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Chapter 17: Heart of Corruption

Pike's ears pricked toward the door to the dormitory. "Danger!" he snapped.

Braxus whimpered and wrinkled his nose. "More of it?"

"It's Brother Gabriel and several of the other Brothers. They're questioning apprentices now. They heard the roar. Tuco, you have to get out of here. If he catches you like this... Are you all right? Can you walk?"

Tuco stood upright, clawed fingers probing the new horns that had sprouted from his skull. He felt powerful, dangerous. But also frightened. "Yes of course," he began and started at his own voice. It had dropped in timbre, with a leonine rumble to it. "But where can I go? The corridor's a dead end. Should I hide in one of the rooms?"

Braxus flattened his ears and hunched down. "They'll check the rooms, they always do."

Pike tapped his foot on the floor. "Right, right. But they never check Elf's room. They don't like what happens when they look in there. Elf, you mind housing a refugee for a minute or two?"

The man's musical voice floated out from behind the door. "I never mind company. I enjoy it so rarely."

"Take shelter in there, then," Pike said. "Make haste, Tuco, they're coming!"

"But what of you three? Won't they--"

"There's no time. Don't worry about us. Close your eyes." Pike kept his head turned away as he opened the door to Elf's room and bustled Tuco inside, leaving sticky prints everywhere in the fluid-smeared corridor. He closed the door behind Tuco.

For a moment everything was quiet, and Tuco stood there, seeing nothing but the red of his own eyelids. "Is there anything in my way if I press up against the wall next to the door?" he asked.

"No, not to your right," Elf answered. His voice was so gentle and alluring that Tuco was grateful he'd finally satisfied himself moments ago. Temptation, at least for now, was gone. He sidled to the right of the room, being careful to hold his tail close, and pressed up against the wall, leaning near the closed door so he could hear.

All was quiet, but for some movement in the hallway. He was glad of the peace, both outside and within. He hadn't realized until it was gone how oppressive the unending storm of arousal had been, always turning his thoughts to a single focus, interrupting every other idea and emotion, twisting it all toward one kind of pleasure. And now the storm had passed and there could be peace inside him again. It was so sweet, so precious. He wanted to lie in the cool, quiet waters of his soul and just float, just be.

If only the devils could simply leave him alone, even for just a while. But that seemed unlikely. If Hob was right, now he was a Knight of the Abyss, and he would have inherited all of Asmodeus's souls as well. He had only become an even bigger target for the powerful devils that reigned there.

"Thank you for giving me shelter," he whispered to Elf.

"No thanks are required. I'm pleased to have such a handsome visitor. That was quite a scene in the hallway. I wish I could have seen more of it." The man's musical voice turned sad. "I see so little these days beyond my cell."

"It's unfair that you can't come out," Tuco said.

"Even if the most righteous among us put me here? Perhaps they are right, Tuco. I am too much for the world. We must not put ourselves above the welfares of others. Not even when it pains us."

"I know. I... don't know if I'll ever be able to go back out into the world either. Still, it's--" Tuco broke off at the sound of the creak of the corridor door.

"By all the saints," someone said in the hallway. "What happened here?"

The hard voice of Brother Gabriel cut through the muffled echoes. "A demon was summoned. Can you not whiff the brimstone on the air?"

"All I smell is--is sex, Brother."

"You should hone your senses toward the divine and the infernal, Brother Hampstead. Do not let the wastes of human desire cloud your perception."

"Your advice is well-received, Brother Gabriel, but there is so much of it. Surely this is the work of a demon."

"I fear it is so. See here beneath the... filth. Candles. The remains of a circle. A summoning was performed here. You there. Animals. Apprentices, if you can understand me. Have you been changed by a demon? Have you minds of your own?"

Pike's voice. "We have been changed, Brother Gabriel, but not today."

"And did you see a demon in this corridor?"

"We saw something terrible, Your Reverence. It looked like a demon."

"'Brother' will be fine, apprentice. Do not serve the purposes of the infernal by tempting others with vanity. You say it looked like a demon. How so?"

"It was like in the pictures, Your--your... Brother. And like some of us have seen before. A terrifying creature, perhaps ten feet tall, with great horns and a tail. Like in the pictures."

"And you. You concur with what he saw?"

"Yes, Brother," came Braxus's voice. "It near to filled the corridor. I've never been so afraid. But it vanished."

"Vanished? Just like that?"

"Yes, Brother Gabriel. It was here one minute, and then it just... shrank away into nothing, sir. I was so frightened. I thought it like to devour us all."

"Us all, what do you mean? Were there more than the two of you here?"

A moment's pause. "Us all meaning everyone in the Abbey, sir. Only that's how frightening it was."

"I see." Brother Gabriel was quiet for a moment. "Now, I'm going to ask you both a question, and it is vital that both of you be honest with me. If you lie to me now, you won't simply be ejected from this abbey. I will have both of you charged with crimes against Christendom. You will be shipped off to Lavatica where you will be tried. And Brother Marcus here will know if you've spoken a falsehood. I don't care to use abilities granted by demons, but his nose has proven quite reliable. No one sniffs out a lie like him. Isn't that so, Brother Marcus?"

A loud snuffling sound came from the other side of the door. Someone answered in a drawn, nasal voice, "I can indeed smell prevarication and false witness, even through the reek of this filth-smeared room."

"So know that I speak truly when I say I will know if you lie to me, creatures. Did you summon a demon in this circle?"

"No, sir," both Pike and Braxus answered. Pike added, "We can't even do summoning magic, sir."

"Do you know who did?"

"No, sir." That was Pike, and Tuco held his breath, waiting for him to be accused. But it was no lie. No one had summoned a demon. Tuco had summoned a devil. And that devil was, literally, in the details.

"And what were you doing in this hallway?"

"Visiting our friend. That's his room, Brother Gabriel."

"Your friend. And is that friend Tuco Witchywine?"

"Yes, Brother Gabriel."

"I suspected as much. Was he here with you?"

"Yes, but he fled after we saw the demon thing."

"Did he, now. And which way did he go?"

Pike paused ever so slightly. "I didn't see, Brother Gabriel. I wasn't looking."

"And were you looking, wolf creature?"

"No, sir."

"And how is it that neither of you saw where Master Witchywine fled to?"

Pike stammered, "We--we had our eyes closed, Brother Gabriel."

"And why is that?"

"We didn't want to look. In case we... we... ejaculated, sir."

Brother Gabriel's voice took on a note of dry amusement. "There has been a lot of that going around lately, hasn't there?"

"The creature forced us to, Brother. We were helpless to stop ourselves."

"Yes, I can see the... mess. All of this came from you?"

"Oh no, sir. It contributed quite a lot."

"And where did it go?"

"Couldn't say, Brother Gabriel. Like we said, it was like it shrank away to nothing."

There was a long sigh. After a moment, Brother Gabriel said, "Let me summarize. Neither of you were involved in summoning the demon and you don't know who did. You were here to visit Tuco Witchywine, but after seeing the creature, he fled, and neither of you saw where he went. The infernal thing caused moments of... sexual transgression... in both of you at the sight of it, and afterward it vanished. Is all of that accurate?"

"Yes, sir," both Pike and Braxus answered.

A pause, then Brother Gabriel asked, "Brother Marcus?"

The nasal voice drawled back, "I scent no lie upon them, Brother Gabriel. Though the terrible reek of this corridor might well be masking lesser prevarications."

"Well, this interrogation has been spectacularly useless," Brother Gabriel said bitterly. "And yet once again, the signs of demons seem always to surround our young apprentice, Tuco. We shall have words the next time I lay my eyes upon him, mark me. You two, do you not have classes to attend?"

"They were cancelled, sir," Braxus answered.

Brother Gabriel made an irritated sound. "Then perhaps that time ought to be spent in somber reflection and repentance for your... recent weakness."

"Yes, Brother Gabriel," both Pike and Braxus answered, and then there came the somewhat sticky sounds of five people leaving the corridor by the dormitory door.

Tuco waited for some time, worried at any moment they might come back, worried that if he stepped out of the room he would see Brother Gabriel standing just outside the corridor, peering in with accusatory eyes.

He felt Elf's hand rest softly in the small of his back. "Are you all right?" the man asked in soothing tones.

Tuco shivered at the proximity of so much beauty, so close, and did not dare to look. "I will be. I'm just worried." Now that the immediate danger had passed, he let himself relax a little, and let his thoughts stray from his own situation. "How do you manage it, Elf? How do you stay in here all the time? It must be like a prison to you."

"Ah, well, there are prisons and then there are prisons, aren't there? A man can be free but chained up inside his own head. Or within stone walls but his spirit soaring above everyone. Besides, I don't exactly stay in here all the time."

"You leave the room? I thought you were always in here."

"Not always," Elf said with amusement. "Though of course I can't leave as I am. I have my own ways. Perhaps you should look for yours."

"I'm not sure what you mean," Tuco said. "But thank you for letting me hide in here."

Elf's voice bubbled with barely contained laughter. "You're welcome here any time, you sexy devil."

"Thank you," Tuco said again, and opened the door. The corridor was empty, though he thought he saw the quick flitting shapes of demons already beginning to clean up the mess he and Asmodeus had made of it.

He stumbled to his pallet and for the first time in days fell into a deep, unthinking slumber.

---

"Do you know what this is about?" Tuco whispered to Pike. He squirmed uncomfortably on the wooden bench provided for larger apprentices, his tail swaying behind him until it found Pike and curled around his waist. The chapel in front of them was filled with robed apprentices and the flowing susurrus of hushed conversation. At the very front of the room sat most of the Brothers, hooded and still.

Pike shook his head. "Whatever it is, it isn't good. You've seen the Brothers' faces lately."

"Like they've been chewing horseradish all week." Tuco chewed on a claw. "I just know this is because of something I did."

"But you've been doing so much better. You're not... sex-crazed anymore, and thankfully, you're not shrinking anyone."

"You just had to bring that up," squeaked Etreon from the pocket of Tuco's robe.

"Do you even think you can anymore?" Pike asked. "What I mean is, do you think you're still an incubus?"

"I--I think so," Tuco said. He was trying to keep his voice low, but its new bass rumble made it carry more than he wished. At least they were sitting all the way in the back of the room. "I could probably... you know... someone's soul if I wanted to, but of course I don't want to. More importantly, I don't need to." He glanced toward his loins. "And that hasn't changed shape since I... since what happened to Asmodeus."

Pike rubbed at his chin. "I suppose we should attempt to change it. Just to know if you still can. And I rather enjoyed you having two. More... options. Though what you're equipped with now is not half fun to play with. But now you mention Asmodeus, do you think he's gone? He said a lot of things about souls existing forever inside an incubus. Can you feel him in you?"

"He's there. I can feel it, somehow. And lots of others, too. It's as though I'm filled with memories of all these people, but I can't remember how I know them, and all the memories are things that are... happening to them. Maybehave been happening to them for a long time. And if I focus on one and imagine something, I think it... does happen to them. I can feel them inside me when I do. Their pleasure, or their need, or their longing. And regret. Lots and lots of regret. But they're all quiet now. I'm letting them sleep until I figure it out. I don't want any of them to be tormented. Not even Asmodeus."

"And us?" came Braxus's voice from where he sprawled on the stones behind them. "Can you feel us in there too?"

Tuco shrugged, and his tunic gave a creak as its seams complained. "I don't know. There are so many little memories in there, and most of them are complete. But one night I imagined doing something with you, and I think you might have dreamed it."

Braxus's tail thumped against the floor. "Really? Hold on, was that the dream with the big wings and all the feathers that--"

Tuco cleared his throat. "Yes, I think it was that dream."

The wolftaur let out a low, happy sigh. "That was a nice one."

"So we can request dreams from you?" Etreon said from Tuco's pocket. "Because I have a few that--"

Pike shushed him. "Look, here comes Brother Gabriel."

With long, quick strides, the monk stalked up to the center of the chapel, pausing only briefly to cross himself before standing in front of the altar, his hands folded behind his back, his steely eyes surveying the gathered apprentices and monks, who quickly fell into absolute silence. When he spoke, his voice rang out like a bell. "Sin," he said, in a tone that suggested he had personally identified it in each and every man sitting in front of him. "Sin has made its way among us."

"You're right," Pike breathed to Tuco. "It is about you."

Tuco thwapped Pike's thigh with the flat of his tail barb.

"Mates, he'll hear you," Braxus hissed.

Brother Gabriel scanned the crowd solemnly. "I have convened us all in the chapel because this is the one place we know that infernal forces cannot be listening. For sin has infiltrated us. This abbey was intended as a place of prayer, study, and reflection. A place to attempt to divine the..." he trailed off and his cheeks flushed pink. "...er, the divine purpose for all of us. To attempt to forestay the dread day of the Apocalypse. But we have lost our way. We spend more time in the pleasures of the flesh than at prayer. We indulge temptations rather than avoid them, and why? To claim that doing so prevents demonic influence? Does it truly, my fellow Christians? Or does it satisfy them? A holy man need not sate his appetites to prevent them being predated upon; nay, by doing so he becometh the predator himself. What need hath Sathanus to whisper into thine ear if thou thinkest his seductions willingly on thine own?"

"He's slipped into Archaic," Pike muttered.

"It's the Bible," Tuco whispered back. "He's quoting scripture."

Pike made a low huff. "Aye, an' the devil may quote scripture to his purpose."

"Truly I say unto you," Brother Gabriel's voice rang over the crowd, "that we have lost sight of our mission. That evil has come skulking among us, hissing its lies with its forked tongue."

Tuco self-consciously pulled his tongue back into his mouth and snapped his jaws shut.

"And that evil began with a face, a name. One who traded his mind and soul to demons for forbidden powers, one who allowed gluttony, sloth, and lust to take hold in the confines of these once-hallowed walls. One whose body was engorged and twisted by demonic influence."

Tuco sank lower and lower, wishing he could consume his own soul and shrink himself right out of the room. Brother Gabriel was looking directly at him, his steely eyes boring into him like twin lancets.

"It is a name you all know," Brother Gabriel said, allowing his voice to carry a hint of gentleness and sadness. "And one whose virtue I am certain you have all questioned at one time or another. The name of the man who has corrupted this sacred place is..." He took a deep breath and scanned the room again as though waiting for someone else to shout it out. "Lord Krastor."

Gasps of shock moved across the room. Tuco stared at Brother Gabriel, a prickle moving over his skin.

"Many of you never met him, I am sure. He was bloated with the evil that he had courted, twisted into a monster that defied all that was good and holy, that defied any sense of decency and love. Six eyes he had, and four of them showed him lies. Lies from the Abyss! It was with that hellsight that he led us and this abbey down the road to perdition. And he claimed it wisdom, and his Brothers and those apprentices he had taken in like sons believed him, trusted him, and were led astray. But," he said, raising a long finger, "not all of us were fooled. Know that upon seeing the dark influence that had spread among us, I penned a missive directly to our Pontiff. His Holiness Agnus IV himself authorized me to root out the corruption in this abbey by whatever means I see fit. That I have done, and that I shall do."

He smiled, and it was the first time Tuco had seen him do so. It was not a pleasant expression. "Lord Krastor has been bound in St. Peter's Fire and condemned to the Throat. A fate--" he began, but his voice was lost in the cries of alarm and disbelief moving throughout the room.

"Oh no," Pike groaned. "Poor Krastor. Not the Throat."

"A fate," Brother Gabriel repeated, shouting above the din in the tones of one who knows it will silence immediately, "which awaits any one of you who lets demonic influences into your hearts or minds. I know many of you have been changed and twisted already, and except for those who are too far gone for redemption, your past errors will not be held against you. However, I warn you all: spend your time in prayer and repentance. Beg that the Almighty lift these curses from you and safeguard you from further alteration. Henceforth, any apprentice or Brother who finds himself altered too greatly, whether deemed harmful to others or not, will not be expelled from these walls, but condemned to the Throat, where you may spend as much time as you wish with Lord Krastor and his many wretched new companions." The gaunt smile widened. "You are, of course, free to leave, upon a conference with myself and the Brethren. But know that your questioning will be thorough, and you will be accountable for any slips you have made. Or lies you tell. I advise you to consider carefully the holiness of our mission, and why any of you should seek to forsake it."

Brother Gabriel's eyes slid across the crowd like a sword lopping off selected heads. "Devote yourselves to prayer, meditation, and repentance. Fasting is encouraged. Let your minds be disciplined and serene. Fill them with thoughts of your God, so that temptation has no room to enter." He took a breath, and Tuco could swear once again his eyes were fixed on him. "There are yet a few of you who have aligned yourselves with the demons and who spread temptation and corruption among your fellows. Know that I know who you are, and I will not allow you to risk innocents with your sinful ways. I advise you to prepare your souls, for you will be dealt with, very shortly." He nodded once, firmly, to a dead silent room. "That will be all." And with that, he strode off into the priest's chambers, and the room exploded into conversation.

Tuco put his hands to his head, gripping the new horns that had grown there. "Oh God," he cried. "Oh God, he meant me. He's going to throw me in the Throat."

---

"Will you be all right?" Pike asked Tuco, wrapping arms tightly around his middle. "You don't have to be alone if you don't want to."

Hob flapped around them in an indignant circle. "He's not alone!"

"It's all right," Tuco said with a sigh. He squeezed the rabbit back as tightly as he dared and stopped when he heard the oof. "I don't think I should be around any of you right now. Brother Gabriel already knows you're my friends. If he catches me with you now, he might just throw you all in the Throat alongside me. I'd never forgive myself if that happened."

Pike nodded slowly. "The danger around here is so loud now I can barely hear myself think. I'm frightened, Tuco. But I'm not frightened with you. So figure it out soon, all right?"

"Of course," Tuco promised, giving Pike another careful hug and then lifting him up to kiss his muzzle.

"Take care of yourself, Tuco," Pike said. "Don't isolate yourself again. We're here to help you."

"I know, thank you, Pike. We'll find some way to deal with Brother Gabriel," he said as the rabbit left. To the empty room, he added. "I just wish I knew how."

"You could eat his soul," Hob suggested.

Tuco paced up to the window of his cell and rested his hands on either side. "No, Hob, I'm not eating anyone's soul."

"Then lie to him! Use that tongue of yours and tell him you've gone away! Or that you're good and kind and he doesn't need to worry about you."

"I am good and kind and he doesn't need to worry about me!"

"Not true! Not if you change his thoughts!" the imp suggested cheerfully.

"No, Hob, it's out of the question. I've harmed him enough. I'm not going to do it."

Hob scowled. "What's the use of having devil powers if you're not even going to use them to save yourself from horrible punishments?"

Tuco peered at him. "You're awfully argumentative for a change. I thought I was a great and wise devil knight who could make no errors?"

Hob blinked, his red eyes widening. "Oh! But of course, Sir Tuco! Will you punish me for my wretched disrespect?"

"Not this time, Hob. I'm not going to do anything that hurts someone else."

"Then if you won't fight, maybe you should hide?"

Tuco drummed his claws on the stone wall. "It's a good thought, at least until things calm down, but where? Brother Gabriel will be able to find me in any part of the abbey, and I can hardly go out and live among ordinary people. Not..." he sighed. "Not looking exactly like what they'd expect a demon to look like. I'd be burned at the stake."

Hob gave him a white, fang-filled grin. "How about someplace the monks can't go? Or the people outside? How about a place only the damned can go?"

Tuco blinked. "You mean... the Abyss?" He turned around to stare at Hob. "But--but the Abyss is awful! And besides, I don't know how to get there. And even if I could, wouldn't I just be surrounded by more devils, all of them wanting to get my souls? It sounds like it would be even more dangerous."

Hob took to the air and fluttered over to him. "But master, not all of the Abyss is the same! Mortals think it is a place of fire and torment, but there are as many different places in the Abyss as there are places in Heaven or on Earth! Every devil has a demesne there, even you!"

"So you're saying I could go to my demesne somehow?"

"Well, you could," Hob said, darting back and forth in indecisive flaps of his wings. "But the devils would surely find you there. No, no, it would never do. You could lose yourself in the Shadows of Tartarus, but it's so gloomy and sad. Not fitting for a robust Knight of the Abyss like you, Sir Tuco! There is... another place. A safehouse, kind of place, where devils like you can go to wait out bad times. A place where no one could find you or take you away. Where you would be safe, Sir Tuco."

"I don't know about that," Tuco said doubtfully. "How could anything be safe in the Abyss?"

Hob flitted over to hang from the candle sconce. "Master judges many things without seeing them first, doesn't he? The Abyss is not what he thinks. But he must make up his own mind."

"Could I even get there?" Tuco asked.

"What a question Master asks! Any devil or demon can go to the Abyss! He must only know the way." Hob gave him a sidelong glance. "I could show you. You could see the safehouse for yourself. But we would have to go straight there. You defeated Sir Asmodeus and powerful devils in the Abyss will surely know of it. No dawdling to talk to handsome satyrs."

"There are handsome satyrs in the Abyss?" Tuco asked, surprise jolting him from his thoughts.

"Not for you, there aren't," the imp said, shaking a tiny finger at him. "Straight there! No diversions! Master would not wish to be preyed upon by a baronet devil!"

"Baronet, is that what's after knight?"

"A baronet will be after this knight if he doesn't keep close. You want to come? You want to see the Abyss and the safe place, Sir Tuco?"

Tuco took a deep breath. Venturing into the realms of the afterlife was so far beyond his experience that it was hard to imagine it was a real question. But the more he thought of it, the more curious he became. To be one of the only mortals ever to witness the afterlife before dying! And to potentially have a safe place to hide whenever mortal danger threatened! But it was a terrible risk. What if devils found him? What if he couldn't find his way back? "I don't know, Hob," he said, letting his breath out. "It might be dangerous."

"Oh, master, you forget!" Hob crowed. "You are dangerous! You are a great and powerful devil! With your own powers you could rule this entire Abbey! You made every man here come at once! It was glorious to see!"

Now there was a thought. "You're right, Hob. I am dangerous. I... I've put my own friends in peril. Brother Gabriel wants to throw them in the Throat, malevolent devils are hunting me down and putting my friends in danger, and that's if I don't do anything to them. I changed Charo and Walstein. I shrank Braxus and Pike, and Etreon is the size of a doll now. And... it would have been worse, so much worse, if we hadn't been able to summon Asmodeus and defeat him. I do need to leave. Not for my safety, but for theirs."

Hob tilted his head in a quizzical expression. "For theirs, Master?"

"Yes. You can show me the way to this safe place?"

The little imp put his hands on his hips. "Oh yes, great and wise Master! I can show you the way! I can show you how to open a door to the Abyss with your own talons!"

---

Pike leaned against the wall, arms behind his head, watching Etreon clamber all over Braxus and pant with the effort. "And what is the point of that?" he asked.

"You'd understand," Etreon said, struggling to climb up one of Braxus's muscled arms, "if you were little. Besides, it's good exercise."

"I suppose." Pike stared up at the ceiling. "Poor Tuco. He just can't get a stroke of luck. Even when he's served a course of fun, it comes with a side dish of strife. I don't envy him. Well, I do... but I don't, too."

"I'm just glad to know him," Braxus said, his tail slowly thumping against the floor. "I know everyone is concerned about him being corrupted, but the devils really picked the wrong person, because he's so kind. I don't know how Brother Gabriel could distrust him."

"That man distrusts everyone," Pike muttered. "I wish I could say it was mere unwarranted suspicion, but I think Tuco's right. Brother Gabriel's just looking for an excuse to throw him in the Throat. I can't believe it about poor Lord Krastor. I never met him, but Tuco seemed to think he was kind, too. Why is it that the severe religious types always seem to hate kindness the most?"

Hob fluttered down from the ceiling. "Many pious men go to the Abyss," he said. "Men who love their own piety more than they love other people. It's the Temptation of the Self. The core temptation."

"Core?" Pike asked, frowning.

"Oh, sure, I see it," Braxus said. "All temptations are about the self, deep down, aren't they? They're all built on it, but the higher temptations are harder to see. Like... gluttony is all about more food for you and then others don't get some. That's the first temptation."

Pike said, "I thought it was about food taking your mind from God. And then the temptation of ease is how we'd rather lay around and not do work to help others and serve God. And then lust..." he trailed off. "Braxus, Etreon, you notice anything?"

"What?" Braxus asked, as Etreon's voice called "Nope!" from somewhere in his chest fur.

"Food, Ease, Sex, those are the first three Temptations."

"Yes, what of it?" Braxus asked.

"Aren't those the first three devils to tempt Tuco? They made him eat a lot, and then--"

Etreon squeaked, "And then made him huge and strong so nothing would be difficult for him!"

"And we all know what happened with Asmodeus."

"Very well, so that's the first three temptations," Braxus said. "What is your point?"

"So they're tempting him in order. In the Biblical order. And if they keep doing it, then--"

Etreon fell out of Braxus's chest and landed on a forepaw with a grunt. He stuck his head up. "Then we know what is next!"

"Wait," Braxus said. "Then which one is it? What's the fourth temptation?"

"The Temptation of Safety," Hob said soberly. "Very, very many people turn dark because of that one. Fear is one of the great weapons of the Abyss."

"Wait a moment," Pike said, frowning. "Hob, what are you doing here? Did Tuco send you away? I thought you were supposed to be working this out with him."

Hob tilted his head. "What is the rabbit person talking about? Hob has not seen Master all day."

"Don't lie, demon, I just saw you with--" Pike's ears stood straight upright. "Oh no. Oh no. I heard the danger and I didn't recognize it. Tuco!" He leapt to his feet and raced down the hallway with superhuman speed.

When Braxus finally caught up to him, Etreon in his arms, Pike was standing in the doorway of Tuco's room. "Oh no," he cried. "Oh no."

The air was heavy with the stink of brimstone. On the wall opposite Tuco's pallet, a giant, black line split the stones nearly from floor to ceiling like a charred scar. The edges of it still glowed with a red light that went deep into the stone.

Tuco was gone.

END OF BOOK ONE