“Did you say you’d like to… possess my body?” Lucian asked.
The Golemancer finally looked away from Lucian as the food was brought in. The others had probably been concerned that they’d be eating sothing unpalatable, but what ca out was food like any other. He didn’t quite know where this food was kept, but none of it seed or slled wrong. He felt considerably less comfortable eating after those words.
“Yes. Surely you must be familiar with the process, being that you’re so bold as to walk into the Hells,” the Golemancer continued. “What other reason could you have to co here? I certainly can’t imagine anyone has co for the pleasure of my company. I hate doing things I’m bad at, and one thing I’m bad at is these social gas, these pleasantries… so I’ll skip them. You’ve co here for my power. Whether my knowledge or my ability, it all boils down to power.”
Rowan leaned into the table. “Trying to steal soone’s body doesn’t exactly sound hospitable to .”
“Stealing, you say…” the Golemancer repeated, looking to Rowan. “I’ll be gracious enough to assu ignorance instead of malevolence. This would be no theft. This would be a partnership.”
“A partnership that fundantally changes the person who enters into it,” Rowan continued. “The two of you would rge into one entity, effectively. You would change his mind, and he would change yours. Even if you’re not rged in totality, the word ‘possession’ implies that sothing would be lost.”
The Golemancer tapped his fingers on the table. “I can’t help but notice that none of you are eating. Are you refusing my hospitality?”
Even though this request had co out of left field, Lucian didn’t want things to devolve into active combat, especially not when he was sitting on the most powerful golem in this house. He picked up his fork and knife and reached across the table to retrieve a slab of beef. He set it on his plate, then cut into it and ate it. All of the others slowly followed suit, though the discomfort was palpable.
“Good,” the Golemancer said in satisfaction. “Your friend speaks of the idea with considerable discomfort, but from my perspective, what I’m offering you is an unimaginable opportunity,” the devil said. “Over what well may be a millennium, I have beco exceptionally powerful. You seem to know what my eyes do, but I believe it would be prudent to explain their effects in case there is a misunderstanding.
“If I were to possess you, you would gain the ability to perceive the world perfectly,” the Golemancer continued. “You could comprehend the makeup of an enchantnt just by looking at it. You could understand and reverse engineer the most complex magics imaginable. When you look into people’s eyes, you will be able to hear their thoughts in your head. Nothing about this world would be beyond your understanding.”
Ruth stabbed her chicken hard. “The offer doesn’t matter so much as the cost. Right now, our people suffer invasion from demons. And you, sir, are a devil.”
The Golemancer looked to her, his goggles shifting. “I am not like the First Emperor or his ilk. The only thing that I wish to pursue is further mastery of my craft. I never wished to co here, to degrade myself as I have. But the demons stole my craft from , twisted it to their own ends. In order to continue my work, I had to beco this abomination you see before you. Useful though the form may be, I would give it up in a heartbeat if I could.”
“I don’t understand. You’re a demon, aren’t you?” Arthur asked. “What is this? What are you, really?”
The Golemancer leaned back in his chair. “I am a man that beca a devil. Devils can co into being in countless ways. Sotis common beasts are corrupted, and wander into the Hells as they dream to be born anew. They leave dead bodies behind, but live on as demons. Sotis they’re simply willed into being by the malevolent energy of the Hells. And very rarely… the living can make the plunge themselves. I’ve t only two others: Ruminian and a man nad Belcourt. The First Emperor may well be one such figure, but I cannot say for certain.”
“I killed Ruminian,” Lucian said. “That long noodle of a dragon, right? She’s dead.”
The table went quiet at that. He needed to establish facts that ensured he wouldn’t simply be disregarded. There’d been no ntion that Ruminian was a dragon, and the fact that he’d known that would make the Golemancer believe it. And if need be… he could show him another way.
“Did you co here for the sa purpose?” the Golemancer asked calmly. “Yet more power to be added to that mark on your hand?”
“No,” Lucian denied at once. “You were right in your first assessnt. We ca here looking for you.”
The Golemancer held his hands wide. “And I’ve been looking for soone like you for centuries uncountable. No doubt you’ve so favor to ask of . A golem to craft… a problem to solve. I’ve received people like you before, and I’ve left hints enough in the world of how to find . You wish to borrow my power. But why not inherit it?”
“It’s not that simple,” Lucian said.
“And why not?” he asked. “I have no designs in the world but to rebirth my craft anew. To hamr tal into shape, and then breathe life into that tal. To see golems stride across the earth, making the world into the place that it once was. And you could beco the instrunt of that rebirth, Lucian.” He leaned in closer. “Demonic energy is not inherently evil. You must know that, seeing as you wield it through your Inquisitor’s Mark. Yes—I know about the thing on your hand. I helped Belcourt design it, after all.”
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People stirred uncomfortably at that revelation. Most knew Lucian had the mark, but none of them had been told that Belcourt had relied upon a demon in its creation.
Lucian frowned. “Then surely you can understand that I’m using this to fight against the demons. Welcoming one isn’t necessarily in my best interests.”
The Golemancer looked outside. “The Hells are vast. The First Emperor is one player among many. He may dominate this land, but beyond, there are others whom think nothing of him. They would not even know his na, and would think little of his goals.”
“They bloody well aren’t doing anything to stop it,” Heath said in protest.
“Fair enough,” the Golemancer admitted. “But these are the Darklands. No light shines here… and very little is rembered. It is an inhospitable, undesirable place that few wish to venture. I stay here only because I have ties to the lands near it.”
Lucian ate his steak in silence. Despite his worries, it tasted quite good. He used that ti to think about what he needed to do in this situation.
He very clearly wants to possess my body, Lucian said. He glanced at Aurelia, who had stayed relatively quiet this whole ti. Maybe my prayers worked, and this is the monkey paw’s way of letting read minds. But… Jesus. Inviting a demon to possess ? lding my mind with a millennia-old golem craftsman? Feels like I’d just be washed away, would beco sothing totally different.
He glanced back at the Golemancer, who still stared. But I have leverage. While this man is relatively grounded for a devil, he has an almost delusional attachnt to his humanity. He’s also socially inept, by his own admission and my own experience in War of Four. I’m not quite comfortable… but I should act like I’m considering it to get what I want.
“You’ve caught unawares with this suggestion,” Lucian eventually said. “Given the magnitude of the offer, ti to think is in order, no?”
The Golemancer sighed and leaned back. “Perhaps it is. Perhaps you need ti to see the power of what I’m suggesting. You are my guests. Tour my citadel freely. Behold my creations. And ask yourself… what if?”
Lucian nodded. “I will. In the anti, you spoke to my true reason for coming here,” Lucian said. He reached down to where he’d left his things, and he produced Belcourt’s arm. He offered it. “You ntioned having collaborated with Belcourt to make the Inquisitor’s Mark. Then… there’s no one better person to help process this into sothing that I can use.”
The mont that the Golemancer unwrapped Belcourt’s arm, his reaction was much the sa as it had been in War of Four. “Hah! The cocky fool,” he marveled. “I knew that one day he would take a step too far, but I never imagined I would see the fruit of that. Still, he was cunning… resourceful. It surprises you were able to corner him enough to claim this. Is he dead?”
“He’s not. But would you be willing to extract what’s within and pass that on to ?” Lucian asked.
The Golemancer studied the arm. “Fine, very well. This is such an intriguing project that I would probably have done it regardless. But I will require paynt. A portion of the spoils from this mark.”
He had expressed a similar sentint in War of Four, so Lucian wasn’t surprised. That said, he was relieved. He hoped that the outco would be the sa as well. Furthermore, he hoped that the demon could take ‘no’ for an answer. He had been a bit gung-ho about shoving the Formless Essence into his body, but being possessed by a devil seed on another level.
I like being , Lucian reflected. All things considered.
Even still, there was a nugget of greed in his heart. To learn the lost art of making golems, as Belcourt had… could there possibly be any better outco to this trip? Part of him had been hoping against all reason that it’d be possible to do so, and that he might be able to liberate the Dragonwarden from his bondmail.
It’s going to be a tense few als, I should think…
But did this an that Belcourt, too, had been Hollowed? He knew the art of crafting golems. Belcourt, lauded as one of the world’s greatest talents in his ti, was as disabled as Lucian? That didn’t make sense at all.
***
The al ended without any major decisions.
The Golemancer peered through a hole in the walls of his citadel. Countless exactly-positioned glass crystals allowed him to see the front from deep inside… and right now, Belcourt Asheford stood at the gates of his ho. He, too, had invoked the right to hospitality.
The Golemancer’s strongest desire rested within this citadel right now. Lucian was what he needed. But it was much to ask soone that he’d t only today for a partnership as deep as possession.
I need sothing to pressure Lucian, the Golemancer thought. Could this be it?
He willed his masterpiece to carry him forward, and it whisked him through his citadel at a brisk pace. Soon enough, he arrived at the gate where Belcourt stood. He didn’t like venturing to the outside of his fortress. He was more vulnerable here. A concentrated attack might damage him. But right now, it was worth the risk.
“Belcourt,” the Golemancer called out. “I’m already entertaining guests… and considering they lent your arm, you seem not to be on good terms.”
Belcourt looked around. “Now why would you make that assumption? Just because soone tore off my arm doesn’t an we can’t be good friends. I can forgive and forget. Why else would I be here?”
“The safety of my guests is paramount,” the Golemancer said. “Can you prove that you’ll behave yourself? Prove you won’t try and get your arm back, try and disrupt our conversation?”
“If I need to wear manacles and a collar, so be it. All I ask is to be present your next als with them,” Belcourt insisted.
“Will you look into my eyes and provide the truth?”
Belcourt didn’t answer for a ti. “You want to read my mind.” More silence followed. “If that’s what it takes, that’s what it takes.”
The Golemancer grinned. With will alone, his golem grabbed the gate and hefted it open so that his new guest might enter.
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