"Idon't take well to being hung," I snarled. "Really? Well,you'll get used to it if you keep practicing magik. It's being burnedthat's really a pain."

"Waita minute, Frumple," Aahz interrupted. "You're actingawfully casual about hanging for someone who was so surprised to seeus alive."

"Iwas. I underestimated your apprentice's mastery of the energies. If Ihad thought you could escape, I would have thought of something else.I was trying to get you killed, after all."

"Hedoesn't sound particularly trustworthy," I observed.

"Youwill notice, my young friend, that I stated my intentions in the pasttense. Now that we share a common goal, you'll find me much easier todeal with."

"Whichbrings us back to our original question," Aahz asserted. "Whatcan you do for us, Frumple?"

"Ireally don't know," the Deveel admitted. "Unless… Iknow! I can send you to the Bazaar!"

"TheBazaar?" I asked.

"TheBazaar on Deva! If you can't find what you need there, it doesn'texist. Why didn't I think of that before? That's the answer!"

Hewas on his feet now, moving toward us.

"Iknow you're in a hurry, so I'll get you started…."

"Notso fast, Frumple."

Aahzhad his sword out menacing the Deveel.

"Wewant a guarantee this is a round trip you're sending us on."

"I…I don't understand."

"Simple.You tried to get rid of us once. It occurs to me you might be temptedto send us off to some backwater dimension with no way to get back."

"ButI give you my word that…."

"Wedon't want your word," Aahz grinned. "We want yourpresence."

"What?"

"Wherewe go, you go. You're coming with us, just to be extra sure we getback."

"Ican't do that!" Frumple seemed honestly terrified. "I'vebeen banned from Deva! You don't know what they'd do to me if I wentback."

"That'stoo bad. We want a guaranteed return before we budge, and that'syou!"

"Waita minute! I think I've got the answer!"

TheDeveel began frantically rummaging through chests. I watched,fascinated, as an astounding array of strange objects emerged as hesearched.

"Hereit is!" he cried at last, holding his prize aloft.

Itappeared to be a metal rod, about eight inches long and two inches indiameter. It had strange markings on its sides, and a button on theend.

"AD-Hopper!" Aahz exclaimed. "I haven't seen one of those inyears."

Frumpletossed it to him.

"Thereyou go. Is that guarantee enough?"

"Whatis it, Aahz?" I asked, craning my neck to see. He seized theends of the rod and twisted in opposite directions. Apparently it wasconstructed of at least two parts, because the symbols began to slidearound the rod in opposite directions.

"Dependingon where you want to go, you align different symbols. Then you justpush the button and…."

"Waita minute!" Frumple cried. "We haven't settled on a pricefor that yet!"

"Price?"I asked.

"Yeah,price! Those things don't grow on trees, you know."

"Ifyou will recall," Aahz murmured, "you still owe us from ourlast deal."

"Trueenough," Frumple agreed. "But as you yourself pointed out,those D-Hoppers are rare. A real collector's item. It's only fairthat our contract be renegotiated at a slightly higher fee."

"Frumple,we're in too much of a hurry to argue," Aahz announced. "I'llsay once what we're willing to relinquish over and above our originaldeal and you can take it or leave it. Fair enough?"

"Whatdid you have in mind?" Frumple asked, rubbing his hands togethereagerly.

"Yourlife."

"My…Oh! I see. Yes, that… urn… should be an acceptableprice."

"I'msurprised at you, Frumple," I chimed in. "Letting acollector's item go that cheap."

"C'mon,kid." Aahz was adjusting the settings on the D-Hopper. "Let'sget moving."

"Justa second, Aahz. I want to get my sword."

"Leaveit. We can pick it up on the way back."

"Say,Aahz, how long does it take to travel between dimensions any…."

Thewalls of Frumple's hut suddenly dissolved in a kaleidescope of color.

"Notlong, kid. In fact, we're there."

Andwe were.

WHILEI knew my home dimension wasn't particularly colorful, I never reallyconsidered it drab… until I first set eyes on the Bazaar atDeva.

Eventhough both Aahz and Frumple, and even the Imps, had referred to thisphenomenon, I had never actually sat back and tried to envision it.It was just as well. Anything I could have fantasized would have beendwarfed by the real thing.

TheBazaar seemed to stretch endlessly in all directions as far as theeye could see. Tents and lean-tos of all designs and colors weregathered in irregular clumps that shoved against each other for moreroom.

Therewere thousands of Deveels everywhere of every age and description.Tall Deveels, fat Deveels, lame Deveels, bald Deveels, all movedabout until the populace gave the appearance of being one seethingmass with multiple heads and tails. There were other beings scatteredthrough the crowd. Some of them looked like nightmares come to life;others I didn't recognize as being alive until they moved, but theyall made noise.

Thenoise! Twixt had seemed noisy to me after my secluded life withGarkin, but the clamor that assailed my ears now defied alldescription. There were shrieks and dull explosions and strangeburbling noises emanating from the depths of the booths around us,competing with the constant din of barter. It seemed no one spokebelow a shout. Whether weeping piteously, barking in anger, ordisplaying bored indifference, all bartering was to be done at thetop of your lungs.

"Welcometo Deva, kid," Aahz gestured expansively. "What do youthink?"

"It'sloud." I observed.

"What?"

"Isaid, 'it's loud!' " I shouted.

"Oh,well. It's a bit livelier than your average Farmer's Market orFisherman's Wharf, but there are noisier places to be."

Iwas about to respond when a passerby careened into me. He, or she,had eyes spaced all around his head and fur-covered tentacles insteadof arms.

"Wzkip!"it said, waving a tentacle as it continued on its way.

"Aahz!"

"Yeah,kid?"

"Itjust occurred to me. What language do they speak on Deva?"

"Hmm?Oh! Don't worry about it, kid. They speak all languages here. NoDeveel that's been hatched would let a sale get away just becausethey couldn't speak the right tongue. Just drop a few sentences on'em in Klahdish and they'll adapt fast enough."

"Okay,Aahz. Now that we're here, where do we go first?"

Therewas no answer. I tore my eyes away from the Bazaar and glanced at mypartner. He was standing motionless, sniffing the air.

"Aahz?"

"Heykid, do you smell that?" he asked eagerly.

Isniffed the air.

"Yeah!"I gagged. "What died?"

"C'mon,kid. Follow me."

Heplunged off into the crowd, leaving me little choice but to trailafter him. Hands plucked at our sleeves as we passed, and variousDeveels leaned out of their stalls and tents to call to us as wepassed, but Aahz didn't slacken his pace. I couldn't get a clear lookat any of the displays as we passed. Keeping up with Aahz demandedmost of my concentration. One tent, however, did catch my eye.

"Look.Aahz! "I cried.

"What?"

"It'sraining in that tent!"

Asif in answer to my words, a boom of thunder and a crackle oflightning erupted from the display.

"Yeah.So?" Aahz dismissed it with a glance.

"Whatare they selling, rain?"