Wind of her own making rushed in Tash's ears. She sprinted up and out of the pit. By the time she attained the balcony level, the coward demon was already scampering out the exit. His webbed feet flapped double time as he stumbled and tripped his way up the next flight.

The joy of the chase settled over her and she leaned forward in silent acceleration.

If he gains the portal room and raises the alarm, that would be bad.

But it was clearly Dooch's goal. He tripped over his own feet as he ballistically flew into his kitchen, and mashed his face into the grimy floor. He emitted a grunt and a whine, then scrambled for the staircase up.

He will not scream. That much I can guarantee. She pulled her garrote from under her belt at the small of her back. She unspooled its tough wire as she rocketed around the kitchen corner.

She caught him halfway up the stairs. He had the high ground, so she leapt. Her arms started high, the wire stretched between her hands, and then she swept them forward.

His burlap-covered back cushioned her landing. Her knees gripped his round torso. She sought the notch between his chest and chin and threaded her wire there.

He fell face-first onto the steps, his arms splayed forward.

Remember, demon flesh is tough. She pulled hard. For Séa, you scum-blot. This is for Séa.

Dooch scrabbled with his hands at his own neck, but the wire had already disappeared into folds of his flesh. Tash pulled with her back muscles and pushed with her knees. When the travelling wire hit bony resistance, she sawed back and forth.

The demon's head parted from his body and rolled away downhill.

Tash wiped her wire on his burlap, cleaning it of orange blood. She rewrapped the wire around the handles and tucked her garrote away. Half-heartedly, she patted at the body's burlap coverings, but she found no hard lumps. Nothing to loot. Useless frog man.

The twitching body did not turn to vapor. The rogue's repaired lips twisted in disgust. You got dosed with that fancy protection spell, too? Well la-di-dah for you.

The head had bounced back down to the kitchen, leaving periodic splashes of orange goo. I don't want to touch that. Tash pushed one of her longer daggers through the skin between the head's still-roving eyes. Thus spitted, she lifted the grisly trophy with her dagger hilt and set off back to the dungeon.

"Get ready for banishment, Dooch. I guess that promotion didn't work out for you." Probably, I shouldn't be enjoying this so much. But I am. This payback is sweet.

The head rolled pleading eyes toward her.

Sorry, Dooch. Your switching sides exhausted my supply of pity.

Tash's mocking chuckle echoed from the dismal stone walls.

She set her course for the torture pit. She held the spitted head of the demon chef out to one side because it smelled like socks after a week on the trail.

She scowled sideways at it, "So now that your doom is certain, answer me this. Blink once for yes and two for no. Zorexis is impersonating Chantelle right now. Is his plan to impersonate King Pharing of Omnius?"

The froggy head's lip corners dropped into a doleful frown. After a sideways accusatory glance, his overlarge eyelids covered his orbs and trembled. After a moment, his eyes popped wide and his mouth opened in a soundless wail of despair.

The rogue padded down the stairs into shadow, still panting from her recent exertions. "Power hungry, eh? You know, I understand wanting hot baths on command and getting breakfast cooked for you. I understand wanting to live surrounded by beauty and luxury. But I don't understand wanting to lord over a whole kingdom. It comes with responsibility. How can that be fun? And if you screw it up, they raise a mob, burn the castle down, and drag you into the street to be drawn and quartered."

Dooch's head had nothing to say about the matter, unless tears of self-pity could be construed as commentary.

The torture pit still glowed red when she arrived. From the balcony, she could see that Séa had cut the others free. She had even remembered to don her gambeson. Two days ago, Tash, you would have been annoyed and vaguely disgusted at a naked Séa. But now you're disappointed that she covered up.

The rogue descended to the pit. Chantelle pressed her tear-moistened face against Séa's chest and moaned, "How could I be so stupid? I fell for it. I fell for the whole story." The paladin patted her back consolingly.

Ghomarck lit a magelight and straightened his rumpled hat. "Tash. You're back. You bagged your target, I see."

He seems more alert, now. Good. We need a functional wizard. "Good summary, Master Ghomarck. Everybody's in their right minds?"

"Everybody but Séa," the wizard replied.

"I'm loopy!" The knight giggled.

"You've always been loopy," Tash said, "but can you banish this?" She held up Dooch's orange-dripping head.

"Ooo! Lookie!" Séa clapped her hands in delight. "Good zhob, Tash. You cut him downtah size." The paladin snorted with laughter and extended her arms as if in welcome. "Give 'im here. Gimme the helpful so helpful liddle backstabbing rapist."

"He's all yours." The rogue extended the head, which dripped acid tears and orange droplets of blood.

The paladin held it at arm's length for appraisal. "Say hello to Gluzzik for me, Dooch. Tell 'im someday I'm coming for 'im. He better live the good life now, before I shave his antennas off. An' 'is legs an' arms. An' wings an' head." She closed her eyes. Her slurred speech cleared up for a moment. "Torugg, my beacon, aid me. Banish this demon."

The head all but exploded into black mist that sifted away to nothing.

"Good riddance," Ghomarck said. "His jokes were singularly off-color. Lady Séa, could you please don your armor? We have tarried long enough in these foul pits."

She couldn't. Not on her own. But between them, they encased the stumbling paladin in armor once again. Soon, she banged up the steps to the balcony, belting out a tuneless ditty.

"Zorexis he was a big ding dong,

And Dooch was a crack in the arse,

And Habrax he choked on his wee dipthong.

Oh, what a comical farce."

Tash covered her own ears and huffed, "A good deed is done ... and regret sets in immediately."

Ghomark stopped to contemplate what appeared to be a large cooking kettle. Tash seized Séa's arm and pulled sharply to prevent a collision. A silent, listless Chantelle brought up the rear. "Hold," the wizard said. "Felignite, they called it. It was the agent used to shatter the escape tunnel. If my guess is right, it is what the High Magister calls demonfire. A volatile substance, in consistency like jelly, but unstable and liable to explode."

"What are we going to fry with it?" Tash asked.

The wizard stroked his beard. "Hopefully, most of whatever is in the portal room."

"Thash my kinda wizzerd," Séa slurred.

"Allow me a few moments to arrange smooth transportation. Demonfire can explode when jarred. It's a minor miracle that Dooch didn't set it off when he panicked and ran." Ghomarck delved into his pouches and produced an iron disk, coinlike in conformation. He dropped it to the stone balcony floor and drizzled powder over it. As he chanted arcane syllables, the disk grew in size and levitated.

"Issa magic carpet." Séa's eyebrows danced as she followed the twists and turns of her inebriated logic processes. "But less comfortable and built for pixies. But pixies have wings, so they don't need one. So ... why?"

"Tash," Ghomarck said by way of reply to Séa, "Please place the felignite container atop the floating disk. Carefully, please."

"And if I'm not careful enough?" Tash said.

"We all die."

"I see. Excellent motivation, that." The rogue slid the kettle aboard the floating disk without incident.

Ghomarck led the way forward. "The floating disk obeys cues that I give it. Our next destination should be the portal room. I will combine that last spell I have in reserve with this demonfire. The result should be excellent as long as we ourselves survive the event."

"Shurvive, shurvive," Séa chanted.

"We got a rogue with enchanting eyes,

And a princess in disguise.

The wizard made a disky surprise,

But one bump an' the party dies."

Tash covered her ears once more as they reached Dooch's kitchen. "Why did I come along on this doomed quest again?" She caught sight of the bag full of gemstones from the brazier. It had dropped to the floor when the parasite had nearly clawed her lower face off, but it was intact and only a few dozen precious stones had spilled from it. She pounced on it, swept the strays back inside, then tied it to her belt. "Oh, yeah. Treasure."