He’d have to ask his father. He would know, actually, Tizzy probably would too. He’d ask whichever one he saw next. It was pretty obvious though, that if Tom was fourth, Rupert had to be less, and if the guy this afternoon was first, then Rupert was more powerful than that. Maybe second order was right, or third. Rupert glanced down at the ground he was flying over. He’d unconsciously moved to hover over the best-lighted part of the camp. It appeared that people were digging or something. He’d also been so busy thinking about what order demon he was that he’d failed to note that he’d been spotted.
Apparently, it had just happened, because people were just starting to point up into the sky at him. Probably time for a hasty retreat Rupert decided. While they couldn’t hurt him, he didn’t want to give them any more reason to hate demons. As he was taking a last look before leaving, Rupert noticed a big guy in what appeared to be glow-in-the-dark armor leaving a tent. His armor was literally glowing of its own accord. Glowing to normal sight and not just demon sight.
Rupert was transfixed. He’d always heard of knights in magical armor, but he’d never seen one before. As he watched the man pointed his arm up at the sky in Rupert’s direction. Too late, Rupert realized the man was casting a spell at him. Rupert braced himself for impact; he wasn’t going to have time to get out of the way. Suddenly a brilliant beam of light lanced out of the man’s mailed hand, striking Rupert full in the chest. Rupert screamed in pain as he blacked out from the impact of the beam of light.
Chapter 70
Edwyrd shut the door to the room he shared with Rupert softly. He didn’t want to wake the boy; he simply wanted to check on him before heading down to his practice room. He’d been a lot later than he’d planned. It wasn’t until he and Gastropé had turned down the corridor to their rooms that he’d realized they’d even forgot to pick up Rupert for dinner. He cursed himself, they’d gotten so wrapped up in the demon problem, he’d forgotten about his favorite little demon.
It was now quite late. Gastropé, Damien, Antefalken and he had gone for what was ostensibly a short walking tour of the palace. Damien and Antefalken had used the opportunity to confirm what they’d been told. When they’d gotten back to Damien’s quarters, the wizard had looked more concerned than ever. He and Antefalken were both at a loss for where the demons had come from and for how long they’d been there.
They’d spent several hours in discussion trying to figure out what the demons were doing. Or more precisely since it was fairly obvious what they were doing, who they were doing it for. They’d considered all possibilities, Lenamare, Exador, other council members and the even more frightening possibility of some unknown group of archdemons. Edwyrd had sat rather uncomfortably as the other three tossed around the idea that the demon Tom might be involved.
He’d been almost positive that Antefalken would recognize him. Tizzy had never had any problem; however, if Antefalken did, he gave no sign. Also from the tone of the conversation, Antefalken did not sidestep when discussing Tom in a way that might indicate he knew the demon was there in the room with him. The other three had tossed around ideas that Tom was involved with the little demons on behalf of Lenamare, or on his own or on behalf of the higher order demons.
As was becoming more and more of the case lately, Edwyrd found himself amazed at the level of paranoid speculation these wizards engaged in. As wizards go, he thought Damien seemed very reasonable and enlightened towards demons, especially seeing his non-master-slave relationship with Antefalken; nonetheless, even Damien seemed paranoid about demonic machinations. For that matter, Antefalken, who was a demon himself, was just as paranoid. Edwyrd had begun to wonder if being the only non-paranoid person in a world full of paranoids should tell him something.
Edwyrd shook his head and glanced around the room to make sure there were no unexpected demons in his room. As he did so, his eyes swept across Rupert’s bed to find it empty. Edwyrd was startled. Where could the boy be?
Quickly, Edwyrd went down the hall to Jenn’s room. He tried the same thing with his hearing that he did with his sight, trying to listen into Jenn’s room to see if Rupert were there. All he heard was the soft sound of gentle breathing, telling him that Jenn was asleep and alone in the room. Next he went to Gastropé’s room and knocked quietly on the door. He had no fear of waking Gastropé since they’d just parted a few minutes ago.
“Is Rupert in there?” Edwyrd asked as Gastropé opened the door.
Gastropé’ looked puzzled. “No, just Maelen, who’s in some sort of trance.” He gestured over to the older man. Maelen was sitting on his bed in the lotus position. He was so still and breathing so softly, that even Edwyrd’s demonic hearing had a bit of trouble determining if the seer was alive. “Isn’t he in your room?”
“No, I don’t know where he went. I’m a little concerned.” While he was sure that Rupert was capable of taking care of almost anything, he still worried. Rupert was after all, just a kid, demon or not.
“Did you check with Jenn? Maybe he’s with some of those students who came in today.” Gastropé’ suggested.
“She’s asleep. You’re probably right.” Edwyrd said. That could certainly be a possibility. “I’m sure he’s fine. I was just a little worried.”
Gastropé nodded, concerned.
“Good night.” Edwyrd said as he went back to his own room.
Edwyrd went in and stared at Rupert’s bed, wondering where the boy could be. Edwyrd noted that the boy’s clothes were folded neatly on his bed. That was strange. Actually, they weren’t the same set that Rupert had worn in the morning. Why did he have this other set laid out? If they’d been the clothes the boy had been wearing, Edwyrd would have suspected the boy of stripping and demonizing. Edwyrd looked out the window, searching the night sky for flying demons. He didn’t see any.
Rupert came to as he crashed through tree limbs while falling to the ground. Eventually he came to rest at the base of a large tree. Apparently, that beam of light had knocked him back quite a ways, into the small grove of trees he’d seen not too far from the Rod’s campsite. He ached all over. That light blast had really hurt. Probably as much as the lightning bolt.
Fortunately, he’d been in demon form this time, which was a lot sturdier, and he’d braced himself for it. Nonetheless, he felt like he’d been burned. Actually, it felt like an extremely severe case of sunburn. Not pleasant at all. Rupert shook his head to clear it. As he did, he heard what sounded like an advancing patrol of soldiers. He could also see torchlight advancing through the forest. Dodging up into the sky from underneath the heavy canopy of trees would make too much noise and probably get him shot down again. These guys were just too close. Not knowing what else to do, Rupert changed back into human form.
He did so with only moments to spare, as a patrol of soldiers carrying torches arrived at his location. It was a group of about ten young men, all in the standard Rod uniform and light, summertime, cloaks. “What the mighty?” Asked one of the men carrying a sword rather than a torch. “It’s a naked boy!” Rupert decided it was time for a repeat of the lost waif routine he’d used on Exador’s people. He started sobbing. He crouched into a fetal ball on the ground. “You men,” the man who’d spoken before continued, “fan out and keep searching. Ethen and I will talk to this lad.