Myth Alliances

clamoring that they had no other reason for seeing our guide except to pass the time of day with him.

'And who are your friends, Wensley?' asked a young male about my age. 'They're from out of town, eh?' He reached around to shake hands with me. As soon as I relaxed my grip, his hand dropped, seemingly of its own accord, onto the D-hopper in Wensley's. 'Say, isn't that the community travel wand? I've wanted to get a good look at it for ages!'

'So would I!' a dark-fleeced female announced. 'My goodness, let me see it. Please! ' The D-hopper became the object of a three-way tug of war, with the youth on one side, the black sheep on the other, and Wensley holding onto the device in the center with both hands. 'Please be careful,' he gritted through clenched teeth. 'I might lose my grip on it, and who knows what would happen?'

It didn't take a genius to figure out just what would happen: the winner of the contest of wills would take the D-hopper and pop off to another dimension.

'Well, just let me see it a moment,' the female insisted, holding on with determination.

'I… did you meet my guests?' Wensley sibberred, desperately. 'I brought them here with the wand. I will have to take them back again this evening. Yes! This evening! Possibly earlier. So, you see, I can't let go of it for now. I'm devastated not to be able to oblige you… ungh!' he grunted. With one tremendous effort he pried the D- hopper out of their grasp and clutched it to his chest with both hands. '… But perhaps later? Just a little.'

The crowd looked as though they wanted to glare, but they glanced at one another out of the corner of their odd-pupiled eyes, and decided to paste on the big smiles instead.

'Of course we understand,' the big, hearty male trumpeted. 'So these are your guests? Welcome, welcome! You must have a tour of our beautiful city, and then dine with us. We must help Wensley shoulder the onus of hospitality. Believe me,' he added, bowing to the women, 'it is our great pleasure. Ladies, I am Gubbeen, committeefriend of the Committee of Public Safety.'

'Committeefriend?' I asked, glancing at Wensley.

'It means, 'spokesperson among equals,'' our guide explained. 'Gubbeen is taking his turn on behalf of the Safety organization that has done such an excellent job at making sure there are always handrails on stairs, and that bridges are safe and not slippery. You know.'

I nodded. They did not even have the guts to risk offending the rest of the committee members by calling him the chairman. It had to have been the easiest thing ever for the Pervects to take over their government. Anyone who asserted himself on Wuh was as good as king. It must have been thousands of years since there had been a predatory species anywhere in this dimension.

'So, may we be so bold as to ask what brings you to beautiful Pareley?' Gubbeen asked, after gathering a sufficient number of approving looks from his fellows.

'We're here,' I announced as positively as I could, as I dropped our disguise spell, 'to help you. I am Skeeve the Magnificent.'

At the sight of four outworlders and a green dragon, the Wuhses stampeded away in all directions. Wensley looked as if he would have liked to run away with them, but Tananda held on to his arm.

'Not so fast, handsome,' she insisted. 'You're carrying our ticket out of here.'

'Eh? Oh, yes,' Wensley babbled, patting the D-hopper in his arms. Making sure none of the others were around to see, he slid it into his boot. I had not let him see our D-hopper back at the inn or on Deva, using a pinch of blinding light powder to cover our transitions between Klah and Deva, and back again. I considered it our ace in the hole in case we had to depart quickly from Wuh. Tananda, a much more experienced magician than I, was capable of transporting herself up and back between dimensions without the use of a piece of philosophical equipment. Zol, too, assured me that he commanded sufficient talent. Only Bunny and I had to rely on a device. As a potential weakness, it was much better that it remained hidden. It so happened mine was in my boot, too.

One by one the Wuhses came creeping back, eyeing us curiously, at a distance at first, but approaching ever nearer until they surrounded us so tightly we couldn't move.

'Look,' one of them gasped, peering into my eyes. 'Round pupils!' Then, with a shocked expression in case he had offended me, 'not that there's anything wrong with that!'

They seemed fascinated by our various skin colors, textures, heights and shapes. In spite of the fact they were of a different species, they admired Tananda and Bunny greatly, gazing at them shyly out of the corners of their eyes, or peering through their lashes, while circling them as closely as they dared. I had no fear that any of the Wuhses would take their admiration too far. For one thing, they were too timid, and for another, Tananda and Bunny were more than able to take care of themselves. None of the Wuhses would pet Gleep, for all he stretched out his neck and rolled his big blue eyes winningly.

'We had no idea you were different, good sir,' Gubbeen stammered, putting out a tentative finger to touch my sleeve. 'Please forgive my familiarity, Mmm-master Ss-skeeve the Mm-magnificent. What… what did you say you were here for?'

I felt that my dramatic gesture had been ruined by the outward stampede. I used magikal amplification so the whole crowd could hear me. 'We're here to rescue you!'

'Shhh!' Wensley almost shrieked, signing to me to keep my voice down. 'They might hear you!'

I guess no one had to be told who They were, because the entire crowd dropped their heads and looked around fearfully. No disaster descended from the skies, so the Wuhses relaxed, and moved in closer than before. I could have walked on their shoulders, if they had let go of me or my companions.

'You have heard of our plight, good sir,' Gubbeen whispered, wringing my fingers in an excited grip. 'Thank Ram you have come to help us. We were a free people, governed by our consciences and cooperation, until They came along. Now our lives are no longer our own!'

'Well, we're going to put a stop to that,' I assured him. 'Allow me to present my companions. This is Tananda. And Bunny. And the eminent scholar and author Zol Icty.'

Though only a few of the Wuhses who had visited Deva had ever heard of me, at least half of them were acquainted with Zol Icty and his self help books. Zol produced dozens of copies of Deveels Are From Deva from the bag slung over his shoulder and autographed them for the crowd. After that, Gubbeen and his fellows couldn't do enough for us. They took us on an exhaustive tour of the city, pointing out every building larger than an outhouse. Three hours into the tour my feet were killing me from trotting over the uneven cobblestones. To the admiration of the crowd I levitated Bunny and myself so we floated just above and behind our hosts. Tananda stretched herself out on the air with her head propped on her palm, as though she was lying on a divan. Zol hovered crosslegged, his bright eyes darting here, there and everywhere. In greater comfort we finished the round back in the alley where it began. I enjoyed the glances of wonderment we received.

'And now, may we offer you some refreshment, you and your first Wuhs friend?' Gubbeen said, though his expression as he looked at Wensley was not as welcoming as the one with which he favored us.

'I appreciate your offer of hospitality,' I accepted heartily. My throat had dried out every time they paraded us up and down the promenade that faced the castle. No one wanted us to resume our disguises, being proud of their extradimensional visitors. Only if the Pervect Ten maintained no lookouts at all could we possibly have gone unnoticed.

'Truly, we would enjoy that,' Zol agreed. 'I would love a cup of tea, and it would give me great pleasure to sample Wuhs cuisine.'

That evoked a loud clamor from the crowd. All the restaurateurs begged us to dine in their various establishments. At a frantic signal from Wensley I realized that I'd cause a political backlash if I chose one inn over all the rest, but we couldn't eat in all of them.

'Good friends,' I declared, smiling at the dozens of expectant faces, 'we are strangers in your town. Would you choose for us?'

SIX

'If you can't say anything nice,