For love of evil by Piers Anthony

Author:Piers Anthony
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fantasy - General, Devil, Magic, Piers - Prose & Criticism, Science fiction, Juvenile Fiction, Fiction - Fantasy, Fiction, Anthony, Fantasy, General, Fantastic fiction, Epic
ISBN: 9780688082116
Publisher: Morrow
Published: 2010-01-22T04:40:12+00:00

In the morning, emotionally restored, he decided to tackle the problem at the top. "I have vanquished Lucifer; I should be able to back off the souls he vanquished," he said.

"My Lord, You are as yet innocent in the ways of evil," she cautioned him. "It takes time to get fully into it. They have had many centuries. Do not face them without possession of that spell."

"But I can sing to them if I have to," he reminded her. "That conquered you and Charon."

"I am a demoness. He is—" She paused.

"Not a demon?" he prompted.

"Not exactly. But it occurred to me that his mother, Nox, who is an old acquaintance of mine, might know something."

"Nox?"

"Night. She is the oldest of the deities of our pantheon, the daughter of Chaos. She goes back before I do, which is pretty far. She married her brother Erebus, who is the Incarnation of the Darkness Between Earth and Hades, that region now parceled out between Limbo and Purgatory. In addition to Charon they generated the Incarnations of Air, Day, Fate, Death, Retributions, Dreams and others I misremember at the moment. She—"

"The mother of the Incarnations?" he asked, amazed. "But how, then, can they be offices?"

"Anything becomes boring after a time, unless constantly refreshed. I would be in a bad way if the Incarnation of Evil did not change periodically, bringing me new interest and challenge. The early Incarnations lost interest, so one by one they vacated, allowing mortals to step in and assume their positions as offices. I believe Nox is the only original Incarnation to retain her position, perhaps because of the everlasting fascination of the things she hides. If any immortal knows the secret of that spell, she might."

Parry kept his hope restrained. "Nox is an original immortal Incarnation, not a damned soul, but she might have learned it?"

"That's what I think. If the secret were ever uttered under cover of night, she would know it."

"Well, let's go see her, then!"

"Not so fast, my Lord! I am not certain she would tell You if she did know, or what payment she would demand for it."

"Payment?"

"The Kingdom of Evil does not flourish on altruism." Parry nodded. "What payment do you think she might ask?"

"I must answer, my Lord, but I do not wish to. She is the one female who knows more of the ways of passion than I do. She is ageless, renewed at every turn of the world. If she found You appealing—"

Oh. "Let's leave her as a last resort. If I stand to wash out, and you prefer to risk Nox rather than let me go, then we can go to her."

"You are more generous to me than Lucifer was," she said.

"Lucifer had a turn with Nox?"

"Anyone has a turn with Nox, if she desires it."

"I will stay away from her. But I must tackle the problem of Hell regardless." Parry got up, pushed open the porthole door, and climbed out of the tree. It was day outside, and this turned out to be a park.

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