“Um . . . actually, if you decide to come, I’ll be over on Klah, not Deva.” I tried to make it sound casual, but Aahz caught it in a flash.
“Klah? What would take you back to that backwater dimension?”
There was no way around the direct question. Besides, my old mentor’s tone of voice called for a no-nonsense answer.
“Well, there’s a problem I’ve got to deal with there. Remember Queen Hemlock? It seems she’s on the move again.”
“Hemlock?” Aahz frowned. “I thought you cooled her jets with a ring that wouldn’t come off.”
I decided it wasn’t the time to ask what a jet was. “I did,” I acknowledged. “She sent it back to me . . . finger and all. It looked like a pretty clear announcement and a warning that she was all set to launch her world conquest plans again . . . and wasn’t about to put up with any interference.”
“. . . And you’re about to go up against her alone? Without even mentioning it to me?”
“I . . . I didn’t think it would be fair to try to pressure you with it, Aahz. Face it, the way things seem to go there will always be some kind of trouble cropping up. You can’t be expected to spend your life covering my tail every time I get in a scrape. Besides, I’m not going to try to take her on myself. In fact, the rest of the team is already there. I sent them on ahead while I came back to look for you.” I was expecting an explosion and a lecture. Instead, Aahz seemed to be studying my face.
“Let me see if I’ve got this right,” he said, finally. “Your home dimension is under attack . . . and instead of leading the team in the campaign, you put it all on hold to come looking for me?”