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They escorted Durbuluk back down the stairs. The going was slow, because Durbuluk was so badly injured and struggled to walk, but he gave no complaints. As they walked, Solisar remained in the rear of the group and was casting a long spell.

   They reached the red metal tiles in the midst of the four large columns. The violet wall of flame that had injured Szordrin earlier had now extinguished.

   "If you bring us back any treasures in addition to the journal," said Szordrin, now feeling confident to speak again, having left the vicinity of the zone of truth, "we will offer you a cut of that treasure."

   "I only care about the treasures that I brought here with me," said Durbuluk. "I will simply bring you the entire chest in which Allustairimarinastralmindivu stores the journal, and you may have whatever is in it that you like."

   "How do we know that you have not kept anything inside it for yourself?"

   "You will be watching me, will you not?" He motioned toward Solisar, who was still in the process of casting powerful divination magic.

   It took several more minutes for the sun elf to complete the spell. When he had done so, he notified the others that he was ready to proceed.

   "To clarify our agreement," said Durbuluk. "I am to bring you the chest with the journal within it, and in return, you will let me live and let me return to my home beneath the mountains."

   "Agreed," said Hakam.

   Durbuluk turned and walked away from them, crossing between the wall and one of the pillars. The fire trap did not activate. The six of them stood some ten feet from the traps and watched as he walked calmly toward the remaining tunnel. Leokas, Solisar, Belvin, and Hakam, were between the western wall and the center of the chamber, facing north, while Szordrin and Kytharrah stood parallel to the other trap, between the northern wall and the column, facing west.

   Solisar appeared to be in a trance, but he was mentally directing his arcane eye to follow along behind Durbuluk and monitor his actions. The elf began to describe everything that he was seeing, once Durbuluk vanished from everyone's sight by descending down a slope deeper into the tunnel, from which a red-violet glow emerged.

   "He has just passed two columns, embedded in the stone walls and made of red brick. They are similar to the ones in this chamber but about half the size. As he and the hobgoblins whom we rescued explained, the walls of this hall are walls of fire, violet, like the traps. The hallway of fire is about 25 feet wide, and the walls are perfectly straight now. It makes a right turn after a dozen paces.

   "Durbuluk just yanked the arrows out of his body. He is still walking, but he is waving his hands symbolically. I believe that he is casting a healing spell. Yes, his hands are aglow with positive energy. Now his wounds are closing up. Another spell now. He is clutching his unholy symbol. If his motions match those of Hakam when he casts divine magic, he is boosting his endurance.

   "He made the right turn and is walking down a wider hallway now, still walled with violet flames. A pair of columns appears on each side every 20 feet or so. The flames traverse from column to column.

   "He just healed himself again. He is no longer limping.

   "The hallway has reached a tee. There is an altar in the center and beyond that a black, iron throne. He is making another right, so he is now heading south. He just vanished. No, he walked through the wall. I shall follow with my sensor.

   "He is now in a tiny 'chamber' with four walls of fire. There are several iron pieces of furniture here, chairs, a desk, but they are small. He just passed through another of the walls, to the west. I follow. This is a slightly larger room. Except for the one we just passed through, the walls here are the natural, irregular stone. This room is furnished in a Calishite style, if I am not mistaken. There seem to be a collection of pillows, where one might recline or sleep. I suppose that they must be enchanted to be immune to fire.

   "Ah, Durbuluk has just moved into a small alcove off the southeastern corner of the room. It is an irregularly shaped space, and there is an iron chest here. It looks heavy. Apparently, it is not too heavy for Durbuluk to pick up. He is carrying it back into the 'bedroom'.

   "Now he is opening it. He had a key in a pouch on his belt. I shall see if I can position my sensor for a view inside.... There are an assortment of items, some clothing, some tools, some jewelry and coins. He is taking the jewelry and coins and transferring them to the pouch on his belt. One of the items seems to be an amulet. The coins are likely platinum. There may be a couple dozen of them. I suppose that these are his things. There was a longsword in a sheath in the chest, and he is attaching that to his belt also. Now he has two swords at his belt. He has taken out a brass mug. It looks rather ornate, but he has decided to set it aside. He just transferred what looks to be a silver hair comb to the pouch, but he set a silver chalice next to the mug. He is leaving all of the clothing within the chest, and he is locking it again.

   "He is returning the chest. Now he is walking to an iron desk. He opened a drawer and removed a roll of metal wire. He snapped two lengths of it from the roll. Oh, he is using it to attach the chalice and the mug to his belt so that he can more easily carry them.

   "It looks like he is finished in this room. He just passed through the fire into the other side room, and through the second wall of fire into the throne room with the altar. He is coming back toward us, walking west through the wide hallway now.

   "He has reached the left turn; he is almost back to us. Ah, but now he has turned right and is walking toward the wall. He has passed through the flames again. I shall follow.

   "This is a rather large square room with four walls of fire. A piece of the stone wall of the cavern juts through at one point bisecting the flame. This must be a storage chamber. There are several chests and boxes in here, all of them made of metal. Durbuluk seems to be glancing around, looking for something or thinking.

   "He has approached one of the chests and bent over it. Now he is trying to open it. It seems to be locked. He is removing his handaxe from his belt, and now he is swinging it at the lock. He broke it off in two swings. It must not be magically protected. He just opened the chest; yes, there is a journal atop an assortment of coins and silks and other things. Durbuluk is closing the chest. He seems satisfied.

   "He has picked up the chest and is carrying it back through the wall of fire. He is in the hall, coming back toward us. Odd, he just set the chest down. He is making divine hand motions with his right hand and clutching his unholy symbol with the other. He appears to be praying. If I am not mistaken, Hakam, he is making similar motions to those you make when you are preparing to contact someone."

   "Are we going to just sit here while he summons some fiend to attack us?" asked Leokas.

   "It is taking him too long to be a summoning spell, and as of yet, he has not violated our agreement," said Hakam. "He seems to have collected his things, just as he claimed he would do, and he has the chest with the journal for us as well. Furthermore, I have not sensed any chaos in him. It appears at this point that he still intends to bring the chest to us."

   "Never trust a goblin," muttered Leokas.

   Nearly ten minutes passed, however, and the duration of Solisar's scrying spell ended. "My spell is spent," he informed the others. "Just before the image faded, he appeared to be still in prayer."

   "To send a message by will of the gods does take a good deal of prayer," Hakam confirmed.

   "Whom is he hoping to speak to?" asked Belvin.

   "We shall ask him;" said Hakam, "he is coming now."

   They saw the hobgoblin priest come into view, stepping into the wide cave chamber, dragging a metal chest behind him with his left hand. He looked much healthier than when they had last seen him. A piece of his skull was no longer bloody and exposed, and no arrows were stuck in his torso. He was still moving his right hand in a rhythmic motion and chanting something under his breath.

   The winged, horned hobgoblin then tossed the chest a few feet, as if it weighed less than it appeared. It landed a yard in front of him with a thud.

   "To whom are you sending?" Hakam called out.

   Durbuluk smiled and spoke clearly. "I found the ones who have the gem key. They are coming for you. The mummies are dead. I wish that I were home."

   "Oh, no you do not!" shouted Belvin, raising his bow and nocking an arrow. Twice as quickly, Leokas nocked two silver arrows simultaneously.

   Arrows flew. Durbuluk roared in pain and clutched the hanging figure of crossed broadsword and handaxe around his neck.

   "Hold your fire!" Hakam shouted.

   "He is leaving the chest for us," agreed Solisar. "He kept his word. Let him go."

   It was too late. A curtain of violet fire encircled Durbuluk as he motioned with his hand.

   "Lunk! Grab the chest!" shouted Szordrin.

   The minotaur charged, rolling into a somersault and back to his hooves again, as he triggered a burst from another wall of fire. Unhindered, he continued and passed through the second blazing barrier, shrugging of the intense burning sensations and ignoring the pain. Within the ring of heat, he saw the chest and reached out his massive clawed hands, but so did Durbuluk.

   "Not anymore," said Durbuluk, grabbing the other handle. "The agreement has been broken."

   Both tugged on the chest, but neither let go of the handle he held tightly. The minotaur was surprised by Durbuluk's strength.

   Kytharrah was not certain, but he felt like he heard a deep voice from above him speak a single word. "Granted." Durbuluk gave a sudden jerk, and the chest slipped from Kytharrah's fingers.

   Kytharrah fell flat onto his back into the ring of fire, and Durbuluk and the chest were gone.

The fiendish hobgoblin dropped back to the ground, his goo-covered, arrow-punctured wings barely preventing him from crashing. Landing on one knee and bent over in pain, he dismissed his spell. Then, he strangely began laughing.

"What is so funny?" demanded Leokas.

"I find it humorous that even his enemies do not know his actual name."

Szordrin continued to point his wand at their captive. "One more taunt and you will not be left to recall his true name. Now, tell us all that you know about him. Do not try to hide a thing." The tiefling made a motion with his other hand to imply that he was watching the hobgoblin closely.

"I want a guarantee that you will let me live to leave this cavern and return to the Marching Mountains, before I speak," replied Durbuluk.

Kytharrah had seen the others interrogate prisoners before, so he figured he'd try to imitate them. Tapping the bottom of his axe handle on the ground, he snorted, "Talk!"

"By Torm," swore Szordrin, choosing a god who supposedly cared a lot about oaths, "if you give us all the information that we seek, we shall allow you to go free... eventually. If we intended to kill you, we would have done it by now."

Belvin and Leokas stood by defensively, while Hakam and Solisar seemed to be studying the hobgoblin's body language.

After a short pause, Durbuluk finally answered. "His name is Allustairimarinastralmindivu. Most pure-blooded hobgoblins are too stupid to remember something with that many syllables. I do not have such a handicap."

Now that this was revealed to them, it was not too shocking to Hakam. He remembered learning a little known fact that the names Calim and Memnon were also shorted forms of those famous genies' true names.

"As for who he was," continued their prisoner, "I do not know much of anything about his past. He has never told me his true background, but I suspect that he was just someone at the right place at the right time."

Leokas suddenly seemed to recall something and interrupted the current topic with a new question. "Wait! You mentioned the Marching Mountains. Are goblins gathering in force under the Marching Mountains? Are they preparing for an attack?"

"I promised to tell you of the efreeti, not of the Marching Mountains. Nevertheless, I will tell you what you should already know: the goblins are too weak to ever war against the surface world without guidance. Good for nothing but arrow-fodder are they in combat. That is why they needed someone like Allustairimarinastralmindivu."

Hakam uttered a quick prayer, and instantly, everyone felt a strong compulsion to speak only the truth.

Durbuluk smirked. "Your god cannot overcome the power in my blood, human cleric. Save your magics; I intend to speak the truth on my own."

"In that case, I affirm that you will be allowed to return to your home, provided that you answer all of our questions truthfully," said Hakam. "First, you say that you do not know much of Allustairimarinastralmindivu's past." (Szordrin looked at Hakam with shock that he so easily pronounced the name.) "When and how did you come to learn of him? And why did you join him?"

"I was high priest of Nomog-Geaya and chief advisor to Guthash, King Under the Marching Mountains. About this time last year, messengers came to King Guthash through the goblin tunnels from Calimshan. These messengers claimed to have been slaves to owners in Calimshan yet were set free by followers of Allu, a new god of hobgoblins. Seeing as I serve the only true god of hobgoblins, naturally, my ears perked up at this news. They were evangelizing, recruiting for an army with which to retake Calimshan for the goblinoid races."

"Nomog-Geaya?" asked Leokas. "Who is he?"

"Nomog-Geaya is the General, the god of authority and war. He is the true patron of my people."

Leokas was under the impression that Maglubiyet was god of both goblins and hobgoblins, and this was what they had heard some of the other goblins and hobgoblins whom they had encountered say, but he did not sense deceit in Durbuluk's voice, so he let the matter pass.

Szordrin opened his mouth to say something, but then doubted that he would be able to lie with Hakam's spell in effect, so he thought better of it.

Durbuluk continued. "Even though I knew that this new god, 'Allu', must be an imposter, I was intrigued by the message. King Guthash had been planning for years to build an army to unleash on the overworld. Perhaps this Allu could be an ally of sorts. A genie is a powerful adversary or a powerful friend. I advised Guthash to send me as an ambassador, to observe Allu and his schemes.

"I have thus pretended to be a 'priest of Allu', but while he can grant us three wishes a day, which is not a minor thing by any means, he cannot grant spells. I still serve Nomog-Geaya, and Allustairimarinastralmindivu knows this. The other hobgoblins do not. That is all that matters.

"Nomog-Geaya knows that I am faithful to him. As I bide my time, so Nomog-Geaya bides his time for when he will rebel against Maglubiyet."

Belvin, with singed hair and leathers, asked, "I suppose that you attacked us thinking that we are enemies of Allu-stair-into-the-astral-sea-or-whatever. Could we not have come to a peaceful resolution, considering that we earlier freed your kin? Or does that not matter to a hobgoblin?"

"My goal was to flee this place. You were in my path. I know nothing of any kin of mine that you freed; I only saw my opportunity to escape, since the mummies below had been destroyed. You were not goblinoids nor efreet, so you would be no friends of the efreeti, even if you are enemies of his enemies. For all I know, you are simply greedy adventurers. Whoever you are, you made my task easier, and I took advantage of this, as anyone with any intelligence would."

Hakam jumped back in with a question. "Tell us more about these mummies. Was there another mummy with them, one called El Sadhara? She would have been dressed more ornately than the others that we destroyed."

"What her name was I do not know, but there was another, yes, without a veil like the others, extremely thinning hair, terrifying presence. She commanded the undead and elementals of air and slew many of the hobgoblins with a single word, turning them instantly to ash."

"Is she still here somewhere?" asked Leokas.

"She only left just recently."

"Why did she leave?" asked Solisar.

"Someone summoned her back." Durbuluk shrugged. "I do not know why. She left her handmaidens behind."

"What do you know of her designs?" asked Hakam, "Why was did she come here at all?"

"Allustairimarinastralmindivu, when scouting the desert, had learned of her ancient temple. He discovered that she was seeking to restore the djinni kingdom that once ruled here, one that warred against the efreeti kingdom to the north.

"Her designs were thus completely at odds with Allustairimarinastralmindivu's. He sabotaged her works. Allustairimarinastralmindivu did not expect her to find this hidden palace of his, and he trusted in the 'protection' of the blue dragon lairing 'next door'. But with the dragon gone, she must have seen an opening for her revenge.

"Her forces annihilated us. While I am drastically more powerful than the poor miserable pure-bloods, I am no match for the mummy,... nor was Allustairimarinastralmindivu."

"The dragon Yrevkethend is gone?" asked Hakam. "Where did she go?"

Durbuluk shrugged. "She was last seen flying to the northeast, and she has not returned."

"The hobgoblins whom we freed said that she had been absent since the beginning of the year," added Leokas.

Durbuluk nodded in agreement.

"And where are Allustairimarinastralmindivu and his archwizard now?" asked Hakam.

"When he saw that his plans here had failed, miserably, he fled to the Spinning Keep."

Hakam knew that he should be familiar with the term, but he could not place it.

Solisar sensed this and explained, "The Spinning Keep of Siri'wadjen is the great prison of the genies Calim and Memnon, created by the High Mage Pharos nearly 9,000 years ago."

"Why would he go to a prison?" asked Hakam.

Durbuluk chuckled. "Do you not know the legends of the Calimmemnon Crystal and the Spinning Keep?"

"Clearly I do not," Hakam replied.

"Within Siri'wadjen lies the Calimmemnon Crystal," said Solisar, "in which the entrapped essences of the two noble genies strive ever for freedom. Legends say that anyone touching the gem would obtain the powers of both Calim in Memnon. Other legends say that, if the Crystal were to come into contact with the wind of the desert or the crackle of its dried sands, then the corresponding genie would be freed. Of course, the elves protected the Crystal. No one has ever entered Siri'wadjen or successfully solved its puzzles. In fact, it is impossible even for anyone to pass through the magical field of protection surrounding it."

"Typical of snobbish, arrogant elves, your definition of 'anyone' differs from that of other races," said Durbuluk. "In truth, the protections on the Spinning Keep bar genies, humans, and elves from ever touching the surface of the magical structure, but nothing prevents a hobgoblin or a goblin, like Booyagh, from touching it." Durbuluk gave a truly devilish smile.

Hakam suddenly understood the gravity of Allu's plan and why he was so interested in hobgoblins as a race. "Curse you elves," he said. "Calishites would have protected the prison with better magics!"

"Oh, we shall just go back 9,000 years and fix that then!" said Belvin.

"History has already been written," said Solisar. "We must deal with the present."

"So, Allustairimarinastralmindivu desires the power of the Crystal and needs the hobgoblins to bypass the prison's defenses," said Hakam.

"No, Allustairimarinastralmindivu knows that the power gained from touching the Crystal is only temporary. He wants the permanent power that a fully restored Memnon can grant him. He does not want to simply touch the Crystal; he wants to free the Trapped Terrors within."

"Why would he want to free both genies?" asked Hakam.

"He only wants to free Memnon, of course, but it is likely impossible to free one without the other. His original plan was to have the backing of an army of efreet behind him when the Crystal was removed from the Keep. With the aid of a multitude of genies, surely Calim would immediately be subdued and slain, and Memnon would rule."

"Why release Memnon only to be subjugated by him?" asked Hakam.

"I have always suspected that Allustairimarinastralmindivu is no one of note on the Plane of Fire. He is not noble born. None of his efreeti kin would ever follow him. I think that he believes that if he succeeds at his elaborate plan to restore Memnon to power, then he will be rewarded handsomely or even appointed to higher status among his kind."

"It seems foolish. There is no guarantee that a genie such as Memnon would reward him."

Durbuluk shrugged again.

"What do the hobgoblins get out of all of this again?" asked Leokas.

"Allustairimarinastralmindivu's ultimate goal is to free Memnon and to restore the kingdom of Memnonnar, but he knows that he needs the help of hobgoblins, and in exchange, he will return to us the hobgoblin portion of the kingdom that was once ours."

"Calimshan was never yours!" protested Hakam.

"Typical Calishite human, seeing your history the way that you want to see it! Travel north to the nation that you humans call Tethyr. To this very day, you will find a gorge with the remains of a massive monolith that my people raised thousands of years ago to the greatness of Nomog-Geaya. How many human nations have monoliths that have persisted for so many ages? Do you think that wandering bandit tribes of hobgoblins could build such a thing? No! We were a kingdom. The lands of Tethyr were fully ours, not those of the Calishites!"

Hakam thought it best to return to the matter at hand rather than argue about ancient history. "Where exactly is the Keep?"

"East of here, several day's journey on foot. I do not know the exact location, but Allustairimarinastralmindivu had obtained a journal from a gnome adventurer, who claimed to have bypassed the Keep's defenses and entered it. She left a map to the site in the journal as well."

"Was the gnome's name Samber? or Ramseb? or anything like that?" asked Hakam.

Durbuluk shook his head. "No, she only signed her name as Stumblesparkle, a typical foolish nickname among those ridiculous people."

"Is this journal and map still here?" asked Solisar.

"It is," Durbuluk replied, "in on of Allustairimarinastralmindivu's storage chambers."

"Beyond the fire traps?" asked Hakam.

"Yes."

"How can they be disabled?"

"They cannot be disabled," said Durbuluk, "but that is not a problem for a fire genie or for a hobgoblin with magical blood like mine."

"I assume that they reset."

"They do."

"Are there other traps?"

"No, but the very walls of the inner chambers are composed of fire, not of stone. You natives of this plane would not fare well."

"Are there other hobgoblins still alive here besides you?" asked Solisar.

"I know not. Remember, I was just trying to escape through the tunnel behind you with my own skin, and now I have lost a good bit of that."

"Did any other hobgoblins go with Allustairimarinastralmindivu?"

"He only took Booyagh with him."

"Why did you not also go?" asked Solisar.

"My talents are not with ancient artifacts and mysteries. I was to remain as long as I could to defend against the undead. Clearly, I failed at that task, as you have now subdued me."

Kytharrah now asked a question. "What do you guard?"

"Allustairimarinastralmindivu's inner sanctum."

"What do you know of Allu's dealings with Samber?" asked Hakam.

"Samber? The same name that you mentioned earlier as a possible name for the gnome? I know nothing of anyone by this name."

"He is a wizard of great power. His was the island where the Allustairimarinastralmindivu first entered our world."

"Ah, the one from whom Allustairimarinastralmindivu stole the gate."

"Stole the gate?" asked Leokas.

"This gate here?" asked Hakam.

"Yes, the gate directly behind you."

"Why would Allu steal a gate to the Plane of Fire?" asked Solisar.

"To lead through an efreeti army for Memnon to lead," said Hakam somberly.

"Yes, exactly," confirmed Durbuluk. "As I said before, Allustairimarinastralmindivu was supremely fortunate to have found an open portal to his plane, and he simply passed through it. He came upon the abode of some powerful wizard with a portal on an isolated island and a band of hobgoblin pirates — with a sailing ship no less. Is it so surprising that he saw this as an opportunity? Everyone knows that to this very day a deep and ancient magic still bars all genies from using their own magic to enter Calimsham or wizards from calling them here. No such magic prevents a portal to the Plane of Fire from operating, however. All Allustairimarinastralmindivu had to do was dismantle the portal and transport it here to Faerûn to rebuild. As you can see behind you, he succeeded."

"Allu told the hobgoblins that the gate would bring warriors from Clangor," said Leokas.

"A lie that appealed to their simple minds more than the truth."

"How is it that Samber has not already located his missing gate and taken it back?" asked Solisar.

"The gate is protected against attempts at scrying. Allustairimarinastralmindivu is not foolish. He knows that the one from whom he stole the gate is a powerful spellcaster who could scry on the gate to find him and teleport here on a whim."

"Why has he not opened the portal yet?" asked Hakam. "Why has the Army of Fire not already come through?

"Because a petty and weak human wizard, a stowaway on Allustairimarinastralmindivu's ship, stole the key."

The party knew that this "petty" wizard was Malick of Darromar, the very one who had set this whole adventure in motion by hiring Leokas many months ago, but they tried hard not to let on to Durbuluk that they knew this or, worse, that they had the very key on one of their persons.

"Is the army waiting on the other side now?" asked Hakam.

"I do not know; I only know that until this mummy attacked us, Allustairimarinastralmindivu was still searching for the lost key. It was a major missing component to his plan. With the loss of the key and now the destruction of his army, the efreet's last chance is to free Memnon earlier than he had willed."

"Is there a way to destroy the portal?"

"I do not know that either. Booyagh might."

"Should we destroy the portal?" asked Belvin.

"There is no need for the portal to be destroyed if the key is still missing," said Solisar.

Kytharrah was growing noticeably bored of the interrogation by now and was scratching at his itching, rotting flesh, causing more fur to fall out.

"Are you satisfied yet," asked Durbuluk, "or do you have further questions?"

"Does the path behind us lead out of the caverns?" asked Solisar.

"It does, to the desert sands."

"How do Allustairimarinastralmindivu's magic bottles work?" asked Hakam. "Is he actually summoned when someone opens the bottle, or do we merely view an image of him?"

Durbuluk seemed thoughtful. "How would you know about these bottles?"

"We found one in the past and foolishly opened it."

"You. You are the ones who have the key. He has searched for so long, and had he only waited, you would have come to him!"

"Were it the case that we had the key," threatened Hakam, "we would have to eliminate anyone who might inform Allustairimarinastralmindivu."

"Now, now," said Durbuluk, "your so-called worshiper of Torm here already gave me a promise."

"Our agreement with you says nothing about finding you again after we let you go."

"After you let me go," said the half-fiend, "you will never find me again. I assure you."

"Nevertheless, you will tell us about the bottles."

"Unlike the bottles crafted by your own people to entrap efreet for their own purposes, these bottles summon Allustairimarinastralmindivu himself for a short time, after which he returns from where he came."

"If one were to open a bottle and then destroy it before that time had passed, what would happen?"

"I have no idea," said Durbuluk.

"Does Allustairimarinastralmindivu have any weaknesses? Or are there any means we could use to bargain with him?"

"You could offer him the gem key." Durbuluk smiled, but then he continued. "If that fails, you could use ice magic, which tends to work well on fire creatures. To be honest, I have never considered attacking him, so I do not know. It seems a foolish thought."

"Bored, bored, bored," complained Kytharrah.

"The fire traps in the chamber below," said Hakam, "what triggers them?"

"They only trigger for non-hobgoblins," Durbuluk replied, "and they only trigger moving away from the center of the four columns."

"So the way into the inner chambers are blocked? Is there any other way in?"

"That tunnel is the only way in. Are we finished here? Are you not yet satisfied? I have told you everything."

"To satisfy us and our agreed-upon conditions, you must tell us everything written in the gnome's journal."

"What? Absurd! I cannot read the language that the journal is written in, and even if I could, do you truly expect me to have memorized it?"

"Can you at least recall the map?"

"Not well enough to draw a copy for you. I only saw it once."

"Then you must retrieve it for us," said Hakam.

"That does not seem to me part of our agreement."

"You agreed to answer all of our questions, and we are questioning you about information found in a document that you clearly have access to. In any human court, this argument would be upheld."

"Perhaps in a human court," said Durbuluk.

"That is the only court that matters at the moment," said Hakam.

"Stay here, and I shall retrieve the the book for you."

"And risk you escaping?" said Leokas.

"We will escort you as far as to the fire traps below," said Hakam.

"So be it. That is only fair," answered the fiendish hobgoblin. "Lead the way."