On severing the bond, the perispirit frees the spirit and passes with it into the ethereal—astral—sphere, and remains there for eternity, being similar to the spirit itself: hostile to the material world and negatively predisposed towards it. It can happen, it was claimed, that the perispirit is able to separate itself not only from the body but also from the spirit. That occurs when, unlike the spirit, the perispirit is predisposed positively to the world of matter. This kind of perispirit then circulates in a peculiar “twilight zone” between the material and the astral worlds, looking for the chance to bond an unoccupied body to a temporarily unassigned spirit. In his present spiritual-corporeal form, Samson was a typical example of that kind of bond.

The problem was that no one knew whether the perispirit bonded at random, or whether it was guided during the bonding by some kind of logic. Who today is able to fathom out the logic of a perispirit of that kind? And until someone can, nothing will be achieved. What the perispirit has joined mortal man cannot rend asunder.

“It would seem,” Reynevan said with resignation in his voice, “that we are at the point of departure. We needlessly dragged ourselves a great distance and needlessly put ourselves at risk—”

“Another specialist who is my equal in the matters of interest to you lives in Grenada.” The sorcerer interrupted once more. “It’s a little further away than Trosky. And the emirs there aren’t too fond of Christians. They tend to impale them on stakes. Or flay them alive. Unlike Axleben, I don’t promote myself as a master among masters, but I know my job. I also know how to formulate a hypothesis, which differs somewhat from the one the master among masters proposed, mainly regarding what is possible, what is not, what is achievable and what is not. One can achieve anything, as long as one knows how to carry it out—”

“Without meaning to cause offence,” Reynevan interrupted this time, “I think we’ve heard enough hypotheses. What about Samson?”

Rupilius didn’t even look at him as he replied, “Samson knows my hypothesis, which differs somewhat from Axleben’s. It’s a radical and risky one, I admit, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t accept or attempt it. But if he does, he’ll have to wait. I shall penetrate the essence of the matter and find a more reliable way of carrying out a repeat transmogrification, but I need up to two years. Why do you think I asked you to return after that period of time? Out of a predilection for even numbers? Which brings us back to our agreement. So I ask: are we in agreement?”

“We are.”

“By the end of two years?”

“Agreed.”

“Then let’s go.”