“Few,” said Jim with no hint of modesty. “This will take a couple of weeks, and the sooner begun the sooner done.”

Pug said, “Very well. Magnus, get us to the island, please, and then take Jim to Krondor.”

As they assembled to transport to Sorcerer’s Isle, Amirantha said, “I wonder how that demon-loving elf and his brother are doing.”

CHAPTER 6

SURVIVORS

The demons attacked.

Gulamendis drew back his hand, his brow furrowed in concentration as he watched his brother from the corner of his eye. Laromendis had conjured a battle demon illusion that was all talons and teeth, muscles like iron drawn over by skin resembling the hardest dragon scale. Ignoring the relatively lesser threats of the two Taredhel magicians, the three demons threw themselves upon the most obvious threat. Demon logic was simple: dispose of the most dangerous foe, then turn attention to the lesser. Intelligence was not a prerequisite for harrying demons, those whose job was to seek out hidden prey and drive them to where the demon captains were waiting. All they saw was a rogue demon not of their cadre attacking them and they never for one moment considered the improbability of it all.

As long as the demons believe Laromendis’s conjurations, they were subject to damage from it, and it lay about in frantic mayhem, slashing and biting, tearing and gouging. From bitter experience, Gulamendis knew the illusion would be good for only a moment or two longer, then the attacking demons would recognize it for what it was; Laromendis had never smelled a demon or experienced its magic aura, so those components were lacking in the conjuration, and as soon as the demons recognized the fraud, the two magicians would be assaulted.

Which is why Gulamendis had his wand at the ready. It was a treasure, gained by guile and subterfuge from the treasure trove brought from Andcardia to E’bar, the elven city constructed on the ancient planet the Star Elves called “Home,” in their language.

The wand had been the only thing that had kept the two brothers alive for the last few days, which was beyond the expectation of the Lord Regent and other members of his Meet who obviously wished to see the two brothers soon dead. Only Tandarae, the new Loremaster of the Taredhel, was kindly disposed toward the Demon Master and Conjurer, but he wasn’t in a strong enough bargaining position to keep the brothers from being dispatched to the Hub World.