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  He squinted at Az. “And why are you naked, old man?”

  Dar growled to be referred to as ‘the little demon’. “Hurry up and fix yourself, human. We want to leave.”

  “He can’t,” Az told Dar. “He heals very slowly. It will take days. Or even weeks.”

  Dar got up and paced. “I’m not waiting that long. Let’s go. He can take care of himself. Nursing an injured human wasn’t part of my service.”

  “Paquit is dead. This demon killed him, so his service to you is over. He’s going to leave now.”

  Alibeck nodded. The fight must have addled his senses, because Az was a terrible liar.

  “I’ll banish you back home,” he said, trying unsuccessfully to rise to his feet.

  “No, no,” Az and Dar both shouted simultaneously.

  “It’s a nice evening. I think I’ll walk,” Dar said. He was a better liar than Az.

  “I’m going to borrow some of your clothing, and I’ll be on my way too,” Az said, as she headed toward the trunk.

  The human nodded, and leaned back against the wall. Az dug through the chest, and tossed on a shirt and pants. There were no shoes, so she wrapped a cloth around each foot. Before leaving, she tossed a blanket over Alibeck.

  “I hope you don’t die,” she told him. “I’m planning on visiting you later.”

  He nodded and closed his eyes as Az and Dar walked out the door and down the long road to the gate home.

  Chapter 5

  Dar and Az loitered in the woods beside the road just outside the small town. Dawn had broken as they slowly walked back, and Dar spent the entire journey complaining about Az’s pitiful old man legs.

  “If you’d Owned that sorcerer, we could have gotten here faster,” he scolded. It was the third time he’d said this in less than an hour.

  Az ignored him. “Go see if the gate guardian is there. I’ll wait here.”

  “She’s there. She’s always there. And I’m not risking my ass to go check. You go.”

  “No way. The old man is from this town, and I’m sure they’ve found his dead body already. I stuck it in a trunk, but it had to have started smelling by now.”

  “Humans have terrible noses. And you said the old man was a recluse, living alone. He’s probably still in the trunk.”

  “Well, I’m not taking the chance. Besides, I can hardly walk down the street, look at the gate, then run back here. People are going to notice. I’ll draw attention to us.”

  “Okay, here’s the plan then. We’ll walk in together. If anyone asks, you can tell them I’m your nephew come to take care of you. We’ll glance down the street to see if the guardian is there, then go to the old man’s house.”

  It was a stupid plan, but it was better than hanging out in the woods all day. Az took the lead, and they slowly made their way into the town. She looked at the little inn as they approached, remembering how they greeted the old man, and the taste of the drink. A woman stepped out into the street, and glanced over at them. Her face lit up and she smiled.

  “Herr Schmidt. I’m so glad to see you out again. Will you come in for a drink? Or perhaps some food?”

  Well, that answered the question on whether anyone had found the old man’s body yet.

  “Later,” Az nodded at her and she hustled away.

  “The guardian is there,” Dar whispered, pointing around the side of the building. “Do you think we can make it past without being seen.”

  Az looked down the street at the woman from the inn. She was exchanging something with another human, speaking, her body half turned to come back.

  “Wait,” she told Dar. “Cover for me just a moment.”

  They need a distraction. Something to draw the guardian away from the gate. As quickly as she could, Az limped over to the doorway to the inn and dropped something, hurriedly brushing dust and pebbles over it with her foot.

  “She’s coming,” Dar hissed.

  Az stood up and moved to the side, motioning Dar to keep walking with her. The woman passed them, smiling again at Az and walked over the threshold.

  “Keep walking,” she whispered to Dar. “To that stack of straw over there. When you see the guardian come past, go activate the gate and wait for me.”

  There was a scream and a series of shouts from inside the inn. Az risked a quick look in the window. Wow, it really worked. The woman was completely naked, dancing in an absolute frenzy around the room as others chased after her, holding discarded bits of clothing. Az wanted to stay and see if she really would dance until she died, but this was her only chance to get home. Regretfully, she popped out of her human shape, then back into it again. There, a big flash of demon energy to attract the gate guardian, and an intriguing magical incident to occupy the scary woman for a few moments. Now naked, Az hustled as fast as she could around the corner to the gate, wishing once again that she’d Owned a human whose legs moved a little faster. Or one with fur. Human skin didn’t do much to ward off the cold. Just as she rounded the corner, she smacked into something solid, something in a cloak, something scary. It knocked her to the ground.

  The gate guardian looked down at her and saw an old man. Naked. She couldn’t believe he was still alive. Not that he would live long, running around naked in this weather. She had no time for him though. There was a demon nearby. Stepping over the old man, she raced around the corner.

  Az scrambled to her feet. The old man’s legs moved even slower now. They’d been hurt in the fall, and the cold was making them stiff. She didn’t dare use any energy to fix herself, not with the gate guardian so close by. It was a miracle she hadn’t been recognized. The guardian had ran right into her, why hadn’t she been discovered? She should be dead. But she had no more time to ponder the mystery. There was Dar, holding open the gate with a look of anxiety on his face. He reached out, grabbed her bony arm, and shoved her through.

  Chapter 6

  Az glanced over at the elves guarding her. They seemed bored. An adult demon was one thing, but she was young. Not likely to cause much trouble, and anything she did start could most like be quickly and easily halted. There were three of them, after all. They were bored, she was bored. When was that stupid sorcerer going to arrive? It was really rude to be kept waiting like this.

  The woman hadn’t wanted to meet with her at all. It had taken some serious mischief to convince her that Az really did have something of value. She wouldn’t be surprised if the sorcerer sent a minion to deal with her instead, or backed out entirely.

  There was a dramatic flash that blinded everyone and pressurized Az’s ears. One of her guards discretely flexed his jaw, and another palmed the slide of his head. When her eyesight returned to normal, she saw a woman before her, flanked by two humans. Her gray hair was in a simple knot, her white robe tastefully embroidered with decorative swirls of the palest blue. She appeared irritated, tired, ready to get this whole fiasco over and done with.

  “I don’t usually meet with demons,” the sorcerer announced. “And you’re just a child. I’ve been told that you’ve killed Alibeck, my former clerk?”

  “He was alive when I left, but he may be dead now. From what I’ve seen, the humans don’t tolerate those who deal with demons. There is a good chance they caught him and burned him up.”

  “I’m assuming he used the summoning scroll he stole to call you?”

  “Yep,” Az lied. “Couldn’t kill him. That was a condition on the summoning. He didn’t say I couldn’t steal from him though.”

  She shrugged. “I don’t really care what happens to him as long as I have the scrolls he stole. It’s not like I want him back. I’d never be able to trust any of his work from this point forward anyway.”

  “I have the scrolls,” Az assured her. “He used a couple of them, but I have the rest.”

  The sorcerer looked at her suspiciously. “Which ones do you have?”

  “Find gold and silver, extinguish fire, alchemy, invisibility, curse an enemy, cure sickness. He used the demon summoning o
ne and the divination one.”

  “He used divination?” The woman frowned. “What was he divining?”

  “He wanted to know which demon you’d hired to kill him, so I would be able to protect him. It worked great. I had no idea that roosters knew Elven script. Smart birds.”

  “So you killed that young demon then?” she asked.

  Az shook her head. “No. He met with an unfortunate accident. Good thing too. I’m far too young and small to take out a demon of his status.”

  The sorcerer nodded knowingly. “What about the devouring spirit one?”

  “I didn’t see that one when I stole the others.” It was the truth. Alibeck must have hidden it elsewhere.

  The sorcerer appeared to be counting in her head.

  “Umm. There was one more scroll, I think. Were there any other ones? Did he perhaps use another?”

  Az let the silence drag on, a small, knowing smile on all three of her mouths. The woman broke her gaze and shifted, embarrassed.

  “One more scroll? I’d really like to get that one back,” the sorcerer said. She would too. How mortifying that Alibeck had taken that particular scroll. It was one she’d had made for her personal use. One she hadn’t intended anyone else to know about.

  “Nope,” Az said, drawing the word out with a hard sound at the end. “No other scrolls at all. None whatsoever.”

  The sorcerer shot her a resentful look. Blackmail? Or did this little demon intend to keep that one for her own use? No that she blamed her.

  “So what do you want in return for the scrolls? A favor perhaps?”

  An owed favor was the usual trade, but sorcerers were human, and humans didn’t live very long. It really sucked when they died in a couple of years with the favor unclaimed. It was better to think of something right away.

  “I want use of Cyelle’s elf gate for the next three decades, and safe passage through your lands to and from it. Also I want an invitation to an elf party for myself and a friend.” Dar needed some entertainment after the humiliation of being summoned. “Oh, and I want a horse.”

  The woman had been ready to protest, but halted with her mouth open, looking at Az in surprise. “A horse? To eat? To Own? What, in all of creation, would you want with a horse?”

  “I want to ride it,” Az confessed.

  The woman chuckled. “No on the elf gates. No of the safe passage. I can do the party invitation and I’ll get you a box of rats. How about that?”

  The elf gate was a long shot, but it was best to start negotiations with an extravagant request, to get the ‘no’ out of the way.

  “A Horse. And instruction on how to ride it. And an invitation to ride on a hunt with the elves.”

  The sorcerer was clutching her sides, holding back her laughter. “You’d never be able to get on it. Horses hate demons. No instruction in the world is going to keep you on a horse for more than five seconds. Party invitation and two boxes of rats. They’ll be hours of fun. Lots more fun than a bunch of boring old scrolls.”

  “I don’t know. There are some demons that would pay through the nose for invisibility. Alchemy sounds like a lot of fun. Oh, and that cursing enemy scroll could be very entertaining.”

  “That only works on humans,” she shot back angrily.

  Az looked carefully at the woman, from her toes to the top of her gray head. “Sorcerers are humans,” she commented casually.

  The sorcerer paled. “A party, three boxes of rats and a really big spider.”

  The big spider was tempting. How big? Az shook her head. “Party. A horse. Lessons. Join in a hunt.”

  The sound of grinding teeth reached her ears.

  “Do you dance much?” Az asked, grinning. “I’d love to see you dance sometime.”

  She’d used that scroll, but this woman didn’t know that. The threat made for good blackmail.

  The sorcerer shot a horrified look at Az, then glanced nervously at her two companions. “All right. The party invitation. We’ll supply you with a horse and lessons, and allow you to go on one hunt. I get the scrolls, and no one dances ever. Am I clear? There will be no dancing women in Hel.”

  “Deal.” Az handed over the scrolls and the woman vanished with the two mages.

  Maybe there was more to this life than getting beaten up and having her wings torn off. Hiding in the swamp and eating bitey fish suddenly seemed farther down on her list of interesting things to do. Horses, humans, sorcerers, elves, gate guardians. Life as an imp might be very interesting.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6