Then he took in what was occurring in the room beyond and his eyes widened. His brother, Belasco, was lying motionless across a sacrificial altar, and Sandreena, Kaspar, and Magnus were bound and kneeling before the altar. Amirantha assumed the bindings prevented the two magic casters from using their abilities, or this situation would have been resolved before either Jim and he had arrived.

A strange-looking man, thin with ragged hair and an impressive-looking set of pointed teeth appeared to be weeping piteously over Belasco, and seemed to be imploring Belasco to tell him what to do. Even more perplexing was a dialogue between two entities not visible. Amirantha stopped to ensure he wasn’t losing his mind, because while his brother lay motionless on the altar, he could hear his voice, and then another voice, both demanding some sort of behavior by the witless man.

Amirantha came up behind Jim and as the cloaked figure tensed, he said, “It’s me; what is happening?”

Jim gripped the Warlock by the arm and pulled him back into the tunnel and said, “I have no idea. That lunatic cannibal has been talking to your unconscious brother for five minutes, and I have no idea who the other voice belongs to.”

Amirantha said, “I need to explain the subtleties of demonic possession to you, but now is not the time. Can you kill that man without giving him time to harm anyone else?”

“Easily, but why?”

“Because if he makes the wrong move, we’re all going to die.”

“That’s a fine reason,” said Jim, and Amirantha saw a dagger appear out of thin air, held by a hand and part of an arm, while the rest of Jim was still shielded by the cloak.

“Wait,” said the Warlock.

“Why?” asked Jim. “Either we want him dead or not. Which is it? Our friends are stupefied and our enemy is overcome. As I see it, with two quick kills, this issue is resolved.”

Amirantha whispered, “Ah, if it were that simple.” He pointed to the confused islander. “Why is he so perplexed?”

“Because his master lies prostrate and he has no concept of what to do,” said Jim. “I do not know a lot about magic, but I know enough to understand that sometimes a price is paid that was unanticipated. If that evil bastard on the altar made a mistake, why not advantage ourselves and end this?”

“No, to both. We can’t end this, not yet, and moreover, that distraught minion is confused because there are two beings within that one body!”

“Two beings?” whispered Jim. “What does that mean?”

“It means my idiot brother summoned a demon recently who tried to take over his body. Now they’re struggling for control.”

“Is that why he’s lying there motionless?”

“Apparently. Neither one has enough control to command the body and fight off the other entity.”

“What should I do?”