It felt unwise to draw nearer to Dumah. It felt, frankly, unwise even to move in his presence.

But Yehuda Leib was clear-eyed. They, after all, had brought him here. They wanted to speak with him. That was his advantage. And it wouldn’t do to shy away from it.

With a light nod, Yehuda Leib strode across the room to where the lord high general was seated but did not, himself, sit.

Again, Dumah gestured to the stool.

“The lord high general bids you sit,” said Behemoth.

Yehuda Leib looked at the stool and shook his head, clasping his hands behind his back.

There was a long silence as Dumah regarded Yehuda Leib.

And then, with the raising of an eyebrow, he lifted his feet from the table beside him. Quickly, he sorted through the various documents on the tabletop and found a thick sheaf of papers, which he tossed onto the ground in front of Behemoth.

“Ah,” said the little rat-faced demon, bending to retrieve it. “The lord high general wishes to share his intelligence with you.”

Yehuda Leib didn’t look at Behemoth. “Thank you,” he said.

“Two terrestrial nights ago,” said Behemoth, “certain omens in the snow and sky indicated to the sorcerers of the Army of the Dead that a significant shift in power had taken place in the Far Country. For this reason, the lord high general consulted with Lord Dantalion, an ancient ally, who gave the following response to our inquiry.”

Here Behemoth riffled several pages and began to read.

“ ‘War is coming,’ ” he said. “ ‘And much will be decided by the weapon that carries itself into the Far Country.’ ”

Behemoth looked out over the top of the dossier.

“The weapon that carries itself,” he repeated, tossing the dossier back onto the table. “This was a compelling piece of information for us to receive. War, after all, is our dominion.”

Leaning back in his chair, Dumah cracked the knuckles of his huge hands with a sound like a volley of musket fire.

“The lord high general took this opportunity to commission reports from his various intelligence assets among both the demons and the armies of the living with the goal of determining the identity of the weapon that carries itself into the Far Country. There were several possible candidates, including literal weapons, as well as a few recently deceased soldiers and tacticians of note. In the end, though, Lord High General Dumah was far more interested in the notion that you, Yehuda Leib, son of Avimelekh, are the Weapon That Carries Itself.”

Now there was a long silence.

Dumah watched Yehuda Leib.

Yehuda Leib was very careful to do absolutely nothing, though his heart seemed to swell in his chest as if his name had finally been pronounced correctly for the very first time.

Soon Dumah inclined his head slightly, and Behemoth continued.