inform our liege lord of that. Graz'zt needs good generals.'
'Generals? I care not a single turd for that,' Palvlag spat. 'I wish only to slay those who serve- '
'Enough! Carry out my orders, Palvlag. I know of your vendetta.' He watched as the protodemon sped off, took charge of the body of mixed babau-ogres, nikomars, and the snaky ssilhex. The unit responded in clumsy fashion, but the troops seemed obedient and willing enough. Even as Palvlag marched it into position, though, there was a din along the front nearby. Mandrillagon and whatever force he commanded had begun their attack.
At the opposite end of the long line Nergel had Just sent his sweepings forth to harass the enemy skirmishers. The dumaldun were at least a match for the rutterkin and dretch, so those in the area began to cluster around the few hundred demon foes and fight. Then Nergel himself took the field, with the shambling boorixtroi on either hand. Dumaldun flew through the air, some dead, some dying, some in dismembered segments and serving as missiles. The hunched demon lord captain relished the slaughter, and in his mind he pictured it all clearly, putting it into a pattern that could be easily picked up by Vuron.
Nergel was so delighted by the success that he was careless. The message meant for his superior was broadcast too widely. The distant lords serving Demogorgon managed to snare the thought-picture and alert their master. And just then, another bit of information came to them.
'Lord Nergel,' Leda called mentally, using more than the usual strength in the process. 'Please receive this information.' As she telepathically informed him of the important news, the dark elven priestess also pictured what was occurring around her. The scene sprang into the crooked demon's mind, Nergel was even further elated — and the enemy was even better informed.
Two regiments of the stolid fesroo soldiery were only a few minutes away from joining his foray around the right flank The gila monster-visaged demons were obviously fresh and full of fight. Noble ssilhex led them. They were all Nergel's to command. Better still, massed just behind them were other reinforcements: companies of ghouls holding massive hyaenadons; battalions of ravening gholes, the trolls of ghoulkind; and finally at the rearmost position a brigade of tall gnoles, hyaena-headed demonlings of no great power but in numbers sufficient enough to be useful. With these were the fiercest of their sort, the ghulaz. It was sufficient to make the demon lord send forth peals of hideous, rippling laughter, as if Nergel were imitating the calls of the carrion beasts that approached.
'Yeenoghu's spawn!' he shouted aloud. 'This means that Graz'zt has at least released some strength to us — to me! I command! Now, you sodden lumps of petaled flowers!' he called, shaking his gnarled fist in the direction of Demogorgon's position across the broad plain, using the foulest of names he could conjure to name his foes. 'You sweet-smelling butterflies! Now you will howl under my heel!'
Clearly the pictures from Nergel's mind came to the watchers, and they relayed all just as quickly to their twin-headed master, Demogorgon. The great demon immediately had reserves brought up to be ready for the coming attack, but otherwise he remained waiting. Mandrillagon was Just striking the demon left with a corps of troops from outside the Abyss: a devil legion, a division of dreggals from Gehenna's depths, daemons and cacodaemons from Hades and Tarterus. The formation was echeloned so that it would first overlap the line Vuron had drawn, then strike it successive blows from the edge toward the middle. The legion of devils would meanwhile fall upon the flank and rear. If that succeeded, then the sudden addition to the enemy force on its right would be useless — better than useless. It would help in the destruction of the whole.
'Desperate trouble!' That was a panicky message sent by Mandrillagon.
Over the confused images being sent, Demogorgon sorted out what he could with one of his brains while the other head mentally asked, 'What is it?'
'Renegade filth! The devils, the whole legion of them, were caught on the flank and ran away!' The words were accompanied by Mandrillagon's images of the occurrence. Antlered cohorts, devils of red hue and black scaled, bristled, spined. Attacking them were thousands of bounding, leaping furies, the gorilloid demons called bar-lgura. 'How did the sixfingered mound of perfume gather so many?' Mandrillagon referred to Graz'zt, of course, and his consternation came from the fact that most of such demons as those who had routed the devils were dwellers on the spheres ruled by himself.
'Who cares?' his master telepathically returned with acidic thought. 'I want all the picture now!'
Mandrillagon cringed mentally and physically but managed to comply. 'It was the eunuch, Vuron, with the Theorpart — Palvlag, too. The fossil leads a whole corps of fresh troops.' As he said that in his mind, the baboon- headed demon allowed pictures of the horde that Palvlag led to come to the surface of his thoughts.
'Bah! A few thousand of the babau-ogres, saucer-eyed nikomars in lesser numbers, and erhaps a thousand ssilhex. You are influenced by fear — by cowardice!'
'And the vaunted devils, prince?' Mandrillagon queried with derision. Demons near to him shrank back for the monstrous creature's face was contorted in fury, and his small eyes flamed with hatred. 'Were they too moved by such fright?'
That made Demogorgon pause. He assessed all he had learned carefully. On the left of the enemy host, their general and strongest sub-commander were in the process of hooking around. Perhaps it was only a weak attack but it was an aggressive move. The force on the opposite end of their position was stronger, even though only Neigel was there to lead. . Perhaps that was a false assumption. 'Withdraw slowly, cousin. Save what troops you can. Strike if possible at pursuit. When you've disengaged fully, set up a defensive position, then report here to me.'
Without waiting for a reply, Demogorgon closed his mind. He had to find out exactly what was transpiring on the right of Vuron's front. The albino one was sly and tricky. If he appeared on one side, Demogorgon suspected that he had better watch the other closely. One of the scryers was nearby. A score of powerful ahazu-demons served the two-headed demon king as officers and watchers. 'What force now on our left?'
'Rot the foe,' the square-shaped demon responded, 'and may your power wax over all. Great Demogorgon. Ten thousand of the fesroo newly come are at work there. We have seen the arrival of half again as many of the subjects of Yeenoghu, my Liege. More I cannot venture. . '
So! Fresh troops in some numbers. If so many were apparent, then there were probably more hidden. No matter. Even if the black one had sent twice that many, and Lord Yeenoghu with them. It was too little. Vuron and Palvlag far to the left; Nergel, possibly Yeenoghu, on the far right. The long line, the center, would have only the weakling toad-kisser.
Vastyi, to command — he and the drow bitch Eclavdra. Demogorgon began to issue orders with both heads.
'Screen both of our flanks strongly. A corps of hordlings on our right should hold any advance by the enemy there. Send three divisions of dreggals to the left,' the demon prince's leftmost head commanded simultaneously. 'Send for my war bands of dusins, all of them. The reserve of mixed demons, too. Every daemon company and all of the remaining dumalduns as well are to advance when the iron gongs are beaten!'
Demogorgon meant to strike the enemy now, squarely in the center of their long, thin line. Vuron's position was attenuated, the albino had put himself out of place, and both flanks were busy attacking. This was the perfect time for a counterstroke, a blow that would break the enemy in the middle and bring total defeat to them. Fifty thousand dusins, fearless and tough, with crocodile Jaws and iron weapons, his own guards, would be the point that would break the foe's front and pierce its heart. With superiority of six to one, there could be no doubt that they would triumph. To be on the safe side, though, Demogorgon decided to accompany the assault in person, bringing with him the Theorpart that Infestix had placed in his charge. The power of the relic would assure that no leader of the foe managed to interfere.
Chapter 5
The clangor of iron gongs was rolling thunder across the field. The beating of the sixty great discs almost drowned out the tramp of demon foot and dreggal hoof. A hundred thousand feet and even more hooves: the hard ground trembled.
As a great avalanche moves came the center of Demogorgon's horde. The twin-tailed banners above Demogorgon's own guards were of obsidian black and bright green, just as were the tabards of the thickly thewed dusin demons who marched beneath the flapping pennons. A dozen or more other flags sprouted from the blocks of