"The others did not want to wait." Karfhud was not asking a question. "They think you will be their salvation, but you must not let them distract you. In the mazes, each must look out for himself."

"I expect you to protect them as you would me." Theseus remained near the conjunction, so that the flames shooting from the other side would prevent his companions from coming through until he was more familiar with the area. "If you fail, don't expect any help from me."

"What makes you think I expect help now?" Karfhud dipped his talon into the wound he had opened on his opposite wrist, then used the blood to draw a line on his parchment. "You will find it necessary to defend yourself, and that is enough."

"Enough for what?"

Instead of answering, Karfhud motioned the Thrasson forward. "Let your friends in. The longer we tarry, the less I map before Sheba attacks."

Theseus remained where he stood, wondering if he could force the fiend to tell him what was so important about mapping the monster's lair.

"I would tell you," Karfhud said, reading his thoughts. "But then I would have to kill you, and I have already sworn not to do that"

"We both know the value of that oath."

Karfhud's head snapped around, his maroon eyes flashing so hotly that little beams of scarlet seemed to shoot through the fog. "That is the trouble with you honorable types. In your arrogance, you presume to know the tanar'ri mind. You know nothing. If you did, you would think less highly of yourselves."

"Perhaps – but it does not change our circumstance. We both know that one of us, at least, will perish before this battle is done."

A low rumble began to echo out of the sky, quickly building to a tremendous bellow that set the tree leaves to quivering and the surface of the water to shuddering. Karfhud cast a nervous glance down each of the passages around him, then looked back to Theseus.

"There is no need for matters to end as you say. My maps will not lead you out of the mazes."

"Perhaps I would believe you if you told me why you're making them."

The fog began to thicken, and Karfhud hissed a curse. "Release me from my oath, and I will tell you."

Theseus raised his brow, shocked by the fiend's demand. Why would the tanar'ri want his oath released, unless he was bound to keep it?

"Or unless I wanted you to think I was bound." Karfhud peered into the thickening fog, pretending to study a side passage. "Your arrogance is a pity, really. Once you know what I am doing, you will lose interest."

"That is for me to decide."

Another bellow rumbled over the swamp, this time shaking the trees so hard that several dead branches cracked and fell. Karfhud glanced up at the leafy canopy, which was nearly concealed in the dense fog, then shrugged.

"I will tell you this much: this is the last one."

"The last what?"

"Labyrinth," the fiend replied. "I have plotted all the others. Once I have done with this one, my maps will be complete."

"That's not possible. You're lying."

Karfhud dipped his homed head in the Thrasson's direction. "Your arrogance is beyond imagining."

"You can't map all of the mazes. Silverwind says that a new one is created for every person who-"

"Silverwind is correct," Karfhud interrupted. "But you entered the mazes in the company of Tessali and Jayk, and you are all together. If Silverwind is right, should you not each be in a separate labyrinth?"

Theseus frowned, trying to find the string that would help him unravel this riddle.

"A millennium would not be time enough for you to solve this enigma," Karfhud said. "You honorable types have no grasp of the Plurality. The answer is simple: there is only one maze, and there are many mazes."

The Thrasson scowled. "Now you arc talking nonsense."

"Am I?" Karfhud glanced down a side passage, then turned away and started to wade in the opposite direction. "I will explain as I work, if you wish, but I have done with waiting. You are no good to me if Sheba kills you here. I'll only have to retreat again."

The fiend vanished around the corner, leaving Theseus alone at the end of the channel. The Thrasson quickly waded forward, for he needed Karihud's help as much as the tanar'ri needed his. Only together could they hope to slay the monster of the labyrinth-or at least to keep her at bay long enough to recover the amphora and map the maze.

Theseus had barely reached the intersection before Silverwind came through the conjunction with Tessali on his back and Jayk in his arms. There was a loud splash as the bariaur dropped the tiefling's legs into the water. An instant later, another of Sheba's thunderous bellows reverberated through the swamp.

"Zoombee!" Jayk threw herself into the channel and began to swim after Theseus.

Silverwind, still carrying Tessali on his back, plowed through the water close behind. The Thrasson waited for the others to catch up, unsettled by the tiefling's uncharacteristic display of rear. As happy as he was to see that she valued her life, he had the uncomfortable feeling that she had attributed that value to him – and he had the wine woman to think of.

Jayk stopped at his side and set her feet on the bottom. "Zoombee, you stayed very long in front of the conjunction." She reached for his arm. "The fight, we thought she had already started!"

"Without you? Never!" Theseus freed his arm from the tiefling's grasp, then glanced at Silverwind and Tessali. "Prepare yourselves, and keep a sharp watch."

The Thrasson turned and led the way after Karfhud.

They caught the tanar'ri at the next intersection, where the fiend had stopped to make some more scratchings. Theseus quickly assigned each of his other companions to watch in a separate direction, taking forward for himself.

He slipped past the tanar'ri to assume his post. "Karfhud, you were going to explain?"

The fiend looked up and cocked his head. "Very quiet." He started down one of the passages he had just marked. "She is coming for us."

"Don't change the subject." Theseus glanced back to make certain the others were following, then positioned himself ahead of the fiend. "How can one maze-"

"What is it you seek?" Karfhud interrupted. "In the mazes, I mean to say."

"Only one thing: the exit."

"And that is why you will never find it." They waded around a gentle curve and entered a long, snaking channel where the bog trees hung so low that Karfhud's horns ticked against the boughs as they moved forward. "You are also seeking something else – something for which you are willing to fight Sheba. Think."

"That requires no thought." Craning his neck back so he could keep watch on the low-hanging canopy, Theseus relied on the charred hand sewn onto his ankle to feel his way through the water. "I want the amphora."

"Because?"

"Because I promised to deliver it to the Lady of Pain."

"I am done wasting my breath on you!" Karfhud growled. "I could give you my maps, and you would never find your exit!"

Theseus glared over his shoulder at the fiend's maze-blighted face. "If you are so wise, why are you still here? Why haven't you found your own way out?"

Karfhud's maroon eyes deepened to black. "What makes you think I want to?"

A distant sloshing sounded someplace ahead, eliciting a startled gasp from both Jayk and Tessali.

Theseus turned his attention forward. "Maybe we should try another passage."

"That is what she wants," said Karfhud. "Otherwise, we would have heard nothing. We are doing better than I had hoped."

"Better?"

Instead of replying, Karfhud slipped past the Thrasson and continued up the passage, using his own blood to carefully trace each bend and curve on the parchment Happy to let the fiend assume the risk of leading the way, Theseus waded along behind, periodically glancing back. to check on his companions. It was hardly necessary; Jayk and Silverwind did not look away from the channel banks for so much as a second, while Tessali, reverse-mounted on the bariaur's back, was gazing holes through the fog behind them.