Damien got a puzzled expression his face. “Crabs? They won’t sleep with you over crabs? I can’t even think they’d be able to tell. They haven’t even noticed you’re a demon yet!”
“I don’t have crabs!” Antefalken finally stopped playing, “Anna Leri just told them that. And, of course, they know I’m a demon. That’s why they want to sleep with me. After all, being 753 years old gives me more experience than any other man they’re likely to meet. Plus you know how women always love an older man. Further, where exactly do you think all those legends of ‘demon lovers’ came from? I wrote half the book, and after one night, these maids know it! and they tell their friends.”
“So why didn’t you just tell them you’d gone to the Abyss and the crabs got burned off?”
“I tried, but apparently Anna Leri told them they were demon crabs and couldn’t be gotten rid of short of a miracle from the gods.” Antefalken moaned. Damien started laughing.
Tom followed Rupert down the trail. Rupert was following the horses by several feet, and Jenn was on the first horse, as usual. Tom had given up talking to the girl. She was obviously as insane as any of the wizards. The only sane person in Astlan seemed to be Rupert, and if Tom was completely objective, he’d have say that Rupert was crazy for not being afraid of something as deadly as a demon.
Jenn continued to puzzle out the book in her hands. She’d tried several light probes but could figure nothing out about the spell that bound it. Whatever it was, Jehenna had gone to great lengths to secure it from prying eyes. Naturally this made Jenn even more curious. She was becoming convinced that whatever it was, it was probably the reason two masters had been assigned to the wagon train. Further, she was fairly certain it was what the demon was after. Why the demon just didn’t grab it, she didn’t know. Maybe it was waiting for her to figure out how to open it first, then steal it.
Jenn’s thoughts were interrupted by a brilliant flash of what appeared to be fire in front of her. Her horse reared and started screaming in terror. Unprepared for the horse’s action, Jenn went flying off backwards, onto the ground. “Whooooof” went Jenn as she had the breath knocked out of her.
“What the Abyss?” she tried to gasp, but lacked the air to do so. In front of her horse were two third order demons! Jenn would have screamed if she’d had the air. She didn’t, so instead she tucked the book into one of her large robe pockets and frantically began reaching for spell components.
As Tom noticed a flash of red light from in front of the horses, he suddenly felt his arms grabbed from behind. Startled, Tom tried to duck and turn in midair, but found his wings and movement impeded by two demons hanging off the back of him. Shit! thought Tom. Just what I needed. He reached awkwardly around, over his right shoulder with both hands and grabbed the demon on that side. He grabbed the demon’s head, poking himself on its horns. Without thinking he began to squeeze. The demon’s head was tough. The demon howled in pain, but didn’t let go.
Tom lost altitude and hit ground with the two demons still clinging to him. He heard Rupert shouting what sounded like obscenities, but didn’t have time to pay much attention. He concentrated,
With one of his attackers down, Tom had more room to move. He swung around trying to grab the other demon clutching his left side. It swung around with him. Annoyed he reached over and grabbed the demon.
Wham! Crash! A flash of light from behind him startled him momentarily. Quickly he looked over his shoulder to see where two demons were attacking Jenn. One of them was reeling and smoking. It looked for all the world like it had been hit by a bolt of lightning. It probably had been, he thought raggedly. He ripped the demon off his side. Its claws raked along him, causing him pain, but he didn’t have time to think.
He’d promised to protect these guys and he wasn’t doing too great a job at the moment. The second demon got on its feet and charged Tom. Angry, frustrated and in a hurry, Tom took a deep breath, concentrated all his ki in his right fist, as his instructor had taught him, and brought it back, preparing to strike. As the demon charged in, Tom released his fist with all his strength and put his body behind it. His mind was tightly focused on the ki in his fist. The demon came in, Tom’s fist moved forward. Tom imagined he could almost see the ki glowing in his fist.
