Ware’s entire book of pacts who was represented therein by two seals or characters,
so markedly different that without seeing them side byside, one might never suspect that they belonged to the same entity. Topologically they were closely related, however, and
Ware studied these relationships long and hard, knowing that he had once known what they meant but unable to recall it. These
were the figures:
Ah, now he had it. The left-hand figure was V ASSAGOS ordinary infernal sign, but the second was the seal under which, it was said, he could be called by white magicians. Ware
had never used it, nor had needed to – the infernal seal had worked very well – and he had always doubted its efficacy, for
by definition no commerce with a demon is white magic; however, it would be well to try it now. It might prove an additional
factor of safety, if it worked at all.
Into what should he draw the water? Everything was filthy. Eventually he decided simply to make a puddle on the workbench;
it had been decades since he had studied oneirology, which he had scorned as a recourse for mere hedge wizards, but to the
best of his recollection it called for nothing more extraordinary than an earthenware vessel, and could even be practised
successfully in an ordinary, natural forest pool, providing that there was sufficient shade.
Well, then, to work.
Standing insecurely before the workbench, the little weight ofhis spare upper body resting upon his elbows and his hands beside his ears, Theron Ware stared steadfastly down into the little
puddle of mud, his own bushy head – he had neglected his tonsure since the disaster – shading it from the even light of the
overcast sky. He had already stared so long since the first invocation that he felt himself on the verge of self-hypnosis,
but now, he thought, there was a faint stirring down there in those miniature carboniferous depths, like a bubble or a highlight
created by some non-existent sun. Yes, a faint spark was there, and it was growing.
‘Eka dva, tri, chatur pancha, shas, sapta, ashta, nava, dasha, ekadasha,’
Ware counted.
‘Per vota nostra ipse nunc surtat nobis dicatus
V ASSAGO! ’
The spark continued to grow until it was nearly the size of a ten-lire piece, stabilized and gradually began to develop features
Despite its apparent diameter, the thing did not look small; the effect rather was one of great distance, as though Ware were
seeing a reflection of the Moon.
The features were quite beautiful and wholly horrible. Superficially the shining face resembled a human skull, but it was
longer, thinner, more triangular, and it had no cheekbones. The eyes were huge, and slanted almost all the way up to where
a human hairline would have been; the nose extremely long in the bridge; the mouth as pink and tiny as that of an infant.
The colour and texture of the face were old ivory, like netsuke. No body was visible, but Ware had not expected one; this
was not, after all, a full manifestation, but only an apparition.
The rosebud mouth moved damply, and a pure soprano voice like that of a choirboy, murmured gently and soundlessly deep in
Ware’s mind.
W HO IS IT CALLS V ASSAGO FROM STUDYING OF THE DAMNED? B EWARE!
‘Thou knowest me, demon of the Pit,’ Ware thought, ‘for to a pact hast thou subscribed with me, and written into my book thine
Infernal name. Thereby, and by thy seal which I do here exhibit, do I compel thee. My questions shalt thou answer, and give
true knowledge.’
S PEAK AND BE DONE.
‘Art still in Hell with thy brothers, or are all abroad about the Earth?’
S OME DO GO TO AND FRO. BUT WE ABIDE HERE. N EVERTHELESS, WE BE ON E ARTH, ALBEIT NOT ABROAD.
‘In what wise?’
T HOUGH WE MAY NOT YET LEAVE N ETHER H ELL, WE BE AMONG YE: FOR THE P IT HATH BEEN RAISED UP. AND THE C ITY OF D IS NOW STANDING UPON THE E ARTH.
Ware made no attempt to disguise his shock; after all, the creature could see into his mind.
so markedly different that without seeing them side byside, one might never suspect that they belonged to the same entity. Topologically they were closely related, however, and
Ware studied these relationships long and hard, knowing that he had once known what they meant but unable to recall it. These
were the figures:
Ah, now he had it. The left-hand figure was V ASSAGOS ordinary infernal sign, but the second was the seal under which, it was said, he could be called by white magicians. Ware
had never used it, nor had needed to – the infernal seal had worked very well – and he had always doubted its efficacy, for
by definition no commerce with a demon is white magic; however, it would be well to try it now. It might prove an additional
factor of safety, if it worked at all.
Into what should he draw the water? Everything was filthy. Eventually he decided simply to make a puddle on the workbench;
it had been decades since he had studied oneirology, which he had scorned as a recourse for mere hedge wizards, but to the
best of his recollection it called for nothing more extraordinary than an earthenware vessel, and could even be practised
successfully in an ordinary, natural forest pool, providing that there was sufficient shade.
Well, then, to work.
Standing insecurely before the workbench, the little weight ofhis spare upper body resting upon his elbows and his hands beside his ears, Theron Ware stared steadfastly down into the little
puddle of mud, his own bushy head – he had neglected his tonsure since the disaster – shading it from the even light of the
overcast sky. He had already stared so long since the first invocation that he felt himself on the verge of self-hypnosis,
but now, he thought, there was a faint stirring down there in those miniature carboniferous depths, like a bubble or a highlight
created by some non-existent sun. Yes, a faint spark was there, and it was growing.
‘Eka dva, tri, chatur pancha, shas, sapta, ashta, nava, dasha, ekadasha,’
Ware counted.
‘Per vota nostra ipse nunc surtat nobis dicatus
V ASSAGO! ’
The spark continued to grow until it was nearly the size of a ten-lire piece, stabilized and gradually began to develop features
Despite its apparent diameter, the thing did not look small; the effect rather was one of great distance, as though Ware were
seeing a reflection of the Moon.
The features were quite beautiful and wholly horrible. Superficially the shining face resembled a human skull, but it was
longer, thinner, more triangular, and it had no cheekbones. The eyes were huge, and slanted almost all the way up to where
a human hairline would have been; the nose extremely long in the bridge; the mouth as pink and tiny as that of an infant.
The colour and texture of the face were old ivory, like netsuke. No body was visible, but Ware had not expected one; this
was not, after all, a full manifestation, but only an apparition.
The rosebud mouth moved damply, and a pure soprano voice like that of a choirboy, murmured gently and soundlessly deep in
Ware’s mind.
W HO IS IT CALLS V ASSAGO FROM STUDYING OF THE DAMNED? B EWARE!
‘Thou knowest me, demon of the Pit,’ Ware thought, ‘for to a pact hast thou subscribed with me, and written into my book thine
Infernal name. Thereby, and by thy seal which I do here exhibit, do I compel thee. My questions shalt thou answer, and give
true knowledge.’
S PEAK AND BE DONE.
‘Art still in Hell with thy brothers, or are all abroad about the Earth?’
S OME DO GO TO AND FRO. BUT WE ABIDE HERE. N EVERTHELESS, WE BE ON E ARTH, ALBEIT NOT ABROAD.
‘In what wise?’
T HOUGH WE MAY NOT YET LEAVE N ETHER H ELL, WE BE AMONG YE: FOR THE P IT HATH BEEN RAISED UP. AND THE C ITY OF D IS NOW STANDING UPON THE E ARTH.
Ware made no attempt to disguise his shock; after all, the creature could see into his mind.
Similar Books
