Free Demons of the Dancing Gods by Jack L. Chalker Page B

horses can get a good rest and watering on the
    other side." She paused. "You, too."
    He wiped sweat from his forehead and looked up at the
    ominous hill. "So how do we do it?"
    "First let me go up and check it out, see if there's any place
    we can cross. Then we'll risk my horse, with me leading. If
    the stuff underfoot holds her, it will hold you and yours."
    He nodded. "Fair enough. But be careful—I don't want you
    melted down."
    She laughed. "No danger of that. I can swim in the stuff,
    Joe. I have done it." She sighed and looked up at the swirling
    smoke. "Well—here goes!" And with that, she was gone,
    flying up the side and into the dense cloud at the top.
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    Chalker, Jack L - Demons of the Dancing Gods
    This time she was gone for only a couple of minutes, reappearing
    and setting down in front of her horse. "There's a way,
    I think," she told him, "but it's going to be a real hairy time
    for you and the horses. It's cinder most of the way, but I think
    it will hold. Up just into the smoke, though, the heat comes
    and goes. There are real nasty cracks all over the place." She
    pointed. "But in one spot, just over there, it seems fairly cool.
    It's been hot, though, and the heat has melted and remelted
    the stuff up there. The surface is almost like glass, and it's
    bound to be slippery. If you slip, it's pretty nasty on either
    side."
    He looked up and swallowed hard. "Well, let's try it. Anything
    to get out of spending a night around here. I want to get
    it over with while there's still some light."
    She nodded. Taking her horse's bridle, she stepped out onto
    the cinders. The horse resisted for a moment, then went along
    when she saw Marge being supported. Then the horse sank a
    bit into the cinders and ash and thrashed for a moment in
    confusion. It took precious minutes of Joe's daylight to calm
    her down and get her to go on.
    Beyond, the cinders and ash were so dense that they gave
    a surprisingly solid footing. Joe decided to lead his horse as
    well and was relieved to Find that the hill felt, at least at the
    beginning, cool. He was, however, really beginning to wish
    he could trade his thick sandals for some even thicker boots.
    Asbestos boots, preferably.
    The slope was rather gentle, and they took it at an angle,
    but it was slow going, and several times the material gave way,
    causing a momentary loss of footing. The horses were a big
    problem here, but, fortunately, none were sufficiently unbalanced
    by the occasional loss of footing to go tumbling over
    and back down.
    Almost before Joe realized it, they were up to the smoke
    level and into it. The stuff stank and stung his eyes, causing
    even more problems with the horses, but the gases weren't very
    dense, once he was in them, and he could, at least, see ahead
    to the rear of Marge's horse. One thing for sure, though—the
    air was getting really hot, and he was sweating as he never
    had before. The volcanic surface, too, was getting pretty damned
    warm, although not bad enough to cause burning.
    And then they hit the remelted area. He had imagined a
    smooth slope. In fact, it was rough and irregular, but it was
    shiny and slippery. Only the irregularities in its surface, almost
    like a frozen sea, allowed them any chance of footing. The
    stuff was hot, too—he felt as if he were in somebody's giant
    oven, and the bottom of his sandals were becoming very, very
    warm.
    He soon saw why. Only ten feet or so on either side, the
    glassy surface dropped away to reveal a bubbling, hissing pit.
    "I'm already well done!" he called out, coughing at the
    smoke and miserable from the intense heat- "How much farther
    is it?"
    "Not far," she called back. "Just ten more minutes and we're
    home free!"
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    Chalker, Jack L - Demons of the Dancing Gods
    He groaned. He wasn't sure he or the horses could last that
    long. Right about then he was so miserable he didn't give a
    damn about the horses.
    Suddenly Marge stopped, and he almost screamed out