An hour into the afternoon, Amirantha began to sense something. He held a book in his hand and glanced at the title, then put it aside. He picked up the next and again felt the oddly familiar, yet nameless tingling. He cast aside that book and picked up two more. As he dug deeper into the pile, the sensation became more familiar, and more immediate.

It was demon.

He pushed his way downward, ignoring the damage he might be doing to ancient books—many of which were on the verge of falling apart due to improper storage in this very room—and felt the sense grow even more compelling.

His hand touched something and he recoiled as if experiencing a shock.

Trying to work as quickly as possible, yet not damage the object of his attention, he got the cover of the work clear and once he could clearly see the volume, his flesh crawled.

This volume was rife with demonic magic.

When he had at last cleared away the covered tome, he reached in and gripped it; the alien sense of demon magic assaulted him again, but this time he was ready for it.

He lifted the large volume off those below it and carried it over to the table. He gently put it down and studied it a moment before he touched it again.

He was almost certain the cover was skin; human, elf, or some other, he was unsure, but this book was bound by something that was once living and aware.

He opened the cover and let the magic spell Pug had given him serve him. The language may have been ancient and obscure, but he read it as easily as he did the first language he had learned as a boy.

Whispering aloud, he read the title page. “Greater Demon Lore.”

Slowly he turned the first page and began to read.

After a few minutes his legs grew shaky and his stomach began to knot, but he kept reading, and slowly he sat in the chair offered and resisted the urge to run from the room screaming.

His mind rejected what he saw before him, but he kept reading for the rest of the afternoon.

From the moment they gathered at the end of the day to dine, it was evident to the others that Amirantha had something to tell them but was keeping silent lest they be overheard. When at last they were alone, Pug gave Magnus a questioning look. The younger magician nodded once, closed his eyes a moment, then said, “We have a few minutes; the magic they’re using to spy upon us is poorly done, but if I counter it too much, someone may notice.”

“What did you find?” Jim asked Amirantha.

“What we came for,” he answered. “It is the Greater Demon Lore, and more.”

“More?” asked Pug. “What is in it?”