"Asa matter of fact it was. Why? Do you know him?"

"Why,he's my mission! That's the man I'm going to kill."

"Why?"I interrupted. "Garkin's no demon."

"Buthe consorts with demons, lad." Aahz scowled warningly at me."That's enough for any demon hunter. Right, Quigley?"

"Right.Remember that, lad."

Inodded vigorously at him, feeling suddenly very nervous about thiswhole encounter.

"Wheredid you hear about Garkin anyway, Quigley?" Aahz asked casually.

"Strangelyenough, from an inn-keeper… Isstvan, I think he said his namewas… a bit strange, but a sincere enough fellow. About threeweeks ride back…. but we were talking about your problem. Whydid he send demons after you?"

"Well,as I said, I sought him out to try to get him to remove any curse.What I did not realize was that he was actually in league with demonshimself. He had heard of me, and flatly refused me aid. What is more,after we left he set some of his demons on our trail."

"Isee. How many of them did you say there were?"

"Justtwo," Aahz assured him. "We've caught glimpses of themoccasionally."

"Verywell," concluded Quigley. "I'll do it. I'll assist you inyour battle."

"That'sfine except for one thing. We won't be here."

"Whynot? I should think that as a demon hunter you'd welcome the chanceonce the odds were even."

"IfI were here there would be no fight," Aahz stated grandly. "AsI have said, I have a certain reputation among demons. If they saw mehere they would simply flee."

"Ifrankly find that hard to believe," commented Quigley.

Iwas inclined to agree with him, but kept my silence.

"Well,I must admit their fear of my charmed sword has a bit to do withtheir reluctance to do battle."

"Charmedsword?"

"Yes."Aahz patted the sword at his side. "This weapon once belonged tothe famous demon hunter Alfans De Clario."

"Neverheard of him."

"Neverheard of him? Are you sure you're a demon hunter? Why the man killedover two hundred demons with this sword. They say it is charmed suchthat whomever wields it cannot be killed by a demon."

"Howdid he die?"

"Knifedby an exotic dancer. Terrible."

"Yes,they're nasty that way. But about the sword, does it work?"

"Itworks as well as any sword, a little point-heavy, maybe, but…."

"No.I mean the charm. Does it work?"

"Ican testify that I haven't been killed by a demon since I startedusing it."

"Anddemons actually recognize it and flee from its owner?"

"Exactly.Of course, I haven't had occasion to use it for years. Been too busytrying to get this curse removed. Sometimes I've thought aboutselling it, but if I ever get back into business it would be a bighelp in… urn… reestablishing my reputation."

Isuddenly realized what Aahz was up to. Quigley rose to the bait likea hungry pike-turtle.

"Hmm…."he said. "Tell you what. Just to give a hand to a fellow demonhunter who's down on his luck, I'll take it off your hands for fivegold pieces."

"Fivegold pieces! You must be joking. I paid three hundred for it. Icouldn't possibly let it go for less than two hundred."

"Oh,well, that counts me out. I only have about fifty gold pieces on me."

"Fifty?"

"Yes,I never travel with more than…."

"Butthen again, times have been hard, and seeing as how you would beusing it to do battle against the fiends who put the curse on me….Yes, I think I could let you have it for fifty gold pieces."

"Butthat's all the money I have."

"Yes,but what good is a fat purse if you're torn asunder by a demon?"

"Trueenough. Let me see it."

Hetook the blade and hefted, giving it a few experimental swings.

"Crummybalance." He grimaced.

"Youget used to it."

"Lousysteel," he declared, squinting at the blade.

"Niceedge on it, though."

"Well,my trainer always told me 'If you take care of your sword, it willtake care of you!'"

"Wemust have had the same trainer."

Thetwo of them smiled at each other. I felt slightly ill.

"Still,I dunno. Fifty pieces of gold is a lot."

"Justlook at those stones in the handle."

"Idid. They're fake."

"Aha!They're made to look fake. It hides their value."

"Suredid a nice job. What kind of stones are they?"

"Blarneystones."

"Blarneystones?"

"Yes.They're said to ensure your popularity with the ladies, if you knowwhat I mean."

"Butfifty gold pieces is all the money I have."

"Tellyou what. Make it forty-five gold pieces and throw in your sword."

"Mysword?"

"Ofcourse. This beauty will take care of you, and your sword will keepmy squire and I from being defenseless in this heathen land."

"Hmm.That seems fair enough. Yes, I believe you have made a deal, myfriend."

Theyshook hands ceremoniously and began effecting the trade. I seized theopportunity to interrupt.

"Gee,it's a shame we have to part so soon."

"Whyso soon?" The warrior was puzzled.

"Noneed to rush off," Aahz assured him, giving me a solid elbow inthe ribs.

"ButAahz, we wanted to travel more before sundown and Quigley has toprepare for battle."

"Whatpreparations?" asked Quigley.

"Yourunicorn," I continued doggedly. "Don't you want to catchyour unicorn?"

"Myunicorn! All of my armor is on that animal!"

"Surelyit won't wander far…." Aahz growled.

"Thereare bandits about who would like nothing better than to get theirhands on a good war unicorn." Quigley heaved himself to hisfeet. "And I want him at my side to help me fight the demons.Yes, I must be off. I thank you for your assistance, my friends. Safejourney until we meet again."

Witha vague wave of his hand, he disappeared into the woods whistling forhis mount.

"Nowwhat was all that about?" Aahz exploded angrily.

"What,Aahz?"

"Thebig rush to get rid of him. As gullible as he was, could have tradedhim out of his pants or anything else vaguely valuable he might havehad on him. I specifically wanted to get my hands on that charm."

"BasicallyI wanted to see him on his way before he caught on to the flaw inyour little tale."

"What,the son-nephew slip? He wouldn't have…."

"No,the other thing."

"Whatother thing?"

Isighed.

"Look,he saw through your disguise because that pendant lets him seethrough spells, right?"

"Right,and I explained it away saying I was the victim of a demon's curse…."

"…that changed your appearance with a spell. But if he could seethrough spells, he should be able to see through that spell to seeyou as a normal man. Right?"

"Hmm….Maybe we'd better be on our way now that we know where Isstvan is."

ButI was unwilling to let my little triumph go so easily.

"Tellme, Aahz. What would you do if we encountered a demon hunter as smartas me?"

"That'seasy." He smiled, patting the crossbow. "I'd kill him.Think about it."

Idid.