10 – Aftermath by Asprin, Robert

The pond of mirror-smooth water slipped down to cover the demon Soundlessly.

Samlor skidded as he ran from the sidewall to the front door Hobnails weren’t the footgear for these polished stones . . and this house wasn’t a place for humans Not now, and probably not before Setios’s pet got loose.

There was no inside door latch.

“You didn’t let them out, Master Khamwas,” said Star, patting the hand of the scholar who had knelt and was sobbing with exhaustion ‘They’re playing with us “

“Come on,” Samlor shouted There was certainly a way to open the inner and outer doors from here, but he didn’t have time to fool with it. “We’re leaving the way we came'”

“There’s six of them. Uncle Samlor,” said Star. “They’re playing with us”

Something emerged from the pilaster beside the stairs to the second floor It was a clawed hand like that of the demon below Instead of streaming like smoke from the stone, it broke free as a chick emerges from an egg Rock shattered away from the groping limb, and a section of the wall started to lift.

Khamwas rose to his feet His face was blank and his body swayed with fatigue He crossed his arm over the staff again and began a whis- pered chant.

The wall from which the demon crashed, already formed, was load- bearing Tortured roof beams squealed as plaster in chunks of up to a hundred pounds broke away A big piece hit the center of the pond and blasted water out across the reception hall.

Samlor caught his niece with one arm and Khamwas with the other He flung them, all three together, to the floor against the nearer sidewall A block of stone, notched for the butt of a crossbeam, tumbled from the roof to the rail of the second-floor walkway, then caromed to the floor in a shower of dust and chips.