"We have a serious problem," she said seriously. "It seems we have attracted the attention of a group of Demons."
"Demons?" Dolanna asked. "Are you certain?"
"Oh, we're very certain," Jula said without thinking. "I hit one dead center with a lightning bolt, and it didn't do much more than burn his shirt."
"They were Demons," Tarrin said grimly. "I could smell it in them. Now that I know what I'm smelling. I raked one, and my claws didn't hurt it. That means it has to be something serious."
Dolanna sighed, and nodded. "If you could not harm it, then it must be something not of this world," she agreed.
"Oh, he hurt one, all right," Sarraya said with a wicked chuckle. "Tarrin may not be able to hurt them, but his staff here can. All this time, he's been carrying around something few people have ever seen."
"What?" Dar asked.
"I say, he's been carrying around something alien," Phandebrass answered. "Demons can't be hurt by anything from this world. If Tarrin's staff hurt one, then it must be from somewhere else, it does."
"I guess that means that Ironwood's not native to Sennadar," Tarrin surmised, then he told them the story of what happened. He was careful to be detailed, and Jula and Sarraya added things from time to time. Between the three of them, they managed to recant just about everything that had happened. "After I killed one, the other three ran away, and the Hellhounds started howling."
"I say, now that I heard," Phandebrass grunted. "Woke me in a cold sweat, it did. That's why I'm up so early."
Dolanna rubbed her chin with her forefinger and thumb slowly, her eyes lost in thought. "It is good that none of you were harmed," she said slowly. "But why would they attack you?"
"They seem to be interested in all of us," Camara Tal said. "That's the only reason I can think of that would bring a pack of them to me and Dar. There would be no way they could follow the bug, since she can fly. Have you seen any of them, Allia?"
She shook her head. "Not yet. But Dolanna and I move swiftly when we search. Perhaps they have not managed to track us down."
"Or they concentrate on one at a time," Sarraya pointed out. "First Camara, then Tarrin. One sighting is an oddity, but in this city, two is much more than a coincidence. You may be next."
"We will keep our eyes open," Allia replied.
"Do more than that," Tarrin said. "You can't hurt them with Sorcery, but they do have weaknesses. The ones I fought breathe. I tried smothering them, but they managed to get clear of the weave's effect before it killed them. They're also affected by physical force, but it can't hurt them."
"Yes, I remember that part of your tale," Dolanna said. "Should these creatures endanger any of us, we should strike in that manner," she told them. "Strike them with physical force and attempt to send them far enough away so we can flee before they can return."
"I think I can pray for a spell that will do that," Camara Tal assured the small Sorceress. "That should be no problem for you, Allia, Dar, or Sarraya."
"It still does not answer my question," Dolanna grunted. "Why would they attack?"
"I think that's your answer," Camara Tal said, pointing at Tarrin. "If Jula's old troupe knows who he is, then it's a good bet that whoever sent those Demons knows who he is too."
"Someone not willing to let Tarrin have a chance to find the book first," Phandebrass added.
"Perhaps," Dolanna said. "It just seems odd, that they would attack with no discernible reason."
"Maybe they're borrowing a page from the ki'zadun," Jula offered. "Alot of their strategy concerning Tarrin wasn't aimed at killing him, it was aimed at pushing him," she told them. "Kravon figured that if he piled enough bodies around Tarrin's feet, the endless fighting and killing would drive him insane. That was if someone didn't get lucky and kill him first. It had the opposite effect, though," she chuckled. "It only made him stronger."
"It almost worked," Tarrin admitted in an emotionless voice.
"Then you're a good actor," Jula replied. "From what I remember, Kravon's reports all said that you didn't show any signs of losing your sanity."
"Tarrin is a good actor," Dolanna agreed.
Tarrin put the bowl aside. "I know who sent them," he said quietly. The ramifications of it were mind-boggling. If the Empress of Arak really was a Demon, then he foresaw a serious problem. She was in a political position to have them all killed, and do it legally. Why she would send other Demons to harass him when she could just send the army was quite beyond him, but there had to be some kind of a reason. Dolanna was right. They had to have a reason to attack him, something tangible. "Remember what I told you about the Empress, Dolanna?"
Dolanna gaped at him. "You can not be serious!" she exclaimed. "The Empress of Arak, a Demon?"
"Why not?" Camara Tal grunted. "Demons have powerful magic. It would be child's play for one to eliminate the old Empress and replace her. And if you were a power-hungry creature with that kind of power, how better to go about it?"
"It fits," Sarraya agreed with the Amazon. "Why build an empire, when you can just take one that's already laying around?"
"I can't see how they couldn't be connected," Tarrin grunted. "I've never even heard of Demons before last year, and there's no way that there can be so many of them without them working together."
"There are many types of Demons, lad," Phandebrass told him. "They range from the Demon Lords to the cambisi, the half-breeds. Human-Demon crossbreeds."
Dar shuddered. "That sounds horrible. Who would do that with a monster?"
"They probably had no idea it was a monster, my boy," Phandebrass said. "Many Demons have the power to shapeshift, and it's a much broader ability than Tarrin's. Demon Lords are equivalent to a god, where cambisi have only minor powers, as far as Demons rate things. Against a mortal, they would be virtually invincible. I say, you probably fought cambisi, Tarrin. Cambions, if they were male, and Alu if they were female."
"If they were the weakest of the Demons, I'd hate to see the strong ones," Jula said quietly.
"They used no magic against you," Phandebrass told her. "A Demon of greater status would never bother attacking you with a weapon. They do not need weapons."
"If the Empress did send them after us, we have to take some major precautions," Tarrin continued. "We're talking about the ruler of this empire. I seriously doubt that the Emperor runs things. Not with a Demon at his side. She probably owns him."
"What kind of precautions?" Dar asked.
"We disappear," Allia answered. "We vanish from Dala Yar Arak, and we stay missing. If she cannot find us, she cannot strike at us while we rest. Nor can she simply send her military to arrest us, and deal with us in the privacy of her dungeons."
"Agreed. Phandebrass, you and I are going to go find an inn today," Dolanna announced. "They do not know that you are part of our group, and I can disguise myself with Illusion. But I must say, I am still confused. If she indeed did send these Demons, why? She could have simply arrested us, or sent her army after us. We would be no match for the Legions."
"Right now, it doesn't make much sense," Tarrin agreed. "But she's a Demon. We have no idea how she thinks. Let's just protect ourselves without worrying too much about her motives, until we see more and can draw some conclusions."