“Swell,” she commented sarcastically. “Just what we need.”
“Wait until you meet him,” Aahz rolled his eyes and sighed. “Oh well, let’s go.”
Our departure from Twixt was blissfully uneventful. On the road, we rehearsed our story until, by the time we finally dug up Quigley and sprinkled him with the restoring power, we were ready to present a united front.
“Really? Turned to stone, you say?” he said, brushing the dirt from his clothes.
“Yes,” Aahz assured him. “They were looting your body when we launched our counterattack. It’s lucky for you we decided to come back and fight at your side.”
“And they took my magik sword and my amulet?” I felt a little uneasy on those subjects, but Aahz never batted an eye.
“That’s right, the blackguards'” he snarled. “We tried to stop them, but they eluded us.”
“Well, at least they didn’t get my war unicorn,” muttered the demon hunter.
“Um. …” I said, bracing myself for my part in this charade. “We’ve got some bad news about that, too.”
“Bad news?” Quigley frowned, “I don’t understand. I can see the beast with my own eyes and he seems fit enough.”
“Oh, he’s fine physically,” Aahz reassured him. “but before they disappeared, the demons put a spell on him.”
“A spell?”
“Yes.” I said. “Now he … urn … well… he thinks he’s a dragon.”
“A dragon?” Quigley exclaimed.
“Gleep!” said the dragon.
“And that’s not all,” Aahz continued. “The beast was so wild at first that only through the continued efforts of my squire here were we able to gentle him at all. Frankly, I was for putting the poor animal out of its misery, but he insisted he could tame it and you see before you the results of his patient teachings.”