Songs of the Dancing Gods

I’m betting that somewhere in that scrambled brain of his is still the greatest thief in Husaquahr, the man who actually burglarized the Lamp of Lakash from the vaults of the enemy sorcerer Ruddygore himself.”

“Really? He did that?”

Joe nodded. “Uh-huh. I’m pretty sure he could walk out of there any time he wanted to, only without warm clothes and provisions, he’s stuck. If he had them, though, he’d head straight for his obsession, which is that gear you sent. If we told him it was in the palace, I’d wager he could make it there.”

“So? I thought the idea was to see if you could make it.”

He nodded. “But I’m on my own initiative as to how. If I set this little fellow out, and follow him, then if he makes it, /make it. And what is his reward if he does? He’s sent right back here, and by that time your thirteenth member will have returned. If he doesn’t, well, case closed.”

“So? And what sort of route do you plan to take for this?”

He shrugged. “To go around is to invite tripping alarms.

You’re not here to guard the castle; you’re here to prevent anyone from going in a straight line toward it, across the pan of the map marked ‘deadly and forbidden.’ If there is a weak spot in the palace defenses, it’s from that direction.”

“And with good reason!” she responded. “You can’t see it, but we can. What looks like plain ice is a seething cauldron of the strongest and most complex sorcery imaginable. And it’s coming from who knows how far beneath the ice? Imagine what might lie down there? No one wants to liberate that.”

He didn’t like the sound of it, but it was pretty much as he suspected. “Has anyone to your knowledge tried to cross it while you’ve been here?”

“No, but I’ve seen some of the results of the few who got back out. Whoever or whatever is imprisoned there is powerful beyond our imagination, and was frozen and trapped there by powers even greater.”

“I’ve heard the legends. A fierce battle frozen in progress.”

“That’s right. We draw additional power for our coven from it, but we try and reject it. You can feel it coming, trying to seize control. Even our demon master appears to fear and respect it. It is why we do nothing in the Arts unless we are complete.”

Which at least saves me from your witchcraft, he thought.

“You said you’ve seen people who were out there?”

She nodded. “Only you cannot call them ‘people’ anymore. Most are madder than that one back there, but with reason. I saw one with a goat’s head, a woman’s breasts, a fish tail, and the legs of a great bird. Some others were worse.”

“That’s just from walking on it? ”

“From melting even a small amount. So much is buried there, in such chaos, that any heat, any digging, anything that disturbs and melts what is below, is liberated but undirected. It is miles away before it starts, and always we feel it here. It goes almost to the palace itself—over fifty miles. It cannot be crossed.”

Joe felt very uneasy. “Well, that’s what I was sent to do. I realize that now. All the more reason to give me the prisoner as well. Unless you absolutely need another slave around here, and the little guy isn’t good for much except stealing stuff. Besides, you keep him, you won’t make him sane. You’ll still have to put up with that stuff.”

“Not if we cut out his tongue as well as the other,” she responded, but clearly she was thinking it over. “You are really going to try it through the forbidden area?”

“I’m afraid that’s the job. From what you say, maybe the Master of the Dead didn’t like me, after all.”

“I would say so, too.” She looked at him and sighed. “What a waste,” she muttered, almost to herself.

She was so adamant and clearly so fearful of the place that he couldn’t help harboring similar thoughts himself. For the first time, he began to doubt if he would ever see his son again.

CHAPTER 11 DANCING IN THE DARK

Any Company which shall survive to reach the Ultimate Obstacle to the attainment of their Quest shall be able to secure what they need to complete the Quest. However, successful completion is not guaranteed, and there are no warranties, expressed or implied, in these Rules.

— The Books of Rules, XV, 304(a)

“Macore!”

The sleeping figure in the cell snored, paused in midsnore for a moment, then turned over but kept sleeping.

“Macore!” came a louder, more insistent whisper. “Wake up, damn it!”

The snore turned into a sort of piglike grunting, and the little thief muttered, “Huh? What?”

“Over here at the window.”

Sleepily he made his way up, grabbing his woolen blanket around him to ward off the chill of the night, and got to the window, standing then on tiptoes to see what was what. “Mary Ann?” he asked tentatively.

“No, you idiot! It’s Marge! You remember Marge, don’t you?”

He grew suddenly suspicious. “Yes, but I’ve been fooled before. There was a fellow in here today who reminded me of Joe, too. You might just be a dream sequence.”

She floated up so that her face was framed in the window. “Dream sequence my ass! That was Joe, under heavy disguise.”

“Well, if this is real, what the hell are you doing here?” He shivered. “Damn! It’s too cold to be a dream.”

“Ruddygore sent us on a quest to the palace out there on the ice. The same palace where they sent your tapes and video equipment.”

He was suddenly very wide awake, but not quite following. “Ruddygore is interested in Gilligan’s Island!”

“Afraid not. But your quest, at the moment, and ours come together. And if we do ours, Ruddygore will energize your equipment. Understand?”

“He wouldn’t do it before. He’s still mad because I beat his system on his vaults. That’s why I had to suffer like this!”

“He didn’t need something from you then.”

“Good point,” he admitted.

“Macore, how did you wind up here?”

“The gnomes tried playing all sorts of tricks on my head, but all they got were my memories of Gilligan’s Island episodes. Exposure to this magically transformed them from gnomes into a band of hostile critics. They tossed me out to these people.”

“No, no, I mean, what are you doing up here in the middle of nowhere to begin with?”

“I got a tip,” he told her. “They said that up here was this vast sea full of magic with a tropical island in the middle of it. Nobody mentioned that the sea was frozen. Naturally, I had to find out, you see.”

“Naturally,” she responded, not really seeing at all. “Well, part of what you heard is true. That sea of ice is filled with incomprehensible magic. On the other side there is a volcanic island, with a great palace in the middle of it.”

“That must be some powerful sorcerer,” he noted.

“The Master of the Dead, Sugasto, lives there sometimes. And it’s likely that’s where the Dark Baron is as well.”

He thought about it a moment. “Hold it! You’re telling me that you want to cross a place of unbelievable magical powers so you can get to where the Dark Baron and the Master of the Dead are? And they say I’m crazy!”