“That’s where we get barrels for the tribe gatherings.” Soo An nodded.
The D’Orcs looked at each other. “Is this Murgatroy far away?” Vespa asked.
“Quite a ways, but if we are flying at hunt speed? A bit over a day’s flight, perhaps.”
“That’s a lot of hunting time.” Vespa shook her head. “It would take us until after fierdset to get there. Let us discuss this with the steward and Lord Tommus. We might be able to return tomorrow to get glargh.”
“Or,” Dider said, “Astlan is mana rich. D’Orcs and D’Wargs need no sleep. After we hunt, we could travel through the night to this Murgatroy. Our hosts, who know where we are going, would need to sleep on D’Wargback, which I suspect would not be pleasant.”
“We can ride all night for glargh!” Bor Tal said with a bit of indignation. “We are Crooked Sticks, after all!” He grinned.
“I would be game for that!” Tal Gor said. He did not want this day to end, so if he could extend it through tomorrow, that would be ideal. Bor Tal and Soo An nodded in agreement.
Vespa grinned and nodded her head.
Chapter 104
“You are looking a bit... sickly, master,” Vaselle told Edwyrd hesitantly as the animage finished dressing in the clothes he had asked the wizard to purchase for him.
“You are starting to sound like Tizzy,” Edwyrd said, chuckling. “You do know that if I walked about the city in my true form, there would be mass panic and the wards would be immediately snapped back on?”
Vaselle shrugged. “Yes, but it seems a small price for not sacrificing your comfort. Surely squeezing your true magnificence into such a small and weak form must be uncomfortable?”
Edwyrd looked at Vaselle and grinned. “You are amazingly perceptive, Vaselle. It is quite uncomfortable, particularly when I haven’t been in this form for several days. It takes adjustment. However, we need to go see Damien and I can’t enter the palace as Tom.”
“Have you have finished with your hunting parties?” Vaselle asked.
“I brought the last game back from Etterdam right before I came here; however, I will be retrieving the D’Orcs in the morning. They are feasting with their hosts tonight and wanted some more time outside the Abyss. The guys here in Astlan are feasting now and will be heading to someplace called Murgatroy overnight to try and get barrels of glargh.”
“Murgatroy?” Vaselle said, trying to recall if he knew where that was. “I assume that must be somewhere near Jotungard?”
Edwyrd shook his head. “I barely know where Freehold is relative to Gizzor Del and Lenamare’s castle.” He frowned. “I’ve got maps, or at least old maps. I should study them. If I had more shamans I’d have them update the maps, but that’s a big undertaking.”
“You could just buy some maps here in Freehold,” Vaselle observed.
Edwyrd grinned. “Mount Doom’s maps are pretty cool; you will want to see them.” He chuckled. “I probably should get some normal maps for an interim update, but I am not sure how long paper maps will last in the Abyss.” He shook his head. “So much work to do!”
Edwyrd reflected on his conversation about maps with Vaselle as they made their way to the palace and Damien’s suite. He had mentioned all the work he had to do to bring Mount Doom up to date, and that was very true, but the real insight was that it was something to do. Up until he had freed the Rod of Tommus, he had not really had anything to do. He had had no goal other than getting by day-to-day. Now he had something worth doing, something constructive to actually do with his time. That was exciting. It was surprising how much better he felt having something to do, something to plan for and look forward to. He had been feeling pretty depressed in his old day-to-day rut, bouncing from disaster to disaster and contemplating doing that for thousands of years. However, rebuilding Mount Doom and the D’Orcs and their networks — that was something to keep him occupied for centuries, if not longer. There were infinite worlds to explore. Things to do, places to go. Really, this could be a lot of fun!
Of course, there was the small detail of the Church and Rod of Tiernon, and presumably this Lilith woman who hated D’Orcs for some reason. However, he should be able to reach an accommodation with them. He had no desire for conquest, just for ensuring good lives for his people. It would take some effort, but he was sure he could work out deals. He hoped so, at least. He had seen how difficult Talarius could be; Tiernon and the rest were probably worse.
They were just starting up the stairs to Damien’s suite’s floor when he realized that he was thinking about negotiating a treaty with a god. Okay, somebody’s ego was getting out of check! Edwyrd grinned to himself. The two walked down the hallway to Damien’s suite and Vaselle knocked on the door.
One of Damien’s valets opened the door and let them in. Damien came into the sitting room from the dining room.
“Welcome back, Edwyrd, Vaselle,” Damien said, reaching his hand out in greeting to Edwyrd and then Vaselle. “I think the later time worked out better because we can have dinner.”
“Definitely. I’ve been looking forward to catching up and getting your advice on various issues,” Edwyrd said. “Plus it’s a great opportunity to talk to both of you about making an arcane device that I think would be quite useful.”
“So you have no idea what was behind those Etonian wards?” Damien asked after Edwyrd had finished relating his story. He had gone back to the major turning point in the story. Obviously a rather hard-to-believe incident.
Edwyrd shook his head. “Not a clue.” He gestured to Antefalken and said, “We were just out for sightseeing and picking up some treasure. We then got lost and in over our heads. It was purely random chance; a case of being in the right place at the right time.”
Antefalken nodded. “I admit, if I had not been there every single step of the way, I would never have believed this story.”
Damien closed his eyes and shook his head. “But how does one accidentally stumble upon the Wand of Orcus?” He opened his eyes. “Lost, hidden and shielded by Etonian runes for thousands of years, right in the old seat of this demon prince’s lair?”
Edwyrd chuckled. “And not only that. These were not just Etonian runes; this stuff was pure Tiernon magic. I could easily see that, and the trick I learned in battle, how to decode their mana streams — I used the same trick on these runes and then used the excess mana I’d stolen to meld with and subvert the wards. I was basically masquerading as an avatar of Tiernon.” Edwyrd blinked as he said this, having not really thought of that angle before.
“How do you plan something like that?” Antefalken asked.
Damien shook his head and shrugged. “I have no idea; I could not have foreseen the results of your battle with Talarius, let alone the way in which the battle came about thanks to Lenamare.”
“Exactly, it was completely random that we went treasure hunting at Mount Doom,” Antefalken said.
Edwyrd frowned. “Well — I’m not so sure on that point.”
The others looked at Edwyrd. “It may simply be his insanity, but when I freed the Rod of Tommus from the stones, Tizzy was looking happier, more ecstatic than I’ve ever seen him. He was literally dancing, or at least I think that was what he was doing. It could have been a seizure.”
Antefalken squinted. “Well, it was his idea to go there.”
“And he knew a lot of the D’Orcs,” Edwyrd pointed out. “And they didn’t seem to like him.”