All the archmages gathered in the main command tent. All the books the demons have sent were moved there, as soon as Hazelmere recovered from her chilling excursion in the ice. The archmages were still examining the books in detail while making all kinds of wild assumptions about the things they saw inside.

“I am wondering something.”

“Go ahead, Mizette,” Hazelmere said.

“Is there any point to this anymore?”

Most of the mages looked at her.

“I mean, we have examined all the books we have received, several times already. I don’t see what we can find that we haven’t found before. We came up with all kinds of hypotheses, but we have no idea if any of them make sense! We can’t test them because we can’t cross into their world! So, I am wondering if examining these any further will do us any good, or if we are just wasting our time here!”

“Well, we got nothing better to do until the dwarves set up their workshop,” Hazelmere answered.

“I know, it’s just …” Mizette let out a sigh while rolling her eyes, “this isn’t what I imagined fighting a demonic invasion would look like. Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining! I would rather browse alien books over and over again than fight blood-thirsty demons. It’s just …”

“Kind of a letdown?”

“Yes!”

“Can you imagine future generations studying about this?” Cybil joined the conversation, “Can you imagine all the kinds of wild tales the bards will come up with? And then, the valiant soldiers and powerful mages kept the demons at bay for several moons, without receiving any help! For several moons, they didn’t give a single beard to the demons, buying the precious time for the armies of Greadinall to unite and kick the demons out for good!”

“While suffering no casualties at all!” Mizette added.

“Well, that is not the case. We did lose Peratha,” Hazelmere pointed out.

“Oh, that makes it even better! As the mages fought the demons pouring in through the portal, the underground horrors struck them from below! They didn’t know there were underground dungeons below them, filled with monstrous, demonic vermin! So, the mages had no choice but to fight on two fronts, fighting the enemies coming from both outside their camp and from within!”

“And then, on one night, the demons sent a giant, flying, buzzing bug to attack our heroes as they were asleep. But our heroes woke up on time, fighting the demonic bug off! And once they did, they found the mage who was supposed to warn them of the approaching danger, having sex with four soldiers at once!”

“Oh, go nail yourself Hazelmere!”

Everyone in the tent burst into laughter.

“All jokes aside,” Cybil restarted the conversation, “what we say has happened won’t matter one bit. The bards will come up with their own, alternative history, and that is what will eventually be taught in the universities.”

“You certainly know your bards well, Cybil,” Mizette teased.

“Listen … just listen to her!” Cybil didn’t sound as angry as she sounded betrayed, “Just a moment ago, she was all like: go nail yourself! And now she is doing the same thing to someone else!”

“We have all heard about your … bard adventures. They aren’t known for their secrecy, you know. I would expect the daughter of a prestigious family to know better.”

“Of course I know better! Say what you will, but the daughter of Zegrath house gets only the best! We all know the bards are the best romancers! You are just jealous because you can’t get one and, therefore, have to resort to filthy peasants!”

“Oof!” Strangely enough, Hazelmere looked quite satisfied with her rival’s retort.

“I just like doing whatever I want with them. If I tried doing the same things to a noble, I would end up in a dungeon.”

“That is not something to be proud of!”

“You are trying too hard, Mizette,” Hazelmere said as she shook her head sarcastically, “I don’t know what you are trying to achieve, but this isn’t the Mizette I know. You are clearly trying too hard, for whatever reason.”

“Quite the contrary, that is exactly the way she is!” Cybil responded, “You just never got to see it, for some reason. But I do agree she is trying too hard. I guess that, with Peratha gone, she has to step up her own game. Make up for all that douchery we have lost.”

“Excuse me! May I come in?” A deep voice came from the outside.

“Hmm …” Mizette’s voice turned suggestive in an instant, making the other mages roll their eyes.

“What? Don’t you think a hairy dwarf would be a step up from the filthy peasants?” She jested.

“Come in!” Hazelmere responded, eager to end the current conversation.

The bald dwarf walked in, looking very surprised with what he was seeing.

“I’ve heard some other races don’t mind their leaders bein’ females, but this is ridiculous,” he commented.

“Is something wrong?” Hazelmere asked.

“I’d expect your command tent to have some males in it, some soldiers at least! It’s as if I’ve walked into an elven tent!”

“Oh! Indeed it does, it is just that we aren’t using it as a command tent right now. We have received all kinds of books from the demons, and the other tents simply aren’t large enough to serve as a make-shift library. The reason why there are so many females in this tent is that we, the mages, are too busy studying these books.”

“The demons have sent you books?” Wyvernshield’s mustaches almost started dancing.

“Yes, all these books are the gifts from the demons,” Hazelmere said while waving her hand around the room.

“We have also selected a few books we think you may find interesting,” Natle approached the dwarf, holding five books of varying sizes in her hands, “we think these are about the demonic constructs. There are also two books about their runes, something we couldn’t make any sense of and are hoping you will have more luck with.”

“After all, the dwarves are famous for their runecraft,” Hazelmere added.

“Aye, the runes! If a dwarf can’t make any sense of it, nobody can!” Wyvernshield accepted the books with much care, as if he was taking a newborn in his hands.

“I was ordered to send these books to the Emperor’s palace as soon as possible,” Hazelmere continued, “however, I have decided to hold on to them for a little bit longer, so you would have a chance to take a look. Consider that to be proof of my goodwill, since I am taking a considerable risk by disobeying a direct order from the Emperor. After all, you took a considerable risk coming here, near the demonic portal, and I want to show how much I appreciate that.”

Every mage in the tent gave her a surprised stare. Hazelmere responded to them with a single, cute wink.

“Disobeyin’ one’s superiors ain’t wise,” Wyvernshield pointed out.

“No, it is not. This is the first time I have ever done it. My reasoning is simple, postponing my task for a week or two won’t make much of a difference to his Majesty, but it can make all the difference to you. I have no intention of refusing his Majesty’s order, I am just postponing it for a while.”

“I see,” the dwarf responded as he looked at the book covers with astonishment, “these … what are these? Are these paintings … can’t be. It’s too accurate, even for a dwarf … but then …”

“We have no idea either. We are hoping that, together, we will be able to uncover these mysteries.”

“In a way … it makes sense …”

“It does?” Hazelmere’s voice lost its official tone in an instant.

Wyvernshield finally averted his eyes from the books to look at her: “I’ve taken a … liberty to examine the … container in front of the camp, while my lads were busy constructin’ the workshop. Ah, yes, I almost forgot!” He straightened up, “I’ve come here to tell you our workshop is done, and we can start examinin’ what you have! These books are a good start.”

“You were saying something about how those paintings in the books, or whatever they are, make sense?”

“They are in the books too?” Wyvernshield’s eyes shone in an instant.

“Yes, but you will have plenty of time to examine them later.”

“Ah, yes, sorry about that, we dwarves get excited easily. Even though we’re yet to examine these books, I can tell, just by lookin’ at their covers, that these are made by the same people who made that big container.”

“There is no denying it but, what is the connection?”

“The precision is … unreal. That container, I bet it looks unimpressive to you. But, those who know a thing or two about smithin’ can tell you it’s a work of art. Sure, its aesthetics are disgustin’. It’s way too simple, but the way they’ve put it together is … really somethin’.”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you noticed that its sides are melted together?”

“Huh?”

“Its sides are made in the simplest possible way. Those are simple, straight metal panels. But the way they are put together is a dream come true for any smith! Takin’ an already processed metal and meltin’ it together with such precision is impossible! Or, it should be impossible. How can they focus such an enormous heat with such precision is beyond me! They’ve managed to melt only the edges and nothin’ else! And they even tried hidin’ it! They’ve tried to polish those melted parts as best as they could, although … ‘mm … I guess it makes sense to do it if you’re dealin’ with someone you don’t trust. I guess that hidin’ your secret techniques is more important than personal honor. But, why would they send you such a masterpiece in the first place? They could’ve easily sent you some regular container. Unless …”

“So, I take it you are quite impressed with that huge chunk of metal?”

“I-I don’t know how to explain it! I understand what they did, but I have no idea how they have managed to pull it off!”

“Ah yes, the story of our camp,” Cybil commented.

“Anyway, my point is that whatever is on the other side is workin’ with impressive precision. There’s no way we can emulate any of it. That’s the connection between the container and these … paintings, or whatever they are. And gods help us if we have to face that precision in a war. I don’t even want to imagine how accurate their ballistae and catapults are. On that note, I understand we’re supposed to be dealin’ with the demons?”

“That is correct.”

“I find that hard to believe. I’m not an expert in demonology, but the demons aren’t known for their precision or discipline, as far I know. And there’s no way some undisciplined, horned gits could ever construct such a thing, or create these books.”

“Apparently, we are dealing with the cubus demons here. I am not an expert myself, but Galizur, the angel, told us these demons have a knack for tricking the others in to join them. So, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn they have some dwarves working for them.”

“The feathery lady-boy told you that?”

“Umm, yes. Not the part about the dwarves working for them, that is our assumption. As you have said it yourself, the demons are naturally chaotic creatures.”

“I guess the angels would know more about the demons than anyone else. Still, I find it hard to believe. I’ll have to take a look at the portal myself to confirm.”

“We have a magescope observing the portal. You can use it whenever you want.”

“Nah,” Wyvernshield waved his hand dismissively while holding the books in the other, “I’m not usin’ that magical crap! We have somethin’ much better! We’ll just need some time to set up the mechanism.”

“The mechanism?”

“You’ll see!”