After accepting Tagath’s offer, the stone shifted at his behest and he led us upward to the surface. I was relieved when we glimpsed the red suns once more and the soldiers accompanying us clearly shared my sentiment. Tagath alone was uncomfortable beneath the light, shielding his eyes and grimacing. It was probably to be expected, I imagine he’d been below ground a long time at this point.

Lord Yueryurn, mostly silent during the ascent, strode over to Tagath. “Here we are, returned to the light. Now speak, what is it that makes us scamper away like scared little children?”

“Ortisfel. That is the name of the darkness we have all come to fear, as far as I understand it. It is merely the name for a collective of entities, though I’m not sure where one ends and another begins. The one I have been in contact with is called Uluketh, and he has been relatively hospitable.”

“You’ve been in contact with these things? What do they want from us?”

“That is a more complex issue. They each have their own goals and motivations, though broadly speaking they wish to sever their connection to this world. I’m unsure of much beyond that except for Uluketh, who unlike his peers wishes to remain here.”

I scratched my head, struggling to take this all in. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

“In a way. It does appear to have made him less destructive than his kin, but he’s also more inclined towards domination, which poses its own problems. At least for the likes of us.”

“What does he have to gain from that?” I hadn’t the faintest idea what sort of needs or ambitions darkness might have.

“That’s something I’m still not entirely clear on. Communication of certain concepts between us has proven most difficult. From what I can gather though, it is building its own new collective which allows it to exist more comfortably in this world. It might help to think of us as being anchors of a sort to him, though that might be a terrible misrepresentation of what’s actually occurring.”

Looking deep in thought, Elmidath stepped closer. “Okay, how do we stop them then?”

Tagath blinked. “Oh, we can’t.”

“What?”

“It’s impossible for us few to have any real impact on entities such as these.”

“You can’t be serious, there must be something we can do.” Elmidath’s tone made it something between an angry declaration and a plea.

“The best we could personally hope for is to reach some sort of compromise, though I doubt it would be at all satisfactory. If you truly wish to stop the Ortisfel, then we would require the aid of individuals far more powerful than ourselves.”

Clearly we’d been thinking too small with just Lord Yueryurn and Biustarn, the resources of a few local demon lords would make little difference against such a foe. But Elmidath had made it clear that none of the others would help, so who did that leave?

The humans? I couldn’t imagine them working with the demons, particularly to solve a problem that didn’t affect them. To my knowledge, the only other options were the sundry entities that populated this world such as the ogres and those that dwelt within the forests. From my experience with the former, I was much more favourably disposed towards the forest kin.

“I think I know where we might be able to find someone who can help.”

All eyes turned toward me, every one of them plainly sceptical. Elmidath gave me a look that, without using words, told me not to make a fool of myself but I went ahead anyway. “Soarister also wishes to spread his influence across this world, right? Surely that puts him at odds with the Ortisfel.”

If we could convince him of the threat, then it was just a matter of playing the two off against each other. Though it was by no means a perfect plan, it still seemed like our best option.

No one spoke for a few moments while they thought it over, then Elmidath shook her head. “We’ve already discussed Soarister and his people, you know I’d almost rather align with the Ortisfel than them.”

“I realize that, but you should at least give them a chance. They might be the only ones who can help us.”

“Oh please, I’ve had far more dealings with them than you. You’ve never had to bargain with them before, you don’t really know what they’re like. Even if they’re willing to help us with something like this, it will cost us more than you can imagine.”

“Who says we need them ask them to help us?”

“How exactly did you intend to bring them to our side then?”

“I don’t, at least not really. If we inform them of what’s happening and the likely ramifications, then they’ll have to act.”

“And what makes you think they’ll believe us?”

I shrugged. “We’ve got Tagath. Besides, if they don’t believe us at first then I’m sure they can confirm if we’re telling the truth themselves.”

If not, then they probably wouldn’t be much use against the Ortisfel anyway.

Lord Yueryurn grunted, scratching the base of his horns. “I believe it’s worth a try, assuming you’re all willing to shoulder the burden of reaching out to those loathsome creatures.”

“Of course.”

For all that the demons disliked the forest, it was a much nicer place to be than out here. Especially compared to the underground realm we’d so recently fled. I could already picture the lush trees and verdant grass. Maybe this time we’d stay long enough to eat, I was getting rather tired of only meat.

Elmidath crossed her arms. “Well I still think it’s a terrible idea. Aren’t we already in over our heads enough? Do you really want us to be beholden to another hostile power?”

“No, but unless you’ve got a better idea than I think we have to go through with it. You heard what Tagath said, we’ve got no chance on our own.”

I was expecting her to continue arguing when Elmidath’s voice sounded in my head. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m just being too cautious after all that’s happened. If you really think this is a good idea, then I trust you. Are you absolutely sure you want to go through with this?”

“I am.”

I didn’t know much about Soarister, but I was sure this had to be our best option. There were so few open to us, and it made sense that he’d want to fight the Ortisfel.

“Then I’ll follow your lead.”

Getting Elmidath’s vote of confidence cleared up any doubts I had about the plan, leaving me eager to get under way. This was finally our chance to make some real progress towards defeating the darkness that had destroyed her home.

Elmidath turned to Lord Yueryurn and spoke aloud. “It appears we have a lot of work to do, I assume you and your men will have no trouble getting home without us?”

The demon lord snorted in amusement. “We’ll be fine. It’s yourselves that I’d worry about.”

He called his soldiers to him and they marched off. I watched them go, then turned my attention to our own journey. “We should probably get going as well. I suppose we’ll meet up with the others and then go on our way?”

Elmidath shook her head. “There’s not much point in bringing them with us. The ogres would only cause trouble and I doubt Miusin would even want to accompany us. Tagath and I will head for Soarister’s domain, you go and inform the others. Once you’re done, you can return to me, that should save us a fair bit of time.”

“Alright. I guess I’ll see you soon then.”

We weren’t under any particular deadlines, but the longer we waited, the more difficult the Ortisfel would be to dislodge. With one final wave to Elmidath, I set off myself.