'How could a mere vermin-I mean, person release such an entity? You said the Demon only remains by choice.'
Humfrey shook his head. 'What is choice, to an omnipotent? He remains here at the dictate of the game. That is quite a different matter.'
'But he only plays the game for entertainment! He can quit anytime!'
'The game is valid only so long as its rules are honored. After investing over a thousand years in this aspect of it, and being so close to success within the rules, why should he abridge it now?'
Bink shook his head. 'This makes little sense to me! I would not torture myself in such fashion!' Yet a thread of doubt tugged at the corner of his mind. He was torturing himself about the nymph Jewel, honoring the human convention of his marriage to Chameleon. That, to a Demon, might seem nonsensical.
Humfrey merely looked at him, understanding some of what was passing through his mind.
'Very well,' Bink said, returning to the main point. 'The coral did not want me to know about the Demon, because I might release him. How could I release an all-powerful creature who does not want to be released?'
'Oh, X(A/N)th wants to be released, I am sure. It is merely necessary that protocol be followed. You could do it simply by addressing the Demon and saying 'Xanth, I free you!' Anybody can do it, except the Demon himself.'
'But we don't count, on its terms! We're nothings, vermin!'
'I did not create the rules, I only interpret them, through the comprehension gleaned over centuries by the brain coral,' the Magician said, spreading his hands, 'Obviously our interpretation is inadequate. But I conjecture that just as we two might make a bet on whether a given mote of dust might settle nearer me or you, the Demons bet on whether vermin will say certain words on certain occasions. It does lend a certain entertaining randomness to the proceedings.'
'With all that power, why doesn't Xanth cause one of us to do it, then?'
'That would be the same thing as doing it himself. It would constitute cheating. By the rules of the game, he is bound to remain without influencing any other creature on his behalf, much as we would not permit each other to blow on that mote of dust. It is not a matter of power, but of convention. The Demon knows everything that is going on here, including this conversation between us, but the moment he interferes, he forfeits the point. So he watches and waits, doing nothing.'
'Except thinking,' Bink said, feeling nervous about the scrutiny of the Demon. If Xanth were reading Bink's thoughts while Bink was reading Xanth's thoughts, especially in the case of that shemale memory?ouch!
'Thinking is permissible. It is another inherent function, like his colossal magic. He has not sought to influence us by his Thoughts; we have intercepted them on our own initiative. The coral, being closest to the Demon for this millennium, has intercepted more of X(A/N)th's magic and Thought than any other native creature, so understands him less imperfectly than any other vermin. Thus the brain coral has become the guardian of the Demon.'
'And jealously prevents anyone else from achieving similar magic or information!' Bink exclaimed.
'No. It has been a necessary and tedious chore that the coral would gladly have given up centuries ago. The coral's dearest wish is to inhabit a mortal body, to live and love and hate and reproduce and die as we do. But it can not, lest the Demon be released. The coral has the longevity of the Demon, without his power. It is an unenviable situation.'
'You mean the Demon Xanth would have been freed hundreds of years ago, but for the interference of the coral?'
'True,' the Magician said.
'Of all the nerve! And the Demon tolerates this?'
'The Demon tolerates this, lest he forfeit the point.'
'Well, I consider this an egregious violation of the Demon's civil rights, and I'm going to correct that right now!' Bink exclaimed with righteous wrath. But he hesitated. 'What does the coral gain by keeping the Demon chained?'
'I don't know for certain, but I can conjecture,' Humfrey said. 'It is not for itself it does this, but to maintain the status quo. Think, Bink: what would be the consequence of the Demon's release?'
Bink thought. 'I suppose he would just return to his game.'
'And what of us?'
'Well, the brain coral might be in trouble. I know I would be upset if someone had balked me for centuries! But the coral must have known the risk before it meddled.'
'It did. The Demon lacks human emotion. He accepts the coral's interference as part of the natural hazard of the game; he will not seek revenge. Still, there could be a consequence.'
'If Xanth lacks human emotion,' Bink said slowly, 'what would stop him from carelessly destroying us all? It would be one dispassionate, even sensible way of ensuring that he would not be trapped here again.'
'Now you are beginning to comprehend the coral's concern,' Humfrey said. 'Our lives may hang in the balance. Even if the Demon ignores us, and merely goes his way, there will surely be a consequence.'
'I should think so,' Bink agreed. 'If Xanth is the source of all magic in our land-' He interrupted himself, appalled. 'It could mean the end of magic! We would become-'
'Exactly. Like Mundania,' Humfrey concluded. 'Perhaps it would not happen right away; it might take a while for the accumulated magic of a thousand years to fade. Or the loss might be instantaneous and absolute. We just don't know. But surely there would be a disaster of greater or lesser magnitude. Now at last you understand the burden the coral has borne alone. The coral has saved our land from a fate worse than
