Myth-Gotten Gains

the dragon. You could almost hear the voices' Guido's growl, Nunzio's nasal alto, Skeeve's tenor, Chumley's cultured voice belying the colossal fur mattress it was coming from, my own dulcet speech, and Bunny's high- pitched tones cutting through with a reminder to keep expenses down. I caught myself staring and yanked my gaze away. I had to admit I missed those days, but they were past.

A fountain burbled away in the atrium that was lit by a shaft of sunlight from a magikally warded skylight in the roof. Yes, I said roof. Once beyond the door, we weren't in Deva any longer, and unbound, as I mentioned before, by the square footage suggested by the cloth-and-stick enclosure that was our front door. We were safe here...I hoped.

'Where are we going next?' I asked Calypsa.

'You ought to be going back to Stankel's booth,' Asti said. 'I'm sure my case is ready by now.'

'No. Where's the next treasure?' I asked, paying no attention to the cup. Out of the corner of my eye I could see the cheeks of her cup turning bronze with annoyance. 'Any of them here in Deva?'

Calypsa turned to the crystal ball, whose face had already vanished in a swirl of clouds and sparkles. 'No, not here,' Kelsa said, after a moment's contemplation. 'My goodness. There certainly is a lot of magikal interference. I can't get through...yes, I can. Ha, you can't keep me down for long! Aaaah, ooooh, aaaah.'

'What are you seeing, Kelsa?' Calypsa asked, running to kneel down beside the table like a swan gliding onto a lake. I shook my head to clear it. The Dance of Fascination must have some residual effect. If I started thinking skinny feathered babes were appealing, then I needed a shrink.

'You see the Purse yet?' I asked. The sooner I could get paid and out of there, the better.

'I can't see Chin-Hwag at all—my guess is that it's not time for us to find her. The Book is keeping himself hidden. Not surprising; he always hated the hustle-bustle of the Hoard.

The Ring is in a dark place. I hear gurgles, like sewer pipes, and music. I haven't got a clue as to what that means. Yet. Give me time, dear. As for the Flute...'

'Where is he?' I asked.

'I see bright lights,' Kelsa said, her voice becoming dreamy. 'Loud noise—applause. Thousands, no— millions are hanging on the melody. There's such a mood of peace over the entire crowd, even the cutpurses are apologetic. Yes, I see the landmarks. I know the dimension...'

'Well?'

Kelsa's face reappeared in the globe, a Pervect wearing a turban and diamante glasses. She smiled sweetly at me. '.. .which I'll tell you just as soon as you buy me a lovely earning case. I agree with Calypsa' you should keep your promises to us, you know. It's bad karma otherwise!'

'Careful! I don't want my case touching hers,' Asti protested, as I stalked through the streets of Haze, a town in the dimension of Elb.

We were disguised as members of the local species, a narrow-faced, skinny race whose fur came in varying shades of pink, from light shell to shocking neon. Neither Tanda nor I had been here before, so we didn't know if the particular colors indicated status, so I had her deck us out in three different shades. I was the darkest pink, but the others were bright enough to short out my retinas. I swung the purple container to my other shoulder, away from Tananda, feeling as though I was floating through a psychedelic nightmare.

'Well, you don't think I want more contact with you than I can help,' Kelsa said, through the isinglass window of her pumpkin-colored tote bag. 'Your aura is very confused at the moment. I never noticed that, at several dimensions remove, and believe me, I think I would have preferred you stay at that distance. You're interfering with my reception.'

'As if you get anything except hallucinations and infomercials,' Asti said, with a skeptical laugh.

'Be silent, the both of you,' Ersatz commanded.

His dark blue eyes reflected off the length of blade that could be seen through a convenient hatch that opened in his new scabbard, dyed gunmetal blue and studded with cabo-chon diamonds, which complimented the gems in his golden hilt. It was fancy but not gaudy, and the stones wouldn't notch his blade if he came in contact with them.

'Who died and left you Ka-Khan?'

'I AM the leader of this group!'

I ignored them. My coin purse was a good deal lighter than it had been three hours before. I was in a pretty bad mood over having been railroaded into making two more purchases.

Tananda kept trying to tell me it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Stankel hadn't had to make Kelsa's carrier from scratch, except to put in a window so she could see out. Not that I had let him hear her babble' after a big-eyed appeal from Calypsa, I took down a list of the crystal ball's yens and put them before the Deveel leather-worker. Stankel had given me a broad wink, as if he got the idea that he was part of a big scheme I was pulling. There were times when having a reputation for shaving the truth close enough for the silk veil test had its advantages. Nor had he had to do more than edit a stock scabbard a little to fit Ersatz's length and breadth, and add a few baubles. We haggled out the price until he was green in the face and I was turning red, but we left the shop with the three required containers. Each of us took one, since the Hoard treasures decided they were entitled to an exclusive bearer apiece. Three of them, three of us. It was no skin off my nose, just one more inconvenience I had to suffer. Ensconced in their new finery, they ceased griping, for at least twenty yards.

Then it began again.

'Friend Aahz, I have just counted the number of gems Asti has adorning her new domicile. I do not wish to be a constant complainer...'

'Then, don't,' I said, cutting him off.

The master cutter didn't take the hint. 'I think you should have made certain we were equal in all ways.'

'You should have said something at the time, then,' I said.

'You told me that if I spoke again you would twist me into a knot. And Kelsa you would use as a ball-bearing in a dung-wagon. And Asti you would use as a chamber pot.'

'Yeah, yeah,' I said, absently. 'And I should have, too.'

'Is that any way to speak to heroes of history?' Asti asked, putting in her two copper pieces.

'Yes. Where are we going?' I asked Kelsa, for the 45th time.

'What?' she asked, in a dazed voice.

I took the orange case away from Tananda and stuck my face in the little window. 'Where...are...we...going...now?'

'Oh, isn't this nice?' she said, the green face spinning dizzily in the globe. 'I haven't had as attractive a reticule like this since, oh, two thousand three hundred years ago. Since then, it's been patch, patch, patch! Or sitting on a table under a cloth. I don't mind that, because you're not getting bumped around, actually, but you understand, when you're on the move, it makes all the difference to be really comfortable....!'

I groaned.

It had taken some serious persuasion to get Kelsa's attention away from her fancy new surroundings before she came up with the name of the dimension where we could find Buirnie, the magik Flute' Elb. Then I had to make sure she was directing us toward the part of Elb where we could locate it. I considered this particular treasure a waste of time, from my point of view, since the Flute couldn't help me regain my magik, nor could it repay what was turning into a substantial debt. The sooner we could get him and get on to the next treasure, the better.

I didn't worry whether the notoriously flaky Crystal Ball had given us a wrong steer. From the looks of things, the fourth member of the Hoard didn't bother trying to conceal his presence; in fact, just the opposite.

Close to the center of town, we started seeing posters plastered to the side of buildings advertising a concert. 'Buirnie! Playing All Week! Tickets from Three Silver Pieces! The Elb Arena!' At the bottom, superimposed over the image of an impressive building, was a hand-drawn illumination of a golden flute studded with gems and surrounded by a halo of light.

'Guess we found him,' I said.

'Do you think he might be in the Arena now?' Tananda asked.

'Oh, yes,' Kelsa assured us. 'He likes to warm up before playing. Loosens all his valves, he says.