Moses stood in a dimly lit hallway gazing at a portrait. There were many portraits, but one held his interest. He admired the artist's work, how he captured Cao Tzsu's sturdy cheekbones and his compassionate glare. Moses regretted that he had never said goodbye to the old man. Cao Tzsu was more than a mentor; he was a friend.

He had little time to reminisce or recall his gratitude for Cao's effort to change the Utetezi code. He heard footsteps approaching. He knew from the sound of one dragging foot that Toddkhuslen Khan had found him. “I suspected you'd be here.” His voice was like a whisper.

Moses clasped his hands and bowed graciously. “I understand congratulations are in order. You are Cao’s sulivant. Have you determined how to lead the council?”

Toddkhuslen returned the gesture, and a gentle smile illuminated his face. “I believe congratulations are for you, as well. Grandmaster? You are the youngest ever to have the title.”

“I fear the most errant of them all.”

“You need not worry.” He walked past Moses and, with a hand gesture, invited the grandmaster to follow. They passed through a door, and Toddkhuslen continued. “A very successful engineer once said that he failed so many times, success was all that remained.”

Moses chuckled.

“You are well-read. You've read the sacred scroll – the angelic language. That's a great feat, a great feat indeed.”

Moses sighed. Reading the scroll was not enough. His thoughts gravitated to his failures at Lake Eidos. Twice, he had faced the djinni guardian, and twice, he failed to solve its riddle. He had come to the Utetezi citadel to find answers that he hoped would help him and, as if on cue, Toddkhuslen asked, “How can we help you?”

They turned into a room. The scent of applewood burning in the fireplace caught Moses' attention. It reminded him of home, but there was no time to think of his childhood. “I want to learn all there is about Asmodeus.” He leaned closer. “You looked surprised. I came across something that Grandmaster Yoshi wrote before he passed away. Didn't you expect that one day, one of Yoshi's students would come asking about his work?”

Toddkhuslen turned. “We're headed in the wrong direction. We should go this way.”

Moses followed.

“I'll help you better if I know what you already know.”

“Asmodeus was the spirit who caused the rift between Adam and Lilith. Since then, he has perfected his skill. After King Solomon captured him, he discovered the spirit's ability to know the future.”

They reached a flight of winding stairs. “Asmodeus warned Solomon that Israel would fall to Assyria and Babylon. The wise king didn't want the Ark of the Covenant to fall into enemy hands, so he sent it away. That's how we came to protect it. That is what began the Butakah Brotherhood.”

They reached the top of the stairs. A guard stood from his chair to acknowledge Toddkhuslen's presence, and Moses noticed the sidearm. Moses continued as they passed him. “We protect the Ark until this day. Asmodeus was captured, bound, and thrown into a prison where rocks, some physical and others ethereal, crush and fixate him.”

“It sounds like you know it all. What else is there?”

They entered through a door that squeaked as it opened. On the other side of it was a library that smelled of stale air. “Grandmaster Yoshi mentioned that Asmodeus made a book. He called it the Book of Asmodeus. According to what I’ve read, the book writes itself. It writes the future.”

Toddkhuslen led Moses to a counter where a pencil and pad of paper waited. He wrote on the paper and gave it to Moses. “You are a grandmaster now. Everything here is at your disposal. Here you will find books and writings of the greatest men in our order. We expect you will add to this collection, like your one-time grandmaster Yoshi.”

Moses read the numbers on the page as Toddkhuslen walked away. “When you've satisfied your thirst, I have a matter to discuss.”

Moses nodded. When Toddkhuslen was out of sight, Moses looked at the paper. The numbers led him to a book high on a tall bookshelf. Using a step ladder, Moses retrieved the book Grandmaster Yoshi's Discoveries. He moved his hands over the smooth leather. Now I get to know what you've been doing in the Hall of Relics. As he strolled to a table, Moses remembered Bayissa, the spoon that he had enchanted and the engravings on it. Holding Grandmaster Yoshi's book, Moses hoped he'd learn about the angel in the Hall of Relics, the reason for hiding the most sacred texts in the catacombs, and the path he'd lead the butakah monks.

Moses suspected that Grandmaster Yoshi occasionally broke the code. The book confirmed his disobedience as it narrated Yoshi's interactions with djinn. Although Yoshi had no companion like Moses had in Irmana, Yoshi mentioned a guide named Karamarian.

We traveled north of the Iron Mountains to a place where the River of Flames reappeared and dipped again into a valley. I saw the great pit where Asmodeus lay. Beneath rock piles, the cursed spirit lay fastened to a stone slab with meat hooks and barbed wire. The monks, who projected their astral bodies, placed crystal shells around the pit. Something burned in them. Karamarian said it was the essence of fish entrails boiled in the material world. The burning entrails repulsed and weakened the spirit.

“They believe the smoke prevents him from seeing the future, but it does not,” Karamarian told me. “He projects his thoughts into another place.”

Moses' heart throbbed. He remembered his mentor, Bayissa, who had once done something of the kind. He called it entanglement. By projecting his consciousness from his astral body, Bayissa had been simultaneously in three separate planes. Moses was flustered at the thought that Asmodeus was doing the same thing. If so, he had been at it for years – no, centuries. There was no telling what he could do – or what he had already done. Moses swallowed and cautioned himself from jumping to conclusions. He read more.

Asmodeus continued to see the future. But not only one. Although he has not penetrated the mental plane, he has undoubtedly captured some of its power and projects his visions to a written source. Karamarian says the book is somewhere in the Library of Portals.

Moses hesitated. He reread the line. “The Book of Asmodeus,” he whispered in amazement. Yoshi failed to mention ever seeing the book. To Moses' disappointment, there were no more references to it.

Moses contemplated the book's potential dangers. It grieved him to consider what aggressive spirits in the Atlantean cult could do if they had access to it. Worst yet, what had they already done?

Moses' thoughts convinced him that djinn should not have access to a future-telling book. He doubted that men should have access to it as well. He concluded that he should destroy the book, but he needed the council's consent. Toddkhuslen was a nice man, but he was not Cao, the predecessor who on occasion had explored the spirit world, escorted by Moses. Moses predicted that Toddkhuslen would want proof before championing the cause. As Moses prepared to project into the astral world, he focused on finding evidence.