Patricia Briggs - When Demons Walk

“It was sheer stupidity.” Sham admitted, shamefaced. “I’ve gotten used to being showered with gifts from people who want influence with the Reeve. A messenger brought a ring in a box and insisted I try it on before he left. Someone, probably the demon, spelled the ring so that anyone wearing it would fall asleep. When I awoke, I was here.”

She stood and walked to the robes of the High Priest, searching until she found the star-ruby ring, displaying it briefly and tossing it to Talbot. “I wouldn’t try it on. It’s never smart to fool with magic you’re not familiar with.”

While Talbot looked at the innocent-seeming ring. Sham glanced at the yellow topaz she’d also picked up.

It was the size of a cherry pit, smallish for a topaz. The style of the stone’s cut was ancient: it was carved rather than faceted. The elaborate cuts made the stone seem dull and lifeless; a pretty bauble, but worth less than an uncut stone of equal size would be to a gem dealer now. When the light fell properly on the stone, Sham could see that the carving itself was the rune that had animated the golem.

Sham tossed the topaz in the air and whispered a spell of destruction upon it. When it hit the floor it shattered into powder; that stone would never animate another golem. She looked up to see Fykall’s solemn regard.

Sham turned to Talbot. “Fykall destroyed the creature that had taken over Brath, then you came in before we had a chance to catch our breath.” She returned her attention to the priest. “Which reminds me that I haven’t thanked you yet for your timely intervention.”

The small man shook his head, “As Altis’s servant, I could do no less.”

She hesitated visibly, for the words stuck in her throat—but she remembered the feeling of the strength that had boosted her spell to destroy the demon’s bonds. “My thanks, then, to Altis.”

Fykall smiled gently. “Praised be His name.”

“Would you be interested in dealing with the demon who controlled the golem’s actions?” asked Sham. She’d recently discovered how useful Altis could be, as little as she liked Him.

The priest swayed slightly, as if he were listening to someone no one else heard. He smiled and shook his head. “‘I wish that I could, but there are other forces in this world besides Altis and they all obey certain rules. When the demon attempted to use Altis’s temple for its misdeeds, it allowed Altis the freedom to destroy its servant. If Altis were to move against it elsewhere, the path would be open for an equally strong move by a force for evil. I only wish I could be of more service,” then he smiled with real humor, “if only to have the Reeve further in my debt.”

Sham grinned back, turning to Talbot. “Well, Talbot, I suppose you have a choice. Either one of us is the demon and the other the golem. Or it’s just the priest and I.”

The Captain reached under his tunic and pulled a chain over his head. At the end of the chain dangled the silver form of Altis’ cat, green eyes and all.

“I’m not certain I’ve followed what’s going on,” the Captain said, “but if we need to be certain Brother Fykall is who he appears to be, this should work.” He handed it to Fykall, saying, “Blessed be the name of Altis.”

“Bless those who carry the symbol of His service,” returned the priest.

As he spoke the cat’s emerald eyes began to glow until they lit the room with a pale green light. When Fykall returned the necklace to Lirn, the glow dissipated.

“Sir,” said Lirn to Talbot, “this is proof enough for me .”

Talbot nodded his head, though he didn’t look entirely happy.

“And for me,” agreed Dickon, but he sounded almost as wary as Sham felt at proof of Altis’s presence in the room. “We should get back to the Castle. My Lord was tearing the building apart looking for you in case the Captain was mistaken.”

“Mistaken?” questioned Sham, looking at Lirn.

He shrugged. “I noticed one of the templemen leaving with one body more than they should have taken. I brought it to the Reeve’s attention when we discovered that you were missing, Lady. Lord Kerim thought it would be most expedient to send us here while he organized a discreet search of the Castle.”

“You’d best go then, before he works himself into a frenzy,” said Fykall.

Sham started through the door after the men, but the priest touched her shoulder to hold her back.

“Lady Shamera. Altis asks that you be very careful not to use his altars for your vengeance. He will not be as lenient in the future as he has been in the past.”

Sham nodded her head slowly. “Altis’s priest, Brath, caused a friend of mine to be crippled. I exacted payment from those who helped the High Priest do that.” She paused, choosing her words so they would sound suitably formal. “By your actions this day, I live. The debt is cancelled and I will not deface his altars again.”

Dickon came back through the door. “Are you coming, Lady Shamera?”

She turned impulsively and kissed the priest’s cheek before gathering her skirts and pacing decorously forward to take Dickon’s arm.

“So the demon has lost its golem?” asked Kerim.

Upon their arrival at the Castle, Kerim had summoned Sham, Dickon, and Talbot to the meeting room that adjoined his bedchamber for a “discussion.” Sham told him what she remembered about the kidnapping. Unlike Talbot, who still gazed warily at her, Kerim had accepted the Captain’s proof without question.

Sham ran her hands through her hair in frustration. “As long as that was the only golem it had, yes.”

“What are the chances there are more of them?” asked Talbot.

“That golem was old; it was probably made when the demon was summoned.” She shrugged, “The only topaz I’ve seen carved like that was in a necklace reputed to be over eight hundred years old. The demon could animate the golem, and work magic through it without risking the loss of its own body. Finding a proper host for the demon is a great deal more difficult than building golems, for the host must be mageborn. A golem such as the one the priest destroyed—” tides take her if she’d give all the credit to Aids, “—requires both power and time to create.”

“So we need to find the demon quickly, before it builds another one,” concluded Kerim. “The time has come for speculation. Do you have any guesses who the demon is?”

Sham rubbed her eyes tiredly. “Someone with an odd background—no acquaintances left from his childhood.”

“That would be helpful, except there was a war here. There are a fair number of people whose families were killed,” commented Talbot. “I, for one. My parents died in the first month of fighting and my three sisters disappeared into the streets. My brother was lost at sea when I was five or six. I can’t name a single soul who knew me before I was a man.”

“Shamera, can the demon change its appearance?” asked Talbot.

“I don’t think so. Maur’s book says the demon’s host won’t age after the demon has taken possession of it. If it could alter the appearance of its host, I think the book would have mentioned that too.”

“Can you think of anything else that would help us find it?” questioned Kerim.

She started to shake her head when something occurred to her. “It could be a servant. No one would think to question the background of a servant. Such a person would have the run of the Castle and would not appear out of place somewhere like Purgatory or in one of the noble’s residences in the city.”

“What about Lord Halvok?” Dickon asked.

Sham shook her head. “If the demon is under the control of a wizard then he is a possibility, but he is not the demon himself. I’ve just heard from the Whisper that Halvok studied for over a decade with the wizard Cauldehel of Reth. Cauldehel turned down the position of Archmage when the last ae’Magi disappeared. He’s several hundred years old and very powerful. I can’t imagine a demon being able to fool him for such a long time.”