The boy dragged the demon Ornias to the palace gates. The spirit stood there shuddering, trembling, crying out and offering silver and gold to anyone who would free him. But no one dared touch the seal of God.
Solomon rose from his throne and walked out to the vestibule. There, in the fading light, he saw the demon quaking before him. "Who are you?" the king demanded.
"I am called Ornias," the spirit whispered.
"Tell me, demon — to what zodiacal sign are you subject?"
"To Aquarius. I strangle those consumed with desire. I change into three forms — sometimes a beautiful woman who seduces men in their sleep, sometimes a winged creature who flies to the heavenly regions, and sometimes a lion. I am commanded by all the demons. And I am the offspring of the archangel Uriel."
When Solomon heard the name of the archangel, he prayed and glorified God. Then he sealed the demon and set him to work cutting stones for the Temple — massive blocks brought from the shores of the Sea of Arabia. Ornias, terrified of the iron tools, begged for freedom. "Let me go and I will bring you all the demons!" he cried. But Solomon was not moved. He prayed to Uriel, and the archangel descended from heaven to subdue the spirit completely.
Then Solomon gave Ornias the ring and a command: "Go. Bring me the prince of all demons."
Ornias took the seal and flew to Beelzeboul, the king of the demons. "Solomon calls you," he said. Beelzeboul laughed. "Who is this Solomon?" But Ornias hurled the ring at his chest. The seal struck, and Beelzeboul screamed — a sound like the roar of a furnace — and a great column of fire erupted from him. He had no choice. Bound by God's seal, the prince of demons followed Ornias back to Jerusalem.
Solomon saw the lord of all dark spirits standing before him and glorified the Almighty. "Who are you?" he asked.
"I am Beelzeboul, the ruler of the demons. All the demons sit close to me. I am the one who reveals the apparition of each spirit." He promised to deliver every unclean spirit in chains. Solomon accepted — and immediately demanded to see the female demons.
Beelzeboul vanished and returned at high speed with Onoskelis — a spirit with the fair skin and pretty face of a woman, but the legs of a mule. She tossed her head defiantly.
"Who are you?" Solomon asked.
"I am Onoskelis. I lurk upon the earth. I have a golden cave, but my dwelling place shifts constantly. I strangle men with nooses. I haunt precipices, caves, and ravines. I appear to men in the form of a beautiful woman and seduce them. Those who worship my star — they do not know they are feeding my appetite for destruction."
"How were you born?" the king pressed.
"I was born of an echo — a voice untimely, like the bat kol, the daughter of a voice that the sages speak of."
Solomon sealed Onoskelis with the ring and condemned her to spin hemp for the ropes of the Temple, night and day, until the building was finished. The demon who once haunted ravines and seduced men was now a slave, spinning rope in the house of God.