After another crawl up the stairs to below the top step, Ghomarck gazed ceilingward. He stroked his beard and pursed his lips.

Ripples disturbed the foggy green radiance of the central portal. The upright, elegant form of Zorexis stepped through it. As if a valet had recently attended upon him, not one of his long hairs was out of place. He wore natty boots and a long, embroidered jacket, color-coordinated in blacks and grays. The torture beast lunged forward, not to bite, but to sniff. It ran its snout up and down the incubus's body, then exhaled a snort whose gusty sound carried all the way to the watchers. The four wights swiveled to watch.

Well, feck me. I half expected a demon army, but it's just Zorexis.

Nestled among the party members, Chantelle quivered. A bright smile lit her features. Séa kept a hand on Dooch's skinny shoulder.

Having passed inspection, Zorexis's path hooked to the right toward one of the braziers. He chanted indistinct words and waved his hands. Its radiance died.

At the display of magical prowess, a line appeared between Séa's eyebrows. Her stare intensified.

I agree, Séa, Tash thought. He hid the fact that he's a wizard. Also, what the feck was he doing through the portal?

Unhurriedly, the incubus produced a cloth sack from inside his jacket. He began scooping the faceted stones that formed a heap in the brazier into the bag.

"Should we go meet him?" Chantelle whispered.

Tash shook her head vigorously from side to side.

Zorexis knelt and rummaged in the sack of gems. He loosely knotted the neck of the sack, rose, and strode toward the skulking party. Ten paces short of the stairs, he spotted them and chuckled. He made shooing motions with his hands and said, "Downstairs, please. The portal guardian is beyond my control, you see. But I come bearing gifts."

He collected Chantelle in his embrace and the party descended the stairs in silence. At Dooch's red-lit kitchen, they formed a loose circle. Dooch screeched, "Gifts, master? What'd you get me? What'd you get me?"

Weariness clouded Zorexis's handsome brow and his eyes half shut at the vocal noise. He said, "A promotion, if you're smart enough to keep your big mouth shut. Starting now."

"What? Really? Will I outrank Pokkalilly the Poacher?"

Irritation pinched the incubus's eyebrows together. "Shut it, Dooch, and keep it shut. That's a command."

The toady chef fizzed like a pot boiling over but managed to keep his lips sealed.

With a flourish, Zorexis held up a cut diamond pinched between his thumb and forefinger. In size, it could almost serve as a faceted monocle. He presented it to Chantelle. "A small token, my love. A promise of better to come."

"Oh, Zorexis! How lovely of you." The princess took it with a practiced curtsy.

"Master Ghomarck," Zorexis said, "you asked for nothing, but I have similar for you. Think of it as a souvenir from the adventure." The incubus pressed a gem only slightly smaller than Chantelle's into the wizard's palm.

"The nicest thing a demon's ever done for me," the wizard hoarsely pronounced.

Zorexis swiveled to Séa. "Esteemed paladin, you don't trust me and you never will, and this is but the plain truth. Furthermore, you don't desire gold, gems, property, or power. What is a demon to do?"

"Stop talking to me?" Séa guessed hopefully.

His easy smile froze in place. "That time has almost come, but first, I have a parchment that will interest you." From his jacket he pulled a metal cylinder six inches long. Caps covered both ends and a lanyard dangled from it. He unscrewed one end and shook out a roll of rough paper. "It's a map," he said as he unrolled it and showed it to Séa. "Between Liria and Omnius lies a ragged range of mountains. The star – here, see? – shows the current location of the Crusade's headquarters."

Séa caught her lower lip between her teeth and her eyes grew watery.

He did it? Really? Well, what do you know? And look at Séa. She wants this with her very bones, and he's given her hope.

Zorexis reversed his motions, rolling the map up and sealing it in its holder. "I'm quite proud of this. I was fortunate indeed to obtain it so quickly." He offered the map case to Séa. "I don't expect you to believe me, now. The proof will be when you arrive at the spot – and your dream will come true."

Séa eyed the inert cylinder and trembled. The rest of the party stared at her.

Chantelle sighed. "If all you wanted was a piece of paper, and he gives you a piece of paper, the polite thing to do is accept it graciously. Trust a princess on this point."

The paladin's shoulders drooped a slight amount. She took the cylinder. It didn't fit in her belt very well, so she hung it around her neck. "Thank you," she mumbled.

Zorexis turned to Tash. "Lastly, our dauntless half-elf. I have two things for you. Number one will arrive shortly in the form of a pair of yotches. Worry not, they are under my command. I will order them to clear the exit of rubble. It won't take them long, and that way we'll avoid the guardian. Much safer that way."

Dooch rattled air past his overlarge lips. "Yotches? Bloody talentless claw-wigglers. No subtlety in 'em."

I guess I'll accept that at face value, for now. Tash squinted the eye through which her scar ran. "Number two had better be that sack."

"How prescient of you." The incubus chuckled and extended the bag of jewels toward Tash. "I didn't have time to sort them. Some of them will be dulled from their time in the brazier."

The rogue took the bag. Her swift fingers unknotted the sack and she peeked inside.

Within the span of an eyeblink, she caught a blur of motion from inside the sack. A fleeting impression of a shiny red carapace ended in pain. Claws ripped into her lower face and she cried out. The bag dropped, forgotten. Her hands flew to her lower face. Her fingers slid across a chitin shell and small, hard legs that scrabbled at her chin and lips.

Zorexis's word of power penetrated her shocked consciousness. It sizzled with arcane power. "Potenta!" His next commands came swiftly. "You are mine. You, and you, and you, stay silent."

Tash fell over backwards and thrashed. Her world narrowed to the slippery, hard-shelled thing that burrowed its way past her lips and gums. Inexorably, it wedged open her teeth. It had almost gained entrance to her mouth in the moment she had yelped. Her lacerated lips coated it with blood, making the creature even more slippery. Her frantic, blood-wet fingers could get no purchase on the round shell.

From some irrelevant universe the incubus's voice drifted to her ears. "Don't you like my gift, rogue?"

Miniature claws found her tongue and ripped at the tender flesh. But Tash knew her next scream would allow the burrowing parasite to savage its way down her throat. She rolled over on the floor and mashed her own face against the stone floor. The agony burst like white-hot flames through her consciousness.

A larger segmented leg forced its way through her teeth. In a spasm of revulsion, she bit. Foul acidic juices spurted.

A glimmer of hope shone through the overpowering fog of agony. She bit and chewed and ground, as fast as her jaws could move. Amid horrid squirts of vileness, the body of the creature pushed against her tongue. It packed itself into her mouth and a gag reflex convulsed her.

And then, relief. The parasite ceased moving. Black vapor drizzled from her mouth as the demon disincorporated.

She stayed on her belly, writhing, consumed with agony and bleeding profusely onto the filthy cobblestones.

"Ah, there we go, Tash," Zorexis said. "Just relax and let it make a nest in your stomach. A few moments more should suffice. The intellect-worm is very efficient. Welcome to the party. My party, now."

"Nice one, boss!" shrieked Dooch.