Pyrgus snapped the ropes around his wrists.
His feet were still tied so he couldn't run, but he brought the little blade round and jabbed it into Brimstone's hand. Brimstone squealed and dropped the knife. 'You stabbed me!' he exclaimed in astonishment. He looked at his hand. 'I'm bleeding!'
Pyrgus rolled away from him and tried to grab the knife. He wasn't quite sure whether he was going to use it on Brimstone or the ropes that bound his legs. But he was never to find out because Brimstone moved with astonishing speed for someone of his age and snatched the weapon away just as Pyrgus's fingers closed on it. 'Oh no you don't!' Brimstone said. Pyrgus kicked out with both bound feet and caught him in the shin. For a moment Brimstone stood, arms flailing, then lost his balance and fell half in and half out of the circle.
'Aha,' said Beleth. 'Freedom!'
'No – ' Brimstone screamed. Pyrgus noticed he'd dropped the knife again.
Pyrgus made no mistake this time. With his feet still bound, he rolled once more and grabbed the weapon. From the corner of his eye he saw the massive form of the demon step out of its triangle. Since there was no way he could fight the two of them, he ignored Brimstone altogether, jack-knifed upright and slashed at the ropes round his legs. The knife must have had an ion edge because it cut through them like butter.
'Keep away from me!' Brimstone howled.
Pyrgus leaped to his feet and jumped right over Brimstone as he raced for the door. He couldn't remember if he'd seen Brimstone lock it, but it was the only chance he had.
'I'm on your side, fool!' the demon growled, apparently to Brimstone. It crossed the room in two huge strides.
Pyrgus was reaching for the door handle when the huge clawed hand fell on his shoulder.
The jolt of power that surged through his body felt like trapped lightning. Pyrgus jerked as every muscle went rigid. His momentum carried him forward, but his whole body felt as if it had been seized by rigor mortis so that he toppled forward to fall flat on his face on the floor. Blood gushed from his nose and a loud knocking filled his ears. Behind him he could hear Brimstone wailing like a child. The demon roared. Then everything went deathly quiet.
For an eternity Pyrgus lay there waiting for the demon to kill him. The knocking noise started up again and he realised it wasn't inside his head at all – it was coming from the door. Experimentally he tried to move his arm. His body ached from head to toe, but the muscles had started to work again. He rolled over, tasting blood in his mouth, and slowly sat up. The room was a shambles. Bits of trapped-lightning equipment were strewn across the floor and a whole segment of the circle had been torn up and destroyed. The brazier was just a piece of twisted metal. Brimstone lay against one wall, a dazed expression on his face. He looked as if he'd been thrown there like a rag doll. He was cradling his large book in both arms.
The knocking became a pounding and suddenly the attic door burst in, hinges shattered. Four large men marched through with military precision. Beleth vanished instantly. Brimstone scrambled to his feet. 'Get out!' he screamed. 'Get out! Get out! Who do you think you are?'
Pyrgus stared. He knew who these men thought they were. Each one wore the uniform insignia of His Supreme Majesty, the Purple Emperor.
'Where's my boy? wailed Jasper Chalkhill.
'Shut up!' Brimstone muttered. He was staring at the wreckage of his attic room, still bewildered by the sheer speed of events. One minute he'd been about to bring his greatest plan to glorious fruition, the next his hopes were shattered. Beleth was gone. The boy was gone. All his expensive equipment was broken. It would take him weeks to replace it – weeks! No matter how much he paid, it would take him weeks! But he still had the book. That was something. And the contract. Although he didn't really like to think about the contract. The contract had a penalty clause.
'I insist you speak to me! I insist, Silas! I absolutely, positively insist!' Chalkhill stamped a slippered foot in the extremity of his frustration.
Brimstone sighed. 'They took him away.'
'Who took him away? Why didn't you stop them?'
'I didn't stop them because there were four of them and one of me. I didn't stop them because they were the Emperor's Guard. That's why I didn't stop them.'
Chalkhill blinked. 'The Emperor's Guard? The Purple Emperor's Guard?'
'What other Emperor is there?' Brimstone snapped. He wished the fat idiot would go away. He needed time to think, to plan. He needed to decide the best thing to do next.
'What's the Purple Emperor want with that boy?'
'How should I know? Maybe you should write a letter and ask him.'
'You're being horrid, Silas. Imagine what a disappointment this has been to me.'
Brimstone decided on diplomacy. 'To us both, Jasper, to us both. But what was I supposed to do – defy an order from the Purple Emperor?'
'They had an order? From the Emperor himself?'
T don't know if it was from the Emperor himself. Maybe they print out those things by the dozen. All I know is they waved a bit of parchment underneath my nose, then marched him away.'
'Did you read it?' Chalkhill asked.
Brimstone stared at him as if he was insane. 'What am I – a lawyer? These were the Emperor's men!' Actually he was sorry now he hadn't read it. Might have given him some clue to what was so special about this boy. First Beleth wanted him, now the Purple Emperor.
Brimstone walked across the room and took Chalkhill by the arm. He made a massive effort to put sympathy and reassurance into his voice. 'Look, Jasper, give me time to clean things up in here, then I'll work out some way to get the boy back.'
'You will?'
'That boy broke into our premises. He stole several of our cats. Heaven alone knows what other damage he may have caused.' Brimstone nodded soberly. 'He broke the law, Jasper. That may give us prior claim. I don't know why the Emperor wants him, but we may have prior claim. Even His Supreme Majesty is not above the law. What I'd like you to do, Jasper, is give me half an hour to clean things up in here, then send Glanville and Grayling to my office – '
'Our lawyers?'
'Yes,' Brimstone nodded patiently, 'that Glanville and Grayling. I'll have them prepare a petition – a legal petition.' He stared at Chalkhill for some clue he was following this. 'A petition to the Emperor, you understand. With a little luck, we could have the boy back here within a day.'
'You really think so, Silas?'
'I really do, Jasper,' Brimstone lied.
Brimstone's office was nothing like that of his partner. It was far smaller, more cluttered, gloomy and dusty. Every wall was lined with ancient tomes of sorcery and demonology, books that had taken a lifetime to collect. Brimstone's desk was a sea of parchment texts and the antique wooden floor an obstacle course of bulging folders and files. Brimstone himself was playing with a Hand of Glory when Glanville and Grayling marched in. The lawyers might have been twins. They were both small, pot-bellied men with very little hair. They both wore three-piece suits and highly polished shoes. Both carried elephant-hide briefcases with ornate 'G' monograms embossed in gold leaf on the side. Both wore rimless spectacles and both were trying unsuccessfully to grow moustaches. They looked around vainly for somewhere to sit and sighed together when they didn't find it.
'Jasper Chalkhill claims you wish to see us,' Glanville said.
'Alleges you have work for us to do,' Grayling nodded.
'We understand – without prejudice – there is a boy,' said Glanville.
'Some miscreant,' said Grayling.
'Some tort-feasor,' Glanville added.
'Larcenous.'
'Trespassing.'
'And missing,' Brimstone said drily, to shut them up.
'Ah, yes,' said Glanville, 'missing! Taken by the Emperor's men, to the best of our information, knowledge and belief.'