Sheol raised her eyebrows questioningly, and Isfrael was foolish and dull-brained enough himself to fall into the trap.
"The Mother is the personification of all nature," Isfrael said, and the Demons instantly hungered,
"while the Horned Ones are the most powerful of our Banes, transformed over the centuries into forms close to that of the stag, our sacred animal."
And all this sounds like good eating, Qeteb mind-shared with his companion Demons. / am sick of cockroaches and sheep.
Imagine the power we would gain from such a meal! Sheol whispered among their minds.
"You want the Sacred Groves," Qeteb said, "but what are you prepared to give U s?"
"The secrets of the Enemy," Isfrael said, and watched in satisfaction as those of the Demonic faces he could actually see stilled in amazement. "Did you know that you have among you," and he indicated the form of Niah still lying behind the trees, "a weapon so powerful that you could destroy the StarSon with it?"
"Her?" Qeteb said, and this time he did not have to feign the puzzlement. "Her?"
"Promise me," Isfrael said. "Promise me the Groves."
"Of course," said Qeteb. "Of course. You have them. In peace, forever and ever. Amen."
"I need assurance," Isfrael said. "I need proof of your goodwill."
Qeteb laughed, low and uncomfortable. "And you shall have it." He leaned backwards, brushing aside Sheol and Raspu, and plucked an apple from one of the trees.
"Take this apple and eat of it," Qeteb said, "and you will know my sincerity."
Isfrael stared at the fruit. "An apple?"
"Assuredly. Eat of it, and you shall eat of knowledge. You will know if I lie or not."
"And the Sacred Groves will be yours," whispered Mot.
"Forever," whispered Sheol.
"And ever and ever," echoed Barzula.
Isfrael took the apple and weighed it in his hand. It felt warm, heavy, inviting.
He could see himself wandering the paths of the Sacred Groves, safe, contented ... powerful.
He did not know that in the instant he'd taken the apple the Demons could penetrate the inner spaces of his mind.
Although they could not see details, they could see that he did indeed have a powerful secret regarding the Niah-woman, but they could also understand that there were other secrets in there ... other amusements ...
Isfrael was still caught in his vision. The Mother walked by his side, not a god at all but a companion. She was asking his advice, and listening gratefully to his answers.
Qeteb saw a glimpse of what Isfrael wanted, perhaps more than anything else, and the vision altered slightly for the Mage-King ...
And Shra walked by his other side. She had transformed as did all female Baneswhen they died, and now she awaited him in the Sacred Groves. She waited for him ...
Isfrael lifted his hand and took a bite of the apple —
The Demons screamed with silent triumph.
— and realisation that the Demons did speak the truth flooded his being. They would help him to the Sacred Groves, and there they would leave him in peace, and all for the price of a piece of information that they would surely have figured out sooner or later for themselves.
Peace, power, and all for the tiniest of prices. Isfrael could hardly comprehend his good fortune.
Qeteb grinned, malevolent with exultation behind his mask. The apple always did the trick.
"Let me tell you about the Niah-woman," Isfrael whispered. "She is a treasure you can hardly comprehend. It all has to do with Acharites and death ..."
And Isfrael talked, the words tumbling out and falling over themselves. All Acharites carried the seeds of Enemy magic within themselves. Only those who'd come back through death could use it. Niah, if only she could speak and think, was a weapon that could breach the walls of Sanctuary, and perhaps could be thrown at the StarSon himself.
"Was that worth the Sacred Groves?" Isfrael finished. "Was it?"
"Oh, assuredly," Qeteb said, and his voice quivered with triumph.
The StarSon was his!
"I can't get to the Groves by myself," Isfrael said, desperate now that the Demons had their information to receive his payment. "I need your power to breach the defences that the Mother has placed around them."
"But how can we —" Qeteb started.
"All I need is power," Isfrael said. "Surely you must be more powerful than the Mother? Just create that small rent for me, and I will pass through, and then I can seal the fissure from the other side."
Qeteb glanced at his companions, and they all remembered the strange bowl that one of the Hawkchilds had found. It was of great magic, and StarLaughter — and curses that she had not yet been found! — had said it was of Avar magic.
Without a spoken word, but with mutual agreement, Qeteb lifted a hand and gestured at the sky.
