The Demons of Rome

V - The Baby Owl of Death

Iatus flopped backwards like he had been stung, he rolled over as best he could to try and avoid the birdman, covering his head in his arms.

The birdman however, stopped in mid-air, the tip of his beak grazing the edge of the circle, causing little orange sparks to fly off it, and started laughing.

"Oh, dear, that is funny, love doing that. No, you've done an exceptional job," it chuckled.

It took a second for Iatus to realise he was not being eaten and sat up again.

"Okay then, I suppose it is time for formal introductions. I am Aelith the wise, Stormcaller, Kingmaker and lord of the night sky. And you are?"

Iatus was still trying to process everything that was happening and his brain wouldn't put forward a response.

"It's not a hard question," the demon said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

A thought broke through the fog clouding Iatus' brain; this demon is really quite pleased with himself.

"Iatus," he mumbled.

"There we go, aren't we getting along well," the demon smiled good naturedly, if slightly superciliously.

The skinny man in the corner had too got over the shock of the demon and made his way towards it. He muttered to himself as he began examining it, furiously taking notes. Aelith looked back at him with curiosity then astonishment as the man poked him with the end of his quill. The demon didn't look angry, just confused, clearly he had never been poked before.

"Umm, you do realise I am shedu, don't you? And I presume you know shedu don't appreciate being poked," Aelith said, taken aback.

"Astounding, astounding," the man ignored Aelith and kept on investigating the demon.

The man kept on prodding until the demon gave a shrill cry and flapped its wings, lifting itself off the ground a bit. The man jumped back in fright, sending his notes sprawling from his grip.

"That's better. How about showing the great and powerful shedu some respect," stated Aelith indignantly.

"So you are what was causing our legions so much trouble, how did you manage to destroy the fifth so easily?" the mage asked after picking up his papers.

"Ummm, I have no idea what the fifth is, but a couple of years ago I did send a band of invaders in fancy outfits to the afterlife..."

"That's them, how did you do it?" the little man said excitedly.

"I posed as an old traveller and when the idiot of a commander asked me for directions I pointed them up into the Alps," Aelith said matter-of-factly, "I never saw them again, but if they never came back I presume they froze to death, or starved."

The little man's mouth fell open in surprise and horror, "No. No. That's not possible, no Roman would be that stupid, you lie, tell me the truth!"

Aelith just shrugged and Iatus thought he saw a hint of a sly smile, but it was difficult to tell with the beak and all.

"How did you defeat them!" the man shouted at the birdman.

"Oh very well, I waited until they were crossing a rather large river, then whipped up a storm to drown them all. Happy?"

"Only if that is the truth."

"Okay, get your little lamb to dismiss me permanently and I'll tell you the truth on the way out." Iatus definitely saw a cunning smile this time.

"Very well then. Boy, repeat after me," the man said, slightly disconcerted but he knew he was fighting a losing battle.

He uttered a burst of syllables and Iatus repeated as best he could. The demon gave one last look at Iatus, as if asking why he was listening to this guy at all, then winked at him.