup.

“Hundreds of years ago, the great Creator Of All had asked the Gods to step aside and remove themselves from direct contact with us, the children. We are all considered children to the Creator, as well as to the Gods.

“While they could come in spirit form, or take on the body of an avatar, direct psychical manifestation of their bodies was denied to them. They, themselves, denied this. The Creator is allowing them back for a serious reason. Someone has opened a gateway to a realm of demons,” the priestess said.

Mirwana gasped. I took that to mean demons were very dangerous.

“Demons? Uh, just how powerful is a demon?” I asked.

“The Gods can handle them quite easily. The demi-Gods can handle several at a time if necessary. Your grandfather, Fithian can go one on one with a demon, and win. With you and the princess ... well, it is a toss up. Training will help,” the priestess said.

“I thought demons were very powerful, um, evil beings?” I asked, not really knowing and damning myself for not knowing.

The priestess gave me a curious look. “No. Some demons are very minor beings who have hardly any power. Then there are the ones who are powerful. The demons run to different power abilities, as we do.

“As for being evil ... well, some are. The gate that was opened, was opened to a universe that definitely has beings of considerable power. That is why the Creator allowed the Gods to come back. They are needed to offset the demons and defend this world,” the priestess finished with a sigh.

I sat back and thought about it. Mirwana was asking questions that the priestess was unable to answer, or just wouldn’t. So, demons had power structures, just like we did. If I understood what she was telling Mirwana, they also had a rank structure, similar to ours.

“Wait a minute. You just told Mirwana that the Gods had a rank structure? Does this mean that there are very powerful demons on the other side?” I was grasping at a thought.

“Yes. The higher in rank they are, the more powerful,” the priestess replied.

“Then,” I said slowly, “it seems reasonable to assume they have a counter to our Gods, doesn’t it?” I asked with a chill.

“We have not seen demons of that power as of yet. However, it cannot be ruled out. That the Creator invited the Gods back to help with this problem, is a good indicator that powerful demons have either come through already, or that they are in a position to come through the gateway,” the priestess said a bit sadly.

Wonderful. We had just ended a war, and we were still recovering from it, and now this. It was definitely like that old Chinese curse said: ‘May you live in interesting times’. Well, ‘the times’ were getting a bit too ‘interesting’. I could do with a nice year, or twenty, of no troubles.

I got more coffee. I looked at the priestess and Mirwana. They were sitting close together, talking softly about demons. I looked with my other sight at the priestess. She blazed with POWER!

A green glow of power seemed to emanate from her. She had perhaps one of the most powerful aura’s I had seen; with the exceptions of Fithian, Vostich, and, of course, the Goddess. She definitely was not someone to mess with.

With the exception of learning that while all demons originated from other realities, not all were evil beings; it was unfortunate that the masses considered all demons to be evil. The priestess insisted that this was not the case. Unfortunately, the gate that had been opened, was opened to a land of demons who were evil, for the most part.

We did not know who opened the gate. No spell, precognitive or otherwise, had been able to penetrate the black barrier surrounding the gate. The events and the person or persons that had opened it, were still unknown. I sat there for a while, trying to get some inside information myself. I cast several different informational spells, and failed.

I considered summoning, ‘Arch Angel’, but thought that I had to put some very potent protections on it. While it was based in the other world, and had very good protections there, I was not certain that someone here could not take it over.

I was quickly lost in figuring out how to program my magical interface, with magical protections. I had originally created, ‘Arch Angel’, because I was not that good with computers. Oh, I could do basic operations, and even basic programming, but with ‘Arch Angel’ I just told it what I wanted, and it did it.

I had a sudden thought. Wasn’t there a magical school located in my city?

“Mirwana? Isn’t there a school for magic somewhere in the city?” I asked during a lull in her conversation with the priestess.

“Yes. It is actually located a few miles southwest of the city. Why? Do you think they can help with this problem?” Mirwana asked curiously.

“Indirectly. I am looking into an idea having to do with ‘Arch Angel’. I was thinking of setting it to gather information, but I want to protect it from magical attacks,” I said distractedly.

“‘Arch Angel’?” The priestess asked confused.

So I explained ‘Arch Angel’ to her. She seemed to disbelieve it at first. So I summoned it, and let her look at it. She was absolutely amazed at its appearance. She’d had no experience with anything like this.

I explained that it was a magical interface with an information gathering system. I wanted to expand that system, to start gathering information here. I watched the priestess looking with fascination at my ‘Arch Angel’.

It was something to see, all right. ‘Arch Angel’ was a being that was magically projected. It was seven feet high in the form of a man. It had wings coming from its back, stretching up to the ceiling, and they even fluttered occasionally. It looked magnificent!

I explained some of its functions, and Mirwana asked if it could replay television shows. Ok, I fell right into that trap. I said of course, and went on, but Mirwaanna interrupted me, and she asked it to play a TV show she had gotten hooked on back on earth, when I had taken her there.

I rolled my eyes, and explained that ‘Arch Angel’ would not accept just anyone’s orders. I had to give it instructions on who would be granted access to it, and at what level that access would be granted.

The priestess interrupted the both of us.

“Why not take it to the Goddess, and have her look it over. Perhaps She could give it the protections you wish it to have,” she said hesitantly.

I stared at her. Now why hadn’t I thought of that? Because I was still very uncomfortable with the idea of actual Gods being there to answer questions, question you, and to interact. I sighed.

“Could you make an appointment with Ishla for me?” I asked the priestess.

She grinned at me and said, “You’re family. You can come anytime you wish. She has already said she always has time for family,” the priestess finished with a friendly smile, and pat on my shoulder.

Great. Familial obligations aside, being related to an actual Goddess still made me nervous. I heard a soundless chuckle coming from ... well, everywhere. I looked at Mirwana and the priestess. They did not appear to have heard the chuckle. I sighed.

I dismissed ‘Arch Angel’, over Mirwana’s protestations. I really had to do something about this addiction she had to a certain TV show. Having a Goddess look over my magical interface, seemed to be a very good idea. If she could give it the protections it needed, then I could set it to gathering information at a very high rate of speed. We might even get some information about the demons, very quickly indeed.

Chapter 2

I was just getting ready to leave our apartments, my wife’s and mine, when my wife of two months stopped me.

“Paul? I am Duchess De Landkur, right?”

Uh oh.

“Why, yes, Mariel, I believe you are,” I replied smiling.

She glared at me. Not good. She had been getting just a bit restless, lately.

“Look, I have been doing magical training, but I want to do other things. Back at home, I was a ... well ... I was something my father trotted out to be put on display. It was not a very good feeling, really.

“Mirwana is practically the queen of this land, will be queen as soon as her coronation takes place. You are Duke De Landkur, ruler of the city of Landkur and it environs.

“So what does that mean to me. Am I just a showpiece for you? Or do I have a real purpose here?” she finished, almost in tears.

Damn. I had forgotten that she had been treated like a trophy, here. A lot of women were, unless they were like my sister, or had inherited a title. I went over to her, and hugged her to me.

“Listen. You are the Duchess De Landkur, with all the power and authority that goes with it. While I am the Duke, and I take priority over you, you are powerful in your own right.

“Which leads me to something I have to say. We can’t let people divide us. I mean, if someone comes to me and requests something which I deny; then they might go to you and you grant it. This is not a situation that you or I want arising. I might have a very good reason for denying that request, but you might not be aware of it. This is also true in the reverse. This means we must have constant communication between us, so we are never at cross-purposes,” I told her.

We went into what I would call the living room, and sat together on a couch. She poured out her insecurities to me. Poor kid. No! She was not a poor kid. She was a woman who had been manipulated and used for state purposes, all her life by her father, Salvadi.

We talked for some time. Twice we were interrupted by one of my male secretaries, reminding me of appointments. Finally, Vivian showed up. She knocked once, and just barged right in.

“Paul? If you have decided to cancel today’s itinerary, you should let us know so we can tell the others,” Vivian said in her best ‘no nonsense’ tone of voice.

I winced. I knew that tone of voice, and the accompanying look that went with it. I rolled my eyes, and stood. Then I thought of something. I looked at Mariel sitting there, her hands clutched tightly in her lap.

“Vivian? Have Mariel briefed on today’s docket. She is going to ‘sit in judgment’, today,” I told her.

Mariel got a panicked look on her face. Vivian just cocked her head at me.

“You’re sure? I mean, you are sort of throwing her into a ‘sink or swim’ situation, here,” Vivian said gently.

I went to Mariel, reached down, and helped her to her feet. She looked frightened.

“You’re right,” Vivian said. “This is the best way to make Mariel understand that she is a powerful person in her own right. Don’t worry, Mariel, you will do fine. You already know the basic laws of this land.”

“The main problem you will have,” I said, “is that rare time when both sides in a case honestly believe they are right. While I have a truth spell emplaced in the court, it is not able to discern the law.

“For example: I had a case a few months ago. Both parties were promised a piece of land from a third party. The third party died without specifying who actually got the land. This caused a hardship between the two parties, and both were telling the truth when they said they were each promised the land.

“This is where you, sitting in judgment, count the most. Let yourself be guided by the court chamberlain, and by your heart. Be fair, and be just. Most of all, when you make your decision, make it firmly. Don’t be hesitant about it, and DON’T change it, no matter what. Remember, if new information comes up, then you have a new situation. That means you have a new decision to make.

“I am sure you will do fine. Just listen carefully to the evidence. Most times it will be obvious how you should judge,” I told her enthusiastically.

“Wait! What was your decision on that land problem with the two claimants?” Mariel asked in a partly desperate voice.

“Why, I took control of the land for the city, and then waited a couple of weeks. I then determined that since both parties had been promised the land, I split its ownership in half, giving half to each of the parties involved.

“They were so pleased to be getting something, rather than nothing, that they were happy with the final determination of their case,” I told her.

There was another knock on the door. It was my, now Mariel’s, escort to the court. I quickly explained the switch to the escort. He just nodded. In this land, you really didn’t question high-ranking people. This was not like America, where it was expected that your public servants answer to you.

In this land, nobles had real power and authority. Since my arrival, I had met with all of the nobles under me. I had informed them of what I expected, and how I wanted our people to be treated.

While most had no problems with my wishes, I still had problems with a very few. They had done things ‘their way’, for generations, and were resistant to being steered onto a new path. I was being as patient as I could be; but there was going to be a showdown with one or two of them, and soon.

The problem is, the crown gives great authority to the nobles in this land, and there are not a lot of safeguards in place to prevent the abuse of power and authority. Hell, the people even sort of expect it ... which is also a sad comment.

Vivian and I watched as Mariel left the room for her first day in court. She then looked at me.

“She is very young to be doing this, Paul,” Vivian told me, scowling.

“Vivian, it’s the way of this land. Young people who are not married, would not have her power. But, since she married, she is legally accorded all the rights and privileges of an adult. Plus she IS the Duchess De Landkur.

“It makes me very nervous too. I want to protect her. Hell, she should be in high school, learning and dating. Instead, she is married to me for the political gain of both of our lands,” I said with a sigh.

“Now that you have palmed off your duties for the day, what are you planning to do?” Vivian asked me curiously.

“Well, I have been putting off going to the temple and see the goddess, Ishla. I want to show her my ‘Arch Angel’, and see if she can give it a few protections. If she can, I am going to order it to collect information on the demons that have managed to get control of the access point to our world, here,” I said heavily.

I was not really looking forward to this. Also, I wanted to do another review of the tax situation. While there had been a lot of grumbling over them at first, the coffers were full to bursting, and more and more merchants were trying to get businesses established in my city. That pleased me.

I was showing the world, and anyone who cared to look, that you did not need to tax your citizens to death to make money. It was a long slow process, but what I had started so many months ago was paying off hugely!

Business was booming, more and more people were being employed, and I had managed to get rid of one slum area, already. I had plans for other improvements, but those would have to wait.

“Vivian? Why don’t you do an inventory of the remaining supplies that we brought with us from our ‘other home’? I think it is almost time to make another trip. I want to hire a few more people to start on some ideas I have. I also want to replenish my supplies,” I told her while we were moving.

She nodded and when I dismissed her, she headed off to do the inventory, and I headed out the front door of the palace. I know, I know. I could have teleported to the temple, but maybe a walk would settle me. I hoped.

It seemed like such a short walk. The temple was located over a mile from the palace, yet it seemed I had just started walking to it, when I was there. I stopped and looked at the outside, admiring it.

It was a starkly white building. It was glowing, which denoted the presence of the Gods. It sort of reminded me of old Greek architecture. With a marble exterior and support columns, anyone from Greece would feel at home here.

A huge double door was in the exact center of the temple and it was open. No one was denied access to the temple, or to their Gods or Goddesses. I shook my head. It still amazed me, being able to go and commune with a being that was present, and was a God.

I girded my loins, mentally, and went in. I was immediately hit with the feeling of PRESENCE! Well, really ... with all five of the Gods and Goddesses here, what did I expect?

I made my way to the Goddess Ishla’s portion of the temple.

I walked to the large five sided star engraved on the floor. From here you took a direction for your God/Godess. The star’s radiant arm pointed the way. I followed the arm of the star for Ishla. There was her door as I remembered it. Well ... sort of.

It had changed a little since I last saw it. Or I was mis-remembering. I shrugged. The doors were surrounded by climbing vines of some sort, and the double doors had a beautiful depiction of a tree. A tree of a type I have never seen before.

As I approached the doors, they opened for me, automatically. I stepped into my great great grandmother’s portion of the temple. How do you miss seeing a Goddess in all her glory? Well, it’s easy.

Firstly, she was not sitting on that huge thrown that all the other Gods have. Secondly, she was not as tall as all the other Gods were, the last time I was here. She was more of a normal size, and she was surrounded by priestesses and petitioners.

At first glance, she looked like one more petitioner to me. I still felt the PRESENCE, but since she was in a crowd, it was as if she were everywhere, yet nowhere. It was confusing to me.

I hesitated. I didn’t want to interrupt her if she was busy, after all.

«Don’t be silly, Paul. You could never intrude. Come here,» her mental voice told me.

I sighed, and made my way to and through the cluster of people around Her. Since I was right next to Her, my confusion was gone, and I could feel Her normally. Still, it had been a very confusing experience.

The people around the Goddess murmured and withdrew as I approached Her side. A priestess of Ishla remained close, but everyone else withdrew to some distance away.

I bowed to her. “Grandmother, I have come with an idea to propose to you,” I told her as firmly as I could.

She smiled and gestured to the waiting crowd. I didn’t hear anything, but they were gone, just like that.

“Now then. What is this idea you wanted to propose to me?” She asked me in the most beautiful voice I had ever heard.

It seemed silly, now that I was here in her presence. She looked at me a smiled slightly, nodding.

I summoned ‘Arch Angel’. She looked at it, and raised an eyebrow at me.

“A most unique construct. I must admit that I am impressed. Did you make this?” She asked me.

“Yes, Grandmother. I needed something to interface with the mechanical portion of something called a computer, and so...”

That was as far as I got. I felt an immense pressure in my head, and I knew that the Goddess was searching and looking into my mind.

Just when I thought I would surely go mad, it was gone. I sighed in relief. Grandmother chuckled.

“I would not hurt you. You are family. I needed to know of what you were speaking. Computers are not something of this realm. I needed your information and background to understand you, and now I do understand.

“You wish me to enhance and give protections to your construct. A most ambitious notion, and worthy of one of my family. Well done,” she said, smiling at me. I felt like a puppy that was being petted.

The Goddess looked at my ‘Arch Angel’ and I felt her doing «something». I looked at Arch Angel, and what I saw was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. Slowly, Arch Angel was firming, solidifying before my eyes, and was becoming ... well ... real!

I sent my senses out, and quickly withdrew them. The POWER I felt was huge. I could feel it without extending my awareness, but when I sent it towards Arch Angel, he was surrounded with the power of the Goddess.

Finally, I felt a lessening of the flow of power. Cautiously, I sent a tendril of thought towards Arch Angel. It was intercepted, not by the Goddess, but by Arch Angel himself!

Arch Angel turned to me and said, “Father, I don’t mean to insult you, but please do not do that. It makes me ... itch.”

I know my jaw dropped.

The Goddess started laughing.

“Well, you wanted something done, so I did that something. Probably not exactly the way you wanted, though. I made your Arch Angel real,” the Goddess said in a gentle voice.

Chapter 3

I was in the private portion of the palace gardens going through more sword training. Pao (my internal coach, the Drebasty I had accepted into my brain, at the end of the war with Jorslan) was drilling me in a two handed style now. He seemed content to stay out of my way, and incidentally out of my main consciousness.

Still, I was having difficulty with my patterns that he’d had me memorize. It was the memory of what happened with Arch Angel. Yesterday, I thought, was a day of miracles. To see my Arch Angel turn real ... well that was something!

«Pay attention! You can marvel at the Gods later. This can save your life. Daydreaming can kill you,» Pao told me firmly.

I sighed and concentrated on my pattern again. There was a strange little side step hop that I was unsure of. I did not really understand the need for it. He told me I would discover the need when I was fighting someone, and until then, to keep to the drill.

I finally ground to a halt after an hour straight of thrusting, feinting, and moving. I was tired, but I still had another appointment this afternoon. Vostich had sent me a message and told me to come to him this afternoon just before supper.

It was a real pain in the butt to live in a world that had demi-gods and Gods and Goddesses ... but to have them in the family? They also had a thought process that seemed to be: drop what you’re doing and get here, sooner than now.

At least he was giving me time to finish whatever I was doing and clean up. Or maybe he just didn’t need me until the hour before supper. Thoughts like this could lead you to go crazy. So I just shut that down, and went to clean up.

I teleported into the castle of my great grandfather, Vostich, and was directed to the sub-basement. I made my way down a series of stairs until I reached the sub-basement. I was met with yet another guard, and taken to a room I have never seen or been to before.

Well, that was not too hard, considering there was a lot about the castle that I hadn’t seen yet.

“Ah! Paul is here, we can now begin,” Vostich said.

I looked around. There was my sister, Mirwana, and my wife Mariel. I raised my eyebrows at them in query. Mariel just smiled, and Mirwana rolled her eyes.

“I am going to try to arm you three better against possible demon attacks. Come,” he said, leading us further into the darkened room. It was difficult to see the room or guess its dimensions.

I heard echoes coming from far off from our boots hitting the stone floor. We finally came to a stop and were standing before yet another door. It glowed dimly, and had glyphs written all over it. I recognized several protection spells and glyphs, but was unable to identify most.

Vostich muttered something and waved his hand over the door. With an echoing click, it opened. Vostich said something else, and light bloomed inside the room. It had shelves, and chests inside.

It was some sort of a storage room, but was protected inside and out from magic. I looked with my other sight, and saw items with power in them. Some glowed gently, others were a blaze of glory!

Vostich led us into the room and closed the door behind us with a word and gesture. He led us further into the room. I was sure this room did not look this big from the doorway, yet we still kept on.

Finally we arrived at the back of the room. Vostich went to the chest that sat alone on the shelf in front of us and took it off the shelf. He stared at the chest for a moment, then opened it. He removed a smaller chest from inside.

He closed the large chest, and placed it back in its lonely place on the shelf. He set the small chest which was more in the way of being a large jewelery box, on a table. Opening the box, Vostich reached in and pulled out a heavy silver chain necklace with a pendant attached to it.

“This was my father’s. He was a powerful mage, and had it constructed and mother imbued it with her power for him. He fought to the death the last of an old demon breed that was part of this world.

“Demons had bred with humans here, and the results were demons that were a part of this world. It took over a hundred years to kill every last one of them. My father died with the last demon half breed,” Vostich said in a musing sort of voice.

“What does it do?” Mirwana asked curiously.

“It provides protection against all forms of magical attacks of demon kind. It particularly protects against mental attacks. The half-breeds were known to use subtle mental attacks. That was how they operated. Attack the mind, and the body and spirit follows.

“I gift this to you, Mariel. Of the three of you here, Mariel is most vulnerable. I have something else for each of you, Mirwana, Paul,” he said. He placed the chain over Mariel’s head and then held the pendant for a moment. It flared with a most soothing green light, that then faded and was not noticeable unless you used your second sight.

He then reached into the box again, and pulled out two more items. One was a bracelet, and one a ring. Both seemed to match the other.

“The bracelet and ring were a set made for my Grandfather and grandmother on my father’s side of the family. They too were demon hunters. I never got to know them,” Vostich said, a little whistfully.

“I gift the bracelet to you, Mirwana. The ring, I give to Paul. Both have properties to counter the demons ability to attack the mind. While they will both afford some protection against magical attack, these were made first and foremost for mental protection. Wear them well,” Vostich said and passed them to us.

I placed the ring on my finger. I felt as if something icy brushed my mind. I looked at the ring closely now decorating my right hand. It was a heavy silver ring with a green stone. There was engraving on the ring, but I could not make out what it was.

I looked over at Mirwana and saw she too was studying her new bracelet. It was made of heavy silver, with a green center stone, but with little blue stones surrounding the main green stone.

“All right. Now that this has been taken care of, there is only one more test to do. Come,” Vostich said, and we followed him out of the strange room.

Just before we left the room, an object caught my attention. It was a sword in a scabbard. I looked at it with my second sight, and saw it seemed to vibrate with controlled power.

I was about to ask Vostich about it, when the sword shot out a spark. Vostich stopped and looked at the sword. I could almost HEAR him speaking to the sword. We all stood there by the door, waiting for Vostich to open it.

Finally, Vostich turned to the door and opened it.

“Come, we still have something to do, then we shall sit and eat a good meal,” he said with a smile.

We left the room, and the sword, behind. We walked across the echoing room, and stopped before another door. Vostich took out a huge key, and unlocked the door. As we entered, I gasped at the power that the inside of this door displayed!

Vostich relocked the door behind us. What on earth could be in here that the door was warded like this? We went down a short tunnel, and came to yet another door which was glowing with wards.

“Behind this door, is a portal. Long ago, a demon asked me for sanctuary. I thought long and hard, and created one for him. You will be safe with me. More importantly, we will test the devices I gave you against his powers,” Vostich said and opened this door.

Huh? I didn’t remember signing up for something like this! Ok, I understood the need for testing items. But really, throwing my wife into something like this? I started to get angry. How dare he! I was about ready to let him know of my displeasure when he focused on me.

“Paul. I feel your anger. Trust me. I won’t let anything happen to you, your wife or sister. I will be there the entire time,” Vostich told me.

I let out my breath. I had not realized I had been holding it. It was probably just as well that he had defused the situation. I had been ready to really screw it up by going off on him, and that would not be a good thing. Telling off a demi-god was a good way to get yourself in serious trouble. I sighed.

We all entered the room. It was a round room. Off to one side was a portal. It was activated and open! I was about to open my mouth, but at that time, someone stepped through.

I was disappointed. He looked so, well, human. I also FELT him. Not like I felt the presence of Vostich or the gods and goddesses. No, this was more ... disgusting. Scary. Frightening. I heard my wife whimper, and I moved closer to protect her.

“Ah Vostich. I see you have brought visitors,” the demon said.

“Yes. These are my great grandson and granddaughter, and my great grandson’s wife. We are here for you to test their defenses,” Vostich told him.

“I see. What are the limits?” the demon asked.

“Magical spells and mental spells only. You try a physical attack, I will tear you to pieces,” Vostich said in a deadly tone.

“Agreed,” the man said, and I immediately felt a pressure in my head. It wasn’t bad or even hurt, just something trying to get in, and well, slipping. Like when you’re on ice, you know? Can’t get your feet to work right. I could feel a slipping and that was all. No invasion.

The pressure was gone and my wife gasped! I moved closer to her, but Vostich gave me a look. While she looked shaky, she lifted her chin, and stared at the man who was a demon.

Finally it was Mirwana’s turn. She squinted at the demon, but that was the only evidence of its attempt on her. Finally it sighed and nodded.

“They are all well protected against mental attacks. I have never felt such defenses before. They will hold against any I know of who practice mind magics,” the demon said.

“Magical attacks next. If you happen to break through a defense, stop immediately,” Vostich told the demon. It nodded.

“Mirwana, Paul, I expect you to put up defenses. While the ring and bracelet will offer some protection, that is not the primary purpose of those items. Only your wife will be safe, Paul,” Vostich told us.

I nodded and erected a shield. I felt Mirwana do the same, and Mariel, bless her, did the same. I looked at her shield. It was a good one. It would hold against some serious crap, but the demon tore into hers first.

Her shield lasted for two attacks, then crumbled. Mariel gasped and tried to get another shield up, but it didn’t matter. The demon struck and the pendant she was wearing flared to life. I watched as the pendant shunted the attacks which followed. Time after time the demon attacked and time after time the pendant resisted all the demons efforts.

Finally the demon stopped. He nodded to Vostich.

“She is unassailable by me. I would say she is protected against all except the higher ones. They, too, would have troubles; at least for the first few times they cast against her,” the demon said.

After that, Mirwana was next to feel his efforts, then myself. It was strange really. Mirwana held her shield firmly against him, as did mine. Even as he was attacking me, ideas popped into my head for counter attacks! I tracked one down, and thought about it, and knew it was a magical spell that Svedra had imparted to me. Bless that spider demi-god!

I had attack spells that should work against demons! I had been amazed at the abilities of Svedra when it had been here. I was even more impressed, now. Again spells that I had no knowledge of suggested themselves. A whole range of attack spells that I hadn’t known I had!

Finally it was over. Vostich nodded politely to the demon, who nodded in return and walked back through the portal. As soon as it was through, the gate went dead.

“Come, we have only moments before he will reactivate the gate. I want the door secure before he tries to break through again,” Vostich said.

We hustled out and almost as soon as the door was secure there was a maniacal shriek from the other side, and the door shivered. Again and again there was thumping and screaming from the other side.

Vostich stood close to the door, his hand held out. Shortly, the thumping and shrieking stopped. Vostich relaxed and dropped his hand. He then turned and led us out to the outer door, opened it. After we went through, he relocked and reset the wards on it.

Shortly we were all upstairs in the dining room.

“You all did well, this day. I am not as worried for your safety as I once was,” Vostich told us as the meal was served.

We all fell to eating with a good appetite. Since this was my wife’s first time here, she was taking everything in with wide-eyed curiosity. I was proud of her. She did well, and not just because of her pendant. She had been thrust into a very serious situation, and came though it well.

The meal over, I decided to ask Vostich about the sword in the room we got the extra magical help from.

“Vostich? Can you tell me something about that sword that shot off that spark at me?” I asked with great curiosity.

“I was afraid you were going to ask about that. It is a family heirloom. The sword even predates me. It is a very powerful weapon, but it is cursed,” Vostich said sadly.

“Uh, what do you mean cursed?” I asked.

“A very powerful being placed a subtle curse on it. If the wielder should die with the sword in his or her hand, their soul is taken into the sword for all time. There seems to be no way to break the curse.

“Three of my family members from long ago are in there. It is not a good afterlife, being in that sword. So I keep the sword where it can no longer take in more dead,” Vostich said.

I nodded. While I understood his decision, I was also wondering if he was keeping a weapon that could be used against the demons from us. I had the impression that the sword was a potent weapon, that could be used against about anything or anyone. I was already trying to think of a way to get him to change his mind.

Chapter 4

After supper was over, and Vostich said ‘no’ to me about the sword, there wasn’t much more to say or do. I had Mariel teleport us back to the palace. Mirwana decided to stay and talk with Both Vostich and Fithian about something to do with the upcoming coronation.

Mariel did a good job. She was getting better at some of the more mid to high level spells. I was proud of her, and told her so. She beamed at me, and kissed me. She had teleported us to our apartments in the palace.

It seems that fighting demons and excitement gets my little Mariel’s sex motor running. She was very enthusiastic for about the next hour. When we were finally spent, and I rolled onto my side, looking at my wife.

Later, I eased myself out from under her head. I dressed, and went to my office. I wanted to write down the spells for fighting demons I now suddenly knew, before they drifted out of my head or back into my subconscious.

I stretched and put down my pen. I never did get used to writing quills, so I kept a supply of pens handy. Those had a habit of disappearing too, for some reason. I chuckled as I remembered finding a stash in Mirwana’s apartment, a couple weeks ago, along with a few of my candy bars.

I am not sure when I first noticed it, but there was a drifting little point of light. I actually waved my hand at it, thinking it was a fly or something, before it registered on my consciousness. I frowned and looked at it.

It was moving independently from any light source in the room, and it was dark outside still. I put my pen down, and extended my senses to the little point of light. As my mind touched it, I was startled when I began to be drawn into it!

I fought and tried to withdraw, but it was no use. I was in a pattern of some sort, spiraling around, and ever downward. I was panicking! Finally, I was dumped out at the bottom of the pattern, and into a ... place.

I looked around. Patterns were all around me, arrayed in symmetrical displays. I started moving towards a particular pattern. Try as I might, I was unable to stop. I found myself at a glorious looking pattern, glowing with power, and opening to admit me.

PRESENCE is what I felt as soon as I stepped through. I bowed as I found myself in the presence of Pejoru, the God of Magic.

«Greetings again, Paul, and welcome,» Pejoru said in my mind.

“Thank you, Lord,” I said, unsure of how or why I was here.

He chuckled. To look at him was to see a being eight feet tall, wearing a golden robe. He had waist-length silver colored hair, and a beard of the same color. His eyes were also a golden color.

«I have brought you here to advise you. At your wedding, I gifted you and your bride with abilities you have not yet touched upon. Vostich has gifted her and you with items that you really don’t need.

«While it was sincerely done, you and your wife’s connection to the magical field make his gifts redundant. I have given you both the ability to touch the magic field at a deeper level than most mortals,» he said looking at me.

I listened, and was surprised. I remembered him doing something to me at the wedding, but didn’t know what it had been.

«Come, walk with me,» he said, and we were off.

We stepped through the portal? pattern? doorway? and back into that place of patterns. Seemingly endless rows and rows of patterns, going on beyond my comprehension.

«This is what you would term, ‘My Library’, of magic. Every spell known to anyone is here, including spells yet to be known. You and your wife have been granted the power and the ability to access my library, yet niether of you use it. Do not waste this time, as it is beginning to run out,» Pejoru said with a warning in his mental voice.

I looked around, and studied a pattern at random. To my complete astonishment, it resolved itself into a spell of quietness. I saw how to power and cast it. This was definitely a new way of looking at magic!

I looked at other spells. As I studied the pattern, it resolved itself into a specific instruction on how to do the spell it represented! I also remembered it perfectly! I heard a chuckle.

«Now you know. I suggest you bring your wife here next, and both of you study. Just coming here will arm you with spells and abilities that most of your world have not seen, or will not see for years to come,» he said with a gesture.

Another little light was there before me, but I knew it for what it was. Pejoru’s traveling gate to and from this place.

«Yes. Now just the gods, and you two humans, have access to my library. There will be others from time to time granted limited use. Leave these others alone. Most are harmless, but some will be dangerous to you. Just ignore them,» Pejoru said, and I found myself spiraling upward this time, totally out of control!

I found myself back in my office, and I heard a gasp. I turned to find my wife looking at me.

“What happened? Where did you just come from?” she asked.

So I sat her down, and told her the story. I then pointed at the tiny mote of light, and took her into it. We found ourselves in Pejoru’s library of magic. She was in awe at first, but then started studying spell after spell. I opened and memorized a few, then pointed to the exit spell. We found ourselves back in the study. She was excited at what had happened. She now had five new spells that she had never known before, and a very deep understanding of them.

It was like you got to know the spell, and it got to know you. Magic in that place was, well, alive! It was a part of a whole that was separated out to do a specific function. I had never realized this before.

Mariel and I got something to eat, and discussed what we had seen. Obviously, whatever Pejoru had done to us, had changed the way we saw and used magic. Armed with this new information, Mariel wanted me to try to take down her shield again.

Sighing, I watched as she put up her shield. I looked at it with my second sight. It was altered a bit from the previous shields she had put up. This one, while different, was basically the same, yet I could not crack it for a long while. I had to put a new twist on an old spell, to cause her shield to collapse!

Unfortunately, a side effect of casting spells in the palace, is that you will have visits from the palace battle wizards. Shortly after I caused Mariel’s shield to collapse, the door burst open. Several wizards came in, followed by four men at arms.

It took a few minutes to calm the uproar our impromptu magical practice had caused. I apologized to the officer in charge for causing the problem, and assured them my wife and I were finished for the night.

My wife was still exuberant. After all, she had never lasted long against me before. She definitely had a new grasp and understanding on magic. It had taken everything I had to penetrate her shield.

It is amazing what you can do when your mind believes you can do something. She had this capability when she confronted the demon, and her self made shield had failed quickly. Now she had a firm shield that I would be proud to call my own!

We were still talking about the possibilities of the library, when Mirwana burst through the doors without knocking, which showed the level of her aggravation.

“Well? What was so important that you two just had to alarm the night watch?” She asked with her arms folded under her breasts and tapping her foot.

It took us a while to tell her what had happened. She was surprised then excited by our revelation. But when she tried to access the library entrance through the mote of light, she was rejected.

I went though it, to test it, and came back. It worked fine for me, as well as for my wife. Mirwana stared at it, fascinated. She asked hundreds of questions, and we talked through the night.

She had congratulated us, and told me that she had something for me to do. I should come and present myself to her officially, later this afternoon. With that, she swept out, leaving us alone. Mariel asked me what I thought it would be. I told her I had no idea. We had breakfast together, and since it was too late to go back to bed, we dressed and prepared for the day’s duties.

It was late afternoon, and I was waiting to see Mirwana. She finally sent for me, and I went in to see her. She was standing before a map of the land of Landkur.

“Ah Paul. I have a problem ... actually, you have a problem. One of your Barons is hosting a demon. Baron Slotfir. Vostich did a sweep of the land, and discovered three areas that are demon tainted.

“While you have no responsibility for the other two, Baron Slotfir is your responsibility. I expect you to handle this. You are Slotfir’s direct lord, and he has sword fealty to you. Now, I am sure you can handle this. Vostich assures me you have the power,” she looked at me.

“I am directing you to go to your vassal, and resolve this problem. Fithian is taking care of the other two for me. Vostich is taking what actions he can to safeguard the land. That leaves you to get rid of the demon in the Slotfir Barony,” Mirwana said with finality.

I nodded and waited to see if she had anything else to say. She went to the window, and looked out at the city.

“I’m sorry to have to send you, Paul,” she said with a catch in her throat.

“I understand, Mirwana. I will study the map of the area, and fly down there. Let’s see, if they have a demon, I had better land short of the infected area, and walk in. Don’t worry, I will prep spells, and have a few dragons as backup,” I told her in a cheerful voice.

I left her shortly after that, and I wished I felt as positive about this as I sounded. I had never really fought a demon before. Sure, I had briefly encountered one on earth, but it had not fully made a gate to that world. I had been lucky. This time I was going to fight a demon that was in the land itself.

I decided to arm myself with spells from Pejoru’s library. I went to my office, and entered the gateway he had set up for me. I looked at the spells arrayed around me. While interesting, none of these were what I needed.

I was trying to figure out how to find what I wanted, when I felt the surrounding spells respond to my wishes. With a blur, the spells arrayed around me now were all of offense and defense against demons!

I started memorizing spells. I also memorized a few spells that were combat related. I wanted the power to bring down walls, if I had to. Baron Slotfir had been a monumental pain in my side, since my ascension to grand Duke of Landkur, and his personal lord.

I don’t know how much time went by, but I felt as if I had stuffed my head to bursting. I finally sought the exit. It appeared as soon as I wished for it, and I shortly found myself back in my office. I also noticed I was hungry. I went off in search of dinner.

This was fascinating, really. I now had a deeper understanding of magic and the way it worked. I knew my understanding of magic before Pejoru’s gift, was as a child understands the world around him or her. Which was to say — not much. I wondered if this was the way people and beings like Fithian and Vostich saw magic.

With my new knowledge of magic, I could see how magic was woven into the very fabric of reality. How little I had known before! I thought about my abilities as a dragon lord, and saw possibilities I had never seen or noticed before.

I was dreading what I was going to have to do next. Mariel would not be pleased with my having to leave her for a time. While she would understand; she was, after, all a young girl who was still a bit unsure of herself. Still, she had made great strides since our marriage, and I was confident she would cope well.

I shouldn’t have worried about her. She was so caught up in the library of magic that Pejoru had opened to her, that she just nodded and asked when I thought I might be back. I chuckled and said as quickly as possible. She kissed me on the cheek, and disappeared into the entrance of the library to ‘study’.

I got a bit of money for living expenses, and then teleported to the outside of Vostich’s castle. I reviewed the spells in my head, and was satisfied. I had the ring Vostich gave me, and I had my power ring, just in case. I concentrated for a moment, and turned into the dragon that I was becoming familiar with.

I walked over to the edge of the steep slope, and started the lumbering run. I was soon airborne, and climbing thermals for hight. I leveled off, and headed for Baron Slotfir’s and my first encounter with a demon.

Chapter 5

I flew east for about 20 minutes. Dragons can eat up the miles very quickly. I angled down, and landed about a ten-minute walk from the village of Slotfir. As soon as I changed into my human form, I could feel it.

The closer I got to the village, the worse it felt. At first it was just an uneasiness. Then it got worse. I finally came into the village proper, and made my way to the only inn.

I entered, and saw that while it was crowded, it was an unusually silent crowd. They quickly looked me over, and then went back to their ... brooding. I walked to the bar, and asked for ale. My voice seemed unnaturally loud in my ears.

I was thinking that I had missed something, as my ale was served and I paid for it. I walked to the end of the bar, and leaned against it, sipping my ale in thought. First, flying in, I had not felt this uneasiness. It only happened after I relinquished my dragon form.

Then, while finishing my journey into the village, I had been increasingly nervous and depressed. I muttered a brief spell, and that vanished. Animals! That was it. I didn’t see any cats or dogs. Nor had I heard any cows lowing, or sheep, or any roosters crowing.

I had seen horses, but these had been bunched together, as if for protection. I decided to go with a frontal attack all the way. First, I thought of the spell I wanted, and then I cast an eye around the inn, and then I cast it.

The reaction was remarkable! The tension and fear hanging in the very air, was gone. I had put up a shield around the inn, and it was free of the miasma that had been draining everyone here.

I heard startled exclamations from several people. Then silence returned, and all were looking at me. Well, I had not been silent with my spell. I raised my mug in salute, and drained it.

“Another mug my friend, and I will gladly buy a round for all here if they so desire it,” I told the innkeeper.

There was a moment of silence, then a rush to the long bar. I was questioned. Everyone wanted to know who I was and what was happening. The innkeeper was busy for a few minutes filling mugs. Soon my few remaining brasses, and most of my coppers were gone. Still, I had a few silvers and several golds, to tide me over. I didn’t think I would be broke, before I finished my task.

“In answer to your question, I am Paul Landkur, Duke De Landkur, and I have come to demand answers from my vassal, Baron Slotfir. He has much to answer for,” I said in an angry tone of voice.

“Now then, how long has this feeling of dread and despair been going on?” I asked.

While the answers varied, it seemed to be a bit over a week, now. Some people on the outskirts of the village had just up and left. Soon, it seemed that no one else could. If someone wanted to leave, and started to leave, they found themselves wondering back to the village after a short time.

I nodded and thought about what I should do. The castle proper was still another two miles east, on a hill overlooking the great inland sea, and everything for miles around.

I sent out my senses, and felt that the source of the miasma was at the castle. I nodded as people began a litany of complaints. I finally held up my hand.

“I swear to you as your Duke, that before this day is out, the source of this problem will be gone,” I said, and drained my ale.

“You will all be safe, in here. I will firm the shield, and you can bring your wives and children here for protection,” I said, and worked a spell of protection into the shield that I had cast around the inn. When I was finished, I walked out the door and took the east road towards the castle.

I cast several small spells of protection over myself. I decided that instead of one massive shield, I would go with smaller shields. They were designed to last so long, and collapse, only to reveal another shield of similar type behind the collapsed shield.

I did this as I marched towards the castle. I had gone about a mile and a half, when I was stopped by several of Baron Slotfir’s soldiers. They had some ridiculous demands that I surrender myself, and they had a magic worker, who appeared to be under an external control or influence.

“I command you all to stand aside, and let me pass. I am The Duke De Landkur, and your lord’s liege. Stop me at your peril,” I said grimly.

“I am sorry your grace, but our orders are to take you and deliver you to our lord,” a man who I guessed to be the senior guard present said.

I sighed, and pulled out a tried and true spell. I cast a sleep spell over the area, and soon all the guards, and the magic user, were asleep. I snorted. I was getting good mileage out of that spell.

I cast another spell binding them to sleep until I countered it, or a day went by. That should keep them firmly out of the way until everything was resolved. I counted 12 soldiers and 1 magic user. That had to be a pretty significant portion of the good Baron’s men at arms that he would have available to him at the castle.

“Father?” a deep melodious voice said.

I jumped and spun around. There was my Arch Angel. I hadn’t called him to me. Interesting.

“Yes? I am a little busy right now,” I told it, him. Arch Angel was definitely a he.

“I want to help you. I have been gathering information on this type of demon,” Arch Angel told me.

“All right, what can you tell me about it?” I asked curiously.

“It is a minor demon from one of the outer circles of the Hell Plain. Yes, I know, it is similar to the Hell of our world. There is a great probability that earth has had interaction in the past with this Hell, and the results are written into the myths of earth.

“It feeds on despair and hopelessness, and you putting up that shield around the inn, has warned it that someone with strong magical capabilities is in the area,” Arch Angel told me in a matter of fact voice.

I nodded slowly. Ok, so I had sent it a warning. Well, it knew someone would be coming for it sooner or later. It had to. I thanked Arch Angel and started striding towards the castle. Arch Angel walked with me.

“Are you capable of defending yourself, in the event of an attack?” I asked him curiously.

“Yes. I have learned enough magic to counter anything that this demon can cast at me. I am more worried about you,” he told me.

I stumbled to a halt. I looked at him with amazement.

“You’re staying to protect me?” I asked, my voice full of incredulity.

“I have only just gotten you as my father. I would hate to lose you already. I would protect you, if you would allow it,” he said to me.

I was touched. I was also pissed that he thought I could not protect myself. I told him he could observe and help out if I needed it, but other than that, to wait until I gave him a specific order. He agreed meekly.

A short time later, Arch Angel and I arrived at the gate of the castle. It was much smaller than Vostich’s castle in Landkur. The thick wooden gates were closed. Sentries were on the wall, watching, as I approached. I stopped, and folded my arms, waiting.

I was about two hundred paces from the gate, well within bow range. No arrow came my way. I looked at the guard, and they looked at me. I sent out my senses, and felt a boil of hate, greed, lust, and despair; all the feelings one tries to stay away from, were centered here.

I firmed up my shields and waited some more. Still, no one questioned me. I just looked their way. Arch Angel was quiet by my side. I looked at Arch Angel and was about to ask him to do something, when it occurred to me; I had no idea if he had a name, yet.

I studied him a moment, and it came to me.

“You are Michael,” I told him.

He stared at me a moment, then bowed to me.

“Thank you for the name, Father. I will treasure it as I do my life,” he responded with a beautiful smile.

Great. Now I was noticing beautiful smiles from decidedly male persons. I rolled my eyes. I decided it was time to take matters into hand. I cast my loudspeaker spell, which would allow my voice to be heard everywhere for up to a quarter of a mile in every direction.

“Baron Slotfir, you will open your gates, and present yourself to me for judgment. To the demon present: if you go back to your own land, now, I will not destroy you,” I said, then stopped and waited.

I did not have long to wait. I saw the Baron on his wall, and standing next to him was a dark robed and cowled person, who I knew instantly, was the demon. His dark robe shone with, well, evil.

Soldiers along the wall, were now loading arrows into bows and firing at me. It was interesting in that only a few actually would have hurt me if they had been allowed to hit me. My shield stopped them.

I was now in attack mode. I cast a spell that rocked the castle gate, and cracked it. It held though. A tribute to the spell that had been on it. While it had born the brunt of the force of my spell, it failed. The result was now a damaged gate.

I cast the same spell at the people along the top of the wall. A lot of people screamed, and disappeared from view. I felt sorry for them, but I was resolute. I noticed that the people closest to the demon and the Baron stayed on their feet, protected I guessed.

Arch Angel, Michael, took to the air. The demon looked at him, and held out a hand, and a beam of dark force struck at him as he flew. Michael came to a stop, and hovered, and I watched as the beam fell several feet short of actually striking him.

Michael started to glow, and beams of pure white erupted from the tips of his wings, and slammed into the demon. It took a step back, but I could discern no obvious damage or harm done it.

I spread my arms, and cast a spell I had learned from Svedra. I enclosed the demon in a sphere of force. It tried to escape, but I had it! I exerted my will, and levitated the demon from the wall, starting it towards me.

I could feel that I had also cut it off, totally, from its energy supply. Good. If worse came to worse, I could now wear it down.

“Michael, I will take care of this demon, you hold the Baron for me, and keep the others off my back, will you?” I asked my, um, son.

“It would be my pleasure, Father,” Michael said to me.

I had the demon very close to me, when it started to shrink inside the globe. All of a sudden, I felt a counter force that went beyond my ability to control, and the sphere broke and the demon was free!

“Father!” Michael yelled in warning.

“I’m on it. Just carry out your instructions!” I yelled to him.

The demon changed form. It became a huge bat shaped creature, and started to fly away. I cast a light spear spell at it, and while it screamed in pain or rage, it kept going.

I changed into a smaller version of my dragon form, and launched myself into the air. I pumped my wings, slowly gaining hight. The bat creature had a head start, and was quickly dwindling into the distance.

I kept an eye on it. Slowly, ever so slowly, I gained on it. For an hour we flew, with me ever so slowly gaining on it. I wracked my brains for a spell to slow it, and one suggested itself to me.

Twin silver beams of light flew from my eyes, straight at the bat-like creature that was the demon. It struck it, and oily smoke filled the air. It screamed in pain or rage, but started to glide, and was going down.

I strained myself, catching up to it finally. I followed it down. We landed almost at the same time. We both changed. I changed into my human form; and it into, well, what ever an eight-legged demon was.

I cast another light lance spell at it, and it jumped out of the way at the last minute. It spit something at me, but my shield turned it away from me, keeping me safe. I tried to enclose it again as I did while it was on the wall, but it countered that one.

We traded spells for a time. Finally, a spell I had just learned in Pejoru’s library suggested itself, and I cast it. It screamed in pain. It started to collapse in on itself. I watched, fascinated, as a demon was being destroyed right before my eyes.

I poured in power, and cast another spell at it. Finally it, well, exploded into nothingness. It was done. One demon destroyed. It had taken me almost two hours to kill it. Not good. I had to learn to do this more efficiently.

I carefully scanned the area, but there was nothing left, but dissolving energy. It was definitely gone for good. I sighed. I reached out, and found Michael. He reported that the castle was now clean of the demons influence, and that he had the Baron captive, and was waiting for my orders. I told him to maintain the situation, and I would be there in a moment.

I took a moment to gather power, and I teleported myself back to the castle. I went through the now open gate and was confronted by a motionless Baron Slotfir, and Michael, as well as several people who were anxious to clear up this matter and throw themselves on my mercy. I sighed. This part was going to take more time.

Chapter 6

After settling with Baron Slotfir, things settled down in Landkur. Fithian took care of the two other demons, and Vostich did some heavy spells, that would make it almost impossible for demons to set foot on Landkur soil.

Vivian had the list of supplies we were low on or out of completely. I read it over, and added a few items. I was going to make a trip back to earth, and I would be gone for a few weeks (local time). I wanted to hire some more people to come back with me.

I also stopped at the foundry, and looked over the main product we were producing. We had orders backlogged, and we could have used another foundry, easily. The ‘Franklin’ stoves I had introduced, were a hit.

I had wanted something useful, and easy to make. The Franklin stove was relatively unchanged since it was first designed. Franklin had hit upon a simple design that was hard to improve on. My hat was off to him.

I discussed future projects with the foundry manager, and came to the conclusion that unless we could figure out how to produce units faster, we were going to be doing nothing but Franklin stoves for the next couple years, just to fill existing orders.

Over the next few days, I got caught up on as many things as I could. I was getting ready for an extended absence, and I wanted things to run as smoothly as possible. Mirwana was already giving me hell about leaving, but was also asking if I could get her some items while I was there. I said sure, and I was presented with a rather huge shopping list of items.

The bad part was I was going to have to leave Mariel behind. While she wanted to go, we could not afford to have both the Duke and Duchess De Landkur gone at the same time for any extended time. Vostich and Mirwana both put their foot down over this issue.

Finally, we were ready. I had already changed into earth clothes as had Vivian. I double-checked that we had everything we needed and opened the gate. I will never get used to the feeling of losing the connections to this world, and establishing weaker and fewer connections on earth.

I went through, and had a quick moment of disorientation as new connections were formed. These were much fewer, but at least they gave me control. I looked with relief at the connection that went off into the other land, my connection to it, and my only one. This had happened before, but it was still unnerving.

This was much better! Since Svedra had shown me how to aim a gate, I no longer had to cross the country after coming through. I anchored, closed, and warded the gate. It stood solidly invisible, between two tall firs. We came out close to my house, in a little wooded area I knew of, that was not used at all by anyone. We walked down, and I looked my house over. It was in good shape. The lawn had been cut recently, and it seemed my instructions had been followed. I was pleased.

That was a preview of P I and Magic Book 2 - The Gods Return. To read the rest purchase the book.

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