"We have to negotiate?" Justin asked. "With other Demons? When we have no idea what we're doing?"

"You will be helping the Demons to rescue D. Earth. The Swell Foop can affect them regardless, but it would be better to obtain their voluntary cooperation."

"But if we don't know how to do it, and they don't know, either, how can we accomplish anything?"

Chlorine glanced again at Nimby. One ear wiggled. That startled Justin, but of course the Demon could make a human ear move if he wanted to.

Chlorine nodded. "Since it must be a Demon who has abducted D. Earth, and Demons exist to challenge for status, you will have to locate D. Earth's captor and challenge him to a game of status. The Foop will locate D. Earth, and therefore his captor."

"Challenge an unknown Demon!" Justin exclaimed. "This is preposterous."

"Therefore you must prepare your case carefully, to make it seem reasonable to the other Demons."

"Reasonable! We don't even know how to get in touch with-"

"The conference of Demons is scheduled half an hour hence, at this site. I suggest you use that time to confer with each other and prepare your case."

"Half an hour!" Justin cried, appalled anew.

"For your convenience, we have set the clock," Chlorine said. She gestured, and a large framed picture appeared on the wall, showing a timer set at 30 minutes. As they watched, it clicked to 29. "One other thing to remember: The Demons are enormous, quite beyond mortal comprehension. For your convenience they will limit themselves in the manner Nimby does for me, so that no more than one percent of their attention focuses on you. They will still be rather beyond your scope, but at least you will be able to have a dialogue. They will emulate mortal limitations, so as to seem, well, remotely human. That should help."

"But-" Justin said. And stopped, for they were alone in the chamber. Their three hosts had faded out.

"At least they left us a nice snack," Breanna said, going to a table piled with appealing delicacies.

"Dear girl, food is the least of our concerns!"

"No, I think we have enough to go on," Sim squawked.

"Yes," Che agreed. "Let's eat well, preparing for the encounter, and set up our presentation. I think Justin is the fairest spoken among us, so he should be our spokesman."

"Me! But I have no idea how-"

Breanna stuffed a spinach cookie into his mouth. "Shut up and listen," she said.

Justin shut up and listened, and what Sim squawked and Che said slowly came to make sense. He could after all make the case, for whatever it was worth.

They finished their snack and made themselves comfortable around the edges of the chamber. The timer reached zero and bonged, then winked out of existence.

Nine figures were in the chamber. They appeared to be human in body, wearing voluminous robes, but their heads were rotating spheres. They stood in place, neither moving nor speaking. They were evidently emulating mortal status.

Justin realized that they were waiting to hear his presentation. He plunged in. "Salutations, Demons," he said formally. "We are six mortal creatures from the lands of Xanth and Mundania who wish to enlist your help on a mission to rescue the Demon Earth from captivity. We have obtained the Rings of Xanth and the Swell Foop, and learned how to operate it." He lifted the stone with its six Rings.

Now there was a stir among the visitors. One with a small hot head glided forward, reached out to touch the Foop, and did not. "True." Then, as Justin wondered who that one was, print appeared on the robe: MERCURY.

Simultaneously, names appeared on all the others. The Demons were all named after the planets, or were the planets; Justin had never been quite sure about that. EARTH was missing, and there was one he didn't recognize: NEMESIS. Odd that he hadn't heard of that planet, or seen it in the night sky during his decades as a tree. But obviously it existed, or its a.s.sociated Demon would not be here.

Well, on with it, before they lost patience. "We know that the Swell Foop will generate emotions in you, and thereby control your actions. But we don't wish to aggravate you. Rather we want to enlist your cooperation in our effort to save the Demon Earth from captivity. We believe that it is to your interest to save him, because his force is gravity, and we all need at least some of that on occasion."

He paused. There was no reaction. That, he hoped, was good news. So he continued. "We doubt that even with the Foop we'll be able to rescue Demon Earth ourselves. We need the formidable power and expertise of Demons. That way we may be able to arrange a challenge for status with the captor Demon, proffering terms he will not care to decline. If we win, we will restore the Demon Earth to his accustomed place, and gravity will not be lost." He did not speak of losing; that was not expedient at this point.

Still no response. "Because Demons are not accustomed to emotions, we believe that a liaison between Demons and mortals will be expedient. In that manner the formidable emotions generated by the Foop will be filtered and modified by creatures who are accustomed to them, giving our team an advantage."

They just stood there. Was he making sense to them, or washing out? Now he would find out. "To have a fair game, one that the captor Demon will wish to partic.i.p.ate in, the stakes must be conducive. We must be able to offer something the captor Demon desires. I am unable to say what that might be. Here I need your input."

"A second Demon," the Demon Nemesis said. His head was the largest of all of them, a dense brown sphere.

"Will that be sufficient to induce him to play?" Justin asked.

"Two Demons," the Demon Neptune said.

There was a pause. "The two of you are volunteering?" Justin asked.

They nodded. "I am the least apparent yet most influential of our number," Nemesis said. "My a.s.sociated planet is beyond the sight of the others, but is more ma.s.sive than all of them combined. The captor will desire my ambiance of Dark Matter."

"I am not the largest or prettiest member of our group," Neptune said. "But my Higgs boson particle field generates ma.s.s itself, without which none of the others could exist, and my aspect of energy moves all things. The captor will desire that too."

Justin was amazed at the significance of these two obscure Demons. Indeed, Dark Matter was invisible yet most pervasive, a phenomenal mystery, and ma.s.s/energy was the fundamental building block (as it were) of existence. "And this would bring the other Demon in?" he inquired, to be absolutely sure, for there was no certain predicting what motivated Demons. Now the others nodded.

"Then if you will choose from our number to align with, we can inst.i.tute the challenge," Justin said, privately amazed that this was falling into place so neatly. They had thought it should, but knew that with Demons nothing was sure. Demon Xanth had communicated with them on a Demonly level, so they readily understood the situation, but was that enough?

This time there was a long pause. Justin felt quite nervous. Which Demon would choose him? What would such an a.s.sociation feel like? What would the contest itself be like? None of them had ever been involved in anything like this before.

Demon Mars, with a small red head, floated toward Sim, then veered and went to Che. The Demon walked right into the centaur and disappeared. He had Chosen.

Demon Jupiter floated toward Sim-and faded into the big bird. He too had Chosen.

Demoness Venus floated to Breanna.

Demoness Saturn floated to Cynthia.

Only Justin and Jaylin remained. They waited, but no other Demons came. Instead, they faded out. This, it seemed, was it: Four Demons were playing, two were stakes, and three were not partic.i.p.ating. "But what about us?" Justin asked somewhat plaintively.

Chlorine reappeared. "You have not been neglected," she said. "One of you is needed to animate the Demon Earth, and the other to animate the enemy Demon."

"The enemy Demon! But we oppose it!"

"It must be given the same situation as the rest," she explained. "A mortal body. If it plays, it will choose one of you. The other will go to the Demon Earth."

Oh. That did make sense, he supposed. "But how could it choose me, when I oppose it?"

"The game will not be that straightforward."

Somehow that did not rea.s.sure him. "Well, what is the next step?"

"Use the Foop to locate the Demon Earth."

Oh. Yes. "I will now, with the acquiescence of those partic.i.p.ating, use the Swell Foop to orient on the Demon Earth."

There were no demurrals. This business of nonresponse was eerie.

Justin picked up the Foop. "Demon Earth," he said, concentrating on the ident.i.ty.

He felt nothing. But that might simply mean he wasn't facing the right way. He turned, slowly, holding the stone.

As he completed his circle, he felt a slight warmth in the stone. He focused on that, turning back and forth, but there was no further heating.

Then he tried lifting it-and felt more warmth. The direction was up, not around! He set it on his shoulder and turned again, verifying the orientation. "That way!" he cried, pointing.

"Where is it?" Jaylin asked.

Che tilted his head, calculating azimuth, elevation, and chronology. "Fornax," he said.

Justin's jaw dropped. "But that's no planet! That's a foreign galaxy!"

"Fornax," Che/Mars repeated angrily. "This is worse than any of us antic.i.p.ated."

"Worse?" Justin asked, dreading the answer.

"That is the region of contra-terrene matter," Neptune explained grimly. "That has the potential to destroy all of us."

"Contra-terrene matter!" Justin exclaimed, appalled. "But mere contact with that is lethal!"

"Not in the presence of the Swell Foop," Breanna/Venus said. "Its magic protects us. So that is where we must go to engage the foreign Demon."

"And if we lose that encounter?" Justin asked.

There was no answer. That was more than enough answer.

CHAPTER 12: FORNAX.

Cynthia saw the Demoness Saturn approach her. She feared this aspect, yet knew it had to be. She stood her ground, and the daunting ent.i.ty floated right into her.

Then it was like a soft explosion of change. Broad flat rings seemed to surround her, and a series of moons of varying sizes. Her body seemed suddenly possessed of enormous size, but also much vapor. A dread awareness permeated her every nook and most of her crannies. The perspective of the Demon was at once vast beyond any possible understanding, and limited, for it had no feeling, only consciousness. And Cynthia knew that only one percent or less of that consciousness was tuning into this situation. Even so, the power of that mind was awesome.

"Saturn?" she asked absurdly. She did not speak aloud, but phrased it as a question in her limited mind.

"This is mortality." It was not quite a question, not quite an observation, just a phrased thought.

"This is mortal existence," Cynthia agreed. "We live and die in the course of a variable span of time, and accomplish whatever we are going to in that limited span."

"Curious."

There was no further response, so Cynthia returned her attention to the scene before her. She saw Che, Sim, and Breanna standing somewhat slack-jawed, and knew they were making similar adjustments. Only Justin and Jaylin remained normal. Justin was holding the stone that was the Swell Foop and turning slowly around in a circle. The girl was just watching; all this was obviously a bit much for her. Small wonder; it was a bit much for Cynthia too.

"Fornax," Justin said. "That is where we must go to engage the foreign Demon."

"Fornax!" Cynthia repeated. "But isn't that a constellation?"

"A small foreign galaxy," Che clarified. "Now it is clear why we require the cooperation of other Demons. Only they can travel the immensity of nonmagical s.p.a.ce."

"True," Sim squawked. "The Demons are beyond time and s.p.a.ce. Our realms are but specks on their horizons."

"How do we get to Fornax?" Jaylin asked. "Is there even any air there for us to breathe?"

"I hope so," Justin said. He looked around. "I think we are ready to depart."

The universe swirled. Stars whizzed past, starting small, growing huge and hot, and retreating back into dots of light. Huge clouds of dust loomed, squeezing together to produce new stars, then compressing into dense dark holes that sucked spirals of living stars in after them. The spirals formed patterns of rotation that shaped into lighted galaxies. But they were only a tiny part of the much larger scope of the cosmos. Cynthia gazed at the mind-bending extent of that universe and was mesmerized. She had never imagined such material or structure or pattern. It was beyond awe-inspiring.

Then she was gazing gla.s.sily into another castle chamber. They had arrived somewhere. There did seem to be air to breathe; either it was natural, or the Demons had conjured it for this setting. No sense wasting their mortal hosts before the game started. Was that her thought, or Saturn's? Did it matter?

In the center of the chamber was a scintillating alien presence. Cynthia knew it could only be another Demon.

Justin stepped shakily forward. "Demon Fornax, I presume?"

There was no response.

"May-maybe if you a.s.sumed human form, or something," Jaylin said hesitantly. "So we could-could relate to you."

The scintillation became a robed human figure, too well covered to suggest age or gender.

"Thank you," Justin said. "We have come to rescue the Demon Earth. Will you play a-a game?"

"No."

"We have the Swell Foop," Jaylin said. Justin held up the stone. "We can employ it to give you emotions. This could complicate your situation in adverse ways."

Cynthia marveled that they dared to threaten a Demon. But Saturn's thought rea.s.sured her that Demons, having no genuine emotions, saw threats as mere aspects of bargaining. The position of the visiting group was stronger than Demon Fornax had judged.

"Terms," the figure said. It wasn't exactly a voice, but more of a projected thought. Fornax had decided to play after all, feeling no shame in the reversal. The Foop was showing its usefulness.

"Yes, of course," Justin said. "We offer two Demons to join your cause, against the single Demon you have acquired. Is this a satisfactory stake?"

"Affirmative." Evidently Demons both domestic and foreign understood such things, and needed no explanations or amplifications. Cynthia caught the edge of a pa.s.sing Saturn thought and realized that the verbal interchange was only the audible portion of a larger dialogue; like the universe, most of it was not apparent to human senses. Probably some of the other 99 percent of the Demons' attention was being used in that hidden interchange.

"Then we must agree on the rules of play. We suggest that our company of mortals engage in a contest, limited to mortal perceptions and abilities."

This too was standard; Demons often wagered on the outcome of seemingly random mortal interactions.

"Dull." Demon Fornax preferred an interesting game.

"With this novel aspect," Justin continued. "Each mortal a.s.sociates with a Demon who may proffer advice but not make decisions, prime players excepted, the advice based on no more than the mortal's perceptions. No omniscience or omnipotence. This reduces the Demons to mortal limitations."