“My brother knows these pathways better than I. I’ve been too zy to learn them.”

  “Because you don’t really need them, right?” asked Im. They trudged across a terrain of sand and broken rock. All trudged save Piras Tindeval, that is; he rode in a sedan chair borne by invisible servants.

  “It is so,” agreed Xido. “I can go where I wish without using a portal. That, more than anything else, I think, is the difference between a god and, well, not a god.”

  “But can not the mindless little elementals do the same?” came Na’s query.

  Xido chuckled. “So they can. Therefor, they must be very small gods, no?”

  “Undoubtedly,” the sorceress replied. “I don’t know why I never thought of that. Or why I didn’t think to bring some protection from this sun.” She mumbled a few words and a blue and white striped parasol appeared in her hand. It matched the long skirt she already wore.

  “That won’t be so easy to do in another world, my dy. I give you fair warning of this.”

  “We should be near,” broke in Tindeval. “Two of those tunnel portals, a mile or so apart.”

  “But neither will take us to the home of our ancestors,” said Na. “Is that right?”

  “It is,” said Xido. “One could once pass directly from that world to this one, but now the route back will not be so easy.” He paused. “And finding your way here again might be even more difficult.”

  “That depends on whether the doors allow passage both ways,” Im put in, a bit eager to show off his knowledge — slight though it might be.

  “Exactly,” agreed Xido. “This sort generally does.” They were approaching an opening among the rocks. The god considered Qu’orthseth for a moment. “I’ve no idea whether you can pass through here. Some ways are warded against your kind.” He shrugged. “Some are even warded against humans.”

  “I shall await your return for, um, a reasonable time,” spoke Tindeval. He sipped the cold fruit drink he held. “It is going to get hot out here.”

  “We should know pretty quickly,” responded the god. “Let’s go in.” All proved able to pass.

  What they found was a vast cavern, with innumerable tunnels leading off it. Na squinted and looked about for a few seconds before saying, “This isn’t quite real, is it?”

  “As real as any other way it might be experienced,” Xido told her. “We must create a metaphor for what is actually here. If it is here.” He stepped into the cave. “Stay close to that entry. You would not want to lose your pce and wander eternally searching for a hospitable world.”

  Then, seeming to recognize something the others could not, Xido said, “Ah, I think I could find the way to my own home readily from here.”

  That intrigued Im. “The world of the gods?”

  “Some gods. I and my siblings dwell there, and our father, the mighty Krat, and a great many monsters. It’s not a good pce for humans.” He turned back to the entrance. “We shall not find the world we seek this way, not without too many windings and the passing through of other realms.”

  He led them back to the desert, where the Prince-Sorcerer still waited. Perhaps half his drink had been consumed. “Not the way, I take it? Let’s try the other.”

  They made their way across a hill, jagged rocks standing here and there. Na had handed her bag, containing all she would take to a new world and a new life, to a demon who materialized at her word. Im had to carry his own pack; Xido apparently chose to. In that he had arrived with nothing but the loincloth he wore, his bag contained only food.

  “It should be mentioned that we might end up just about any pce in the world we seek,” said Xido. “It’s most unlikely a portal will take us to where your ancestors dwelt.”

  “So it could be the other side of the world,” said Na. “It doesn’t matter to me. It doesn’t even matter whether we go to that world. There must be plenty of suitable ones.”

  “That is certainly an alternative,” Xido allowed. “You’d want one with humans or you might be rather lonesome.”

  Na eyed Im but said nothing. The next door was an opening among the rocks, almost a stairway down into darkness. “I can not — pass,” came Qu’orthseth’s deep groan. It was being held back, strain though it might.

  “Perhaps if I am in contact with you,” said Xido. He pce a hand on the creature’s arm and the two came through. “That worked this time. The next gate? Who can say? But I wouldn’t leave you stuck, Akorzef.”

  “I thank you for that, my lord. I know you have no love for my kind.”

  “But I do have a duty. Let’s take a look at where we are.” Where they were was again in the great cave.

  “A different spot, I assume?” asked Na.

  “Yes, in any sense that matters. A direct portal would have been nice but we can pass through this, ah, nexus again.” Xido looked about and smiled broadly. “Excellent. Follow,” he ordered. The deity seemed to be counting the side passages and suddenly turned into one. The world into which they followed him was quite different from the one they had left.

  Bck skies. Fire. All about them volcanoes spewed molten rock. The noxious air burnt their lungs. “It looks like home,” said Qu’orthseth. “Except without the red sun filling half the sky.”

  “You would starve here,” said Xido.

  “That is true.”

  “I know this world,” the god went on. “The gates are conveniently close together so it is much used by travelers. Breathable air helps too, though it would poison one eventually.” He led them along a jagged way to their left, above a river of liquid rock. Ten minutes brought them to another gate and all passed without problem, the demon included. Again, they seemed to be in a cavern.

  “We’ve been lucky not to run into any others who use these ways,” spoke Xido. “Some for the purpose of preying on travelers. The wards that Akorzef ran into are pced just to prevent the passage of such dangerous creatures.”

  “Such as?” asked Im. “I’ve heard stories, like everyone in Hirstel, but none of us really know anything.”

  “We had a sphinx come out of a gate decades ago,” Na informed him. “Nasty creature. We weren’t able to kill it but we sent it scurrying back.”

  “You are fortunate to live in a rather inhospitable world or you might have seen far more dangerous beings,” observed Xido. He was not paying much attention, focused on finding their next portal. “This one should open into the world of your ancestors. We were lucky it proved so easy.”

  “But you know that world and these ways, don’t you?” asked Im.

  “I do,” answered the god. “That helped.” He plunged into the appropriate tunnel.

  And, again, the demon could not pass. No, not even with Xido holding onto it. “Too well warded,” said the god. “One reason it’s a retively safe world to inhabit.”

  Which is why you have never seen a sphinx nor a demon, my friends. But they are out there!

  He looked thoughtfully at Qu’orthseth for a moment. “I’ll come back for you. Stay put.”

  Then the two humans and the god stepped forth into another world, a very different world from the one the Hirstelites knew. The sky was blue, not yellow as at home. And so many clouds! It was a rarity to see even a wisp of one from their city, generally on the far horizon.

  “The home of your ancestors,” announced Xido