"I've got to land," he said.
"In the forest?" I asked.
"We'll head for the Palishize."
By the time the dripping mounds of the ancient city came into view, the demon's hooves were clipping branches from the tops of trees. I caught only a glimpse of the ocean beneath a newly risen moon, before he dived through a clearing and landed at the entrance to a place I had visited in my dreams.
Misrix had his arms wrapped around himself, fangs chattering like icicles. "It was foolish to have taken the beauty before attempting this," he said.
"I have practiced such foolishness," I said, distracted by the height of the crude mud walls that surrounded the city.
"Cley, you've got to wait in there for me," he said.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"I'm going to leave you in my memory here for a short time, while I return and have a cup of shudder to offset the beauty."
"Out of the question," I said.
"You'll be safer in there," he said, pointing through the entrance. "I'll hurry."
"It's dark out," I said.
"Go, quickly," he said, still pointing, "there are demons about."
I stared down the shell-cobbled path that led inside and split around the melting sand castles. The moon revealed peaks riddled with crude openings. When I turned back, Misrix was gone.
The Palishize was deathly quiet, even the wind made no sound there. I ran as lightly as I could, for each footfall echoed like a gunshot. I did not want to get lost in the winding maze of the structures, but I wanted less for the demons to find me.
When I had to stop running, I chose one of the holes punched as if by a giant finger into the base of the closest mound. Inside the shadows of the tunnel, I felt somewhat safer. As soon as my breathing returned to normal, I began listening.
I don't think I moved for a full five minutes, but then I heard a sound in the distance, and my head turned sharply to the right. It was the merest echo of a footstep. This was followed by another and another, each growing more distinct as did the beating of my heart. Then a voice shouted something. I moved closer to the opening in order to hear more clearly. "Perhaps, it is Misrix," I thought.
"Cley," the voice called, but I knew it wasn't the demon.
A shadowy figure strode in front of the opening where I hid, and I moved back farther into the dark. From his outline, I could tell he was wearing a broad-brimmed hat. He turned in a way that told me he knew I was in the tunnel.
"Cley, I know you are in there. Come out and say hello to an old friend."
Though I could not place it, the voice was familiar to me. I walked forward and stepped clear of the opening.
"Come here, Cley. It's good to see you," he said.
"Who are you?" I asked, trying to catch a glimpse of the face.
"It's me, Bataldo," he said.
It was Bataldo's voice, and I remembered that he would sometimes wear a broad-brimmed hat. "Is it really you?" I asked.
He took a step forward, and now I could see that it was the rotund Mayor of Anamasobia, himself, smiling fruitlessly as always. I walked cautiously toward him, and he laughed and put his hand out to shake.
"How have you been, Cley?" he asked.
"I'm well," I said.
"I heard you would be coming, so I crawled out of my hole and came by to visit."
"Are you dead?" I asked him.
"Your delicacy is appreciated," he said.
"I'm sorry." -
He laughed. "I was devoured by a demon in the Beyond, do you remember?" he asked. "Calloo shot me, but I was still alive when the creature sank his teeth into my flesh."
I shook my head, unwilling to picture what he described.
"This demon of yours, Misrix, was the one who took me. He was later captured by Below and brought to the Well-Built City. When you are devoured by demons, they steal your energy, and you live on as long as they do somewhere in their memory."
"So you are always here in this memory of the Palishize?" I asked.
"I wander here among the mounds always at night. Sometimes I go down to the side of the ocean in hopes of seeing a ship I could hail to rescue me. There's some regularity to it."
"What do you eat?" I asked.
"Nothing," he said."
We began to walk, and he asked me about Aria.
"She's married and has two children," I told him.
He pulled a handkerchief from his breast pocket and blew his nose. Then he stopped suddenly and turned. "What was that?" he said.
I too turned and listened.
He pointed at me and started laughing.
"You have a good memory," I told him.
"That's what I do while I wander through the tunnels here, I remember everything," he said. "We have to move a little faster; I have an appointment I can't miss."
We quickened our pace. "With the exception of you, Cley, the visits have been limited. But I can tell you about an interesting one before I have to leave you."
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"I bet you didn't know that your demon's first female was that wolf girl."
"What do you mean?"
"Greta Sykes," he said. "I'm talking about love."
"Harrow's hindquarters," I said.
"And then some …I heard he was flapping his wings so hard, he had her rump three feet off the ground. His member is barbed for the give and take."
"Please," I said.
"Well, when the two of them came together, I got to see my wife. It was Greta Sykes who devoured my wife. Lilith's energy is captured in the memory of the wolf girl. But during sex, a merging of memories takes place."
"What did you say to her?" I asked.
"I told her I loved her and that I missed her. We couldn't actually touch. When we hugged, we went through each other. With air between us, we danced on the shore of the inland ocean. It was a night like this," he said, pointing up at the stars. "Later on she disrobed for me, and I for her, since we knew it might be an eternity before we saw each other again.
She slid her tongue through my chest and heart. Mine curled through her skull, and then she dissipated into a brown powder that carried the scent of cremat."
I looked up and he took me by the arm and began to walk briskly. "I can't be late," he said. "I'm due to be torn to shreds and devoured."
"You're making fun of me again," I said.
"Each and every night. There's nothing fun about it," he said all the humor gone from his face. He turned and walked away from me.
When I looked up to watch him, I realized that he had led me back to the entrance. Bataldo headed out of the city toward the tree line of the forest, and I could hear him weeping. As he disappeared into the darkness at the edge of the wood, Misrix instantly appeared from the very same spot. He walked toward me, his wings outstretched.
"I'm better now, Cley. We must continue," called the demon as he approached.
"Is my body doing well?" I asked.
"You are sleeping like a pup," he said. "Come now." With this, he moved behind me and clutched me beneath the arms. A cry of agony cut through the forest as we lifted off the ground, dried dirt billowing around us from the action of his wings. We hovered above the city, and for a moment I could make out the entirety of its spiral design.
"I feel strong now," said the demon, as we flew at top speed through the cold night again.
"I met one of your victims from the Beyond," I said, as he changed direction straight upward toward the now fully risen moon.
"Regrettable in hindsight," he said. "But back then he served me well."
"And will I serve you also?" I asked.
The demon stopped flying, laughed, then plunged headlong out of the sky. The sudden rush of the wind was a roar that stole my scream. He put his mouth to my ear, and shouted, "You will serve us all."
9
I FOUND MYSELF SITTING IN A GREEN-CUSHIONED CHAIR in the corner of a large parlor. There were windows without glass, bookshelves, a chandelier, a thick pink rug with an interwoven design of flowering tendrils. The warm night breeze drifted in over the four figures sitting at a table in the center of the room. They were drinking cocktails and conversing about the disintegration of something. There was a woman and three men, and when one of them noticed me and pointed, they all turned and stared.