The Finisher

But rise he did.

And I had made another even more egregious mistake. I could run with one arm. I could not with one leg. “Damn,” I screamed, so furious was I with myself.

459 Then I smacked myself in the head with my good arm.

The Stone. The bleeding Adder Stone. I snatched it from my pocket and, concealing it in my hand, I swiftly ran it up and down my damaged limbs.

They were damaged no longer, but I once more lost my focus. I heard the crowd collectively scream and I felt the blow hit me across my shoulders. I was knocked fifty feet into the air and crashed hard well outside the ring.

Ladon-Tosh did not wait for me to reenter it. He leapt and came down hard with his elbow pointed downward right on top of me. Or where I had been an instant before. He struck the ground so hard, it dug a hole in the dirt three feet deep, and about twenty Wugs toppled over from the ground, shaking with the impact.

I raced back to the ring, turned and breathlessly waited for him to come. I knew the only thing that had saved my life when the blow had struck was Destin. Its links still felt ice- cold to the touch as though it had absorbed almost all the energy of a blow that a few lights ago had easily killed a fully grown male Wug.

If I couldn’t hit my opponent without crippling myself, how could I win? If this kept up much longer, one of his blows would land squarely on target and it would be over. Despite my tactics, he was not growing tired.

But I was. My lungs were heaving and my heart, I believed, had reached its maximum pumping capacity. I could not last much longer.

Ladon-Tosh stood there frozen, but I could sense the tre- mendous building up of energy coming from him. He was about to put everything he had into one blow that would hit 460 me so hard, there might be nothing left. I felt my heart in my throat, and my stomach gave a sickening lurch.

I glanced over at Morrigone. Her gaze was only on Ladon-Tosh. I had never seen her face look so hard, so . . .

unrelenting. She had obviously made her decision. I was to die. And Ladon-Tosh was the tool with which she would kill me. Newton Tilt had doubtless been a mistake for which she had grieved mightily. I doubted she would be nearly as sad- dened by my passing.

I looked back at Ladon-Tosh and knew the moment had come.

And yet as he made his final charge, it occurred to me exactly what I had to do. I had to end this. And I had to end it now. He was trying to kill me. Well, that was a two- way path.

Not a natural killer, I steeled myself to become one.

I slipped off my cloak. Underneath I had on a shirt and trousers. But in my cloak was Destin. I gripped the chain at both ends and waited.

When Ladon-Tosh struck with a speed that was beyond a blur, I had already somersaulted over him. When he sailed past me, I turned in midair and flung the cloak and with it Destin around his neck. I landed on the ground, set my feet, and pulled with every bit of strength I had.

The giant Ladon-Tosh was lifted off his feet, flew back- ward over me and, as he went past, I crossed my arm and thus the chain, as I had with the maniack in the looking glass.

The result was not the same as in the glass. In fact, it was not anything like it.

I heard the screech before I saw anything.

461 I was instantly paralyzed with fear by the sound. But what I then saw made the sound seem as nothing.

Ladon-Tosh was rising slowly. Actually, Ladon-Tosh was coming apart at the seams. His head was gone but his body was now upright. Bloodcurdling screams came from up and down the crowd. Both females and males fainted at the sight.

“Bloody Hels” cascaded through the air like flocks of frightened birds.

But that was not the worst part. I knew the worst part. It was about to happen.

Ladon-Tosh’s body burst open, half his torso going left, half to the right.

“No,” screamed a voice. I looked up in time to see Morrigone yelling this over and over. “No! No!” I searched the crowd and saw Krone. He was racing away with Dodgson, his face filled with panic and dread. Krone even ran over a very young in his escape. The bloody cowards.

The crowd had turned as one to run. Now they turned back for an instant to see what Morrigone was screaming at.

I already knew. The screeches were ear-shattering.

The two jabbits that had nearly killed me at Stacks cata- pulted from the husk that had once been Ladon-Tosh. How creatures so large had been compressed into the space of one Wug, albeit a big Wug, I couldn’t fathom. They hit the ground so hard that the pitch seemed to whipsaw under our legs.

Then five hundred heads and with them one thousand eyes looked at all the Wugs so perilously close, and I could almost see the lustful hunger in the monsters’ sinister orbs.

462 Every Wug ran for his or her life. Parents snatched up their youngs and very youngs. Screams kept coming, but they came nowhere near to drowning out the screeches that heralded a slaughter of Wugs about to occur.


I glanced once more at Morrigone. To her credit, she had not run away. Indeed, she was waving her hands and it looked like, as difficult as it was for me to believe, she was trying to will Ladon-Tosh back together again. But it was clear that she had not been able to control the creatures with Tilt and it was just as clear that she would not be able to stop them now. As I watched, she glanced at me. Tears were in her panic-filled eyes. She looked desperate.

Cries of “Outliers, it’s the Outliers come” sprang up and were repeated from Wug mouths everywhere.

I looked for Thansius and found him trying to fight his way forward through the sea of Wugs and toward the jabbits.

He drew something from under his robe. It was the same sword he had used at the Council hearing. He said he had no special powers, but what the Wug did have in abundance was courage. Yet I didn’t think he would get a chance to use his blade in time.

I thought this because both jabbits had risen up, their innumerable fangs exposed, and they were just about to launch themselves against the nearest Wugs. It would be a bloodbath not seen here for hundreds of sessions.

I looked back once more at Morrigone. She was staring dead at me. Her mouth was moving. She was yelling some- thing. Finally, I could make it out over the screams of the crowd.

463 “Help me, Vega! Help me!” I don’t remember reaching in my pocket and slipping on my glove. I really don’t. I willed the Elemental to full size, sprang upward into the air, twisted my body to the left — and the golden spear launched from my grip with as much torque as I could place upon it.

It shot through the air just as the jabbits struck. They attacked in parallel, as I knew the beasts did, which made it perfectly perfect for me. The Elemental hit the first jabbit in the head, passed through it on the other side and collided with the second jabbit a moment later.

There was a tremendous explosion and the shock wave struck me while I was still sixteen feet off the ground. I was propelled forward like a fish by a great wave. It seemed that I flew a long, long way before hitting something extraordi- narily hard.

And then everything was gone.

464 Q U I N Q U A G I N T A The Duelum Champion I opened my eyes quite suddenly and tried to sit up, but a hand pushed me back down. I looked to my right and was not unduly surprised to see Delph there.

“Wotcha, Vega Jane?” he said, his voice weary, but now filled with relief.

I blurted out wildly, “Where am I? Hospital? The Care? The Hallowed Ground?” He touched my forehead as though to test for its warmth.

“You jargoled?” “Where, Delph?” I persisted.

“Your digs.

” I looked around and saw that this was so. “How did I get here?” “Carried you.

” “I remember hitting something really hard.

” “Yeah, that was me you hit.

” I sat up slowly to see a welt on his forehead the size of a hen’s egg.

“How did I hit you? I was thrown far away from all Wugs.

” “Well, I sort of ran to . . . to catch you when you got blown.

” “The jabbits?” I said, my face paling at the mention of the name.

“Dead and gone. You took care-a that.

” “No Wugs hurt?” “Just the ones who trampled each other getting away like.

They’ll be okay.

” “Ladon-Tosh had jabbits inside him,” I said slowly, as though trying to make myself understand what I was saying.

Delph grimaced. “Well, what I’d say is jabbits had Ladon- Tosh outside of them.

” I turned on my side, rested my head on my arm and gazed at him. “I guess that’s one way to look at it.

” Something else came back to me. “My cloak? The Elemental?” “Don’t wad your knickers. There and there,” he added, pointing.

On a peg on the wall was my cloak. I could see the bulge of Destin inside it. Standing in one corner was the full-size Elemental.

Delph said, “Almost forgot to put the glove on before I picked it up.

” My next words carried a heaviness that I found nearly unbearable. “Delph, Wugs had to see what I did.

” “What Wugs saw was two jabbits coming out another Wug. After that, they didn’t see nothin’. ’Cept you killing the pair of ’em. And they ain’t too clear on how you done it. But I don’t see no Wug holding that against ya.

” “So what do the Wugs say about it all?” “Outliers. They was shouting it when it was happen- ing. ‘Outliers got Ladon-Tosh. Got inside-a him.

’ That’s what they said.

” 466 “That’s mental!” “Course i’tis, but that don’t mean they don’t believe it.

” I sighed and sat back. I was just so tired.

“You feeling up to snuff, Vega Jane?” I glanced over at him. “Why?” “Well, they’re waiting, ain’t they?” “Who’s waiting?” I said suspiciously.

He held out a hand, which I slowly took and rose off the cot. He led me over to the window. I peered out and my jaw dropped.

“They are,” said Delph, smiling.

When Delph opened the door to my digs and I stepped out, the cheers started and hats were flung high into the air.

It looked like every Wug was in attendance.

“Ve-ga Jane. Ve-ga Jane,” they started chanting over and over.

I heard a canine bark and looked down to see Harry Two next to me. He apparently had been guarding my privacy. I stroked his head and then gazed up at Delph.

“What is all this?” I asked in bewilderment.

“Are ya serious? Time for the prize. You’re champion, you silly goose.

” I had forgotten that with the defeat of Ladon-Tosh, I was the champion.

“Quiet, please. Quiet.

” The voice belonged to Thansius. As the crowd parted and became silent, he came forward holding two objects.

One was a metal figurine. The other a woolen bag with a cord tied firmly around its neck.

Thansius motioned to me. “Vega, please step forward.

” 467 I let go of Delph’s hand and walked toward the Chief of Council with hesitant steps. I was still a bit wonky, but I couldn’t not go, could I? Thansius turned to the crowd and proclaimed, “I offi- cially declare Vega Jane the champion of the Duelum.

” A cheer went up again. As I looked out on the masses of Wugs, I saw many tears and smiles and only the very occa- sional sour look from the likes of Ran Digby, Ted Racksport, on sticks because of his morta-shot foot, and Cletus Loon, who, as usual, looked murderously at me. And when I glanced to the right, I saw Krone and Dodgson staring daggers.

As the crowd quieted, Thansius said, “I now present you with the trophy.

” He handed me the figurine. They must have made it spe- cial because it was a female holding a male over her head.

Thansius bent down and said in my ear, “The young Dactyl Jasper Forke, one of your fellow Stackers, made that for you.

Just in case,” he added.

I took it and held it and my smile widened to my ears. I looked and found Forke in the crowd and thanked him with my eyes before he glanced shyly down at his feet.

I held the figurine over my head, and the crowd cheered again.

When they had settled down, Thansius said, “And now the one thousand coins.

” He handed me the wool bag. “As the first female champion in the history of the Duelum. And on a job exceptionally well done.

” He peered at me. “Exceptionally well done. Where not only a prize was won but many Wug lives were saved.


” He put out his hand. “Thank you, Vega Jane. All of Wormwood thanks you.

” 468 As I shook his hand, the crowd truly went mad this time.

I looked over at Delph, who was smiling, it seemed, with his whole body. A tear trickled down his face.

When I looked back at Thansius, he was smiling broadly as he turned to face the crowd. “Drinks are on me at the Witch-Pidgy. And for those younger wugs, there will be pink ginger ale. And food for the bellies all around. Off you go.

” A great cheer went up from the Wugs as Thansius fin- ished and a stream of them headed off to the pub, with the very youngs jumping and twirling and making noise.

When we were alone, I touched Delph on the arm. “Can we go see your dad?” “Don’t you want to go to pub and celebrate, like Thansius said?” I looked down at the bag of coins in my hand. “Let’s go to see your dad first.

” duf delphia had stayed at his cottage because one of his timbertoes had developed a crack. This Delph had told me on our walk there. Duf was sitting out on the steps with the bad timber off and a stick bowl between his teeth when we appeared in his view. He knocked the dottle out, replaced the smoke weed and lit the bowl. He hailed us as we walked up to him. I saw that his corral was empty of beasts.

Duf grinned and pointed at me. “I knew it,” he said. “You done did it. You won the bloody thing, didn’t-cha? Course you did. Knew it, didn’t I?” “How did you know?” I called out, though I couldn’t keep the grin off my face.

“ ’Cause you ain’t dead, that’s why.

” 469 “Dad!” exclaimed a mortified Delph.

“He’s right, Delph,” I said. “I’m not dead, ergo, I won.

” “What you be doing here, then?” asked Duf. “Should be, I don’t know, celebrating, eh?” I walked up to the steps and sat next to him. Harry Two, who had come with us, let Duf scratch his ears.

“Right good canine there,” said Duf. “He was here this light, weren’t he, Delph?” “He was,” said Delph. “But now he’s back with Vega Jane, right and proper.

” I said, “How are the timbers coming? Delph said one has a crack.

” “Aye, but it’ll be fine, don’t you know. Getting used to the things, I am.

” I took the bag of coins from my cloak and held it up.

“The winnings,” I said.

“Har,” he said. He pointed the lip end of his stick bowl at it. “Now that’s some winnings, I tell you. Thousand coin.

Right, Delph?” “Right.

” “Well, it’s our winnings,” I said.

“Wot?” said Delph, looking gobsmacked.

“Delph helped train me up, Duf. Never would-a won with- out his help.

” “G’on with yourself,” said Duf. He puffed on his stick bowl and studied me curiously.

“And since I’ve no head for coin, I want you and Delph to take them.

” “Vega Jane, are you nutters?” exclaimed Delph.

470 “You’d be doing me a favor, actually,” I said. I looked around the land. “Where are the beasts?” I asked. “The adar and the young slep?” Duf slapped his timber and for the first time, I saw the hopelessness in his expression. “Gone, ain’t they?” “Gone where?” “To a Wug can train ’em up proper, that’s where. And that Wug ain’t me.

” “What Wug?” I said.

“Crank Desmond.

” “Crank Desmond! He doesn’t know a slep’s arse from the other end, does he?” “Be that as it may, he got two good legs and I got none. Har.

” I held up the bag of coins higher. “Then what we’re going to do is bring a young Wug here, pay him a proper wage and train him up.

” I looked around at the empty corrals. “And we can turn it into a business.

” “Bizness? What’d you mean?” asked Delph.

“I already talked to Thansius about this. I gave him a name of a Wug who I know likes beasts. He said he was all in favor of it.

” I paused, thinking through my next words as Duf and Delph continued to stare at me, openmouthed. “They sell beasts around here, young ones, don’t they? Cretas and sleps and whists and adars and more. And Wugs with coin want them. Need cretas and sleps at the Mill and the Tillers. Wugs like Roman Picus need the whists. And who wouldn’t want to pay good coin for an adar that can keep ’em company and to carry messages and the like?” 471 Duf sat a bit forward. “But Wugs just give me the beasts to train up.

” “So now you can sell ’em the beast along with the train- ing. Bet it’ll be worth more coin to Wugs if you supply a handpicked beast too.

” “We don’t know nuthin’ ’bout no bizness,” protested Delph.

“You know beasts, don’t you?” I pointed out. “That’s what’s important.

” Duf’s eyes twinkled. “She makes a right good point, Delph.

” Delph still looked confused. “Then you got to share in the coin we make.

” “Oh, you bet I will,” I lied.

I must have said this too quickly, because Delph eyed me funny. I gave the bag of coins to Duf, rose and said my good- byes. As I walked off, Delph caught up to me.

“What was all that chuff back there?” he asked.

“Duf and you can really make a go of it. You just needed a bit of coin.

” “Okay, but we need to talk about this.

” “We will. Next light. Now I just need some rest.

” I would never have that conversation with Delph.

Because I was going to leave Wormwood and enter the Quag. And I was going to do so this very night. I walked on.

472 Q U I N Q U A G I N T A U N U S Answers At Last Stacks loomed ahead of me like a castle without a moat outside or a king or queen inside. While I knew other Wugs were managing a pub crawl with only the one pub, I had decided to come to my place of work for the last time. It was not for nostalgic purposes.

I opened the large door and peered inside. With the two jabbits dead, I wasn’t afraid to go inside, certainly not while it was still light. I knew now that Ladon-Tosh had guarded this place both light and night, just in different forms.

Domitar sat in his little office at his tilt-top desk. There was no scroll or ink bottle there. But there was another bottle present: flame water.

“I was hoping you might come by,” was his surprising greeting as he waved me in. He poured a glass of flame water and took a sip. “Trounced the blackguard.

” “You saw the jabbits?” He smacked his lips. “They were a wee bit hard to miss.

” I could tell from his expression that he knew what my next question would be.

“How did you know?” I asked.

He feigned surprise, though I could tell he didn’t mean it.

I said, “You said I’d done it before. Beaten Ladon-Tosh.

But you really meant I’d beaten the jabbits before.

” “Did I?” I ignored this. “That could mean one of two things.

” He set the glass down. “I’m listening,” he said amiably.

“One, you knew of my coming to Stacks at night. And of my being chased by the pair of jabbits to the little room on the second floor.

” “Dear me, dear me,” said Domitar.

I kept going. “Though I really didn’t beat them. I simply escaped from them.


” “Same as in my book, but please continue,” he said when I paused.

“Or you saw me destroy a flying jabbit on a great battle- field many sessions ago.

” I had expected him to look startled by this second pos- sibility, but Domitar remained unshaken. “I will admit to the first, but not the second.

” He tapped his glass against his chin.

“Quite a mess you made here too,” he said. “Many pieces to pick up. Not really my job, but there you are.

” I felt myself growing warm. “So you knew about the jab- bits in here?” He finished the flame water in his glass. “Don’t know why I drink the stuff,” he said. “Becomes a habit, I suppose. So much of life does, doesn’t it?” “The jabbits!” I cried out.

“All right, all right, but no Wug is supposed to come in here at night, are they?” “Is that your answer?” “Do I need another?” 474 “You bloody well do. I almost was eaten by those vile creatures.

” “Let that be a lesson to you, then.

” “Domitar, they were jabbits.

” “Yes, yes, I quite get the point, thank you. Hideous things.

” He shivered.

“And what of the room with the blood? And going back into the past? And books that explode in your face? And the looking glasses with demons?” He looked at me blankly. “I think perhaps the Duelum has affected your mind, Vega Jane. Do you need a lie-down?” “So you’re saying you don’t know about those things here? You said this had always been Stacks.

” “I said this had been Stacks since I came here,” he corrected.

I folded my arms over my chest and continued to stare at him.

“What does Stacks look like to you?” he asked.

“Magic, sorcery, devilry, call it what you will, it’s strange.

” “I mean what does it look like from the outside?” I thought about this. “Like a castle I saw once in a book at Learning. But that was fantasy, not real.

” “Who says so?” he asked pedantically.

“Well, I mean.

” I drew a long breath. “It’s all rubbish, I know.

” “Well done.

” “So whose castle was it?” “I am not the one to answer that because I don’t know.

” 475 “If you know it was a castle once, how can you not know whose castle it was?” I demanded.

“One can possess some shallow perspective without the depth of true knowledge.

” I fumed over this for a sliver. “All right. So has the Quag always been the Quag?” He refilled his glass, sloshing the flame water onto the surface of his desk. He took a quick drink, dribbling a bit down his chin. “The Quag? The Quag, you say? I know noth- ing of the Quag for the simple fact that I have never been in the Quag, I will never be in the Quag, and I thank the holy Steeples for that.

” “So in Wormwood, you are destined to stay and die?” “As we all are.

” “Not Quentin Herms.

” “No, the Outliers got him.

” “Now who is talking rubbish?” He set his glass down. “Do you have proof otherwise?” he asked sternly.

“I aim to get it.

” “Vega, if you’re planning to do what I think you’re —” “I think that she is, Domitar. I most assuredly do.

” I whirled around at this voice. Little Dis Fidus stood in the doorway, a rag and a small bottle of liquid in hand.

“Hello,” I said, not understanding what he had meant by his words. How could little, old Dis Fidus know anything of my plans? He shuffled forward. “I am happy for your victory in the Duelum this light.

” 476 “Thank you, but what did you mean —” However, he had shifted his gaze to Domitar. “We knew this moment would come of course. We needn’t a Selene Jones prophecy to know that.

” I looked at Domitar as he slowly nodded. “The time has come, I suppose.

” Dis Fidus held the rag to the bottle and doused the cloth with the liquid. “Hold out your hand, Vega,” he said.

“Why? What’s that stuff on the cloth?” “Just hold out your hand. Your inked hand.

” I glanced at Domitar, who slowly nodded at me.

I tentatively held out my hand. My gaze was drawn to the blue skin on top, the result of two sessions of having Dis Fidus stamp my hand for no reason.

Dis Fidus said, “This will not occur without some dis- comfort. I’m sorry. It is unavoidable.

” I drew back my hand and looked at Domitar, who would not meet my gaze.

“Why should I endure the pain?” I asked. “What result will come of it?” “It will be much less painful than what’s in the Quag if you have the ink on you.

” “I don’t understand.

” “Nor should you,” said Domitar. “But if that is your plan, it is essential that the ink comes off.

” He shut his mouth and turned to the wall.

I looked back at Dis Fidus. I held out my hand once more, half closed my eyes and prepared for the pain. He touched the top of my hand with the rag and I felt like a thousand fly- ing stingers had attacked the surface. I tried to jerk my hand 477 back but I couldn’t. When I fully opened my eyes, I saw that Dis Fidus had gripped my wrist with his hand. He was sur- prisingly strong for being so small and old.

I moaned, clenched my teeth, bit my lip, screwed my eyes shut and swayed on my feet. When it got to the point where I could stand it no longer, Dis Fidus said, “ ’Tis done.

” He let go of my wrist and I opened my eyes. The back of my hand was scarred and pink and sore. But there was not a trace of blue on it. I looked up at him as I rubbed it with my other hand. “Why did that need to be done?” “You have of course wondered why I spend my lights ink- ing hands here,” said Dis Fidus. I nodded. “Well, now you have the answer. Simply put, to go through the Quag with an inked hand is a death sentence.

” “So Quentin Herms, then?” I said bitterly.

I looked from Domitar to Dis Fidus. Each shook their heads. Finally, Dis Fidus said, “If he went through the Quag with his hand as ’twas, I fear for him.

” “So you don’t believe that Outliers took him, then?” I said, a sense of triumph in my words.

Dis Fidus’s look told me that was unnecessary. “Surely, you have moved on from that theory,” he said in a voice I had never heard from him before. Gone was timid, bowing Dis Fidus. He still looked old and feeble, but there was a fire in his eyes I had never seen before.

“I have,” I answered.

“Then let us waste no more time speaking of it,” said Dis Fidus with finality. He corked the bottle and handed it and a fresh cloth to me. “Take this.

” “But my hand is clean of ink.

” 478 “Take it nonetheless,” he urged.

I put them away in my cloak. “So what is the ink, then? How is it harmful to us?” “In the Quag, it is like honey to stingers,” answered Domitar. “Or the scent given off by a female slep in need of a male.

” “So it draws the beasts right to the Wugs,” I said fiercely.

“A death sentence clearly,” I added accusingly. “And you knew about it!” “Wugs are not supposed to go into the Quag,” said Domitar defensively. “And if they don’t, the ink marks are meaningless to them.


” “But what if the beasts come out of the Quag?” I said. “A garm came after me, chased me up my tree. And now I know why, because of the marks on my hand.

” Domitar looked guiltily at Dis Fidus before continuing.

“No system is perfect.

” “And whose system was it?” I asked.

Surprisingly, Dis Fidus answered. “It has always been so, that I know. And there is no Wug alive whose sessions tally to mine.

” “What of Morrigone? Or Thansius?” “Even Thansius is not so old as Dis Fidus. Now, Morrigone is a special case, you understand,” said Domitar.

“Oh, she’s special all right!” I exclaimed.

“She’s not an evil Wug, strike that right from your mind right this sliver,” said Dis Fidus with startling energy.

“I’ll think she’s evil if I want to, thank you very much,” I retorted.

“Well, you would be wrong, then,” said Domitar wearily 479 as he sipped from his glass. “Wugs and Wormwood are not so easily categorized.

” I exclaimed, “What are we, then?” Domitar answered. “In one sense we’re Wugs, plain and simple. What we might have been before, well, it’s for our ancestors to say, isn’t it?” “They’re dead!” I shot back.

“Well, there you are,” said Domitar imperturbably.

“You talk in a circle!” I exclaimed. “You tell me Morrigone isn’t evil and expect me to believe that. She was controlling Ladon-Tosh. She was the reason those jabbits were inside him. She couldn’t control them. She had to beg me for help in slaying them.

” To my astonishment, this did not seem to surprise either of them.

Dis Fidus merely nodded, as though I were simply con- firming what he already suspected.

“Yes, it would be difficult for her,” said Dis Fidus in a non- chalant tone.

“For her?” I shouted. “What about me?” “Some Wugs have duties passed down,” explained Domitar. “Morrigone is one of them. Before her, it was her mother’s responsibility to see to Wug welfare. And that is what she was doing this light.

” “By trying to murder me?” “You are a danger to her and to all of Wormwood, Vega, do you not understand that?” said Domitar in exasperation.

“How am I a danger to her? She pretended to be my friend. She let me think Krone was my true enemy. And she was trying to kill me in the Duelum. Why?” 480 “That is something you must discover for yourself.

” “Domitar!” “No, Vega. That is my last word on the subject.

” I looked at them both. “So where does that leave us?” Domitar rose and corked his flame water. “Me still safely in Wormwood and you apparently not.

” “You don’t think I’ll make it past the Quag, do you?” “Actually, I believe that you will,” he said in a whisper, and bowed his head. “And then may Steeples help all Wugs.

” When I looked at Dis Fidus, he had bowed his head too.

I turned and left Stacks. I would not be coming back.

481 Q U I N Q U A G I N T A D U O The End Of The Beginning I went back to my digs and packed up everything I owned — which wasn’t much — and placed it in my tuck.

In the pocket of my cloak went the Adder Stone and the shrunken Elemental. I placed my tuck under my cot and decided to spend one of the coins I had in my cloak pocket on a last meal in my place of birth.

The Starving Tove was where Delph and I had eaten twice before. As I walked toward it on the High Street with Harry Two at my heels, I could hear the cries of celebration still swirling from the Witch-Pidgy. Wugs had spilled out onto the cobblestones to pull on their pints and whittle down bits of meats, breads and potatoes.

Roman Picus seemed quite on the other side of the sail, as did Thaddeus Kitchen and Litches McGee. The three of them staggered about like Wugs on ice singing at the top of their lungs. I next saw Cacus Loon leaning against a post.

His face was as red with flame water as the bottom of Hestia Loon’s frying pan coming off the coals.

I ducked around to the Tove before any of them could get a gander at me. I wanted food. I did not desire company.

The Tove held no Wugs except the ones working there because of the free food at the pub. I held out my coin, as a matter of course, to let them know I could pay for my meal, but the big, flat-faced Wug who seated me waved this off.

“Your coin is no good here, Vega.

” “What?” “On us, Vega. And what an honor i’tis.

” “Are you sure you can do that?” I asked.

“Sure as you beat that wicked Ladon-Tosh to nothing.

” When he brought me the scroll with the food items on it, I said I would have one of everything. At first, he looked sur- prised by this, but then a silly grin spread across his face and he replied, “Coming right up, luv.

” I ate like I never had in all my sessions. It was as though I had never had a meal before. The more I ate, the more I wanted, until I could gorge no more. I knew I would probably never have a meal like this one again. I pushed back the last plate, patted my belly contentedly and then refocused on what was coming. I glanced out the window. The first section of night was here.

I would wait until the fourth section. That seemed as good a time as any to tackle the Quag. I figured going into the darkness during the darkness was a good plan. There was danger to be faced, and confronting it head-on and as soon as possible seemed more sensible to my mind than trying to for- ever avoid it. I needed to know if I had the mettle to make it or not. Why dither about? I also doubted quite seriously if one could wholly navi- gate the Quag during the brightness. I just knew that one had to go through the blackness of the shadows to get to the gold of the light. That sorry thought was about as poetic as I was ever going to be.

483 I had brought some food out with me to give to Harry Two. This was my other concern. Food. We had to eat while we were in the Quag. I looked down at the few remaining coins I had. I went to another shop and spent it all on some basic provisions for my canine and me. It wasn’t much, and part of me was glad of that. I couldn’t be bogged down with pounds of food if I was running from a garm. I had no idea how long it would take to get through the Quag.

The food I had purchased clearly would not last us that long. And I would have to bring water too. But water was also heavy and I could not carry enough of it to last half a session.

The truth was I had to be able to locate food and water in the Quag. I was somewhat heartened by the fact that beasts, no matter how vile, also needed to eat and have water to drink. I just didn’t want their food to be us.

It was now the second section of night and I had just reached my digs when I looked up and saw it coming.

Adars are clumsy-looking beasts when ground-bound. In the air, though, they are creatures of grace and beauty. This one soared along, flying far better than I ever would.

It drew closer and closer and finally descended and came to rest a few feet from me. As I looked more closely at it, I realized it was the adar Duf had been training up for Thansius. And then I also observed it had a woolen bag in its beak. It ambled toward me and dropped the bag at my feet.

I looked down at it and then up at the tall adar.

“A present from Thansius,” said the adar in a voice that was remarkably like the Wug himself.

I knelt, picked up the cloth bag, and opened it. There were two items inside.