Jenn turned to see Hilda, the same Hilda from Freehold, standing not ten feet away from her. She was carrying a picnic basket and was with a group of humans. Or humans and a relatively good-looking, skinny orc. On third thought, humans, skinny orc and a metal something.
“Hilda? What are you doing here?” Jenn asked, startled.
Hilda glanced at her, and then glanced again. “Jenn? What are you doing here?” Hilda was clearly as startled to see her as Jenn was to see Hilda.
The metal creature with Hilda was behaving very strangely. “I can sense him. There is a portal!” Suddenly the metal man-thing took off running extremely fast towards the north.
“What the...?” Jenn asked, looking after the charging metal creature. Hilda and the rest of her party were also watching in shock as the metal creature ran off to the north.
Edwyrd helped Gastropé get back to his feet. Gastropé looked around to realize there were now four oddly dressed orcs in the copse along with Damien, Vaselle, Antefalken and the D’Warg.
Gastropé shook his head. “I am not sure if I heard what I thought I heard,” he mumbled.
Edwyrd chuckled. “What did you think you heard?”
“I swear you said that you just took over Mount Doom, the seat of the demon Orcus,” Gastropé said.
Edwyrd made an odd expression with his mouth and bobbed his head up and down a few times.
“Yes, that is what he said,” one of the orcs agreed. “Lord Tommus is the long-prophesied reincarnation of the Great Orcus!”
“You see, he carries the Rod of Tommus, formerly called the Wand of Orcus,” one of the female orcs said.
It was very odd how these orcs spoke perfect trade, was about all Gastropé could think.
As Gastropé tried to collect his wits for his next question, an odd noise came from the south and east and an even odder voice shouted, “Do not close that portal!”
A metal man or something — a golem? — ran into the copse, heading straight for the portal. The odd metal creature suddenly stopped and stared at Edwyrd. Edwyrd, for once, appeared to be in as much surprise as Gastropé.
“If you have harmed so much as a hair, you will pay for all eternity, demon!” the metal creature announced sternly in a very loud voice before it turned and jumped through the still-open portal into the Abyss.
“What the hell was that?” the large male orc asked.
“I have no idea.” Edwyrd shook his head and stared worriedly through the portal.
Chapter 114
Talarius took a drink of water from his Flask of Holy Refreshment, washing down his cold roast ox sandwich. They really could use some condiments, or at least some cheese, the knight reflected. He, Boggy and Reggie were in the main dining hall, breaking their fast. Talarius had his helm sitting on the table beside him as he savored this simple return to old habits.
It was odd how much a few pints of beer and several glasses of wine after one’s first meal in a week could relax one. He had slept better last night than he had in a long time. The dining room was still being cooled, so it would have only been uncomfortably warm if he had not been in his armor. As it was, he was fine with his helmet off, as he’d been last night during the party.
Across the table, the incubus was shoveling leftovers into his maw at a prodigious rate. Talarius frowned. “For someone who does not need to eat, you seem to be starving,” Talarius remarked.
Reggie paused, looking up to grin at the knight. “Phaestus and I seriously over-cookied last night. I have a badass case of the munchies!”
“I see,” Talarius said, not really understanding the demon at all. He was beginning to suspect that demons could not help themselves in regards to speaking in riddles and convoluted language. Very similar to Oorstemothians in that respect.
“I’m surprised your new best mate isn’t down here noshing as well,” Boggy observed.
“He had to go roust Völund. The smith got pretty drunk last night,” Reggie said. “They should be here shortly.”
A loud clanging and clattering noise came from one of the entry corridors to their right. Suddenly a heavily armored individual came charging into the dining hall. “Talarius!” The armored man — no, a man made out of metal — shouted. Talarius sprang up, grabbing for his helm in shock, preparing for the metal creature’s attack.
“At last! I have found you!” the metal man shouted.
Talarius blinked. This creature was quite odd. As it came to a halt, he realized it was some form of exquisitely crafted metal golem with very sharp edges.
“Who are you?” Talarius asked in surprise. Boggy and Reggie were staring at it as well.
The metal golem looked puzzled, almost hurt. “It is I, Ruiden!”
It was Talarius’s turn to blink. “Ruiden? My sword?”
“Of course! Don’t you recognize me?” The golem held out a hand, palm forward.
Talarius gingerly reached out with his ungloved hand and put his palm on the golem’s hand. The knight blinked and shook his head, feeling the familiar link he’d had to Ruiden ever since he had first found the sword. He sat, or rather almost fell, back onto the bench in shock.
“But how...? What? What happened to you?” Talarius gestured up and down. This was impossible. How could his sword be running around as a metal golem?
The sword seemed to grin. “I got fed up with the Rod and their failure to relocate you, so I changed my form so that I could find you myself!”
“You changed your form?” Talarius shook his head. “I didn’t know you could do that.”
Ruiden shrugged. “Well, I didn’t know I could either, until I tried.”
“Abyssal dung bats, my head hurts!” someone harrumphed from a different corridor. It took Talarius a moment to realize it was Völund, the smith. He turned his head to see the two smiths come around a corner into an entrance way to the dining hall.
“That’s why you should have done cookies rather than booze!” Phaestus said, leading the smith into the dining hall. “We’ll put some food in your stomach and you’ll feel better.”
The two walked up to the table. As they approached, Phaestus blinked and stared at Ruiden, his eyes wandering over the sword’s form in obvious appreciation. Völund simply nodded at those gathered. “Boggy, incubus, knight, Ruiden,” the smith said, leaning against their table.
“Father?” Ruiden asked in shock.
“Ruiden?” Phaestus asked Völund, looking at him.
“ ‘Father’?” Talarius asked, looking back and forth between his sword and the smith.
“What are you doing here, father?” the sword asked, appearing to be in shock. If that was possible for a sword.
“Trying to recover from a hangover,” Völund said, grabbing a small loaf of bread. He licked his lips with his tongue. “We got any water?”
Talarius handed the smith his flask; the smith nodded thanks and took a huge swig of icy-cold water. His eyes widened in surprise at the flask. “Hmm, I need to get me one of these!”
“Father?” Ruiden prompted again.
“Why do you keep calling him ‘father’?” Talarius asked Ruiden.
The sword looked at him, still seemingly shocked. “Because he forged me!”
Talarius blinked and shook his head in surprise; he turned to the smith. “You forged Ruiden?”
Völund shrugged and said, “Yep.” He tore off a big chunk of bread with his teeth.
“But what are you doing here in the Abyss?” Ruiden asked, clearly disturbed to find his maker hanging out in the Abyss.
Völund looked at the sword in puzzlement. “I live here.”
“You live here? Since when?” Ruiden asked.
“Since before I made you,” Völund said. He took another long drink from the flask before holding it a bit away from his face to stare at it. “Really, I want to get one of these.”