" Dear lady, the park is where you want to go. Plenty of open spaces, green grass, the sky above, none of those piles of donkey dump to get in your way-"
" No travelogue, just a landing," she said. Inyx was more used to outdoors. Travelling in the cramped forward compartment of the fluttercraft made her feel a bit claustrophobic. Nothing she couldn' t handle, but she wished for nothing more than open spaces again- and an end to the demon' s incessant chattering.
" You' re beginning to sound more and more like them," the demon said acerbically.
" Land."
The landing proved more of a crash. The demon simply stopped turning the rotor and allowed the fluttercraft to fall from an altitude of twenty feet. Inyx found herself bouncing around in the compartment like a pea in the hold of a storm- wracked ocean freighter. Hanging on to the control stick, she managed to keep from pitching forward through the front window. When the craft came to a final, slumping halt, she popped out, glad to be alive.
" Release me," came the plaintive cry from the rear. " I' ve done what you wanted, sweetie. Now keep your promise."
" I never promised," she said. Brushing a strand of jet- black hair back from her forehead, she considered her options. Simply leaving the demon imprisoned seemed the safest course. It might turn on her out of spite. They weren' t noted for loyalty, at the least the ones she' d come across weren' t. Still, she had led the creature to believe she would release it.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a gruff voice demanding, " Where' s your spittin' landin' permit?"
Inyx turned to face a big- boned woman with stringy, bleachedblonde hair. The tattered dress only partially hid liver- spotted skin along the shoulders and upper arms and a few festering sores on bulging breasts. The woman wiped her nose along a flabby left forearm, then repeated her question.
" High and mighty, where' s the landin' permit? You got one, ain' tcha?"
" Permit?"
" Dammit, another' un who thinks she' s better' n the common folk." The burly woman spat a green gob that landed a few inches in front of Inyx' s boots. She seemed to take no notice when Inyx half drew her sword. " I gotta keep the order ' round here, ain' t I?"
" Let me out!" cried the demon.
" You promisin' something you can' t deliver, big' uns?" the woman demanded of Inyx, eyeing her as if she were a slab of meat hanging on a butcher' s hook. " Those real or did you get some love- besotted mage to grow ' em for ya?"
" Where do I get the landing permit?"
The woman hunched forward slightly and squinted at Inyx before answering.
" Take care of it for a fiver," she said.
" She' s a thief!" called out the demon. " Landing fees are never more than a halver."
" I' ve got to get the money. From a friend. In the city."
" Humph," growled the woman, spitting again, " I just bet you gotta lot of friends. One every spittin' five minutes, I betcha. Don' t care where you get the money- or how. Just get it and the permit. Till then, I watch over the fluttercraft."
" No!" protested the demon.
" All right," agreed Inyx.
" Let me out!"
" I' ll be back within a half- hour," she told the burly woman.
" Don' t go bruisin' that fine backside of yours hurryin' your friends along." The woman laughed at her crude comment. She again ignored Inyx' s motion to draw her sword. Inyx relaxed and turned for the small footpath leading toward the nearest portion of tall buildings marking the perimeter of Dicca.
" No, I won' t do it!" Inyx heard the demon exclaim. " She promised me!"
Inyx hadn' t gone fifty feet when she heard the blades of the fluttercraft begin to whine and bite the air. The craft rose quickly and headed in the opposite direction. It was about what she' d expected. The obese woman may have been ignorant of soap, but she knew a great deal about thievery. She' d stolen the fluttercraft.
Inyx had to laugh. She' d taken care of two problems. The soldiers, if they pursued, might be led away by the other woman' s theft. And it no longer was within her power to release the demon. She hadn' t actually lied to it, after all.
She started down the path into Dicca. She had gone less than ten yards when she heard a low, deep- throated snarl. Spinning, Inyx faced one of the largest, hungriest- looking tigers she' d ever seen.
It advanced on her, fangs dripping in anticipation of a fine meal.
CHAPTER FOUR
Inyx froze. The slightest motion on her part meant instant death. The tiger' s powerful shoulder muscles rippled with ill- suppressed eagerness. She didn' t want to give the large cat any more reason to attack than she had to. Holding down her fear, she slowly scanned the pathway behind and to the sides. The gate leading into Dicca lay a good quarter- mile away. To either side was grassy meadow leading to low knolls concealing any more of the park from her.
The tiger leaped.
Inyx ducked directly to one side. Once committed, the cat had to finish its attack. Four- legged animals lack sideways mobility. Inyx whipped out her sword in the time it took the tiger to land, recover, and turn to face her again. It bared yellowed teeth in silent rage now. No voice, just raw hatred. Eyes burning red, it again pounced.
This time Inyx didn' t try to fully avoid the attack. She dropped to one knee and braced the sword' s pommel against the ground, blade pointing up. Heavy paws raked at her even as the cat' s body impaled itself on the sword.
Inyx fell back, stunned, not by the force of the impact but by the lack of it. She' d been prepared to twist her sword and pull it sideways to keep it from being trapped under the massive cat.
Nothing of the sort had happened.
Her sword remained where it was, pommel in ground. The tiger had vanished as if it had never existed.
" But I saw it!" she protested to empty air. " I did!"
Scooping up her sword, she spun in every direction, frantically looking for the tiger. It wasn' t to be seen. Calming herself through great effort, Inyx sniffed the air. No feline spoor. Dropping to the ground to examine the soft dirt failed to reveal any evidence of a heavy predator. Only her own boot soles marked the earth.
Clanking filled the air. She turned, sword in hand. A mechanical parody of a human trooped over a knoll toward her.
" Good lady, do you require assistance? I saw your fluttercraft crash."
" Who are you?"
" Knokno, the park attendant. Are you injured?"
" My fluttercraft was stolen."
The mechanical' s glass eyes flashed on and off in amber- colored mock disbelief.
" In my park? Such a thing cannot happen. Was the thief a woman, about your height, perhaps twice as heavy, dressed rather shabbily and caked with filth?"
" You know her, then."
" Old Toni we call her. The Lord alone knows what her real name is. Yes, she' s a thief. I try to keep her away, but it is such a difficult job. Once my back is turned:" Knokno made a human shrugging gesture, cogwheel- driven shoulders moving in the proper directions.
" I just want out of here."
" Why not stay and enjoy the park? I assure you that you will have a fun- filled, rewarding time. You look distraught and needy of entertainment. What is your pleasure, good lady?"
" Getting away from them," she said in a low voice. Four greyclad soldiers marched down the path. Knokno canted his head to one side and peered at them.
" Ah, yes, they are real. Getting away from them, as you put it, is much more difficult than escaping from my creations, even my most intricate ones."
Inyx began walking, the mechanical following her. They topped the knoll and left the soldiers behind. They hadn' t taken any notice of her, for which Inyx was grateful. The fluttercraft trip, the dealings with the trapped demon, the craft' s theft, and the tiger attack had left her a little on the confused side. She' d been too long in the white limbo between worlds to be in top fighting form.