The Devil's Deuce (The Barrier War)

by Brian J Moses

“Bloody, motherless spawn of demon…” Gerard trailed off into yet another series of vile curses. This time, when he finished, his face was seething and the red scars pulsed with fury. “Is there any way for us to get into the fighting soon?” Gerard asked, his tone murderous.

  “Not really,” Garet replied. “We don’t even have the ability to cycle defenders in and out at this point. The fighting is too intense on the wall, and the only cycle going on is replacing the dead with the living. The courtyards are stacked with the bodies of both sides. They’re even attacking at night, if not as intensely. They’re either able to see by some Sin-cursed ability or their commander just doesn’t care and is throwing them at us anyway. We have to keep the walls well-lit just so we can spot them and counter in turn.”

  “Very well. Shadow Company, deploy nearby and rest, but don’t get too comfortable,” Gerard said. “I’ll be back soon with further instructions. Michael, tell the Merishank army to spread out and settle in, but to make themselves available as needed if the defenders’ ranks start to thin. Tell the ranking general to report to the city defenders as soon as possible. Marc, Flasch, you’re in charge of Shadow Company until I get back. I don’t want a single member of the flock on that wall until I say so.”

  “The Shepherd has spoken,” Flasch said whimsically, but saluted with all seriousness. Gerard returned the salute without comment.

  “Marc, have the elves find somewhere…” the Red paladin trailed off as he looked around and saw the elves were nowhere in sight. Gerard muttered racial imprecations under his breath, then looked back at his officers.

  “Trebor, Danner, Garnet, you’re with me.” He turned to Birch and the other two paladins, who had remained silent thus far. “Coming with us?”

  “No,” Birch answered, his face dark and his eyes burning with fury. His attention had remained riveted on a blank expanse of wall, as if he could look through the stone and piles of bodies to the plains beyond and see the coming terrors. Danner looked at his uncle and shrugged. With his strange eyes, maybe he could see through to the demonic horde outside.

  “Gerard, wait here one moment,” Birch said. “I need to see something for myself before you go.”

  “You’ve got five minutes while I see to things here, then I’m leaving,” Gerard replied. “If you need to find me, you know the way.”

  Birch nodded, and Selti stepped off a ways to change into his much larger, winged shape. The paladin climbed aboard his mount, and Selti pumped his wings, sending dust and debris swirling in the street around them. The gray dakkan climbed into the air and swept around toward the Barrier, allowing Birch to see the black sea of churning bodies enveloping the plain between the Barrier and the Merging.

  “Sweep forward and lower, but be careful,” Birch said, patting Selti’s neck. The gray dakkan obligingly flew down toward the front of the Barrier, but stayed high enough so as not to be caught by stray arrows fired by the defenders at the flying monstrosities in the sky. Selti avoided the twisted creatures whenever possible, but at one point he simply caught one between his teeth and ground it to pieces. He spit the mangled body out and made a noise to complain about the taste.

  Birch ignored him – he ignored the whole battle raging below him in fact. Instead, his vision was focused intently on a small circle of calm in the raging torrent of the enemy army. He couldn’t see who was in that circle, but he was willing to bet it held the commander of Hell’s armies, which probably meant one of three things. A demon had been given command, a gifted member of the damned souls had been given the chance, or else ─ and most terrifying of all ─ Mephistopheles himself had found a way to manifest a portion of himself in the mortal plane and was directing the combat firsthand. The last option was the least likely, because of the nature of the Barrier, but Birch feared it most – he knew the strength of Mephistopheles’s will and the few limits it possessed. The King of Hell could accomplish almost anything with sufficient application of his will.

  “If that’s him, we’re doomed,” Birch said. “Anyone else we could fight and perhaps defeat, but not him.”

  It didn’t feel like Mephistopheles’s presence, but at this distance Birch could hardly be sure. Still, he felt something, and it nagged at his mind. He looked down and saw endless waves of twisted monstrosities tearing each other apart in their frenzy to reach the mortal defenders on the Barrier. There was something missing, though, something he couldn’t place. He watched as leathery skin and scaled hide parted easily beneath swords wielded by men of faith and men of desperation.

  Knowing the enemy commander, whatever his identity, could not see him, Birch nevertheless swept his sword from its sheath and saluted the distant leader of the demonic forces. Then he turned Selti back toward Gerard and the others waiting behind him, disturbed by the impossible surety that something was very wrong with the battle raging below him.

  - 2 -

  Their reception before the Prismatic Council was considerably more reserved than Danner had anticipated. He didn’t know what he’d been expecting. Joyous shouts of congratulations. Heartfelt thanks and commendation on a job well done. A bloody handshake!

  Instead, the Council’s only mention of Gerard’s accomplishments with Shadow Company was to inquire about the strength of the Merishank forces he’d brought with him. The brief report Gerard delivered was mostly just a confirmation of everything he’d already relayed to them in writing – a succinct telling of the destruction of the last of The Three, leaving out only mention of Danner’s angelic heritage. They were still determined to keep his secret as long as possible, and it would be some time before word leaked back to the Prismatic Council from any of the Merishank soldiers who had witnessed the winged presence, and no one would think to link it to any of the paladins present. Still, when they eventually found out, there would be questions asked.

  “The First Merishank are one-hundred-thousand strong, sir, and the Imperial Army number slightly more than ten thousand,” Gerard said, his voice expressionless as he related the statistics to the Prismatic Council. “They have cavalry, both light and heavy, footmen with swords, spears, axes, and other such expected weapons, archers, charioteers, and some siege engines, which are currently still outside the city gates with a company of engineers who are repairing sabotage done by my company during the past weeks.”

  “Your sabotage is depriving us of much-needed defenses,” a Yellow paladin said. Danner recognized him as one of the most antagonistic during Trebor’s expulsion from training, and from Trebor’s description of Gerard’s encounter months ago, this was the same paladin who had all but told Gerard he was being sent on a fool’s mission and the denarae would be left to the slaughter.

  “Your pardon, sir,” Gerard said stiffly and with obvious anger being held in check. “My original intentions toward the Merishank army were to delay, cripple, and otherwise damage them in the name of Nocka’s defense. Had I known beforehand that I would discover a powerful demon in their midst controlling them all and destroy it to take over the army and turn them to our defense, I would have planned my activities rather differently,” Gerard said with thinly-veiled sarcasm.

  “An assassination carried out in direct opposition to this Council’s orders,” the Yellow pointed out in dire tones. Gerard’s hands tightened into fists, but he stayed silent. A nearby Blue paladin leaned close to the Yellow and spoke quietly in his ear. Danner finally placed the Yellow paladin’s name. Bart Shivrey.

  “A tragic miscommunication, I’m sure,” Gerard grated in a flat voice.

  Several of the paladins on the Council murmured to each other, and Danner sensed approval in many of their quiet words. Perhaps sensing this was a losing tactic, the Yellow paladin quickly moved on.

  “We must now move to other matters that more directly affect you and your, um, company,” Bart said. “It has come to our attention that the onslaught of Hell’s army has temporarily abated.”

  “What?” Gerard said in surprise. “It was still raging when I left only a f
ew minutes ago.”

  “Apparently shortly after you left, all of Hell’s forces disengaged and pulled back,” Bart replied. “Which gives us some much-needed breathing room to plan.”

  A Red paladin on the Council spoke up.

  “Their initial attack caught us by surprise, and we had no time to organize a proper defense,” he explained. “We simply rushed the nearest forces to the wall and scrambled as many paladins on dakkan-back as we could immediately find. But now we can deploy our forces more equally along the wall and with better readiness. Some of the siege engines on the walls and in the courtyards didn’t even work, they have been neglected so. They’re being fixed even as we speak, and with the addition of the Merishank engines, the next tide of battle should not be so one-sided.”

  “You won’t need to keep as many defenders on the walls above the northernmost and southernmost courtyards,” Gerard said. “The demons will still attack in an attempt to divert our numbers and gain another avenue of assault on the adjoining courtyards, but they’ve already achieved their objectives there.”

  “Gerard!” a voice called sharply.

  A Yellow paladin stood from where he’d been sitting unnoticed in a corner of the seats in the room. Danner recognized him as one of the Protectors – he’d seen him once several months ago, but had been prohibited from learning his name. The Yellow paladin was broad-shouldered and as thickly muscled as any Red, with a wide face and upturned nose. His deep-set eyes were as hard as steel, and while this was the only man Danner had ever seen Gerard willingly defer to, the Red paladin met his fellow Protector’s gaze without any sign of backing down.

  “Cariah, it’s too late,” Gerard said. “The secret’s obviously out to the enemy, so there’s no point in withholding it from our own forces. They need to know what’s at stake.”

  Cariah stared icily at him, then finally nodded.

  “What’s going on here?” a Green member of the Council asked.

  “The Stones in the courtyards, which everyone believes to be nothing more than monuments to the Merging War, are what’s known in the ancient texts as the Ash’Ailant, and they are the true Barrier that needs protecting,” Gerard said. “It’s been a closely guarded secret since the end of that ancient war, but those seven megaliths of angelstone, now five, are what maintain the limitations on the Merging’s existence. If the Ash’Ailant fall, so does the power holding the Merging in check. It will spread past the boundaries of the Earthforge, and eventually everything everywhere in Lokka will overlap with Hell. The demons won’t need to cross, because our entire world will be a part of Hell’s infinite plane of existence.”

  The Council erupted in a confused flurry of questions and demands for explanations and accountability.

  “Why weren’t we told?” was the most frequently asked question, and so Gerard decided to answer it.

  “Frankly, gentlemen,” he said loudly, and everyone in the room fell silent, “you weren’t told because of the security risk. Only a handful of people in this entire world have known about the power of those Stones, to prevent the demons of Hell from discovering their significance and attempting just such an attack to destroy them.”

  “But this is the Prismatic Council,” an Orange paladin objected. “Surely we should have been trusted with this knowledge.”

  “Need I remind you, this Council in its God-given wisdom, allowed a demon – one of The Three – to sit in its midst and corrupt several of our brother paladins,” Gerard shouted angrily, all pretense of politeness gone before the force of his temper. “Those corrupted paladins had to be hunted down because you failed to identify that demon. Many are recovering now, but some of our brothers did not survive our attempts to redeem and reclaim them. I don’t know how the leader of Hell’s forces discovered the Stones’ true nature, but it could have been through just such a subterfuge. All the secrets, plans, and workings of our order were compromised by the demon, and half our number now lie dead on the plains of Hell because of that demon’s influence.

  “That, O wise and noble Council, is why you were not entrusted with this knowledge,” Gerard said scathingly. “You can barely be trusted with the daily running of the Prismatic Order without fumbling the responsibility in your efforts to hamstring all that is efficient and effective in our strength. But to trust you with knowledge that could have brought about the downfall of the mortal realm long ago had you screwed it up as badly as you have everything else you touch? I would rather trust a room full of gnomes with an explosive device. At least that would only destroy the gnomes and the surrounding block. You would take the world with you to the grave given such knowledge.”

  The room was silent in the wake of Gerard’s scathing denunciation. Several members of the Council stared at him in open-mouthed astonishment, but two or three of the newest members were actually nodding in agreement with him. Bart Shivrey and a few others were, of course, stone-faced in affront and anger, and it was from there the danger arose.

  Bart cleared his throat angrily and shifted a few sheets of paper closer to him.

  “Whatever your feelings toward this Council, paladin Morningham,” Bart said, “you will nevertheless obey its edicts.”

  Gerard nodded. He wasn’t surprised at their lack of a response. After such a heated outburst, however, the abrupt shift made Danner’s head spin. Was no one going to address the verbal assault Gerard had just launched against them?

  “Now, to business,” a Red paladin said. He looked hesitantly at the Blue paladin sitting next to Bart, then cleared his throat and looked back at Gerard. “We’re going to be sending forces out beyond the front gates of the Barrier to help curb the assault and hold the demons off from the walls. We’re expecting casualties to be high, but we’re hoping the casualties in the enemy ranks will be much higher. It’s just too much of a risk having them assault the Barrier directly, especially now that we know of these Ash’Ailant. We must put every obstacle we can between the demons and their objective, be it wood or flesh, steel or stone.”

  Bart opened his mouth, but Gerard cut him short.

  “In that case, sir, Shadow Company requests the honor of spearheading those forces,” Gerard said, his voice suddenly devoid of all anger. His face was a mask of inscrutability, and he betrayed nothing of what he was feeling or thinking.

  Bart shut his mouth and looked surprised, then suspicious.

  “Are the denarae ready for it?” a Violet paladin asked dubiously.

  “My men,” Gerard said pointedly, “are more than ready to take their place as was first designed by this Council. You’ve never seen us in battle, but I guarantee we’ll more than do our part.”

  “Very well,” Bart said uneasily. It was obvious Gerard’s voluntary participation came as a shock to him, and he was staring at Gerard as though trying to read what was behind such a move.

  “With your permission, gentlemen,” Gerard said. Before he left, Bart cleared his throat to speak, a nasty gleam in his eye. The Yellow paladin looked quickly down the line of paladins on the Council, catching each one’s eye briefly.

  “We’ll expect your men to move into position at dawn tomorrow morning,” Bart said. Gerard froze near the door, his back to the Council. “The other forces will arrive as able, but we need you in place immediately, just in case the demons attack earlier than we expect.”

  It was obvious what Bart was saying, and everyone in the room knew it. Some of the paladins looked uncomfortable and threw apprehensive glances at the Yellow paladin, but no one on the Council said anything to contradict him. Gerard turned slowly and stared dangerously at Bart.

  “What you’re doing is wrong,” Gerard said quietly, and the soft tone of his voice made it all the more menacing because they all knew the violence he was capable of unleashing, both physically and verbally. “I hope you’re damned to Hell for this.”

  “We’re only doing what’s best for all around,” Bart replied.

  “You’re a liar, Bart, and when this is all over, you’d bet
ter hope God gets to you before I do,” Gerard said. “He’s much more forgiving than I am.”

  “When the time comes, that’s between me and God, now isn’t it?” Bart said haughtily, but his eyes shifted nervously to the other Council members, seeking support. No one came to his aid, but no one said a word against him either.

  “Oh, I agree,” Gerard said, and one hand fell casually, even absent-mindedly on the hilt of his sword, “but I’d be more than happy to help you discuss it with Him personally, perhaps a bit ahead of schedule.”

  With that, Gerard spun on his heel and walked calmly from the room, Danner and the other Shadow Company paladins following in his wake.

  “You know that’s a death sentence to anyone who goes outside,” Garnet said once they had turned down another hallway, “especially for us. The other forces will never show up, not if that one has his way.”

  “I know,” Gerard replied, his voice cold.

  “Then why?”

  “Because they were going to send us out anyway,” Gerard said, “that much was painfully obvious. At least this way we can save our honor by facing our doom standing up, instead of being ordered forth like rebellious children crawling on the ground. We may be slain, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to die on my knees.”

  Danner dared to ask, “Why are we even listening to them? The Council has obviously lost its way or been corrupted worse than we knew. How can we follow their orders, much less allow them to blindly dictate the defenses of this city?”

  Gerard was silent for a long moment before answering.

  “Don’t think it hasn’t crossed my mind, Danner,” the Red paladin said in a low voice, “but right now, we need them… no Nocka needs them, which means the entire world needs them. Demons are quite literally howling at the gates, and we can’t afford the disruption in power by trying to overthrow or remove the Council. Most of the city guard would side with them out of well-intentioned ignorance, and we’d have a civil war among our brothers. We absolutely cannot survive this war without paladins on the front lines, and our deaths may be the price for unity.”