The Ring of Solomon

what I was is lost. I am a last sigh, an imprint on the air. As you beat your wings, so the air swirls and the final trace of me must vanish. You seek the Ring?
    Out of courtesy the moth adjusted its wing-beats to a slo-mo minimum. I spoke with care, for I sensed malice as well as melancholy in the voice. ‘No, no.’
    Ah. Very wise. I sought the Ring …
    ‘Did you? Er … how did you get on?’
    How do you think I got on? I’m a voice in a bloody pot.
    ‘Right.’
    The voice gave a moan of fathomless regret and longing. Had I but a thimbleful of essence , it murmured, I would swallow you whole, little djinni, devour you in a single gulp. Alas, I cannot! For Solomon has punished me and I am less than nothing .
    ‘How sad,’ I said feelingly. ‘What a terrible shame. Well, it’s been so nice chatting, but it seems quiet outside now, so perhaps I’d better be going—’
    Would that I could leave this prison too , whispered the voice. Then I would cast Solomon into eternal darkness! Ah, yes, I have his secret now. I could take the Ring. But my knowledge comes too late! Only one chance was given me. I wasted it, and here I must reside for ever, a frail susurration, a child’s sigh, a—
    ‘I don’t suppose,’ I said, pausing with new attention, ‘that you’d like to pass on this sure-fire method of ring-stealing, would you? It’s of no interest to me, of course, but someone else might be able get revenge on your behalf …’
    What care I for revenge? The voice was so faint that each beat of the moth’s wings in the dead air broke its sound to fragments. I am a whisper of unspoken sorrow, a—
    ‘You could help another spirit achieve greatness …’
    I care nothing for the fate of others. I wish death to all things in either world that still have energy and life …
    ‘A noble sentiment, to be sure.’ The moth spoke crisply, making for the lid. ‘Still, my view is that Solomon remains invincible. Everyone knows the Ring can’t be stolen.’
    The voice hesitated. What’s this? You don’t believe me?
    ‘Of course not. But hey, what does that matter? You go on echoing away to yourself if it keeps you happy. I’ve got jobs to do for the king and I can’t hang around here yakking. Goodbye.’
    You fool! Faint and fragile as it was, the dark emotion of the voice made my wings quiver; I was profoundly grateful that Philocretes was robbed of all power to do me harm. How blindly you return to your slavery , the echoes whispered, when you could in a moment master Solomon and seize the Ring!
    ‘Like you know that,’ I sneered.
    I do know it so!
    ‘Yeah? Says who?’
    Says me!
    ‘Locked away in here? You’re just hot air.’
    Ah, but I was not always in this side room , cried the voice. To begin with the cursed king kept me in his chamber, and showed me off to all his wives. And so I listened to him talk, and give instructions to his servants; above all, I heard him speak to the fearsome presence that the Ring controls. I know his weakness! I know how he shields this weakness from the world! Tell me, djinni, is it night or day?
    ‘We are in the very bowels of the night.’
    Ah! So have you seen the king, perhaps, as you wander through his chambers?
    A little bit of naivety was needed here. ‘I saw him in his observatory, standing looking at the stars.’
    You fool, to be deceived by surfaces! That is not Solomon!
    ‘What then?’
    A magic worked by the Spirit of the Ring. A spell cast upon a doll of clay. The doll becomes the king, while the king retires to his private room beyond to rest. It is a powerful Illusion, and a trap for enemies. When I attacked the fake, thinking Solomon defenceless, the real king was alerted, and snared me in an instant. Ah, would that I had ignored it, I would not be doomed to this!
    I hesitated. ‘How exactly were you snared?’
    Another Illusion. He is a master of them. It seemed a great entity rose from the ground, a being of such power that I was rendered dumb with terror. As I strove to fight it, sending Detonation after Detonation into its writhing coils, Solomon appeared behind me and turned the Ring. Now, I am here.
    The moth considered this unexpected information. Here, then, was the reason I was still on Earth. The girl was captured, not devoured. It had uneasy repercussions for me, not least since Solomon might well wish to meet the slave who had brought her so far. I needed to do something, and fast, but there was more to learn from Philocretes