"What about objects?"

"All magic can do to an object is imbue them with special properties that seldom have anything to do with Good or Evil, though this is not always the case. And when they do, they are usually really tools to assist one or the other."

"But what does this have to do with Demons?" she asked.

"A great deal," Anest replied. "A Demon is evil incarnate. Remember, in the beginning, Evil had no form."

Lily thought for a moment, then her eyes went wide. "But who could have possibly aided them, or made them? If their only help was from magic . . ."

"Then that `whom' was probably a wizard," finished Belloc.

"But Dorain told me that tales about Demons go back to the days before wizards," Lily said.

"In a way," Belloc admitted, "she may be right, at least partially. I suspect they were able to influence through fear as insubstantial shadows, long ago. They may have even told some unfortunate how to invoke them. I do not know.

"What concerns me most of all is this Demon King. Baldric has told me that young Rhia claims to be of that race of elves from ancient Morag; a race of elves long thought to be extinct. She is familiar with ancient tales of that being very much like to our own, some of which concern the fall of ancient Morag. A few are even known to predate those that mention wizards and elves!




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