Im felt worse as the day progressed. Soon, Na did too.

  “We were warned,” he pointed out. Na only cursed Xido and the entire world to which he had brought them.

  Sick or not, Xido told them, they would be on the road tomorrow. “We’ll not wear out our welcome here,” he insisted. Then he fixed his gaze on Im. “Nor upset any more young women.”

  Na knew nothing of what happened the previous night, but she had no problem imagining something. “Ah, which one was it, you sly boy? Arrr. Arrr. Damn this sore throat!”

  “Damning won’t help it one bit,” Xido told her. “Unless you use the proper god’s name in your curse.”

  “Not yours, I assume,” came the sorceress’ reply. “These Ildin don’t follow you, do they?”

  “No, they have their own pantheon. I’ve met some of them on my travels.” He shook his head, slowly. “An odd bunch. All the good ones are quite thoroughly good and the bad ones are incredibly despicable.”

  Im mumbled, “That says something about the people who worship them, doesn’t it?” Then he sneezed, twice, violently.

  “I’m sure it does. But the Ildin themselves are human and not greatly different from anyone else.” He looked from one to the other. “And now, as happens with humans, they are a bit frightened. They suspect you two are sorcerers — Tesrans have that reputation to begin with and Im’s escapade st night made things worse.”

  Na made no remark this time but was obviously curious. Im ignored her.

  “The girl, er, woman is all right, isn’t she?” asked Im. He realized he had no idea what her name might be. The boy felt a bit of regret now for having frightened her.

  “She seems so. Oerasee’s daughter believes the demons of her people’s religion were after her for her, ah, impure desires. Oerasee herself believes it was but a dream, and I have no intention of convincing her otherwise.”

  “Xit,” asked Na, who had taken to calling the deity by this name, “I can see we need to be on our way. But will we be well enough to travel tomorrow? I’ve never been so sick before.”

  “Me neither,” added Im. A few mild ailments made their way around the popution of Hirstel from time to time, little more than inconveniences.

  “You’ll be sicker tomorrow, both of you, but not so much you can’t walk a few miles.” He chuckled at their unhappy expressions. “You should be getting better after that.”

  “Is there magic we could use?” wondered Im. Na, too, turned inquisitive eyes toward the god.

  “I’ve already worked some. Otherwise, you might have been sick a week or longer. Indeed,” he continued, in a much more serious voice, “with you so vulnerable to the diseases of this world it could even have killed you. You must learn the proper methods to deal with this yourself.”

  The two mortals looked at each other. “That would be useful,” spoke Na. “I’d much rather not die.”

  “And once you learn some basics it won’t be difficult,” Xido assured them. He spent the rest of that day teaching the two Hirstelites, two of the most powerful sorcerers you might imagine, the rudiments of working magic in a new world.

  “You already know the theories,” he had told them. “You know how it works. It’s no more than a matter of applying it differently.” So they practiced the things Xido showed them. So they learned enough to make a beginning, and knew more at supper than they did at breakfast.

  Indeed, that is something for which we should all strive. If you have not accomplished it today, who is there to bme? Now listen and you shall learn even more. Will it be useful? Who can say, my friends?

  Na and Im also learned somewhat of fevers and runny noses that day, and that sleepless night. By morning, the boy was coughing; Na soon was doing the same. “You are getting through this even more quickly than I expected,” observed Xido. “We should be able to travel a league or two further to the south this day. But it will be a journey of many days to the sea, even when you are yourselves again.”

  And so they breakfasted there one st time — Xido, mostly, as the two invalids did not have much appetite — and gave their thanks and farewells to the assembled vilgers and set off down the barely-visible road southward. “So that was the woman,” mumbled Na, as the houses dwindled behind them. “I’m sure I can get Qu’orthseth to give me the entire story.”

  “There’s little to tell,” Im assured her. “We went into the woods and the demons showed up before anything could happen.”

  Na nodded. “Too bad. Or maybe it was better that way. My head seems to be clearing up.”

  “Mine too.” Im thought on this for several seconds before saying, “In more ways than one. I seem to be thinking more and more clearly since we have been in this world.”

  The sorceress considered his statement. “That may be true. We should ask Xit about it when we camp.”

  The travelers got a te start and they made an early stop, beside a narrow, rapid stream that crossed their path, flowing westward. “There is no sense in pushing it today,” Xido decided. “We can rest and continue your lessons.”

  Not long after, the great red demon strolled into their camp. “I’ve been paralleling you, more or less,” it announced. “No sign of those boys in blue.”

  “I wouldn’t think they’d want to get anywhere near Xido,” said Im. “Can you do that to humans too?” he asked the god.

  “No. Demons of that sort have a unique physiology. A simpler physiology. In a way, I was doing a crude variant on that shrinking Akorzef demonstrated for us.”

  “It will recover in a few days,” added Qu’orthseth. “Unfortunately.”

  “And how are you doing, my felonious demon?” asked Xido. “Acclimating to this world?”

  “More or less. I’m getting my magic under control, not that I have much, you understand.” Xido nodded. “But I sometimes find it hard to sense what is around me. Maybe that too will get better.”

  Qu’orthseth tilted its head upward. “This world’s sun is not enough to sustain me, of course. But I am having no problem drawing energy from my home — it would seem my geas follows me. As long as Im lives, I will be connected to both him and to my own world. The police can not touch me any more than they could when I was in Tindeval’s tower.”

  “Perhaps we can yet remedy your problem.” Xido didn’t sound particurly hopeful of it.

  “Perhaps. But I am better off than when I was in Hirstel. I always faced an eventual return to prison but at least here I am free to roam.” A deep rumble of a chuckle welled from it. “But not too far from this boy!”

  “In the long term,” said the god, “that may prove beneficial to the both of you.”