"Very well," Bink said, returning to the main point. "The coral did not want me to know about the Demon, because I might release him. How could I release an all-powerful creature who does not want to be released?"
"Oh, X(A/N)th wants to be released, I am sure. It is merely necessary that protocol be followed. You could do it simply by addressing the Demon and saying 'Xanth, I free you!' Anybody can do it, except the Demon himself."
"But we don't count, on its terms! We're nothings, vermin!"
"I did not create the rules, I only interpret them, through the comprehension gleaned over centuries by the brain coral," the Magician said, spreading his hands, "Obviously our interpretation is inadequate. But I conjecture that just as we two might make a bet on whether a given mote of dust might settle nearer me or you, the Demons bet on whether vermin will say certain words on certain occasions. It does lend a certain entertaining randomness to the proceedings."
"With all that power, why doesn't Xanth cause one of us to do it, then?"
"That would be the same thing as doing it himself. It would constitute cheating. By the rules of the game, he is bound to remain without influencing any other creature on his behalf, much as we would not permit each other to blow on that mote of dust. It is not a matter of power, but of convention. The Demon knows everything that is going on here, including this conversation between us, but the moment he interferes, he forfeits the point. So he watches and waits, doing nothing."
"Except thinking," Bink said, feeling nervous about the scrutiny of the Demon. If Xanth were reading Bink's thoughts while Bink was reading Xanth's thoughts, especially in the case of that shemale memory ouch!
"Thinking is permissible. It is another inherent function, like his colossal magic. He has not sought to influence us by his Thoughts; we have intercepted them on our own initiative. The coral, being closest to the Demon for this millennium, has intercepted more of X(A/N)th's magic and Thought than any other native creature, so understands him less imperfectly than any other vermin. Thus the brain coral has become the guardian of the Demon."
"And jealously prevents anyone else from achieving similar magic or information!" Bink exclaimed.
"No. It has been a necessary and tedious chore that the coral would gladly have given up centuries ago. The coral's dearest wish is to inhabit a mortal body, to live and love and hate and reproduce and die as we do. But it can not, lest the Demon be released. The coral has the longevity of the Demon, without his power. It is an unenviable situation."
"You mean the Demon Xanth would have been freed hundreds of years ago, but for the interference of the coral?"
"True," the Magician said.
"Of all the nerve! And the Demon tolerates this?"
"The Demon tolerates this, lest he forfeit the point."
"Well, I consider this an egregious violation of the Demon's civil rights, and I'm going to correct that right now!" Bink exclaimed with righteous wrath. But he hesitated. "What does the coral gain by keeping the Demon chained?"
"I don't know for certain, but I can conjecture," Humfrey said. "It is not for itself it does this, but to maintain the status quo. Think, Bink: what would be the consequence of the Demon's release?"
Bink thought. "I suppose he would just return to his game."
"And what of us?"
"Well, the brain coral might be in trouble. I know I would be upset if someone had balked me for centuries! But the coral must have known the risk before it meddled."
"It did. The Demon lacks human emotion. He accepts the coral's interference as part of the natural hazard of the game; he will not seek revenge. Still, there could be a consequence."
"If Xanth lacks human emotion," Bink said slowly, "what would stop him from carelessly destroying us all? It would be one dispassionate, even sensible way of ensuring that he would not be trapped here again."
"Now you are beginning to comprehend the coral's concern," Humfrey said. "Our lives may hang in the balance. Even if the Demon ignores us, and merely goes his way, there will surely be a consequence."
"I should think so," Bink agreed. "If Xanth is the source of all magic in our land-" He interrupted himself, appalled. "It could mean the end of magic! We would become-"
"Exactly. Like Mundania," Humfrey concluded. "Perhaps it would not happen right away; it might take a while for the accumulated magic of a thousand years to fade. Or the loss might be instantaneous and absolute. We just don't know. But surely there would be a disaster of greater or lesser magnitude. Now at last you understand the burden the coral has borne alone. The coral has saved our land from a fate worse than destruction."
"But maybe the Demon wouldn't go," Bink said. "Maybe he likes it here-"
"Would you care to gamble your way of life on that assumption?"
"No!"
"Do you still condemn the coral for opposing you?"
"No, I suppose I would have done the same, in its place."
"Then you will depart without freeing the Demon?"
"I'm not sure," Bink said. "I agreed to listen to the coral's rationale; I have done so. But I must decide for myself what is right"
"There is a question, when the whole of our Land's welfare is at stake?"
"Yes. The Demon's welfare is also at stake."
"But all this is just a game to X(A/N)th. It is life to us."
"Yes," Bink agreed noncommittally. The Magician saw that argument was useless. "This is the great gamble we did not wish to take-the gamble of the outcome of an individual crisis of conscience. It rests in your hands. The future of our society."
Bink knew this was true. Nothing Humfrey or the brain coral might try could affect him before he uttered the words to free the Demon. He could ponder a second or an hour or a year, as he chose, free of duress. He did not want to make a mistake.
"Grundy," Bink said, and the golem ran up to him, not affected by the Thought vortices. "Do you wish to free the Demon Xanth?"
"I can't make decisions like that," Grundy protested. "I'm only clay and string, a creature of magic."
"Like the Demon himself," Bink said. "You're non-human, not quite alive. You might be construed as a miniature Demon. I thought you might have an insight."
Grundy paced the cave floor seriously. "My job is translation. I may not experience the emotion you do, but I have an awful clear notion of the Demon. He is like me, as a dragon is to a nickelpede. I can tell you this: he is without conscience or compassion. He plays his game rigorously by its rules, but if you free him you will have no thanks from him and no reward. In fact, that would be cheating on his part, to proffer you any advantage for your service to him, for that might influence you. But even if reward were legitimate, he wouldn't do it. He'd as soon step on you as smell you."
"He is like you," Bink repeated. "As you were before you began to change. Now you are halfway real. You care-somewhat."
"I am now an imperfect golem. Xanth is a perfect Demon. For me, humanization is a step up; for him it would be a fall from grace. He is not your kind."
"Yet I am not concerned with kind or thanks, but with justice," Bink said. "Is it right that the demon be freed?"
"By his logic, you would be an utter fool to free him."
The Good Magician, standing apart, nodded agreement.
"Jewel," Bink said.