Darg-Krallnom looked around the table at the other commanders, getting a visible read on their confidence levels, before finally nodding. “That will work.”
“Uhm… Lord Tommus?” Valg raised his hand as Tom stood to leave, allowing his commanders to plan.
“Yes, Valg?”
“One more rather important detail,” Valg said.
“Yes? We need all the information we can get,” Tom said.
“Apparently there are something like fourteen different avatars of the Five Siblings there, including the prophet of each of the Siblings, the head archons for Nysegard for each of the Siblings, as well as four others,” Valg said, causing indrawn breaths from those assembled. “They too are completely cut off.”
Tom closed his eyes, shaking his head. “Great. So if we break the siege and restore their access, they immediately try to arrest me.”
Tom and Tamarin left the conference room with Phaestus and Völund so that they might discuss the situation in private while the commanders made their plans. Tom was no military commander; he would rely on the recommendation of commanders with thousands of years’ experience.
“Lord Tommus!” Talarius called from behind him.
“Follow us if you want to talk,” Tom said.
“Lord Tommus, I beg of you, do not abandon these good souls to the Unlife!” Talarius pleaded.
“I have not made any decisions yet, Talarius.” Tom looked to the knight. He was fully armored due to the heat, so Tom could not see his face, but his voice was definitely strained with emotion.
“I understand there is much history, bad history between my god and you, and your predecessor; but I beg of you to consider that they — these people on Nysegard — have kept their oath to your people here!” Talarius said.
“I’m well aware of that, and it is very important,” Tom said as they moved briskly down the corridor towards Tom’s room. “But the situation is dangerous and we must evaluate what we can do safely.”
“My lord, just grant me this,” Talarius begged. “Should you decide against intervention, at least allow me to go there and fight by their side.”
Tom stopped for a moment at the door to his room, and looked at the knight. He was clearly being earnest. Tom nodded and said, “I will consider that as well.”
Talarius nodded, as much as he could in his suit of armor.
Tom opened the door and proceeded inside. He noted that Talarius followed him, Tamarin, Völund and Phaestus into the room. One problem with having the knight living in the same suite as himself.
As the door closed behind them, he ignored Talarius and looked to Phaestus. “I know very well that the Nyjyr Ennead hate the Five Siblings, and I understand if you do not wish to be involved in aiding them,” Tom told the god.
Phaestus shrugged. “Well, I’ll grant you my wife will have no desire to be at your side in this battle.” He made a rueful expression. “However, should you choose to aid the Citadel, I will assist you. It will not be the first time I have put the needs of Mount Doom ahead of one of the pantheons I belong to. Eris would be one such example.”
“Thank you,” Tom said, feeling an immense amount of relief.
“Given what happened last time, I believe that I should be stationed here to ensure the operation of Doom continues,” Völund said, looking to Phaestus, “and that you should be in the Nysegard Doom to ensure it is not sabotaged like at Etterdam.”
“Agreed,” Phaestus said. “Between us and the heavy guards both here and at the Doomalogue, we should be able to stop Lilith, or at worst, delay her long enough for retreat.”
“One thing that concerns me,” Tom said, and the others looked to him. “There are avatars there; do we have any idea if one is Sentir Fallon? If this is another trap, I would have no idea how to recognize him.”
“Good point,” Phaestus agreed.
“Actually, that reminds me,” Tom said, looking around. “Erestofanes was going to deliver Orcus’s Memory Mirror. I asked him if we had any paintings of Tiernon, and he suggested that Orcus may have had a mirroring of him.”
Phaestus sighed. “Yes, there will be a mirroring or two of Tiernon on the Memory Mirror.”
Tom looked at him oddly. “Why did you sigh when you said that?”
Völund snorted. “Because it’s going to complicate the situation for you, and raise all sorts of questions that the Citadel doesn’t have time to deal with.”
“Okay, now you’ve really got me curious,” Tom said.
“Me too,” Tamarin agreed.
Phaestus simply shook his head and frowned. “I assume he would have put it back in its original location.” He gestured towards the door to Tom’s bedroom.
Tom went and opened the door and peered in. Sure enough, there was a large, gold-framed mirror on the wall opposite the balcony. Tom entered his bedroom, gesturing for the others to follow, which they did.
Tom walked over to the mirror. “How do you use this?” he asked.
Phaestus sighed yet again. He was really not enthusiastic about this. “You hold the Rod, concentrate on the mirror and tell it what you want to see. In this case, I would suggest a particular image.”
“Which one?” Tom asked.
“It is one that Orcus referred to as ‘The Wedding Party,’ ” Phaestus said.
“The wedding party? Tiernon was at a wedding?” Tom asked, puzzled. Why would Orcus have a mirroring of a wedding that Tiernon was at? That would have to be a spy in a very high place.
“Quite a few important people you probably want to know about there,” Völund said somewhat sarcastically.
“So how do I do this?” Tom asked.
Phaestus moved closer. “Like with any magic mirror on a wall, you say ‘Mirror, mirror, on the wall, show me the wedding party, from one to all.’ That will bring up all the images of the wedding party, starting with the first.”
Tom nodded his head and turned to address the mirror. “Mirror, mirror on the wall, show me the wedding party, from one to all.”
The mirror blurred for a moment, and then revealed exactly what might have been expected. It was a wedding party after a wedding. There was a bride and groom, a very large bearded older man and a pale, almost Goth-like bride with a rather odd smile. On the groom’s side stood three men of varying ages and two women. On the bride’s side there were three people.
Tom blinked at the three. The first was himself — or rather, the human version of Orcus that looked like an older, bearded version of Edwyrd. The second was a younger man who looked very much like Rupert in his human form. The third was Phaestus.
Tom shook his head in puzzlement. “Whose wedding is this? I thought you said that Tiernon would be there. I see Orcus and you, and someone who looks a lot like Rupert in his human form.”
Völund chuckled. Phaestus glared at him.
“The man next to the groom is Tiernon. Next is Namora, then Torean, Krinna and Hendel; the Five Siblings in their most common, casual forms.” Phaestus said.
There was a clanking noise as Talarius took his helmet off and stared at the image. “Are you telling me that Tiernon and Orcus were at a wedding together?”
“Not exactly. What you are looking at is the wedding party — as in the bride, groom and attending family members.” Phaestus said calmly.
“The two families?” Tom asked. Talarius, Tamarin and Tom were all staring at Phaestus in shock.
“The groom is Aetherus All Father, the father of the Five Siblings,” Phaestus said.
“You mean one of the people Tiernon had us lock up in Tartarus?” Tom asked in surprise.
“The same,” Phaestus said.
“So is the bride Eris? Your sister?” Tamarin asked.
Phaestus nodded. “Daughter of Zeus and Hera, also known as Discordia.”