"That is so."
"And Philander Groot has become a hermit, dwelling in a far kingdom."
"I have heard as much."
"Inevitably I am led to the logic," I said, "that my only means of escape is by killing you. And I know that my chances of doing so are virtually nothing."
"I am very strong," said the demon, by way of confirmation, "and also extremely fierce."
"I think that my only hope," I told him, "is to wait until the hour is up and, when my friend is sent to join us, attempt to leave by the door."
"It would seem so," agreed the demon. "But they would kill you anyway, would they not?"
"That is a strong likelihood."
The demon brooded for a moment. "I am trying to think of another solution, one which would benefit us both."
"Not to mention the remaining children and virgins of Bakinax," I said.
"Of course," said the demon. He became nostalgic. "Are there any Tatars left, do you know?"
"A few. They are protected against you by a Genie they have."
"The one in the jar?"
"That's the one."
"Aha." He frowned. "I was fond of Tatars."
It was beginning to seem to me that the supernatural creatures of this land were somewhat ineffectual beings. I wondered if not only the Mittelmarch but the whole of Hell was in decline. Or perhaps the powers had been marshalled to cope with the Civil War which Klosterheim had said was raging between Lucifer and His Dukes.
I thought I detected a movement overhead. I stretched out my hand to the demon. He placed his own scaly fingers in mine. "Would you oblige me," I asked him, "by allowing me to stand upon your shoulders so that when the door is opened I will be able to escape?"
"By all means," said the demon, "if you will agree one thing: should you escape and find Philander Groot again, tell him that I guarantee that if he will break the bond I will go home immediately and never venture into the regions of the Earth again."
"The likelihood," I said honestly, "of my seeing Groot is slender. However, I give my word that if I should meet him again, or be in a position to get a message to him, I will tell him what you have told me."
"Then I wish you Lucifer's luck," said the demon, bending so that I might climb upon his back. "And I hope that you kill that Great Magistrate who has caused me so much boredom."
The door was opening. I heard guards laughing. I heard Sedenko cursing.
His face appeared above me. I put my finger to my lips. His eyes widened in amazement. I whispered: "Draw your sword now. We are going to try to fight our way clear…"
"But…" began Sedenko.
"Do not question me," I said.
The Kazak shrugged and called back. "Wait, fellows, white I free my blade!"
The sabre was in his hand. I drew my own sword as the demon began to lift me higher towards the door. I took hold of the sill and jumped through, past Sedenko, lunging at the nearest guard and taking him in the heart. Two more fell to me before they realised what had happened. The remaining three set upon me and Sedenko and would have been finished easily, had I not been distracted by Sedenko's agitated gesturing. I turned to glance in the direction he pointed.
Klosterheim was there, mounted on a heavy black charger. At his back were twenty mounted suits of armour, glowing with eerie black fire. Here were the demons-at-arms of Arioch, Duke of Hell.
For a moment I was tempted to scramble back into the sphere.
Klosterheim was laughing at me as he waited for the fight to end.
I killed one more guard and Sedenko sliced apart the other two.
Behind us, out of the open sphere, came the stench of rotting souls. Before us was the face of a triumphant Klosterheim and his impassive minions.
"We are certainly doomed," murmured Sedenko.
I had by now memorised the spell which held back these riders. I dismissed Sedenko's fears. I raised my hand:
"Rehoim Farach Nyadahf"
Klosterheim continued to laugh. Then he stopped and raised his own hand: "Niever Oahr Shuk Arnjoijaf" His expression was challenging. "I have neutralised your spell, von Bek. Do you think I have wasted the past year in wondering how you stopped my men the last time?"
"So you have us," I said.
"I have you. I knew your destination. I knew you must come through this land, for you are seeking the Holy Grail in the Forest at the Edge of Heaven. You will never see that forest now, von Bek."
"How goes the War in Hell?" I said.
Klosterheim sat back in his saddle. "Well enough," he told me. "Lucifer is weakening. He retires. He will not fight. Our allies increase. You were a fool not to join me when I offered you the chance."
"I accepted a task,"! said. "I knew that I had little hope of achieving it. But a bargain is a bargain. And Lucifer holds my soul, not you, Klosterheim."
A shadow fell suddenly across the whole town. I looked up and saw the strangest sight I had yet met in Hell or the Mittelmarch. A huge black cat was looking down on us. If he had moved one paw or flicked his tail, he could have destroyed the entire city. I thought at first that this was another of Klosterheim's allies, but it became plain that the witch-seeker was as surprised as were we.
"What have you conjured now, von Bek?" he said. He was disconcerted. Then he cursed at something he had seen behind us.
Sedenko turned first, yelling in astonishment. There was a great twittering: the kind of sound starlings make in the evening. I looked back.
A chariot, of bronze and silver, was drifting down through the sky towards us, drawn by thousands of small golden birds.
"Attack them!" cried Klosterheim. He drove his horse towards the platform, the black riders a mass of glowing metal in his wake.
As the chariot settled onto the platform, Klosterheim leapt his horse onto it and came riding directly at me. I parried his first blow. The armoured minions of Duke Arioch were dismounting, lumbering up the steps towards us. We were driven back rapidly.
I heard a voice from the chariot. It was a gentle, chiding, half-mocking voice. It said:
"Demon of the Sphere, I release thee from thy bondage on the condition thou hast made and on the further condition that you fight these enemies of your Master's, for they conspire against Lucifer."
In spite of the danger I turned my head. The little man in the chariot tugged at his beard and bowed to me. I caught the odour of Hungary Water. I saw lace and velvet. It was Philander Groot himself. "Will you join me, gentlemen?" he asked politely. "I think that Bakinax is about to become a battlefield and it will be no sight for sensitive men."
Sedenko needed no further invitation. He was running hell-bent-for-leather towards the chariot. I followed him.
From out of the sphere, blinking and snarling, came the demon. He screamed his exultation. His scales clashed and began to glow. He laughed in hideous joy. And I saw a snarling Klosterheim still riding at us, still determined to kill me, even as we climbed into Groot's chariot.
Now the Demon of the Sphere and the Knights of Duke Arioch were joined in battle. It seemed to me an unequal match, but the demon was accounting well for himself.
Klosterheim's horse reared beneath us as we rose into the air, pulled by the little birds. His teeth were bared. He cried out almost as a child might cry out when it has been deprived of some favourite food.
The last I saw of the witch-seeker, he had leapt his horse from the platform and was riding away from the terrifying carnage taking place on the platform. I saw two armoured knights flung so far that they crashed into the Court. Bricks and stone collapsed. A horrible fire began to flicker wherever Duke Arioch's knights fell.
Then, beneath the tranquil stare of that great black cat, we passed beyond Bakinax and over the red plain.
"I planned none of this," said Philander Groot, as if he apologised to us. "But I knew that the state of balance which! had achieved could not last. I am glad to see that you are well, gentlemen."