As the first of the guards started through the flaps, or so it seemed from Jenn’s obscured view, a hole seemed to appear in the middle of the fire. It was as if someone were literally ripping a hole in the fabric of space, directly in the middle of the fire. Giant demon claws emerged from the hole, widening it further. This was certainly not the traditional method for demons coming into Astlan, Jenn thought. Through the hole, Jenn could see what looked to be the fourth order demon, and as the hole got large enough, what appeared to be some sort of cave behind him.
A guard came stumbling into the tent with a coat in hand, trying to get close enough to smother the flame. As he came around the fire, he saw the demon claws already through the hole, and then a giant hoof coming through the hole. He screamed at the top of his lungs and cowered back. Almost immediately three other guards came charging into the tent and around the fire. Apparently, they couldn’t see the hole from the other side.
By the time two more guards had come in, the demon had stepped completely through the hole. Its horns were ripping against the ceiling of the tent which was blackening with fire from the flame in the brazier. The demon’s massive hooves were causing the very rug to smolder and start to smoke. “Good job, Rupert!” The demon thundered in a gravelly bass voice. Jenn was gasping, partly from the smoke, but mainly from the fact that Rupert had actually managed to summon the damn thing.
Somehow or the other, despite the confusion, Jenn heard or noticed Gastropé over the yelling of the guards and the roar of the fire. She glanced over, he was squirming madly, trying to get free of his bonds and the tent pole he was tied to. She had a moment of panic; even if the demon somehow got them out of there, Gastropé would surely get burnt alive by the flames. The entire ceiling of the tent was now ablaze and bits of it were falling down. She had to duck as she got to her feet to avoid them. Seeing Gastropé’s desperate attempts, she knew she couldn’t leave him to die, enemy or not. She ran over to the tent pole and began fumbling with the knot in the rope binding him to the pole.
As Jenn struggled with the knot, one of the soldiers stabbed at the demon with his sword. The sword bounced off the demon’s hide. The towering demon turned its gaze away from Rupert and Jenn and directed it toward the offending guard. Almost faster than the human eye could follow, the demon’s right hand shot over to his left side and grabbed the blade of the sword. Fire spewed down the blade of the sword from the demon’s hand, washing over the guard and onto the soldier’s hand and arm. The soldier screamed in pain, releasing the sword and stumbling back against the tent wall.
As the guard hit the tent wall, the center pole swayed dangerously. The tent was now sufficiently aflame as to weaken the overall structural integrity, and it almost went down. Almost, but not quite. Looking at the guard with eyes blazing with power and hatred, the demon shouted. “All of you soldiers! Run now, or I will slay you where you stand!”
The soldiers ran outside the tent. One slashed a hole in the side of the tent and ran out that way. Through the large hole he cut, which began to rip upwards, towards the flaming roof, Jenn could see a ring of soldiers surrounding the tent. Finally, she gave a last tug and the rope holding Gastropé to the pole came free. At the same moment, the rip in the tent reached the remains of the ceiling, and the flames racing along the ceiling reached the top of the tent. The tent pole began to slowly fall over, taking the now blazing tent with it. They were all about to be roasted alive.
The demon looked around hurriedly. Apparently, it recognized the danger of the flaming tent to the people inside, and further noted the ring of soldiers outside. It seemed to pause for a second, then looked back to the hole through which it came. The hole had been shrinking slowly since the demon’s full emergence, but was not yet completely closed.
The demon stepped over to the hole and stuck its hands in, pulling it wider. “All of you,” it thundered at the three of them, “through the hole. Now!” It shouted as they hesitated. Rupert leapt through, between the demon’s hands. Insane kid, Jenn thought, out of the fire, into the lava. Panic began to seize her.
There was only one place that hole could go. The Abyss. To go into the Abyss was surely death for a human. No mortal could withstand its flames, nor the millions of terrors that existed there. The Abyss was the home of Evil. Only the damned were sent there, to be tortured and defiled by demon kind. Unfortunately, Jenn was seeing no other alternative. She could stay and be burned alive, or she could throw herself into the Abyss. Literally to damn herself to certain extinction, her soul to eternal damnation.
