"You're the researcher—you ask it!"
"Now, stop it, you two," Jinetta said, pushing them apart. "We need to go through that room. We haven't much time."
"Jinetta, it's breaking out," Bee said. He had been keeping an eye on the room. They all peered around the edge of the doorway. A huge catlike backside reared up out of the ruins of the container, topped by a translucent, jointed tail with a stinger. The tail plunged down and stabbed the floor, then it reared up.
ZAP!
A lightning bolt shot out of the creature's backside. It went out the door, narrowly missing the team, and impacted on the far wall, destroying the bas relief of a shepherd and some kind of woolly ruminant native to Perv.
"A Manticore!" Freezia shouted. "It's a Manticore! Oh, no!"
"All right," Jinetta said, patting the air with her hands. "We know how to deal with one. We've done it before. Everyone calm down. Stay away from its tail. Don't let it grab you in those paws. The jaws are strong, too. Freezia, are you ready to levitate? Together we might be able to lift it."
Freezia felt the air.
"The lightning's sapped the magik!" she cried. "I've only got about half of what I stored when we started."
"I'm full," Bee said. "I used magik to Cantrip over that moving floor section, but I replenished my store as soon as I did it."
"So did I," Tolk said.
"I had to use some not to fall when the trapdoor opened up," Melvine said. "And flying takes up some energy."
"That's only three of us with enough magik," Jinetta said. "Well, then, perhaps we can capture it."
"Do you see a gum-gorse tree anywhere?" Melvine asked, baring his teeth. "We're toast!"
"We don't have to make it adhere to anything," Jinetta said, remaining amazingly calm. "All we have to do is get past it. We have proven that they are easy to confuse."
"When they're drunk," Bee reminded her. "This monster's sober as a judge."
"Even after Tolk cured Evad's headache he remained slower in the uptake than we are," Jinetta countered. "We will keep his senses busy until all of us, or at least one, can pass him and get through the rest of the maze. Only one of us needs to secure the key to win!"
"Good idea," Melvine said. "What do you want us to do?"
"Ready one of your tornadoes," Jinetta instructed. "It won't matter if you have any force left after that. Freezia, use your retrieval spell to pull its tail to one side. We don't want it aiming lightning at any of us. Tolk, you're good at dodging. Keep it busy."
"What about me?" Bee asked.
"I have an idea: can you reverse your Cantrip spell to make someone clumsy?"
Bee grinned. "I never needed it before," he said. "I was always clumsy enough on my own. But I'll try."
"Ready?" Jinetta asked, holding out her hand. The others piled theirs on hers, palms down. "Break!"
The team crept over the threshold. There must have been an alarm in the floor, because the Manticore, or rather its back half, redoubled its efforts, shooting lightning bolts and jabbing around with its spike. The students had to dash to get behind chunks of fallen marble. Melvine started twirling his finger in a circle. A tiny cyclone appeared on his palm. I was impressed how much the spell had been refined over the last several weeks. He tossed it up and down as if it was a coin, and sauntered out into the center of the room.
"Hey, Manticore," Melvine taunted. "Your mother stings her own butt! The city dump called. Your new face is ready. Hey, I hear your application for village idiot was accepted."
At the sound of his voice, the Manticore's head went up and his tail went down. He spun in a circle, his lion face the very picture of joy. I noted that he had pale whiskers, one of which was bent.
"Cupy!" shouted the Manticore.
"Evad?" Melvine exclaimed, breaking out in a huge grin. He threw the mini-tornado over his shoulder, where it sputtered into nothingness. "No way!"
The huge being came loping over to seize Melvine in a big hug and roll over with him in its paws. "Oh, Cupy, good see you!"
"Evad!" The rest of the Sorcerer's Apprentices recognized the Manticore that we had extracted from the town of Humulus. They rushed over to pet and hug him. I found myself grinning like a complete idiot. The contest was in the bag now.
"Evad?" the Geek echoed, rising to his feet in outrage. "They KNOW my Manticore? I'm going to call a halt to this contest. This isn't fair!" He started to lower the bubble. "We'll start over with new monsters."
I put my hand on his shoulder and shoved him down.
"Who says it isn't fair?" I demanded. "Do you think we live in a vacuum? The chances that a couple of demons might have met in the past is unlikely, sure, given the number of beings in the universe, but are you going to penalize them because it happened?
"And lose all that money? The audience wants a fight, Aahz, a fight! I'm going to throw a Minotaur in there. Maybe a Giant Squid, too. That'll up the ante for the outcome!"
"So, it's money, huh?" I snarled. "You do have bets against the Sorcerer's Apprentices."
The Geek backed away, his hands up in surrender. "Easy, easy, Aahz! If I didn't know better I'd think that you're the sorcerer they're talking about, except the last time I saw you you didn't have any magik."
"Things change," I gritted out, "but they never had Aahz for a teacher. That I guarantee. They'd have been a different group if they ever did."
"But what about the contest?" the Geek pleaded. "If the audience doesn't see a little blood, they'll riot!"
I glanced over at the Pervect side. There was plenty of blood. The team had managed to roll the dragon over on his back. Two of the All-Pervects were binding its legs with magik, but it kept kicking free. I blamed the Manticore's lightning for draining the force lines. They almost had it, though.
"They still have to get to the key first, right?"
"Right, Aahz," the Geek said, his face hopeful. "Is there any way you'll let me—slow them down a little?"
He didn't have to. The Manticore was so happy to meet his friends again that he kept pulling them back into the room as they tried to leave.
"...And when got back from shore leave, escort mission to tropics. Very nice! Hot! Perfumey! You would like! Ever want to come?"
"Maybe some day," Jinetta said, "but Evad, we have to get—" She sidled toward the opposite door, but he enveloped her with a friendly paw.
"And Klahd Skeeve give good idea, sell venom. Visiting wizard very interested! Start sideline with friends. Have money for drinks all around. So, last week, Captain says special mission. Good publicity for Navy! Volunteer? I say me! Here I am. And here is you!"
"That's great that you found a use for your talent," Bee assured him. "We're happy to see you, but we've got to go."
"No go! I buy drinks. Skeeve kind. Where Skeeve?"
"Skeeve's not here," Tolk assured him. "Just us. We're happy to see you, too!"
Doubtfully, Evad sniffed, his big furry nose twitching. "Smell Skeeve. Where Skeeve?"
"No, he's not here. Really really really."
"Let's get organized here," Jinetta said. "Evad, we're very glad you are safe, but we need to make it through this maze before the other team does!"
A frustrated roar from the other side of the wall made Evad raise his eyebrows. "What that?"
"Other team," Freezia said. She dropped into another language that consisted of growls and hisses. She must have gotten interested in Manticore after our previous encounter and taken the time to learn some. "We're in a competition. We have to get to the middle of this maze and secure a golden key before they do or we lose!"
"You not lose!" Evad declared. "I carry! Which way?"
It was going to be a close contest. The All-Pervects had succeeded in hog-tying the dragon, which lay on the floor, flaming everything within sight. With only a few injuries and no fatalities, the Pervects managed to flee the room and headed off into the second half of the maze.