Jori broke through the circle of incapacitated underkeepers and flung a handful of hellfire at the dwarf, who was still on the grouing a sort of wheezing groan.

  The other mortals were all out of the fight for the moment as far as she could see, though she was sure that Josie herself would be right behind her. Without pausing to see what happened with the dwarf, she flung herself past the bulky duergar and at the imp, who had stopped for a sed at Josie’s scream, but like Jori herself didn’t seem seriously affected otherwise. He turned his head this way and that, looking for the source.

  Jori barreled into him, cws first, and tore at his hide drawing gouts of bzing blood. She tried to ighe imp's screeg and power through the indest blood burning her hands and arms, but flinched away when it spshed onto her face, hissing with pain.

  Only then did she realize her mistake. She o buy time for the others to recover from Josie’s scream and to deal with the duergar. But the air iunnel was getting hot. She couldn’t afford to throw around a lot of hellfire, or for either herself or her oppoo get ioo much. It wouldn’t take long before the mortals would start burning their lungs with every breath.

  She o stall.

  “Stop, cousin!” she hissed, improvising. “Why are you attag us?”

  It didn’t work. The imp ignored her, gathering fire in one hand and flung it toward one of the goblins. The guard had recovered enough to move and mao roll away from the liquid fmes, though a few droplets still spattered onto her armor. Suddenly much more lively, the goblin woman squeaked in surprise and spped at the fmes in panic.

  Thinking furiously, Jori tried something else. “You’re interfering with the Great One’s pn!” she bluffed. “He will devour you when you are returned home.”

  At that, the imp turo her and squinted, bag up a step.

  “What Great One?” he said, warily. His eyes widened suddenly. “Wait. Dzhorianath?”

  Jori blinked. What? She stepped closer and examihe other demon’s torn-up fad mottled c.

  Well. How about that? He really was a cousin. One of those who had submitted to greater powers while she hid. He’d done well for himself.

  “Gegrenoth!” she said, surprised. “Where are the others? Are you all w with the duergar? What happened to everyone?”

  Behind her, Jori heard a gasp, followed by a pained moan. Josie had goo work on the duergar by the sound of it. The other imp gnced behind Jori for a moment before narrowing his eyes and answering.

  “We were bound by the fiend Talsh, who is bound by the whisperer Zijeregh, who is bound by the greater shade Nuros, favored servant of Varamemnon.” Gegrenoth said, with a nearly ritualistic ce. “Whom do you serve?”

  “I have powerful patrons,” Jori said evasively. “Their goals are secret, I don’t know them. But I help our pack. Get them out, maybe... It was Talsh, you said? I know some warlocks…”

  “I am strohan you, little one. I don’t need your help.” The other imp scoffed at her. “And our pack is shrinking. Soon it will be gohe weak die together, and the strong grow alone, each their own way. You know that.”

  Jori did know that. But she didn’t believe it. Not anymore.

  She bared her teeth at Gegrenoth, ready t at him again when his head disappeared with a blunt sound of impact, knocked off his shoulders. Fire fountained up in its pce, reheating the air iunnel, which had just started to cool off to normal levels again.

  The body toppled over, and a few seds ter, the hellfire stopped gushing out of the body. Jori exhaled a breath in a sigh. Too bad. He would be restored in the fmes of their home pne sometime tomorrow.

  What an ass.

  “What'd you tell him?” Dayle asked, stepping up to he demon’s body with the toe of his boot. “Pretty nice distra, I re.”

  Jori nodded distractedly.

  “Josie!” Dayle said, turning to the warloewhere behind Jori. “Kustov told me what you could do, you know? But I didn’t know it was like that. You could put half a pany down on their asses without even trying! Did you ever sider enlisting? I know there ain't a warlock corps or anything like that. But you know, maybe there really should be.”

  Jori looked back to find Josie shaking her head at the mage.

  “Warlocks are officially banned from serving in any ilitary force,” Josie said seriously. “It’s literally one of the oldest ws iire realm. Besides, I’m a solicitor. The military 't afford me.”

  Dayle put up his hands in mock surrender and moved off to join Lin, who was cheg on the goblin that had been spattered with hellfire. Jori could see that one sleeve of the goblin’s mail had partially melted. Depending on how well the gambeson underh held up, she could imagihat she might have a day off with a healing potion ahead of her.

  All things sidered, it had gone surprisingly well. No one had died, and it didn’t look like anyone was seriously injured, even if a few of the underkeepers here looked like they might need a break and something strong to drink after being exposed to Josie’s psychic attack.

  The warlock moved closer a down to che Jori. “Are you alright? I saw you get hit right in the face. Doesn’t it hurt?”

  Jrunted. “It’s fine.”

  She was in a sour mood. Her pack, the few remaining imps of the massive swarm that she’d been born with, were attached to the enemy. Sure, Gegrenoth was doing just fine, but the others… they were just like she had been. Small, mostly helpless and not smart enough to uand that they were probably just bei as food for their fiend master, Talsh.

  “I heard what you said, you know.” Josie said. She crouched dowo her and studied her face curiously. “You want to help them, right?”

  Jori didn’t answer, she just gred at Gegrenoth’s unmoving form.

  “Why?” the warlock asked. “Why help smaller demons?”

  The little imp scratched her head, sidering the question. Then she looked up to meet the woman’s inquisitive eyes. “Someone should.”

  trating oig sense of something she could feel over by the dead duergar, she drew the spiritual residues from the body as she turned away.

  “Someone should care. e on. We have to get ba patrol.”

  –----------

  Somethi different as Bernt stepped out onto the small pza just outside the Uy gate, heading to the Mages' Guild after his shift. It was less oppressive. People were walking a bit more slowly than the day before, and a few small stands were open on the periphery, selling warm snacks and drinks to chilly passers-by in the crisp autumn air.

  And there was music. Bernt looked around, finally finding a young man tucked away in a er with a three-stringed fiddle. He wasn’t pying a specifig as far as he could tell. It was more like someone aimlessly practig – pying a bit of something, then switg to somethiirely different on a whim. He was good though, very good.

  Bernt took a deep breath, feeling a weight that he hadn’t realized he was carrying slide off of his chest. It felt nice. Great, even. Trying on a smile, he moved on, heading toward the Mages’ Guild to work on his hellfire derivative.

  As he left the pza and headed dowreet, he wondered how serious the morale situation on the surface must be if the t aying the Bard’s Guild to lift the spirits of the general popuce. Was Elyn out there somewhere?

  Ahead, a small crowd had formed around a street preacher – a young priest wearing white. He reminded Bernt of Torvald a little, at least until he heard him talk.

  “–do not be led astray by promises of false defenders, guardians e from the hells themselves to save you... from what? Themselves? We must be vigint against such deceptions. We must stand firm against the forces of evil and all those who traffi their darkness.”

  A few people shouted in agreement, but others rolled their eyes a walking. Bernt did his best not to look too spicuous as he skirted the group.

  “Didn’t see that guy get into a fire fight with some kind of fming demon dwarf,” someone grumbled as he passed by.

  What was all this about?

  Bernt was ba the Lower District, just a few blocks from the Mages’ Guild, actually, when he felt something watg him. Whipping his head around, Bernt sed his surroundings. He checked the mouths of alleyways and the faces of the people passing by. An elderly dwarf alking right behind him cursed at him for stopping and gred as he stepped around him.

  He was being watched.

  It was almost like a physical thing, and he wasn’t the only one who felt it. Everyone in this part of the street was rushing along, throwing ghis way and that. But there was nothing to see. Nobody and nothing eering threateningly from a window or over a rooftop.

  Swallowing nervously, Bernt ducked his head and hurried along. Something had ged up here. That bard – and probably others – weren’t just out here to lift the spirits of a popution under siege. They were fighting something.

  Were these the silent watchers that the possessed duergar warlock had mentioned?

  Shivering, Bernt turhe er ahened his stride, nearly breaking into a jog to get ihe walls of the massive guild structure.

  –-------

  “Sir, it’s getting worse.” Josie said, handing her daily report to the head solicitor. “I saw two shades on the today, and there are other things out there, messing with people ireets. I’m guessing watchers from the fifth hell and maybe a couple of questioners from the sed.”

  Radast nodded. “That fits with our other intelligence. I already advised the t to take termeasures, and he has. We’ll work oralizing at least some of them on our end. A few of the better exorcists from the Temple District are supposed to get involved as well, but t Narald didn’t sound sure that they would cooperate with one another. It’s unclear how effective they’ll be.”

  Josie grimaced. You could always trust the clergy to pick the most opportune moments to cripple themselves with pointless infighting. At least Torvald had seehreat and done something, even if he was an obstinate moron.

  “Our little demon was involved in the fighting today,” he said as he sed the summary page of her report. “Did you get the details?”

  She nodded. “It’s o page. I was there. We saved a few lives and Jori stopped another imp from most likely cooking half the guards and the mage.”

  Radast smiled with satisfa. “Good, good. That’s perfect. I’m going to get some ‘eyewitnesses’ out into the pubs with this. Maybe we make a bit of a name for you, while we’re at it.” He met her eyes and grinned – a rare, genuine expression on a man who generally prided himself on his self trol. “Solicitor Josie, I believe you may end up breaking new ground for us. Keep this up and you’ll be the first warlock celebrated as a hero in this city since before the fall of the Madurian Empire.”

  Josie ined her head to her mentor. His praise meant a lot – she khat Radast wasn’t the sort of person to offer it lightly. A lot of people thought of the man as little more than a sinister and arrogant charicature of a warlock – he certainly pyed into it when it suited him. But he was more than that, too. A fiercely proud man with a worthy goal.

  It didn’t hurt that with his help, she very well could bee one of the most famous warlocks in Beseri history – and perhaps the first ohat wasn’t framed as a vilin.

  She smiled bad excused herself. She o be up early tomorrow – she was scheduled to work oerception team with Kustov a again an hour before dawn.