She looked up, as if checking to see if either of them was laughing. Satisfied, she went on. “The Golem was made from nothing but the clay from the banks of the Vltava River, and brought it to life through rituals and Hebrew incantations. It is said a prayer was either inscribed on his forehead, or inserted into his mouth.” She smiled weakly. “Golems are extremely powerful, but are not thinking creatures. They act on commands only – you tell them to do something, and they do it without question. And they don’t stop until that task is done, or they are destroyed.”

“This thing was certainly powerful,” Alex said. “But it was flesh and blood, not clay.”

“Yes, flesh and blood, sort of,” she said. “But there are similar legends from other cultures. The Middle East is an age-old place, with civilizations dating back thousands of years, before science, to a time of magic and alchemy. I recently had the pleasure of working with an old friend of yours, Professor Matt Kearns. You might like to ask him about ancient magic.”

“We will.” Sam grinned. “As soon as he’s out of therapy.”

She nodded, as if expecting it. “In our search for the Necronomicon, Matt and I came across many ancient texts. But there was one I remember, named the Book of Stones, that referred to something called the Takwin – the creation of artificial, or synthetic life. In the 9th century, long before the Golem was even thought of, there was a man, a great Muslim alchemist, Jābir ibn Hayyan, who believed it was possible to create this type of life.”

Adira looked up at the glow on the horizon and inhaled deeply before going on. “Jābir ibn Hayyan’s work was purely focused on Takwin, and he even had several maps or recipes for creating false creatures such as scorpions, snakes, and, it is said, even humans in a alchemical laboratory. The created beings were without thought or conscience and totally under the control of their creator.” She looked up. “Who wouldn’t want an army of warriors like that?”

“You seem to know an awful lot about this,” Alex said, his eyebrows raised. Then he slowly turned, looking back the way they had come. Sam did the same.

“Anything?” Sam asked. He lifted a scope to his eye.

“No. Just a feeling.” After another moment, Alex waved them on. Casey caught them up as the HAWC leader turned back to Adira. “What you’re telling us is all just one big weird puzzle,” he said.

She nodded. “Yes, it is like pieces of a puzzle that mean nothing by themselves, and are therefore easy to ignore. But when more start turning up, a picture starts to emerge.” She looked at him. “This is what is happening now. The picture is emerging and becoming horribly clear.”

“You know, there are recent precedents for using dark magic,” Sam said.

“Like what?” Casey asked.