"You made your decision when you entered the tun shy;nel."

"But I …."

"Be quiet," Tarscenian repeated. "Listen." Water splashed somewhere, and a sound, as of some shy;thing slithering through the tunnel, came to them. "Maybe you should turn out that light," Snoop whispered. "The creature can see in the dark. Can you?" Not waiting for an answer, Tarscenian stepped over the slimy bodies and moved toward the sound. He thrust his lance-light before him.

Ten feet in front of them, a waist-high mound of pale blue ooze glistened.

Snoop halted, dumbfounded, then sneered. "That unimpressive thing?" he asked. "That's it? I can probably take care of that beast all by myself, old man." He raised his arm. In an instant the spy's dirk was hurtling through the air toward the creature. Tarscenian's shout came too late.

The weapon sliced through the slime monster's cover shy;ing of ooze, then bounced off the creature's hide and landed back in the water at their feet. Snoop slowly bent to pick it up, then halted. He used his foot to nudge the weapon out of the water. The doused weapon was clean and free of ooze.

Tarscenian frowned. Something still tickled at his mem shy;ory.

The monster slithered forward, slow and sluglike, as though it had all the time in the world. "How do we stop it?" Snoop whispered, less cocksure now. He took a step backward.

"Stay back. It catches live victims by interfering with their thoughts. At this distance, you may be safe. If it gets closer, that won't be so. It will offer you what you most desire. Ultimately you will actually urge it to devour you."

Snoop shook his head. "That thing? Not a chance."

'It has overcome stronger men than us."

The thief doggedly shook his head. "It has to have a weak spot, Tarscenian-someplace where my dirk is wel shy;come." Snoop moved forward. Tarscenian tried to grab him, but the thief shook him off and continued. "It's mov shy;ing this way," Snoop said. "There must be eyes or some shy;thing where there's no hide to pro…"

Snoop's voice trailed off into silence. He stared at the creature, an arm's length away. A whisper hissed through the tunnel.

"I will give you great wealth. I will give you great power. All the world will thrill to your existence. The world will worship at your feet. You will be rich beyond anything you have dreamed."

A whimper escaped Snoop. Tarscenian searched through his pockets for something to block his own ears, but he'd lost everything in the lake. His hands would have to do. Covering his ears, he stepped to Snoop's side. He had to remove Snoop from the creature's deadly influence.

"All of Solace will work to indulge your every wish. You will want for nothing. You will enjoy power and wealth that kings would gladly die for."

Tarscenian placed a hand on Snoop's shoulder. Snoop gave a small scream and jumped toward the creature. The slime monster turned slightly and now addressed Tarscen shy;ian.

"I will help you attain what you seek, also. Your lady will live again, and Hederick will die. Together, you and your lady will rule Solace. You will have wealth and power. All this will come to pass. You can spread the word of the Old Gods throughout the world, you and your lady. The two of you will never die. Your bodies will become young again; you will be fertile; you will have many children. And these children will worship the Old Gods."

Tarscenian covered both ears. "It cannot be so," he whispered. "It is against nature."

"I can make it so."

Tarscenian pulled again at Snoop's arm. Snoop struck out, sending the older man sprawling back into the mud. The thief lunged toward the monster, but as soon as Snoop touched the creature, he began to scream. In a moment the creature had covered him with ice-blue slime.

Snoop beat frantically at his torso and legs, trying to remove the sticky stuff that gnawed at his skin. Tarscenian held the lance forward, hoping the light at the tip would be enough to dispel the ooze, but Snoop gave one final cry and collapsed, lifeless, on the tunnel floor. The creature hovered over the thief, eating ravenously.

The older man seized that moment to dash around the creature and escape up the tunnel. There had to be a way out.

The tunnel curved. Tarscenian heard the sound of water ahead at the same time the whisper of the creature behind him stroked his mind.

"I will give you eternal life. You will have countless life shy;times to worship your gods, you and this mage woman you love. Your bodies will be young, your lives easy."

Tarscenian bounded around the curve and skidded in the slippery muck. The tunnel ended. Water streamed from two openings in the wall above Tarscenian's head. Between and above them was a trapdoor.

The slime monster came slithering around the curve behind Tarscenian.

And at that moment he remembered what would stop the creature.

"You will be wealthy. And you will be forgiven. All your sins, Tarscenian, will be swept aside at once, like dust. Those years as a Seeker fraud-forgiven. Those years of greed and pride and deception-as nothing. And you will have Ancilla at your side."

The mound of blue ooze slithered toward him and stopped just short of the fresh water that cascaded from the wall. Tarscenian edged back into the space between the waterfall pipes.

"Think of it, Tarscenian, a life of ease. You can rest. Don't you want to rest? Aren't you exhausted, Tarscen shy;ian? I can help you."

Tarscenian's clothes were sodden, but the water was clean. He felt the filth of the tunnel slough from his body, and with it, some of his exhaustion. The creature edged aside. Its whisper never ceased, but Tarscenian steeled his mind against it. He bolted through the waterfall and circled behind the creature.

Tarscenian stepped forward and jabbed the lighted lance at the slime creature. Smoke hissed from the ooze where the lance tip touched it, and the monster jerked backward toward the waterfall.

"Your lady will live again. Hederick will die. You will have wealth and power. You can spread the word of the Old Gods. You will never die. You will become young. You…"

Tarscenian slammed the lance into the slime creature as hard as he could. Still the hide resisted, even though smoke curled above the ooze. The light in the lance tip made the slime glow like blue flame. Tarscenian braced his feet against the tunnel wall and threw all his weight into his next thrust. The tip did not pierce the creature's hide, but the force of the blow sent the slime monster slid shy;ing back into the cascades of clear water.

In an instant, the creature's protective coating of ooze was swept away. The tough hide quivered with shock beneath the force of the pure water.

Then the monster exploded.

Chapter 20

Tarscenian felt for the footholds he'd seen fastened to the wall behind the cascades of water, and climbed. Cautiously, he extinguished the magical light on the lance tip and raised the trapdoor.

The door opened up into a dark hallway. Tarscenian climbed out and flattened himself against a wall. Too late the adventurer realized he was leaving a telltale stream of water. Why not just paint an arrow on the floor with a sign saying "Fugitive This Way"? he thought disgustedly.

His nose twitched. The smell of food and soap came to him. This, then, must be the kitchen and laundry area. And where there was a laundry, there would be dry clothes.

Tarscenian edged along the wall. The rooms he passed had no doors, just curtains to mask their contents from the prying eyes of passers-by. He poked his head into the first room. A small lantern burned. He saw brooms, mops, wooden buckets and shelves holding a lifetime supply of chamber pots, but no clothes.

Nothing but an apron. He snatched up the apron and slipped back into the corridor to wipe up the traces of his arrival.