Free Wizard Dawning (The Battle Wizard Saga, No. 1) by C. M. Lance Page A

demons as well as cautions that it outlines for handling them. You never know when that knowledge will come in handy."
    "What's this about Solomon's collar bone?"
    Grampa made a face. "That's not 'clavicle'. It's Les veritables Clavicules de Salomon . It describes the hierarchy of demons. Solomon also discusses particular demons he enslaved to help build the temple. It includes questions he put to them about their deeds and how they can be thwarted. It's like a self-help manual against demonic activity."
    "How many demons does it cover?"
    "Hundreds if not thousands. There are the princes of hell, and the first through third hierarchies and then legions of lower level demons."
    Sig groaned.
    Grampa pointed to another on the list. "This one by Johann Weyer enumerates sixty-nine of the more powerful," Grampa said with a smile. "But, those generally aren't the ones you will encounter."
    "Then why study them?"
    "Because they are the most dangerous. That's the good and bad of it. They are the most dangerous to you and also to the Wizard who invokes them. They don't like taking orders from mortals and will use every trick in their power to turn on the Master who summons them. Only the most powerful and skilful Mages will summon them"
    "Tell me again why I want to practice magic?"
    Grampa shook his head and pointed at two more books down the list. "Study these in particular. The Arabs were more practical. Instead of delineating all of the higher demons, which have already been studied ad infinitum, they focused on lower level demons; called the Servitors—the ones you are more likely to encounter. They're easier to summon and control for the run of the mill Black magic practitioner."
    He watched as Sig grabbed a pencil and marked the books he had indicated.
    "Dark Mages may be blinded by greed and delusions of grandeur, but they aren't completely stupid. They mostly summon demons they can control, or at least the Mages that are still alive do."
    "I can't believe that I ever wanted to have magic," Sig said with a tragic look.
    "You don't need to know the individual Servitor demons. You need to understand the categories of demons you're likely to encounter. In approximate order of power there are Marids, Afrits, Djinn, Foliot's and Imps. Of course there are numerous subgroups including Ghuls, Jann, Palis, and Shiqq."
    Sig rolled his eyes and nodded. "Is that all?"
    "That's all for today. I'll have more for you tomorrow. I hope you didn't think zombies were the only foes you would have to face. Necromancy is dirty, evil magic, but you should realize that rotting, animated corpses are one of the easier challenges you'll have."
    Sig hung his head. "I'm sorry if I seem ungrateful. I know you're trying to help me."
    "No, I'm sorry for loading you up like this, but I have to cover as much as I can in the time I have left."
    A feeling of loss washed over Sig. His felt his face fall into a forlorn expression. "I'm sorry Grampa. I don't mean to make this hard for you. It's just that it seems like a mountain of information to memorize while I'm looking over my shoulder for the Dark Mage who wants to kill me."
    "No, it's a mountain of information you must memorize if you hope to keep a Dark Mage from killing you."
    Sig looked into Grampa's eyes and realized he was serious, deadly serious.

 
    Sig assembled the equipment, which he would need when he met Madeline to check out the caves her uncle described and piled it in the back of his truck.
    Back inside he hollered, "Mom, I'm going to meet Madeline about our geology lab project."
    She came out of the laundry room. "Where are you meeting?"
    "At the library."
    "When will I get to meet your lab partner? Maybe you can invite her over for dinner. Since she's new in town, we should show our hospitality."
    "Yeah, that's a good idea. She might like the company. The uncle she's staying with is out of town a lot and she doesn't have anyone else."
    Meredith's expression turned sad. "Poor girl. Yes, please