‘Yes, discorporate demon spirits, but they are simply another lesser type of demon, a minor creature of the mind that can take over a weak individual. But even that tenure is brief.
‘But the demon Jakan didn’t possess the Emerald Queen; he killed her and took her place, with a conjured likeness that even those closest to her couldn’t penetrate.’
‘Impressive.’
‘Laromendis is considered a great conjurer among the Star Elves and he says he could not do this. Who was this Jakan? A weak spirit demon that preyed on weak souls until it had the strength to do what it did? Or was it something else?’
‘You love questions, don’t you?’ She spoke softly and there was a resignation in her voice.
He smiled. ‘And you always seek answers.’
There was a faint smile, then suddenly her eyes narrowed and the moment was gone. ‘Demons,’ she insisted.
Amirantha stood up and said, ‘It’s easier if I show you.’
She followed him to the keep and they passed the kitchen workers preparing a meal for those who hadn’t eaten already. Brandos and his wife sat in the corner holding hands and saying nothing, her head resting on his shoulder. Samantha had seen him off to enough battles to know that there was nothing to say, so they enjoyed their last moments together in silence.
Amirantha led Sandreena up the stairs of the tower, to the room that had been set aside for his use. There they found Gulamendis reading the volume avidly. He looked up and smiled, the first openly friendly and genuinely excited expression either of them had seen from the elf.
‘This is amazing!’ he said. ‘Every time I read it, I find new things to wonder over.’
Amirantha said, ‘If you don’t mind, why don’t you explain to Sandreena why this book is important?’
‘First, it is genuine,’ said the elf. He slowly reached out and said, ‘Give me your hand.’ He gently placed it on the book and she instantly snatched it back. ‘Demon,’ she said. ‘I can feel it.’
Like a delighted child, Gulamendis asked, ‘Where to begin?’
Amirantha asked, ‘Did you make any sense of that battle you and your brother witnessed on Telesan?’
‘I think so,’ said Gulamendis. ‘It would probably be better if I showed you.’
He opened the back cover, laying it flat on the desk. He carefully unfolded the last page, until the map was revealed, four times the size of a normal page. The map had been drawn in a vivid style, illustrations of demons of all stripe were painted in garish coloured inks along the edges, with small narratives below each drawing telling something about that creature.
But Sandreena was instantly taken with the map itself, for it showed a massive disc, divided into two circles, outer and inner, with the centre circle being divided into further segments. ‘This outer circle is where we have plied our craft,’ he said to Sandreena, while he pointed at Amirantha. ‘The beings we summon from here are similar to those you have faced in your travels. The author of this work calls them the “lesser infernals”.’
‘Lesser?’ Sandreena shook her head in disbelief. ‘I’ve confronted some very big and nasty demons in my time.’
Gulamendis nodded slightly and said, ‘As have we all. No, lesser doesn’t mean strength or magic power, I am certain. It’s about organization, or rather a lack of organization. It’s a demon eat demon realm.’
Sandreena put her hand near the map, just outside the border and said, ‘What’s here, beyond the edge.’
Gulamendis looked annoyed at the interruption, but it was Amirantha who spoke. ‘The Fifth Circle is no more a disc than it is a circle. It’s a region, and I’m sure it has boundaries, but what’s beyond those boundaries…? The void perhaps, or some other realm we do not know of, or maybe it is the boundary of the Fourth circle or the Sixth. In any event, it is this realm with which we are concerned, o’ seeker of answers.’ The last was said in a friendly manner, but Sandreena’s dark look told the warlock she wasn’t in the mood for banter.
‘May I continue?’ asked the elf.
‘Please,’ said Amirantha before Sandreena could ask another question.
‘It’s within this inner realm that all our answers lie.’ His finger moved around on the vellum and he said, ‘It appears that chaos is part of the demonic nature, but at least in the inner circle—the circle of the greater infernals—some form of order has emerged over ages. These areas, what the author calls “cantons”, are each ruled by a demon lord, a self-anointed king, arch duke, or some other like title.’