“Of course not! They always use their magik to disguise themselves.”
Fat lot he knew about demons!
“Then that should prove my point!”
“What point?”
I thought for a moment Aahz was going to take him by the shoulders and shake him. It occurred to me that perhaps Aahz’s subtleties were lost on this world.
“Let me try, Aahz. Look, sir. What he’s trying to say is that if he were a demon he wouldn’t look like a demon, but he does so he isn’t.”
“Oh!” said the man with sudden understanding.
“Now you’ve lost me,” grumbled Aahz.
“But if you aren’t a demon, why do you look like one?”
“Ahh . . “” Aahz sighed, “therein lies the story. You see, I’m accursed!”
“Accursed?”
“Yes. You see, I am a demon hunter like yourself. A rather successful one, actually. Established quite a name for myself in the field.”
“I never heard of you,” grumbled the man.
“Well, we’ve never heard of you either,” I chimed in.
“You don’t even know my name!”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” I remembered my manners. “I’m Skeeve, and this … demon hunter is Aahz.”
“Pleased to meet you. I am known as Quigley.”
“If I could continue….”
“Sorry, Aahz.”
“As I was saying, I had achieved a certain renown among the demons due to my unprecedented success. At times it was rather bothersome, as when it was learned I was coming, most demons would either flee the territory or kill themselves.”
“Does he always brag this much?”
“He’s just getting started.”
“Anyway . . . one day I was closing with a demon, a particularly ugly brute, when he startled me by addressing me by name. ‘Aahz!’ says he, ‘Before you strike, you should know your career is at an end!’ Of course I laughed at him, for I had slain demons more fierce than he, sometimes in pairs. ‘Laugh if you will,’ he boomed, ‘but a conclave of demons empowered me to deal with you. Whether you kill me or not, you are doomed to suffer the same end you have visited on so many of us.’ I killed him of course, assuming he was bluffing, but my life has not been the same ever since.”
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