Daktari sat at his desk in the cool, gloomy cavern, his mind awhirl. The mark on the princess’s stomach nagged at him. He’d seen it somewhere, but where exactly eluded him. His best guess, an ancient reference book, sat ignored in front of him. There was no sign of the symbol anywhere in its pages.
He turned a fraction and looked for the hundredth time at his reflection in the polished surface of his crystal ball. The skull marks on his cheeks were gone and the anger that constantly filled him slowly fading. With his pact complete, Balthis’s influence over him would soon be reduced to nothing.
It was a welcome change. He still shivered when he thought about some of the things that unnatural rage had driven him to do. Not that he would have changed anything. The knowledge held by the Tome of Shadows was so valuable, no price was too high to acquire it.
He ran a hand over his bald head and stood. There was one other book he could check.
As he crossed the workshop to his bookcase Bane flittered down and landed on his shoulder. “Are we leaving soon, Master?”
“No, Bane. Something has caught my interest. The ritual awakened a power in the girl. What, I don’t yet know. But I will.”
“Why do you care, Master?” Bane asked.
“It’s magic and it’s a mystery. Is that not reason enough? I feared there was nothing left to interest me on this world. I’m delighted to be wrong.”
Daktari selected a second book and flipped through it. There were only fifty pages and none of them held an image like the golden key on Shara’s stomach.
Once the lack of information would have angered him beyond reason, now he felt excited. Without the demon clouding his judgement, his mind felt clearer than ever.
The book went back on the shelf and he snapped his fingers. Silvermane dealt with angels and judging from the design, that mark had something to do with the forces of Heaven. Perhaps the old witch’s soul would be able to answer his questions.
And if she couldn’t, he’d try something else. He was free at last and he intended to make the most of it.