“Because if it was the Fifth Circle, we would be almost certainly dead by now. Everything we know about the Fifth Circle says we would die within minutes if we weren’t protected by strong magic.”

“Kosridi,” said Laromendis.

“Yes,” said his brother, referring to the tales they had learned about the human magician Pug and his allies traveling to the Second Circle. “On the other hand,” said Laromendis, “who is to say the laws within the Fifth Circle are the same.”

“I’ll argue theory later,” said Gulamendis. “Despite what we just saw, I’m not getting very much…”

“I can’t sense any demons.”

“Another illusion.”

Gulamendis slapped the wall of stone behind him and felt the palm of his hand sting. “What do you think?”

Laromendis closed his eyes for a moment, touched the wall, then said, “If it’s a conjured fortress, whoever did it has the powers of a god.”

“Let’s see if we can find a place to hide while we decide what to do next,” said Gulamendis.

Setting off along the base of the wall, staying as deep in the shadows as they could, the two elves who stood seven feet in height tried to make themselves as small and inconspicuous as possible.

“This may not be the demon realm,” said Laromendis, “but the air is choking.”

“All that smoke and ash in the air,” whispered his brother.

“Who builds something like this in a place like this?”

“I have no idea,” replied Gulamendis. “Over there.” He pointed to a small building that appeared to have been constructed after the wall. It appeared to be a simple wooden structure, a shed or storage room.

They crept along. There didn’t appear to be anyone at hand since they spied the one demon crossing the marshaling yard, but they had no idea who might be observing them from any one of the hundred or so windows in the keep above. It reared high overhead, at least a dozen stories, a massive malignant black presence against the evil red-and-grey sky above.

“Fliers!” said Gulamendis, pointing above the top of the keep.

In the sky a dozen black specks appeared against the red glow and then vanished, only to reappear a moment later, growing larger. “They’re coming this way,” said the Conjurer.

“Let’s see what’s in here,” said Gulamendis, opening the unlatched door.

Inside the hut sat sacks and boxes, arranged in a roughly organized fashion. When the door was closed, they were plunged into darkness.

The building was a rough construction, and there were cracks between the boards. The brothers peered through them and suddenly large winged demons descended into view, landing in the marshaling yard and assuming a rough formation, two lines of six each.

“They are waiting for something,” said Gulamendis.

“What?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do we do now?” asked Laromendis.