Free And The Devil Will Drag You Under (1979) by Jack L. Chalker Page B

candle burned quite a bit lower than she had remembered. But she had no idea how long she had slept.
    Some of her initial confidence had worn off, but she was still game. She wanted out of this crazy place, and soon-no matter what.
    "His Holiness will see you," the man told her, then turned and walked out. The cold stone felt like ice but she quickly followed.
    They descended further into the labyrinth of stone, and the lower they went the colder it became. She had no idea where they were going or what was at the other end, but she knew for a certainty that she would develop pneumonia if this kept up any longer.
    Finally they reached a small door, and her guide stopped and knocked softly three times. For the first time Jill reflected on the absence of other people-they had passed none-and, just as interesting, the lack of even the remote sounds of other people.
    The guide knocked again, whereupon they heard a muffled response which the red-garbed man took to be assent. He pulled open the door and entered, Jill fol-lowing, through a back antechamber and into a large room that was surprisingly different than anything she had seen in Zolkar. It was a large room, with a big roaring fireplace, woven rugs on the floor and also on the walls, and a great deal of comfortable-looking furniture, padded chairs and raised tables included.
    It looked like a staid board room from her world; it was out of place here.
    The guide mistook her amazement for ignorance. "You sit on those," he told her, pointing to red-upholstered chairs. "Choose one, sit in it, and wait."
    She shrugged. It was warmer in here by far, although certainly cooler than she'd like, and she chose a large stuffed chair near the fire. She relaxed, feeling more normal and comfortable than she had in a long time, then turned to ask the guide how long the wait would be-and discovered that he had vanished. She was alone in the room.
    She looked around. Or was she alone? It was a large place, and there was a lot of furniture and stuff here. She had the odd feeling that she was being examined.
    Then from across the room, a door opened and a little man stepped through. He wore the same gilded robe and boots as the others, but his robe was the purest white, like white silk. He walked funny. Although his face, too, was hard to see, she knew, just from the size of the man and his gait, that this was, in fact, the man she wanted to see.
    Study the Holy Covenant, the voice of the Holy Spirit had told her, and she had, and now here she was. Now if her plan would only continue to hold up!
    The white-robed man approached and took a chair facing hers.
    "Mogart sent you, of course," said the demon.
    His statement caught her a little off guard, but she recovered quickly. His voice was the same as Mogart's, only different-a little softer, a little kinder, which was very good indeed.
    She nodded to the demon. "Yes, he did."
    "To steal my little gem," the Holy Elder said rather than asked.
    "For the gem, yes," she admitted, "but not to steal it. For you to give it to me, freely and of your own will."
    The demon chuckled. "Now, why on all the earths should I do that? He's been trying to get enough of the things to get himself off that miserable little exist-ence plane of yours for thousands of years. Got a few, too, in his time, but never got enough and never managed to keep them. He's a rogue and a scoundrel, my dear. Just to assuage his boredom, he has been the source of uncounted misery on your world-demonism, possession, devil worship-you name it and he's behind it. He has an incredibly powerful mind, more powerful than perhaps any other I have known-but it's crossed the border, crossed it millennia ago, that border between greatness and madness. No, my dear, I cannot think of any circumstances under which I would give you the gem-it is, after all, also my only way home to the University."
    "I don't think our world is so miserable," she re-torted. "Zolkar isn't a place I would want to spend