The Dungeon Con_One Foot in the Grave

by Marty Myers

  Apostaphus flew across the sky above the newly greening plains with Francis. He felt much better today than he had when they had first been cast here. It still greatly troubled him that his fellow angels wouldn’t listen to him and had cast him out of the lesser host. But it wasn’t the soul-crushing weight it had been. Francis was right, they would carry on in their own way until the council came to their senses and took him back into the Host. They didn’t need them to do good in the world. Look at the good that had come from it already, he thought. He had never expected to see the Gallows plains green again. With high hopes, he flew until they had reached the edge of the plains. He landed both to take a look at the edge and to honor his companions wish to walk. He saw with delight that they had indeed managed to heal the plains clear out to its edge where rolling hills lead up gradually to mountains in the same range as those they were going to be looking for the demon in further to the north.

  If he remembered rightly, there was a small village of hill folk not too far from here. Here he looked closer at the green sprouting up and was sure this was grass stems coming up like the plains had been covered with before. The seeds Francis had planted out in the center had not been of one kind, they had looked like many different shapes and colors as they lay upon the ground. Again he wondered what would grow out on the plains now. In time he hoped to return and see for himself.

  It was while he was thinking about this and Francis was combing out her windblown hair that two angels swiftly flew down to them. “ Greetings brothers,” Apostaphus said cautiously. “ We are brothers to you no longer fallen one,” the brighter haired angel Clarionides growled out. “ What has happened here?” the other one who was named Malakai said. “ A miracle,” Apostaphus said. “ Francis has somehow healed the Gallows fields of the blight of Darkness and Death that lingered here from the last Great War. She sowed the seeds of rebirth and then we blessed the land here until it is as you see it before you.”

  “ Damned Lies,” Clarionides said as he angrily approached the two. “ I have been sent to vanquish you Apostaphus,” he said! “ Really? Who has called upon you to do so?” Apostaphus asked. “ The council of the lesser host orders it,” the other angel replied. “ Clarionides listen,” Apostaphus implored him. “ I have not forsaken the Light or our Lords, you know this.” “ You have broken the bans Apostaphus,” Clarionides screamed as tears ran down his face. “ No I have not, I have not fallen,” Apostaphus exclaimed.

  “ I do not renounce the Light or serve a Dark Lord and I will not fight you.” “ You are wrong on both those counts Apostaphus,” Clarionides said. “ Am I? If you are right and I am a fallen angel due to breaking the bans, then what you have here is a fallen angel upon the face of the world facing an angel of light of the lesser host. Then if that is the truth of the matter the bans forbid you or I to fight here unless called upon by the followers of our faith. Those clerics worthy of calling upon us. To fight me here and now would as surely break the bans as anything you accuse me of. If I am not fallen however If I am right then the bans hold no sway and you can strike me freely But remember no angel has struck another unjustly three times without falling himself. Strike me if you must brother but I will have no part of fighting with you, my battles are with the Darkness and its minions only.” “ You speak only lies Apotaphus,” Clarionides said. “To twist the truth and confuse the weak minded.”

  “ Do not do this Clarionides,” Apostaphus said. “I beg you. Look at the newly healed earth, the ban forbids fighting here due to just what the Gallows Fields became. The sky is blue, the ground is firm, the grass is green again and my cause is just,” said Apostaphus preparing himself to be struck. I will not fight you he said again as the other angel launched himself at him.

  Francis couldn’t believe what was going on here. This crazy hothead of an angel was going to try beating up on Apostaphus and he wouldn’t defend himself because he refused to break the bans he was accused of breaking already. Francis frantically thought about what she could do to stop this. She couldn’t fight angels on Apostaphus behalf, well she guessed she could but even if it didn’t outright break the ban, it wouldn’t prove to them how they were in the wrong and she was on the side of right. In addition, she would likely lose and get beaten on too.

  Maybe if there were more angels here cooler heads would prevail among them and break it up. With that thought in mind, she began calling out the angels names she had heard over and over in the trip from earth to here and begging them to come down and intervene. She got out about a couple dozen names before the first blow landed. Suddenly many angels heard a plea echo up into the heavens with their names. Many of the Lesser Host had not been called upon by a mortal in a long while. Several of them accepted the summons and appeared nearby to see what might be going on and who had called onto them just as Clarionides landed the first blow upon Apostaphus who staggered back a step. There were gasps amongst the angels who looked around themselves and realized where they were. Clarionides took another swing and Apostaphus almost fell as his head snapped to one side. Francis began yelling at the other angels to stop this and break up the fight, but they seemed too shocked themselves and stood frozen watching it happen. A third time Clarionides punched Apostaphus with an uppercut that lifted him clear off his feet and threw the angel onto his back inside the circle of grass at the edge of the plains.

  A loud bell pealed forth as a wave of earth rose up and raced away like a drop in a pond spreading out onto the plains around where Apostaphus had fallen and traveling hundreds of feet before stopping. Everything in its path died and the earth there hardened and blackened until it was as it had been before the curse was lifted. Finally the blessings they had cast slowed and stopped the spread of the wave. Francis was stunned, hurting her friend had hurt the earth here just as he had said it did back in the Great Wars of this Realm.

  The Angels looked aghast at the destruction and then over at Clarionides. The Bells sounded even louder than before and a bright beam of light spotlighted him. A deep voice thundered down from the Heavens. “ Clarionides you are hereby cast out of the heavens and the Lesser Host. And then the light faded away. Everyone stood perfectly still as Clarionides fell to his knees and wept. “ I only did what they told me to do,” he cried. He looked around for support and saw only fear, loathing, and despair upon the faces of the other angels. He looked for his partner who had been sent with him but Malakai had already disappeared.

  Slowly Apostaphus got up from where he had fallen and walked over the Clarionides. He reached down toward him to help him up and said. “ I forgive you, my friend.” Clarionides looked at him for a long moment and then took his hand and was pulled to his feet. Apostaphus pulled him into a hug and let him cry on his shoulder. Francis looked at the scene before her. She couldn’t understand why none of the other angels had intervened. She knew through their bond that Apostaphus wasn’t too awful hurt and could heal himself up so she left them be for the moment.

  Meanwhile, she walked over to the dead zone in the plains and looked to see if there was anything she could do about it. She saw the land was scarred and that it was too soon to try to heal it again. It would need time before anything could be done to help heal the spot. She knelled anyway and prayed that it could be healed one day, then she got up and turned around to see how Apostophus was doing.

  Apostaphus looked at the other angels watching him over Clarionides shoulder. He spoke to them. “ I remember when being cast out of heaven took a true act of evil being committed. One had to embrace the Darkness and turn from the Light. Those days are over apparently.” No angel here could hold his gaze and yet they could not stop hearing his words or seeing the angel he embraced. “ Clarionides here is guilty only of following bad orders. He was sent by the council to vanquish me. Well this is where they sent me when they cast me out of the host. To the Gallows fields, where they must have thought to destroy me with the least amount of harm to the world. Yet why harm me or the world at all? I have not lifted my han
d against any in the heavens. And if I did need destroyed and was of the Darkness then why not do it in accordance with the terms of the bans, in battle when soon the Darkness makes its move?”

  “ Look now brothers and see, my Francis has worked a miracle upon the Gallows Plain. She had lifted all of the cursed nature that lingered here. But the action of the council has resulted in a stain upon my companion’s good deed. Francis, you have looked at it, can the stain be undone?” “ No Apostaphus. not now,” she said. “ I think eventually, one day it may be possible to correct. But time will need to pass and the plains are too new to withstand anymore fighting like this.”

  Apostaphus looked over at the circle reaching out onto the plains and said. “ This is what the council’s actions have wrought. I tell you all now, I will not fight you. If again the council sends some of you to destroy me, let us move instead to stand in the heavens or the hells that my Death may not destroy any more of the land of this realm.” The angels looked at the blessed plains before them. They looked at the stain that trying to kill Apostaphus had caused upon it. They looked at Francis and then turned to gaze upon Clarionides and Apostaphus. Lastly, they looked at each other and then one by one they silently departed.

  When the last angel of the host had gone and Clarionides had gathered his composure he stepped away from Apostaphus and turned as if to leave as well. “ Why don’t you come with us Clarion, Apostaphus asked. Clarionides looked shocked. “ After all that just happened you want me to come with you?” “ Yes, I said I forgave you and I meant it. My anger before was and is with the council that has cast us out and their shortsightedness. Besides you have always been one of my favorite brothers,” Apostaphus said. When Clarionides hesitantly nodded at him he turned and introduced Francis. “ Francis this is Clarionides,” he said. “ He isn’t usually so hot-headed, so please give him another chance. Remember Madam Farsi’s advice.”

  Francis was about as shocked as Clarionides had been when Apostaphus suddenly invited him along. But she had just met him while Apostaphus had known him forever and besides, after hearing his speech to the other angels it seemed like Apostaphus might have a plan. “ Okay,” Francis said and walked over to them. “ Hello, I am Francis, I am willing to give any friend of Apostaphus a chance to be mine too. I hope you feel the same way.” She started to hold out her hand and then reconsidered it. Clarionides seemed a bit intimidated. “ Look I don’t bite,” she said. he looked more alarmed at those words. “ Okay bad choice of words,” she said. “ That’s just a saying from where I came from. It means I am generally considered to be nice.” Francis got a bit red in the face as her words ran on. “ Apostaphus you can jump in here at any point. I think I am getting grumpy with hunger now, please lead us to some food.” There was an awkward silence for a moment and then Apostaphus began walking away from the edge of the plains.

  Clarion asked, “ where are we going Apostaphus? Can you tell me what we are doing?” “ I will but first,” Apostaphus said. “ I want you to tell me exactly how you ended up being sent down here to fight me.” Clarion paled but replied, “there was another toll of the holy bells in the heavens last night, but this time It wasn’t clear what it was signifying. the council met again and shortly afterward I was sent for.

  It was Bahramel the leader of the council who spoke to me and Malakai. He said that you and Francis had left heaven and went to the Gallows Fields where you were interfering somehow with the 2nd ban. He said you were trying to lift it in the hope that then the host would take you and your companion back into the fold. He pointed out that earlier before the council you had argued that once the ban was lifted your companion and you could take the oath to the Lords of Light and that then everything should be set right between you two and the Hosts of the Heavens.”

  “ He said that you would not stop and that it was dangerous to allow the bans to be tampered with especially with the Darkness trying to overrule them for its own purposes at the same time. He claimed that this showed that you were in league with the Darkness. That you were very clever. That your earlier actions and words to the assembly were simply to try to trick everyone about your intentions. That having broken the bans by creating a champion you may have actually allowed the Dark to begin the process of resurrecting the Prince of Darkness in the first place. Then he told us that only by destroying you now before you could finish what you had started with the ban and stop you from completing your companions training could we thwart the Darkness plan and that fighting and vanquishing you here would cause the least damage to the world since he didn’t think we would be able to get you away from the location of the ban.”

  “ It all sounded so right and reasonable when he explained it. I did ask why the two of us had been chosen. He said it was because I had been your friend the longest and that I should put you out of your suffering and that Malakai was a great fighter and would see that the task was done if I couldn’t. I am sorry, Apostaphus, I don’t know what more I can say. Before today you know I have always had the utmost faith in the Heavenly Host and its decisions.” Apostaphus looked grim. “ Its okay, until recently I too felt confident in following their lead. Hearing you describe it I can almost believe what they said to you. But I unlike you, I know that I am not in league with the Dark and that it was the council of the host who sent me and Francis here to the Gallows Fields to begin with. We never approached the actual ban and its ringing was just an after effect of so much energy being released while Francis healed the land. If they had scryed the ban looking for what had set it off or cast divination magics they would surely have found this out. No there is something more sinister going on on the council. We must be extra wary of being caught up in whatever it is. “

  “ Francis,” Apostaphus said “ I want to thank you for your quick thinking in summoning the other angels to witness what was happening. The fact they saw all that, may actually stay the council’s further attempts to get rid of us. I can tell that those angels were shaken by what they saw and by the off-handed way they cast Clarionides out after their failure to quietly destroy us.” Francis nodded back. She was worried about all the events that had happened since they had arrived from her world. She hadn’t even seen a demon yet or fought the Forces of Darkness and already people were trying to kill her and Apostaphus. If dealing with the angels and the forces of Light here was this dangerous she felt fearful of what it would be like when they actually caught up to the demon who had taken Hank and dealt with him.

  Chapter 16

  Francis was rethinking her earlier idea of wanting to walk everywhere. Although an hour of walking and listening to Apostaphus and Clarionides chatting had been interesting to hear. Her stomach was now really complaining. “ You would think Francis thought. That before setting out on such an epic quest to rescue my kidnapped betrothed, for in her mind that was how Francis was labeling this crazy adventure to find Hank. The Champion of Light would have prepared by packing something to sustain herself through the long perilous journey.

  Well, I was equipped for this quest by a mysterious wise woman who supplied me with my accouterments. Here is my magical weapon and here is my mystical armor. She gripped her staff tighter and patted her poncho. She even had the foresight to put seeds in it to replant the land back there. I wonder, she patted the poncho on each side and found another pocket she hadn’t noticed before on the opposite side from the first one that had supplied the seeds.

  Reaching in she found a small apple there and exclaimed as she pulled it out with a grin, a wise woman indeed Francis thought. She took a bite and then thought guiltily of her two traveling companions. She looked over and said, “ Hey guys I found an apple in my pocket. Do you guys want to have a slice?” Apostaphus looked over and smiled at her. “Francis,” he said, “ we angels don’t generally need to eat food. We are sustained by the Light essence we absorb and that is stored within us. Thank you for asking though.” So Francis ate the apple and after thinking about the seeds in her other pocket she dug out the apple s
eeds from the core before adding them to her collection and tossing it away.

  They had walked just a little while longer before they crested a hill and saw down below them a small village being attacked by four short red demons and a band of Morgrum raiders in black armor. The demons were squat scaly lizard-like things with long sharp horns jutting from their heads. The six or so raiders Francis could see were extremely large men with long black or red hair and beards mostly wielding axes. It looked like they had just begun as the villagers dropped what they had been doing and ran screaming to hide inside their houses.

  “ We have got to help them,” Francis yelled as she saw a villager knocked from his feet by a well-thrown ax in the back. Apostaphus and Clarionides looked like they wanted to but stood still. “ Francis, we can’t fight those demons unless some mortal asks us to intervene.” Just as he said it they both looked at each other in astonishment and Francis quickly yelled, “ I am asking you to. So intervene already. Apostaphus, Clarionides please protect this village and stop those demons and bad guys from hurting them.” The Angels took off into the air with a start and swooped down swiftly upon the nearest demons. A glowing sword appeared in each of their right hands as they struck out at the demons.

  Meanwhile, Francis ran toward the village as fast as she could. She tried saving enough of her breath to be able to cast when she got closer and was rewarded by being able to cast a circle of protection around some of the villagers who hadn’t made it indoors yet. Her essence welled up and burst around them in a small bright semi-transparent bubble which stopped one of the demons from reaching the terrified villagers. It literally ran into the sphere full tilt as it formed only to bounce back off of it to land in the dirt cussing and smoking a bit. She had felt the jarring wrongness of the contact like a toothache suddenly springing up in her head. The shock of it threw her off her stride briefly.