“That’s fine except for one thing. We won’t be here.”
“Why not? I should think that as a demon hunter you’d welcome the chance once the odds were even.”
“If I were here there would be no fight,” Aahz stated grandly. “As I have said, I have a certain reputation among demons. If they saw me here they would simply flee.”
“I frankly find that hard to believe,” commented Quigley.
I was inclined to agree with him, but kept my silence.
“Well, I must admit their fear of my charmed sword has a bit to do with their reluctance to do battle.”
“Charmed sword?”
“Yes.” Aahz patted the sword at his side. “This weapon once belonged to the famous demon hunter AlfansDeClario.”
“Never heard of him.”
“Never heard of him? Are you sure you’re a demon hunter? Why the man killed over two hundred demons with this sword. They say it is charmed such that whomever wields it cannot be killed by a demon.”
“How did he die?”
“Knifed by an exotic dancer. Terrible.”
“Yes, they’re nasty that way. But about the sword, does it work?”
“It works as well as any sword, a little point-heavy, maybe, but….”
“No. I mean the charm. Does it work?”
“I can testify that I haven’t been killed by a demon since I started using it.”
“And demons actually recognize it and flee from its owner?”
“Exactly. Of course, I haven’t had occasion to use it for years. Been too busy trying to get this curse removed. Sometimes I’ve thought about selling it, but if I ever get back into business it would be a big help in . . . um … reestablishing my reputation.”