Relief flooded over me, and I began to giggle hysterically. Hanging! If only they know!
Alarm showed in the faces of my team as they studied my reaction in shocked silence.
"Don't worry!" I gasped. "He's okay!"
Early in my career with Aahz, I had learned that one doesn't kill demons by hanging them. Their neck muscles are too strong! They can hang all day without being any the worse for wear. I had, of course, learned this the hard way one day when we....
"At least they have the decency to burn the body," Claude murmured from close beside me.
My laughter died in my throat.
"What?" I cried, spinning around.
Sure enough, the soldiers had cut down Aahz's "body" and were carrying it toward the bonfire with the obvious intention of throwing it in.
Fire! That was a different story. Fire was one of the things that could kill Aahz deader than....
"Ajax!" I cried. "Quick! Stop them from-"
It was too late.
With a heave from the soldiers, Aahz arched into the roaring flames. There was a quick burst of light, then nothing.
Gone! Aahz!
I stood staring at the bonfire in disbelief. Shock numbed me to everything else as my mind reeled at the impact of my loss.
"Skeeve!" Tanda said in my ear, laying a hand on my shoulder.
"Leave me alone!" I croaked.
"But the army..."
She let the word trail off, but it made its impact. Slowly I became conscious of the world around me.
The legions, having given us our answer, were massing for battle. Drums boomed, heralding the rising sun as it reflected off the polished weapons arrayed to face us.
The army. They had done this!
With deliberate slowness I turned to face Claude. He recoiled in fear from my gaze.
"Remember!" he cried desperately. "I had nothing to-"
"I remember," I replied coldly. "And for that reason only I am letting you go. I would advise, however, that you choose a path to follow other than rejoining the army. I have tried to be gentle with them, but if they insist on having war, as I am Skeeve, we shall give it to them!"
Chapter Twenty-Three:
"What is this, a Chinese fire drill?"
-SUN TZU
I DIDN'T see where Claude went after I finished speaking with him, nor did I care. I was studying the opposing army with a new eye. Up to now I had been thinking defensively, planning for survival. Now I was thinking as the aggressor.
The legions were in tight block formations, arrayed some three or four blocks deep and perhaps fifteen blocks wide. Together they presented an awesome impression of power, an irresistible force that would never retreat.
That suited me fine. In fact, I wanted a little insurance that they would not retreat.
"Ajax!" I called without turning my head.
"Here, youngster!" the bowman replied from close beside me.
"Can Blackie send your arrows out beyond those formations?"
"I reckon so," he drawled.
"Very well," I said grimly. "The same drill as the first battle, only this time don't go for the wagons. I want a half circle of fire around their rear."
As before, the bowstring set up a rhythmic "thung" as the bowman began to lose shaft after shaft. This time, however, it seemed the arrows burst into flame more readily.
"Ease off, youngster," Ajax called. "Yer burnin' em up before they reach the ground."
He was right. Either I was standing directly on a force line, or my anger had intensified my energies. Whatever the reason, I found myself with an incredible amount of power at my disposal.
"Sorry, Ajax," I shouted, and diverted a portion of my mind away from the ignition point.
"Tanda!" I called. "Run back and get Gleep!"
"Right, Skeeve," came the reply.
I had a hunch my pet might come in handy before this brawl was done.
The front row of the army's formation was beginning to advance to the rhythmic pounding of drums. I ignored them.
"Brockhurst!"
"Here, boss!" the Imp responded, stepping to my side.
"Have you spotted the commander yet?"
"Not yet," came the bitter reply. "He's probably buried back in the middle of the formation somewhere."
"Well, climb a tree or something and see if you can pinpoint him," I ordered.
"Right, boss! When I see him, do you want me to go after him?"
"No!" I replied grimly. "Report back to me. I want to handle him myself."
The front line was still advancing. I decided I'd better do something about it. With a sweep of my mind, I set fire to the meadow in front of the line's center. The blocks confronted by this barrier ground to a halt while the right and left wings continued their forward movement.
"Gleep!" came a familiar voice accompanied by an even more familiar blast of bad breath. "We're back!" Tanda announced unnecessarily. I ignored them and studied the situation. Plumes of white smoke rising from behind the Empire's formation indicated that Ajax was almost finished with his task. Soon, the army would find itself cut off from any retreat. It was time to start thinking about our attack. The first thing I needed was more information.
"Gus!" I said thoughtfully, "I want you to take a quick flight over their formations. See if you can find a spot to drop Berfert where he can do some proper damage."
"Right, boss," the gargoyle grunted, lumbering forward.
"Wait a minute," I said, a thought occurring to me. "Tanda, have you still got the invisibility sheet with you?"
"Right here!" she grinned.
"Good," I nodded. "Gus, take the sheet with you. Keep it in front of you as long as you can while you're checking them out. There's no sense drawing fire until you have to."
The gargoyle accepted the sheet with a shrug. "If you say so, boss," he muttered. "But they can't do much to me."
"Use it anyway," I ordered. "Now get moving."
The gargoyle sprang heavily into the air and started across the meadow with slow sweeps of his massive wings. I found it hard to believe anything that big and made of stone could fly, but I was seeing it. Maybe he used levitation.
"All set, youngster," Ajax chortled, interrupting my thoughts. "Anything else I can do for ya?"
"Not just now, Ajax," I replied. "But stand by." I was glad that portion of my concentration was free now. This next stunt was going to take all the energy I could muster.
I focused my mind on the grass in front of the advancing left wing. As testimony to the effectiveness of my efforts, that portion of the line ground to an immediate halt.
"Say!" Tanda breathed in genuine admiration.
"That's neat."
The effect I was striving for was to have the grass form itself into an army of Imps, rising from the ground to confront the Empire's troops. I chose Imps this time instead of demons because Imps are shorter, therefore requiring less energy to maintain the illusion.
Whatever my efforts actually achieved, it was enough to have the soldiers react. After several shouted orders from their officers, the troops let fly a ragged barrage of javelins at the grass in front of them. The weapons, of course, had no effect on their phantom foe.
"Say, youngster," Ajax said, nudging me lightly.
"You want me to do something about those jokers shootin' at our gargoyle?"
I turned slightly to check Gus's progress. The flying figure had passed over the center line troops, the ones my fire was holding in check. The soldiers could now see the figure behind the invisible sheet, and were reacting with enviable competence.
The archers in their formation were busy loosing their shafts at this strange figure that had suddenly appeared overhead, while their comrades did their best to reach the gargoyle with hurled javelins.
I saw all this at a glance. I also saw something else.