Aristobulus shrugged and seated himself carefully on the floor, a study in simulated nonchalance. "I'll wait."

We've all grown, Karl thought. I think he's wrong to pull this, but it's not coming from that d.a.m.n self-centeredness that I used to hate in him. "No time to argue." He reached for the wizarda"

a"and found his wrists caught in Ahira's huge hands. The dwarf's mouth quirked; he dropped Karl's wrists and spread his arms, shrugging, as though to say, What can we do?

"Fine," the dwarf said, unlimbering his axe from his chest. "Single-filea"first Karl, then you, then Doria, then me."

The wizard nodded, and stood.

Karl rose silently to his feet, as did Aristobulus. Ahira urged Doria to stand. Sullenly, clumsily, she did.

Karl took the lead, and tiptoed around the benda"

a"and into a brightness that stung his eyes, and a silent, moldy reek that ached in his nostrils. It smelled of age, and cruelty, and hatred... and Dragon.

The Dragon lay sleeping in the huge chamber, a cavern lit by glowing rainbowed crystals that lined the wails arching hundreds of yards above the rough floor. Its huge head, wickedly saurian, rested on crossed forelegs the size of centuries-old oak trunks.

Ellegon had been right. He was just a baby, a miniature, smoother version of This. The smallest of The Dragon's mottled scales was easily Karl's height; Its mouth could have swallowed an elephant.

And the teeth sent chills running down Karl's back. They stood tall and sharp, threatening yellowed edges through which The Dragon's fetid breath whistled, like a wind through a horrid forest.

He wrestled his eyes from The Dragon and looked around the cavern. Beyond the creature's left shoulder, a mirror gleamed, a surface rippled.

The Gate. Karl tiptoed slowly forward, his feet numb on the cold stone floor.

The Gate hung unsupported in the air, just above a narrow ledge, Its surface rippled, shimmering in the cavern's light, as the Gate stood, silently waiting, like a pool of water tipped on its side.

A stone ramp led up to the Gate, tapering from a wide base to where it became a stone ledge. There was no way that more than one person could stand on that ledge; it couldn't have been more than two feet square. They would have to go through one by one.

He turned and waved for Ahira and Aristobulus to bring Doria forward.

Both of them beckoned to her.

Come on, Doria. Just a little farther.

No response. She stood still, staring wide-eyed at The Dragon, her jaw clenched and quivering. A trickle of blood ran out of the corner of her mouth and dripped, one drop at a time, onto her white robes.

Ahira shook his head as he turned to face Karl. No good, he mouthed. We need a diversion. Diversion. He pointed to Karl, then Aristobulus, and then the Gate. You Two wait at the ramp. I'll bring her.

Karl nodded, then walked slowly by The Dragon's head, Aristobulus at his side. The hundred-yard walk to the ramp took him past The Dragon's bulging midsection. If only he had a decent sword he coulda"

a"what? A mosquito could do more harm to me than I could do to That. He gripped the hilt of Walter's scimitar. Not unless I stuck It in the eye. And I couldn't reach that with a stepladder. And perhaps he wouldn't even be able to stick this sword through Its lids. Then againa"

Doria screamed, shattering the thick silence.

*HUMANS.* A roar shook the cavern, sending light-bearing crystals tinkling to the floor, knocking Karl off his feet.

Slowly, ponderously, the head lifted and turned, the man-high eyelids retracting.

"Over here," Aristobulus shouted, his voice breaking. "The eyes, Karl, the eyesa""

Karl bounced to his feet, the scimitar held in his right hand. "I know. I'll..." His voice caught in his throat as the head turned, two immense liquid eyes staring directly at him.

Behind Karl, Aristobulus' voice murmured harsh syllables, spoken and then gone, while over at the entrance, Ahira threw Doria's struggling body over his shoulder and broke into a sprint.

The Dragon's mouth opened. *BURN.* Its eyes gleameda"

"And done!" Aristobulus clapped his hands together.

a"and shone, brighter and brighter until they flared with the light of a thousand suns.

Ari's light spella"The Dragon was blinded!

Karl ducked to one side as a gout of flame scoured the stone where he had stood. Aristobulus hiked up his robes and wordlessly sprinted up the ramp, not slowing as he reached the top, dived through the Gate, and was gone.

A heavy, limp ma.s.s knocked Karl off his feet. Doria!

"Over here! Burn me, you son of a pig-" Ahira shouted, his battleaxe drawn. He raced away from the Gate. The Dragon's head following him. "Gel througha"take her. Move."

Karl s.n.a.t.c.hed up Doria as though she were a piece of fluff and ran with her up the ramp, to the Gate. A quick one-handed throw, and she was gone.

He turned. Ahira ducked a flamebreath, and dashed for the tunnel's opening. Like a felled tree. The Dragon's tail slammed down in front of the hole, the impact on the floor of the cavern knocking Ahira over.

"Over here, now," Karl shouted. "We'll take turns with your attention, Dragon."

The light in The Dragon's eyes was already beginning to dim; Aristobulus' light spell was wearing off. A few seconds more, and Karl and Ahira would be trapped in the cavern, The Dragon's sight restored.

*YOU WILL BURN.*

Ahira ran toward Karl, The Dragon's head following him.

Karl hesitated in front of the Gate. Ahira couldn't run fast enough; it didn't seem to take The Dragon long between fiamebreaths, and the gaping mouth was coming to bear on the dwarf.

"Not him!" Karl shouted. "Try and burn me, Dragon."

At the base of the ramp, the dwarf stumbled, and started scrabbling up it on all fours. "Karl, go."

A rush of flame caught Ahira. The force of the gout of fire slid the dwarf up the ramp as he crackled and screamed in the flame, his arms waving aimlessly.

Karl turned and dived for the Gale, his legs burning behind him. A searing ma.s.s struck him in the back...

... and the world dissolved into a white-hot nightmare that faded only slowly into utter black.

PART FIVE:.

And Beyond.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN:.

The Way Back.

It is easy to go down into h.e.l.l; night and day, the gates of dark Death stand wide; but to climb back up again, to retrace one's steps to the upper aira"there's the rub, the task.

a"Publius Vergilius Maro (Virgil).

Walter Slovotsky's huge hand shook him, while the damp night gra.s.s pressed against his shirt and bare feet.

"Karl, we're back." The big man wept almost silently. "We're back."

Bare feet? That made sense; they had left their sandals behind. But why did his back hurt so? As if he'd been sunburned. Worse.

"Easy, now." Her hand at the back of his neck, Andy-Andy propped him up to a sitting position.

Karl opened his eyes, moonlight off the water in front of him hitting him like a slap. Moonlight? "We did it."

Lou Riccetti knelt in front of him, barefoot in now-tattered workshirt and jeans. "Not quite." His voice was somber, his round cheeks were wet. "We don't even have Jason's body with us. and..."

"And what, dammit?" Karl peeled back the right leg of his jeans. No wonder it ached so; it was covered with blisters.

"Look over there." Riccetti pointed. Doria lay curled on the gra.s.s, her eyes wide and unblinking, her chest barely moving. "She's gone, Karl. Catatonic."

Karl shook himself. And it was himself; smaller, skinnier. Barak?

Help me?

Nothing. No answer, not even the feeling of the presence of his other persona. Then I'll do without. "Where's Ahia"James?"

"Later," Andy-Andy breathed. "Just take a moment. You needa""

"Show him." Riccetti's voice was firm.

She caught a breath, and held it for longer than Karl would have thought possible. "Look to your right."

Walter Slovotsky knelt weeping over the dead body of James Michael Finnegan. The third-degree burns that had killed James Michael still smoldered, sending up light traces of mist and smoke.

OhG.o.d. "He didn't change enough."

Walter wept unashamedly, his huge hands reaching out as though to shake little James Michael Finnegan awake, then drawing back.

Just think for a minute. Mirror Lake spread out in front of him in the moonlight, the Commons all around. "We're on campus." A chill wind blew across the lake, sending a rush of leaves tumbling around him. "How long?"

Riccetti shook his head. "Deighton didn't lie about the different time rates. I snuck into a dorm; we've been gone just about eight hoursa"it's four in the morning. Jase is... gone, James Michael is dead, Doria isa""

Karl backhanded him across the face. "Shut up." Shaking off Andy-Andy's helping hands, he got to his feet, ignoring the shooting pains from the blisters on his soles. "We've got to get moving."

"And do what?" Andy-Andy shrilled.

"Shut up, I said." He hobbled over to where Walter knelt weeping over the burned body that had been James Michael Finnegan. "And you, stand up and clear your head. Now. We don't have time for this s.h.i.t."

Walter bared his teeth and growled, "You leave me alone. Youa""

"No time for that. Where do you keep your car?"

"Car?"

"Yes, car. Automobilea"where do you keep it parked?"

The big man's forehead crinkled. "Over in B-Lot. What are youa""

"Not close enough. Lou?"

Riccetti trotted over, a faint smile peeking through the grimness of his wet face. "Yes? Are you thinking what I thinka""

"You've got it. S-Lot's closesta"get there, find a big car, and steal it. Spare key under the front fender, cross some wires, do whatever you have to, but get a big car, and get it here. Fast."

"Got it." Riccetti nodded and ran off.

"Karl?" Walter looked up at him. "What's going on?"

"Lou worked it out, You should have listened more closely to Ahira. The Matriarch of the Healing Hand may be able to raise the dead. Now, we don't have Jason's body, but we do have James Michael's. And we have Doria." He took a deep breath. "So we're going back. You know where that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Deighton lives?"

"Faculty Rowa"third house from thea""

"Fine. Run up therea"act like you're out for a jog, or somethinga"and cut the phone lines. Don't go in, but if he notices you and tries to get out, stop him."

Slovotsky stood. "Are you sure we should handle it this way?"

Karl grabbed him by the front of the shin. "Ahira's out of it, and I'm in charge. Understood?"

Slovotsky smiled and nodded. "You really think we'll be able to get away with all this?"

"No. But we're going to try. Get moving." Karl released his grip.

Slovotsky turned and jogged away, not looking back.

"Karl?" His feet aching hideously, he turned to face Andy-Andy. "What have you got for me?"

"Diversion." He jerked his thumb toward the road. "If anybody comes this way, you distract them. Particularly if it's Security. If we get stuck on this side, James'll get buried, Doria gets committed to some nice funny farm, and that's it. So make it good."