splash, and no ripples spreading across the silvery surface away from where he stood. The Thrasson simply found himself standing chest-deep in the cloudy gray waters of a narrow swamp channel, the fingers of his new foot curling into the silky mud bottom. A pearly fog lay upon the water like smoke, so thick that he could barely make out tangled webs of prop roots rising along the banks to support impenetrable thickets of vine-choked bog trees.
About four paces down the passage stood Karfhud, a black silhouette rising from the water like a great cypress. He was looking down one of the passages of a four-way intersection, holding his map in one hand and tracing a line upon its surface with a talon of the other. The air was still and hot, and so quiet Theseus could hear the rasp of the fiend's claw on the parchment.
'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.
