Aidan looked at Flame. She looked back and sighed. "We gave this sort of thing up for the children's sakes. And they're still here. I don't know if I can..."

Aidan nodded. He looked at Radu. "We both owe you our lives. But... We have a family now. We have children and we can't help but think of them before anything else. Were it merely risking our lives, we would. But risking leaving them orphaned..." He shook his head. "They are already at risk enough because of..." He stopped and his eyes went wide. "You're a cleric," he said, suddenly intent. "Do you know anything about demons?"

Radu blinked at the sudden change of subject. "Yes... I do not deal with them, but I have studied a bit of demon lore."

"Do you know of a way to kill one? And I mean truly kill one, so it won't come back? I've killed the damn thing twice now, but it never lasts."

Radu blinked. "There is a demon after you?" He looked around, then blinked again. "I see that there is. Whoever set your wards was very good."

"Yes. He was very good, but he wasn't a cleric. He said it was theoretically possible to kill one, but he didn't have anything that he knew for certain would do it. And he has his own concerns, he can't camp out here hoping to figure out how to pick the thing off for us."

"Let me think. I assume you mean to exchange favors, that you will help me with my problem if I help you with yours?"

"Yes."

Flame squeezed Aidan's hand. Risking their lives, risking orphaning their children... it still frightened her, but the prospect of having Asmodeus gone forever, of not having that sword hanging over their heads waiting to fall, was wonderful. Possibly wonderful enough to be worth it.

Radu was silent for a long time. Then he shook his head. "There is a way. But you won't be able to do it yourselves. Not unless Flame has improved greatly in her sword skills since I last knew her anyhow."

Flame shook her head. "No. I'm still not any good with weapons."

"Then you will need a champion of some sort. There is a kind of spell. It is something not often cast because it melds the earth power with the sky power. Which is to say that it uses the sort of magic used by mages and the sort used by clerics, both together. I've heard it called 'The Sword of Heaven,' though I have never heard any reliable accounts of one actually being used. The theory, though, when I encountered it, seemed sound. But you would not be able to so much as touch it. It will be a very powerful holy symbol of sorts. You would be burned by holding it. You might find it painful to even be near it."

Aidan considered. A champion. There were a few he knew... but would any of them fight a demon on his behalf? One of the Queen's Own might, but he wasn't particularly close to any of them, and most of Flame's friends had retired by now. Then he had a thought. "I assume you start with a regular weapon, and put the power into it somehow?"

Radu nodded.

"Do you have to cast the spell on the whole thing? Some swords are actually two pieces, the hilt isn't the same metal as the blade."

Radu blinked. "I... never thought of that. No, there's no reason why I can't cast it just on the blade itself. Though... I said it may be painful merely to be near. Holding the hilt may still hurt you greatly, even if you're not actually burned."

"Pain I can deal with," said Aidan. "Just one more question then. Does it have to be a sword?"

"No. Any weapon will do. Though for your purposes obviously it has to be one that is made in two pieces."

Aidan nodded. He drew his left-hand dagger. That was the one he favored, as he was left-handed. It had a blue stone set in the pommel. Just glass, really, but it looked good. The right-hand one had a red stone. He held the blade out. It was just over a foot long, not counting the hilt. "I believe this is made in two pieces. Will it do?"

Radu nodded. "Yes, it should."

"And what will you need to cast this spell?"

"Mostly just a lot of time and preparation," said Radu. "I don't have the full text of the spell itself, only an old treatise on the basic principle behind it. So I will need to create the runes before I can even begin the casting itself."

Aidan nodded. He looked at Flame then. "This is your decision too. I'm willing to risk it but..."

Flame sighed. "It worries me. But having this always around, having to worry about the protections failing, not being able to be safe in the southlands, having to worry about every stranger we meet! I'm long since sick of it." She shook her head. "I'm willing. I want our family to be free of this. And we've survived things that are this dangerous before. We can again."

Aidan turned back to Radu. "Very well then. Do we have a deal?"

Radu smiled. "We do. And I will refrain from asking you to shake hands on it."

Aidan laughed.

Flame said, "We can't go right away. We can't just leave the children, we need to make arrangements to have them taken care of. And we're going to have to go to Snowcap for that, so it will take some time. Give us a couple of weeks?"

Radu nodded and got to his feet. "I wish it didn't need to be so long, but I understand. Two weeks from this hour I shall return. And... thank you. Even if this doesn't work as I hope, thank you all the same."

He stepped back into the portal, which had hung there the whole time, and it and he both vanished.