Satan's Gambit (The Barrier War Book 3) by Brian J Moses

trilled in response. “Me, too.”
    Birch pushed
himself wearily to his feet, covered the gnomish lamp and left the small study
he’d appropriated for his use. He locked the door and pocketed the key, then
turned and nearly ran over a small, green-cloaked man who was standing behind
him.
    “Perky?” Birch
asked tiredly as he regained his balance.
    “Oh, sorry to
startle you, Birch,” the Green paladin said in a bright voice, despite the
obvious weariness on his face. Birch had never figured out how Perklet could be
so upbeat all the time. He was quiet as a mouse and rarely said more than a few
words at a time, but there was an almost youthful innocence and eager
helpfulness about the middle-aged man that perplexed Birch. Even when he was
tired, as he certainly looked now, it was there. If nothing else, he certainly
fit his nickname.
    “Not at all, I’m
just tired from a long night writing,” Birch replied, waving off the man’s
apology.
    “Night? It’s
well into morning now,” Perklet said. “You really should rest.”
    “My thoughts
exactly,” Birch said with a patient smile. “Were you looking for me, or were
you just entranced by the rather plain-looking knocker on this door?”
    “Oh, I was
hoping you’d come with me to look at something,” Perklet said. He suddenly lost
most of the vibrant energy he’d had. “Some of our brothers died during a recent
expedition, and one of the other paladins asked me to take a look at the
bodies. Supposed to be something strange about their injuries, and I’m one of
the most experienced Greens around these days. Anyway, since we’re talking
about demon-inflicted wounds, I thought maybe you could take a look as well.”
    Exhaustion
warred against the desire to help a friend, and in the end Birch’s own
curiosity tipped the scales in the Green’s favor.
    “Alright, I
guess I can take a quick look before I go find my bed,” Birch said. “Where are
they being kept?”
    “Just a couple
hallways down,” Perklet said. “It shouldn’t take long.”
    Birch motioned
for Perklet to lead the way and reached up to placate Selti, who warbled
discontentedly.
    “Speaking of
exhaustion, you don’t look all that fresh yourself, Perky, if you don’t mind my
saying,” Birch said.
    “Oh,” Perklet
said with a sigh, “I was summoned in the middle of the night to help with a
difficult birth. Seven hours in labor, and we lost the child.”
    “I’m sorry,”
Birch said soberly. “Stillborn?”
    “Might as well
have been,” Perklet said disconsolately. “Poor little girl cried out once then
just collapsed dead in the midwife’s hands.”
    - 4 -
    The two paladins
entered the room slowly, mindful of the presence of three of their slain
brothers laid out on wooden tables. The room smelled strongly of death and the
cloying fragrance of some flower petals someone had laid out in a futile
attempt to mask the odor emanating from the three corpses. Fortunately, someone
had apparently opened a window recently, so fresh air was circulating in the
room.
    The only other
living person present was a Yellow paladin Birch immediately recognized as
Michael Semnriak, another friend of Danner’s. The three men exchanged friendly
handclasps and a few murmured greetings, then Michael stepped back and let them
each examine a body.
    Birch
immediately noted the distinctive claw marks left by demon-kind. The flesh
around the wounds was sickly and usually became infected almost immediately,
but none of these wounds seemed to be serious enough to have killed the
paladin. Birch shifted his attention then to the man’s head, half of which was
apparently missing and had never been recovered. Birch’s stomach tightened at
the gruesome sight, but he’d seen as bad and worse during his lifetime, and
this was sadly nothing new to him.
    “It looks almost
like as sword wound, doesn’t it?” he heard Perklet murmur from behind him as
the Green paladin examined one of the other bodies. Birch