Myth-ion Improbable by Robert Lynn Asprin

“How the-” I started to ask how she changed like that, but my sealed lips stopped me cold. Aahz and Tanda said nothing. Clearly they had expected to meet a shape-shifting demon in here. It was as if she were constantly working through disguise spells. Interesting trick, that was for sure.

“Well,” she said, her voice now soft and rich and alluring, “which Vortex are you looking for?”

Aahz seemed to struggle for a moment with the answer. I wanted to blurt out that we needed the first eight of them, but luckily my mouth was glued shut. I had no idea why I wanted to blurt that out.

“Vortexes #1 through #8,” Aahz said.

The demon behind the desk was slowly shifting to look like a stone statue, her clothes vanishing into her body as she changed into a rock-like demon with scales for skin and arms as thick as trees. I also noticed that the chair it was on changed with the size of the creature at the moment. More than likely the chair was part of its body as well.

“What is the nature of your reason for wanting the loca­tion of these places?” the shifting creature asked, its voice rumbling like thunder inside the massive room.

Again Aahz struggled with the answer. I had no doubt in my mind I wanted to blurt out that we had a treasure map. Something about this creature clearly forced demons standing in front of it to tell the truth. Now I was grateful that Tanda had closed my mouth. I had no idea how they were keeping quiet. What I was feeling was clearly very powerful magik or mind control.

“We are searching for a treasure,” Aahz said, his words measured and slow, “and our path leads us through the Vortex dimensions, starting with Vortex #1.”