Vhok grunted in acknowledgment. That's going to be the least of our problems, the cambion thought.
'We will wait for you here,' Lakataki said. 'As Lord Cripakolus promised, if you free the slaves and return our mine to us, we will provide you with a guide to the City of Brass. Though why such sensible beings as yourselves would want to go there is beyond me,' he muttered, half to himself.
With no reason to delay, Vhok and Zasian prepared to set out. The route down to the valley was steep and there was no trail from their vantage point, so Zasian performed his divine magic, granting both of them the ability to walk on air, as they had done the day before. Together, they descended. The pair kept their route close to the mountain, not wishing to have another unpleasant encounter with flying things that might mistake them for a meal.
The clan lord, Cripakolus, had been adamant. The two travelers were ordered to aid his clan in recapturing their prized mine and freeing the azer enslaved there. He had refused to even entertain the thought of releasing his two visitors, much less providing them a guide anywhere, until they had agreed. The duo were, in effect, his prisoners.
Of course, the azer lord had couched it in far different terms. He had told Vhok and Zasian that he could not in good conscience let honored guests roam the open plains beyond his mountain range while such dangers as efreeti slavers existed. The only way to ensure safe passage, he argued, was to eliminate the threat at its source.
Never mind that we're going to face them all at once, in their own territory, Vhok thought wryly.
After the half-fiend and priest agreed to the leader's terms, the azer held a great feast in their honor. It became apparent soon enough that none of the fire-dwarves expected the two to return from their rescue mission. The majority opinion among the azer was that the force of efreet was far too strong to be ousted by only two.
Vhok and Zasian had to provide their own food-nothing the azer consumed was of a temperature suitable for them-but they did sleep in relative comfort overnight. The shaman of the clan was able to create a chamber cool enough by enchanting a milky white sphere around it that kept out most of the heat.
After an equally festive breakfast with Cripakolus, the cambion and the priest were led outside, through a different cavern, to the back side of the mountains. There, Lakataki had taken them to the vantage point. From that point on, they would be on their own.
'Not very bright of them to just let us walk off,' Zasian remarked as they worked their way down the mountain. Walking upon the air, even at the steep angle they chose, offered the decided advantage of being able to bypass the crystalline trees that peppered the slopes. 'They didn't really dangle much incentive for us to return,' he added.
'I see no reason to,' Vhok said. 'The foolish sergeant admitted that caravans travel to the City of Brass to sell the glass. I think we can figure out a way to go the same direction,' he suggested, chuckling.
'It makes me wonder which of us had the more realistic expectation. Is Ctipakolus that foolish, or did he bait us into departing, figuring he got two bags of gems out of the deal, if nothing else?'
'He really doesn't lose, I suppose,' Vhok remarked. 'Either we do as we say and he gets his mine back, or we try and fail and he gets rid of us without any trouble, or we just leave, and he gets rid of us without any trouble.'
'I guess the real question is, should we pay a visit to the efreet when we get down there?' the priest said. 'Do you think he'll be interested in finding out that a troop of azer is hiding in the mountains, spying on him?'
'It might convince him to find a way to get us to the City of Brass more quickly,' Vhok said. 'I wonder how hard it will be to get in to see him?'
'Perhaps we should try the back entrance,' Zasian suggested with a smile.
When the two of them got close enough to the fortress that they feared being spotted, they paused. 'This is probably close enough on foot,' Vhok said. 'To the top of the tower?' he offered.
'Seems as good a starting point as any,' Zasian replied.
Vhok nodded and put new magic into use. With a word and a touch, he transformed them both into vapor. They could no longer speak, but their destination was unobstructed and visible. Together, they continued on, traveling as gaseous clouds. They were virtually invisible among all the blowing smoke and ash that perpetually wafted through the plane. They closed the rest of the distance to the brass walls and maneuvered to one side, far from the main gate. Then they went up and over the wall.
The interior of the fortress seemed barren and utilitarian to Vhok. Other than the tower, there were two other buildings, long and low, against the two side walls of the place. They appeared to be either barracks or prison cells.
Probably both, the cambion mused.
By far the largest feature of the mine was the pit itself. Like a great, inverted ziggurat, the hole in the ground was terraced at regular intervals, growing smaller with each successive level down. Slaves worked at every level. They lined the terraces, struggling to maneuver huge copper basins into place beneath sluggish flows of white-hot material that oozed from the walls. Above them, cranes hoisted filled basins into the air and to the side, to be replaced with empty ones. Other slaves worked the substances into molds, using large hinged and counterweighted frames to tip the basins sideways. The liquid glass, cooling to a bluish color, seeped into the molds, hardening into clear, pristine objects. Vhok witnessed an endless cycle of harvesting.
Their transformation spell would expire soon, Vhok knew, so he pushed onward, rising easily with the heated air currents toward the top of the tower. He flowed into the domed and columned enclosure of a cupola there, where a lone efreeti served as a lookout.
The efreeti leaned against the banister and stared over the work being done in the pit below. The creature was thick-limbed like a giant, though his bony head, with its smallish horns, reminded the cambion more of a demon than anything. The efreeti's skin, brick red in color, seemed to shimmer and smoke from the heat he gave off. Vhok knew that such genies normally stood twice as tall as the half-fiend, but the one before him was no more than his own height. The efreeti had used magic to reduce himself, to compensate for the low ceiling within the tower, which had been built by dwarves.
The cupola was perhaps six paces wide, large enough for the cambion and the priest to slip inside and transform unnoticed by the genie. As Vhok restored himself to solid form, Zasian appeared beside him. The priest gave the half-fiend a gesture to hold, then fetched something from within his tunic. He nodded to the cambion to proceed.
Vhok crept up behind the efreeti and slipped Burnblood around his neck, at the same time sliding the creature's oversized falchion from his sash and tossing it away. The genie tensed, but the half-demon pressed the blade tighter against the creature's throat. 'Easy there,' he said. 'Don't ruin it all by dying. We just want to talk.'
The genie held still a moment longer, then slowly relaxed. 'I yield,' he growled. His voice was a deep, crackling rumble, reminding Vhok of a burning blaze. 'Do not slice up poor Amak.'
'Excellent,' the cambion said, spinning himself and his captive slowly away from the banister to face Zasian. The priest clutched his necklace in his hand and seemed prepared to invoke divine magic at the slightest hint of trouble. 'My companion there,' Vhok continued, 'is ready to end your life with a word of power if he thinks you are not dealing justly with us. Do I make myself clear?'
The efreeti tried to nod and nicked himself on the half-fiend's blade. 'Undoubtedly clear,' he said. 'Amak will not turn on you.'
Vhok smiled. 'Good. We wish to speak with the overseer. A big, nasty genie named Hafiz?'
'Yes, yes,' the efreeti said, trying to nod enthusiastically. 'You must speak with Hafiz at once. He is the overseer here.'
'Excellent. This is working out well, don't you think? Now, how should we go about finding Hafiz?'
'I will take you to him, yes, indeed,' Amak said. 'If you will just release me, I will show you the way at once.'
'Now, if I let you go, I can trust that you won't give me any trouble, right?' Vhok said. 'Otherwise, my companion here will be forced to disintegrate you or something equally unpleasant. You don't want that, do you?'
'Absolutely not,' the efreeti said with all sincerity. 'I promise, no nonsense.'
'All right, then,' Vhok said. He stepped back from the efreeti and removed his blade from the creature's
