“Why?” asked Sandreena, her personal ire toward Amirantha set aside for the moment by genuine interest in what he had to say.

“The first thing I noticed was demon stench—the book reeks of it. Whoever scribed this work did so in the presence of demons.” He got a faraway look and said, “It’s almost as if it was the demon reciting facts and the scribe writing them down. The other thing is what he said about demon lore that was familiar to me and Gulamendis was both accurate and…” He looked at her. “We both know that in my time I have engineered any number of ploys to chivy confidence in the gullible to better separate them from their gold. A confidence often tends to the grand, and the weakness of a bad confidence is to overstate things. This work while sensational in scope and depth of subject is not overly given to grandiosity. If anything, it’s a little dull and academic.”

“Or exceptionally clever in execution.”

“But toward what end? It’s one thing to rush to some minor baron and claim a demon is running around his woodlands, and for a small price you’ll spare the villagers of having their children devoured. It’s quite another to spend…years writing this tome, and then what? Sell it? No, the author was earnest.”

“What does it say that will help?” asked Sandreena, now genuinely interested.

“Our experience with demons appears to have been with only a portion of their population. There are many details I will skip, but here’s one. Demons when summoned must be confined, else they run amok and devour everything they can. Or they flee into dark places and hide, waiting for their opportunity to venture forth, then they run amok and devour everything they can. That’s the difference between the powerful demons and the clever ones. Occasionally we find a clever one with some talent for magic; they are especially difficult.

“Gulamendis and I both have skills which confine a demon’s choices when summoned. They are called into a circle of power that limits their ability to move without our permission. When I summon one, it must become subject to my will or I return it to the demon realm. If it becomes my servant, then I can allow it to depart from the confines of the circle and allow it to roam.”

“So it can run around the woodlands frightening the villagers so you can part the gullible baron from his gold?” Amirantha nodded. “Or perhaps put on a fetching visage and climb into your bed?”