Demonstorm

Hirad saw through the crowds a glimpse of the power of the boosted demons. A Wesmen axe flashed into a karron face. It fell back but another was in so quickly. A pincer limb whipped out, grabbing the warrior's axe arm. The spike limb thrashed across his undefended body and his corpse was hurled aside.

'Hold!' said The Unknown.

The Raven stopped and formed up to defend. Ahead of them, Tessaya roared more orders. Hirad saw his axe take the head from his enemy. The Wesmen pushed forwards, halting the karron advance. Hirad could feel their pure ferocity like a shivering in the air. He dragged a strike-strain from his shoulder and crushed it under his heel. By the time he looked up, Tessaya was standing in front of them.

'You come to stand with the Wesmen?' he asked.

His face was cut and bleeding but his eyes shone with his determination and energy. Warriors around him took the strike-strain from the air near him much as the Al-Arynaar did for The Raven.

'No,' said Hirad. 'Our fight is elsewhere but we need your help and that of your Shaman.'

Tessaya frowned. 'I do not understand.'

'We'll explain but not here. Please, come with us to the barracks where your Shaman is waiting.'

'I will not leave the battle with the ul-karron,' he said. 'I must stand and fight with my warriors.'

Hirad watched him square his shoulders. His eyes had barely left the fight to his right.

'Just for a few moments,' said The Unknown. 'It concerns the future of us all.'

Tessaya sized them up. Hirad felt like he was in a bubble. He was aware of the fighting all around him. The desultory spells working across the shell and the sound of reaver and strike-strain attacks. The

chants of the Wesmen as they drove hard at the ul-karron. But it seemed distant somehow. Almost unimportant compared to the workings of the mind of the man in front of them.

Tessaya turned and spoke quickly to his lieutenant. He nodded at Hirad.

'You have my attention,' he said. 'Don't waste it.'

Al-Arynaar and Wesmen rushed their charges to the barracks. The move had not gone unnoticed by the master demons and already the focus of reaver attacks was switched. It bought the Wesmen in the front line some respite but posed a new problem. Wesmen reserve were already organising themselves to ring the barracks building, while Rebraal, standing at the door, was overseeing his people scaling the walls to stand on the flat roof.

They were ushered inside to the officers' quarters. Arnoan was already there and with him were Auum, Evunn, Pheone, Dystran and Vuldaroq. Eilaan stood in one corner, looking nervous. With The Raven, Rebraal and Tessaya completing the complement, the incense-heavy room was crowded and hot. Hirad felt a rush of nerves combined with a sense of excitement and history. In this room were the men, women and elves on whom the fate of the entire dimension rested.

Tessaya, his presence the single greatest in the room, laid his axe on a table by the door and strode across to Arnoan. He took in the assembled company and was clearly impressed despite himself.

'We have a battle to win outside these walls,' he said, speaking in eastern Balaian for the benefit of those around him. 'Explain to me what is proposed.'

Arnoan had the look of a haunted man close to panic. His hands were shaking and his face was grey with exhaustion. Tessaya gripped his shoulders and his expression softened.

'My Shaman, calm yourself,' he said. T understand we have more problems than those immediately without. What has happened?'

'I was on my way to find you, my Lord,' said Arnoan. 'The demons have broken into the Spirits' resting place. They fight but they have no real weapons. The attack is confirmed by the elves. We have to act or our ancestors will be lost to us. We cannot let this happen.'

'How can this have happened?' demanded Tessaya. 'The Spirits are inviolate.'

'The incursion is as yet small but it will grow,' said Arnoan. 'I fear one of our Shamen must have been taken by demons.'

'Then we will find him and rescue him. Close this breach and continue our fight against the enemy on our own terms.'

'That is not possible,' said Dystran. 'Xetesk is a big city. The demons control both it and all the surrounding lands. You can never hope to find him.'

'But there is another way,' said Hirad. 'The Raven's way.'

'The only way,' added The Unknown.

Tessaya's head swung round to The Raven. 'Speak,' he said.

Hirad nodded at Denser, best able to make the explanation.

'My Lord Tessaya, the demons attack us on multiple fronts. What we must do now was always a certainty but we are forced to act sooner than we would have wished. The only way to stop the enemy is to close the gap in the sky above the college. Cut off the flow of mana and the pathway to this dimension before the density of both enemies and mana becomes overwhelming.

'With the breach in the spirit dimension, that time has drawn much closer. You can already see the strength it has given them and that strength will only grow. We have to travel to the demons' dying home and shut off the power, close the gap. Force the demons to defeat. We had thought Xeteskian knowledge of dimensional magics would be able to send us there but it cannot. You can. Your religion and your Shaman's powers allow for travel to the heart of the demon lands. You must agree to send us. You must or we will all perish under the power of our enemies.'

Tessaya's doubt was evident in his expression and mirrored in his words. 'This is preposterous,' he said. 'The ceremony you speak of is the severest punishment we can hand down to a warrior. It is banishment and damnation without possibility of resting with the Spirits.' He shrugged. 'It is death alone without salvation.'

'Nevertheless, you must agree,' continued Denser. 'It is a gamble but one that we must take. It is the only thing which can save us.'

'And to take on this mighty responsibility, we send a few exhausted Easterners? If it is so important, then the Wesmen will undertake it. Why send a few when there is an army outside?'

'Because, my Lord, if your army travels, then Xetesk has no defence and will be overrun. Julatsa is abandoned, Dordover has fallen and Lystern must be close to failing too. If Balaian magic dies then it will not matter if we close the gap or not. The demons will rule Balaia.'

'The Wesmen will never bow to demons.'

'Damn you, Tessaya, but you remind me of me,' growled Hirad. 'If there is no magic there are no weapons. You cannot kill demons without it, and you know that. So stop the posturing and do the right thing.'

Tessaya's head snapped round. 'Never speak to me in that fashion, Raven. I am Tessaya, Lord of all the Wesmen.'

'I know,' said Hirad. 'And I admire and respect you. But you will be lord of an enslaved race if you do not let us attempt this.'

'What do you have to lose?' asked Erienne. 'If you don't believe us, so be it but don't stop us doing what we believe to be right. Listen to your Shaman, Lord Tessaya. Give the order.'

'Arnoan? Speak.'

'My Lord, I cannot say if they will succeed but I, like you, know where they will travel. No Wesman will go there willingly and to be forced to do so would weaken them. We cannot afford to take an army. We have to defend while they make this attempt. I would say let them go. And should they not come back, we will still be here to fight. The Wesmen will prevail.'

Tessaya considered again. On the roof above them, the Al-Arynaar fought reavers trying to gain access to their prizes. A demon fist smashed a hole in the roof, scattering tile and plaster.

Hirad indicated above his head. 'The demons know we are a threat. They may not know what we intend but they want our souls. While we live, they cannot win because the will of our country cannot be broken.'