"No.I've developed a fondness for his company. Besides, if he doesn'tagree to help us, it would come in handy to have an assassin closeby. Frumple's too powerful to run the risk of leaving him unallied tohelp Isstvan."

AsAahz was speaking, Brockhurst casually leaned back out of his line ofvision and silently mouthed the word "Pervert" at Higgens.Higgens quietly nodded his agreement, and they both shot mesympathetic glances.

"Well,what do you think?" Aahz asked in conclusion.

"Hmm…what do we do with him?" Higgens indicated the Quigley statuewith a jerk of his head.

"We'lltake him with us," I chimed in hastily.

"Ofcourse!" agreed Aahz, shooting me a black look. "If you twotook him back to Isstvan, he might guess you suspected histreachery."

"Besides,"I added, "maybe we can revive him and convince him to join us inour battle."

"Isuppose you'll be wanting the antidote then." Higgens sighed,fishing a small vial from inside his cloak and tossing it to me."Just sprinkle a little on him and he'll return to normal in afew minutes. Watch yourself, though. There's something strange abouthim. He seemed to be able to see right through our disguises."

"Where'sthe sword you were talking about?" Aahz asked.

"It'sin his pack. Believe me, it's junk. The only reason we brought italong was that he seemed to put so much stock in it. It'll be curiousto find out what he thought it was when we revive him."

"Well,I believe that just about covers everything," Brockhurst sighed."I suggest we get some sleep and start on our respectivejourneys first thing in the morning."

"Isuggest you start on your journey now," Aahz said pointedly.

"Now?"Brockhurst exclaimed.

"Butit's the middle of the night," Higgens pointed out.

"MightI remind you gentlemen that the longer you are away from Isstvan, thegreater the chances are he'll send another assassin after you."

"He'sright, you know," I said thoughtfully.

"Isuppose so," grumbled Higgens.

"Well,"said Brockhurst, rising to his feet, "I guess we'll be on ourway then as soon as we divide Garkin's loot."

"Onthe contrary," stated Aahz. "Not only do we not divide theloot, I would suggest you give us whatever funds you have at yourdisposal."

"What?"they chorused, their cross-bows instantly in their hands again.

"Think,gentlemen," Aahz said soothingly. "We'd be trying tobargain with a Deveel for his support. As you yourselves have pointedout, they are notoriously unreasonable in their prices. I would hateto think we might fail in our negotiations for a lack of funds."

Therewas a pregnant silence as the Imps sought to find a hole in hislogic.

"Oh,very well," Brockhurst conceded at last, lowering his crossbowand reaching for his purse.

"Istill don't think it will do any good," Higgens grumbled,imitating Brockhurst's move. "You probably couldn't buy off aDeveel if you had the Gnomes themselves backing you."

Theypassed the purses over to Aahz, who hefted them judiciously beforetucking them into his own waist band.

"Trustme, gentlemen." Aahz smiled. "We Pervects have methods ofpersuasion that are effective even on Deveels."

TheImps shuddered at this and began edging away.

"Well…umm… I guess we'll see you later," Higgens mumbled."Watch yourself, Throckwoddle."

"Yes,"added Brockhurst. "And be sure when you're done, the Deveel iseither with us or dead."

Itried to think of something to say in return, but before anythingoccurred to me they were gone.

Aahzcocked an eyebrow at me and I held up a restraining hand until I feltthem pass through the wards. I signaled him with a nod.

"They'vegone," I said.

"Beautiful!"exclaimed Aahz gleefully. "Didn't I tell you they weregullible?"

Foronce I had to admit he was right.

"Well,get some sleep now, kid. Like I said before, tomorrow's going to be abusy day, and all of a sudden it looks like it's going to be evenbusier."

Icomplied, but one question kept nagging at me.

"Aahz?"

"Yeah,kid."

"Whatdimension do the Gnomes come from?"

"Zoorik,"he answered.

Onthat note, I went to sleep.

"AREyou sure we're up to handling a Deveel, Aahz?" I was aware I hadasked the question countless times in the last few days, but I stillneeded reassurance.

"Willyou relax, kid?" Aahz growled. "I was right about the Imps,wasn't I?"

"Isuppose so," I admitted hesitantly.

Ididn't want to tell Aahz, but I wasn't that happy with the Impincident. It had been a little too close for my peace of mind. Sincethe meeting, I had been having recurring nightmares involving Impsand cross-bows.

"Lookat it this way, kid. With any luck this Frumple character will beable to restore my powers. That'd take you off the hotseat."

"Iguess so," I said without enthusiasm.

Hehad raised this point several times since learning about Frumple.Each time he did, it gave me the same feeling of discomfort.

"Somethingbothering you, kid?" Aahz asked, cocking his head at me.

"Well…it's… Aahz, if you do get your powers back, will you stillwant me as an apprentice?"

"Isthat what's been eating at you?" he seemed genuinely surprised."Of course I'll still want you. What kind of a magician do youthink I am? I don't choose my apprentices lightly."

"Youwouldn't feel I was a burden?"

"Maybeat first, but not now. You were in at the start of this Isstvanthing; you earned the right to be in on the end of it."

Truthto tell, I wasn't all that eager to be there when Aahz confrontedIsstvan, but that seemed to be the price I would have to pay if I wasgoing to continue my association with Aahz.

"Urn…Aahz?"

"Yeah,kid?"

"Justone more question?"

"Promise?"

"How'sthat?"

"Nothing.What's the question, kid."

"Ifyou get your powers back, and I'm still your apprentice, whichdimension will we live in?"

"Hmm.To be honest, kid, I hadn't really given it much thought. Tell yawhat, we'll burn that bridge when we come to it, okay?"

"Okay,Aahz."

Itried to get my mind off the question. Maybe Aahz was right. No senseworrying about the problem until we knew for sure it existed. Maybehe wouldn't get his powers back. Maybe I'd get to be the one to fightIsstvan after all. Terrific.

"Hey!Watch the beast, kid!"

Aahz'svoice broke my train of thought. We were leading the war unicornbetween us, and the beast chose this moment to act up.

Itnickered and half-reared, then planted its feet and tossed its head.

"Steady…ow!"

Aahzextended a hand trying to seize its bridle and received a solid rapon the forearm from the unicorn's horn for his trouble.

"Easy,Buttercup," I said soothingly. "There's a good boy."

Thebeast responded to my coaxings, first by settling down, pawing theground nervously, then finally by rubbing his muzzle against me.

Thoughdefinitely a friendly gesture, this is not the safest thing to have aunicorn do to you. I ducked nimbly under his swinging horn and castabout me quickly. Snatching an orange flower from a nearby bush, Ifed it to him at an arm's length. He accepted the offering and beganto munch it contentedly.

"Idon't think that beast likes demons," Aahz grumbled sullenly,rubbing his bruised arm.

"Itstands to reason," I retorted. "I mean, he was a demonhunter's mount, you know."

"Seemsto take readily enough to you, though," Aahz observed. "Areyou sure you're not a virgin?"