Curse of the Shadowmage - Mark Anthony [28]
The imp glared at Morhion with hot-ruby eyes, flapping its leathery wings in agitation. "Was it really necessary to put the gateway right above the candle, mage?" the creature complained in a raspy voice. "I singed my tail. I have a half a mind to turn around and go back to my own plane of existence right this second…"
"I wouldn't advise that," Morhion said ominously. "Attempt to leave, and you will find your tail more than merely singed. Do not forget-the symbol binds you to do my bidding."
The imp glowered at him. "Details, details," it grumbled. "You wizards certainly are a persnickety lot, aren't you?"
"Don't forget 'short-tempered,' " Morhion added.
"Believe me, I haven't," the imp replied acidly. The scaly creature let out a resigned sigh, then sat on the edge of the table, crossing its legs and twirling its barbed tail impatiently in one hand. "All right, wizard. Excuse my lack of enthusiasm, but this makes ten thousand and two summonings so far this millennium, and the eon's not even half over yet. Let's just get this over with as quickly as possible. My name's Qip. So what disgusting, nauseating, and onerous task will I be performing for you today, completely against my will?"
"I want you to read this book," Morhion said, pointing to The Book of the Shadows.
The imp's expression was incredulous. "A book? You want me to read a book?" The creature hopped to its feet and began pacing back and forth on the table. "Let me get this straight. You mean you don't want me to collect the sweat of an ogre for one of your spells? Or find a lost treasure in the Forest of Prickly Rashes? Or"-the imp shuddered at some unbidden memory-"retrieve an enchanted ring you dropped down the privy by accident?"
"No," Morhion said with growing impatience. "I only want you to read the book."
"Just the book? You're quite certain?"
"Unless I'm entirely mistaken, that's what I said."
The imp clapped its hands together jubilantly. "Finally! A simple task. And one that doesn't even smell bad!"
"You can do it, then?" Morhion asked in relief.
The imp stared flatly. "Of course not. Imps can't read, you nincompoop."
Morhion restrained himself from throttling the impudent imp. With a sigh, he raised a hand to banish the wretched creature back to its wretched plane of existence. Abruptly he halted. An idea had occurred to him.
"Qip, you can't understand the runes in the book, but you could recognize a specific pattern of lines, couldn't you?"
The imp rolled his eyes. "I said I couldn't read, wizard. I didn't say I was a moron."
With great effort, Morhion ignored the imp's insolence. There might be a way to make things work yet. He retrieved pen and parchment from his desk and carefully wrote down the specific runes that signified "shadowking." He showed the parchment to Qip.
"I want you to find every occurrence of these runes, in this exact sequence, in the book," Morhion instructed. "Can you do that, Qip? Or is that beyond the limited capabilities of an imp?"
"There's no need to be insulting!" Qip complained. The imp grabbed the parchment, scanned it, then tossed it aside. The creature sidled to the book and began flipping pages with its gnarled hands. Morhion allowed himself a smile. All he would have to do was read the few pages on which the imp found the word "shadowking."
Morhion soon realized the job was going to take as long as it would have taken for him to read every word of the whole book himself. Qip required several minutes to scan each page, and there were hundred and hundreds of pages. It seemed pointless.
"I have a solution," Qip said cheerily when Morhion expressed his impatience.
Morhion regarded the imp cautiously. Why was the devious little creature suddenly being so helpful?
"All I have to do is invite a hundred or so of my cousins