he walked the Rule out of habit, not necessity; only the sidewalks remained and he could have easily walked a more direct route, but he liked to see the city's progress. He stopped a few times to observe the foundations of some new buildings being laid by souls and demons alike, but, distracted, he focused on the giant cruciform statue and headed toward it. When the city was at its height there would have been no chance of seeing its relatively low base, but now, with few buildings standing, he could see it still survived, an anomalous soul-brick structure in a city now growing only with native stone. Why, he wondered, had it not been taken down?
He walked steadily until he arrived at the foot of the stepped plinth. For just a moment he thought of that other plinth, the one from the Black Dome that he had had brought back to Adamantinarx and enshrined.
Slowly, he paced the base's periphery until he came upon that which he had hoped to find. He put his hand upon the rugose brick and felt its warmth and then, suddenly, it opened a piercingly blue eye and stared up at him. For a moment their gaze met and then he sighed and stood up. He looked into the heavens and saw the equally blue star—the star they called Zimiah, the Gate—and knew what he would have to do. The statue would have to come down and the bricks of its base—this brick in particular— would have to be resurrected. That much, he knew, he owed his lord.
[Additional Illustrations]
UNHOLY COMMUNION
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
GOD'S DEMON
Copyright © 2007 by Wayne Barlowe
Jacket and interior graphics copyright © 2007 by Wayne Barlowe
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Barlowe, Wayne Douglas.
God's demon / Wayne Barlowe.—1st ed.
p. cm.
'A Tom Doherty Associates Book.'
ISBN-13:978-0- 7653-0985-3
ISBN-10:0-7653-0985-8
1. Hell—Fiction. 2. Devil— Fiction. 3. Angels—Fiction. 4. Demons—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3602.A775626G63 2007
813'.6—dc22
2007021074
First Edition: October 2007
Printed in the United States of America
0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
