Free Vale of the Vole by Piers Anthony Page A

didn't know there was a midget roc bird!" Esk remarked.
    "You're not the Good Magician," Chex reminded him.
    "Obviouvly he was juvt finding hiv plave," Volney said. "He wav about to revearch the propertiev of ventaur wingv,"
    Chex and Esk stared at him. "That must be right!" Esk said. "To Answer your Question!"
    Chex looked stricken. "But why did he go, then? I need that answer!"
    "That veemv to be our challenge to divcover."
    It was the same situation throughout the castle: everywhere there were evidences of recent and normal activity, but nowhere did any person or creature remain. All servants, if there had been any, had departed; all creatures had been released, in the same manner as the little smokers at the moat. Indeed, they now realized that the moat itself was empty; the moat monsters were gone. That was almost unheard of for a castle. Yet there was no sign of violence; it was as if the Good Magician and his family had simply stepped out for a moment—and not returned. What could account for this?
    One region remained to be checked: the dungeon. That was said to be the region of major activity for some castles. Could they have gone down to check something there, and somehow gotten trapped below?
    But the stair down was not blocked, and no door was locked. It could not have been any simple entrapment.
    "If something happened down there," Chex said nervously, "it could remain dangerous. If, for example, he had a demon there—"
    That sent a chill down Esk's back. "A demon could account for it," he agreed. "Some of them are just nuisances, like the one I encountered, but I understand that some are truly terrible. If he meant to keep it confined, but it got out—"
    "Then it could have rampaged through the castle and smashed everything and everyone in it," Chex finished.
    "Exvept there wav no rampage," Volney pointed out. "No vign of violenve."
    "Not all demons are violent," Chex said. "Some are merely mischievous. They assume other forms, and tempt mortal folk into trouble. If the demon became a damsel in distress, right outside the castle, they all might have hurried out to help, and—"
    "The Good Magician should never have been fooled by a demon," Esk protested. "He's the Magician of Information. He knows everything!"
    She sighed. "I agree; it's a weak hypothesis. Let's gird ourselves and see what's down there."
    They descended the stone stair. There was no sign of disturbance on the nether level either, and no sign of anything intended to confine a demon. Small vials crowded the shelves of storage chambers, all of them carefully stoppered; any severe activity should have shaken some vials so that they fell to the floor. This level was the same as the others: normal for its nature.
    Except for one small chamber behind a closed door. Chex peered through the tiny barred window. "Activity," she murmured tersely.
    Esk felt that cold shiver again. "What is it?"
    "It seems to be a—an experiment of some sort," she said. "It's hard to make it out properly. There's a container on a hearth, and it's boiling, and the vapors are overflowing across the floor."
    "He must have been cooking up a potion," Esk said, "and forgot to turn it off when he left."
    "Then we had better turn it off," she said. "There is no sense letting it boil away to nothing."
    Volney sniffed the air. "Beware," he said. "That vmellv like . . ."
    When he did not continue, Chex prompted him. "Like what?"
    "What?" the vole asked in return.
    "What does it smell like?"
    "What doev what vmell like?"
    "That potion!" she said impatiently.
    "Povion?"
    "The one you just smelled!" she said. "How could you have forgotten it already?"
    "I—forget," Volney said, seeming confused. "What am I doing here?"
    "What are you—!" she repeated indignantly. "Volney, this is no time for games!"
    "For what?"
    Suddenly Esk caught on. "An amnesia ambrosia!" he exclaimed. "Volney's nose is more sensitive than ours, and he's closer to the floor. Those fumes must be spreading out and