Tad appeared back in the Temple of the Sun. Exactly where he had been standing when the magical Torque attacked him. The sun had gone down, and the inside of the chamber was lit by the radiance of soft yellow magic lights scattered around the Temple. The light was dimmer than a summoned light, but Tad could easily make out the seats, the statue, and Nico, who jumped up from where he had been seated in the front row.

"Tad, you are back!" yelled Nico from where he stood in the amphitheater seating.

"Yea, " said Tad softly as he looked around. Something was different here. He felt heavy magic in the air, and he looked for the source.

Where the goddess Niucrelath had lain was a long cocoon that shimmered with mana. It was pale yellow, and somehow, it felt familiar to Tad.

"Bubbles?" was all Tad said. He could sense her in there. What in the hells?

Nico had made it up to the platform, "She flew into a frenzy when you were attacked, Tad."

Tad looked down and could see Galadinidú. Tad reached over and recovered his staff, careful not to touch the magic blob.

Tad tried speaking to Bubbles, but there was no response.

"Tad, she flew around like she had gone insane. She grew brighter and brighter. She was glowing more than that crystal in the ceiling. She flew up, then she slammed into the chest of the goddess, and that happened. " said Nico standing behind Tad now as they watched the long pulsing blob of magic on the floor.

" Galadinidú, do you know what is going on here? " projected Tad.

"No," responded Galadinidú.

Tad stood there taking deep breaths, trying to sort out his thoughts. He heard and felt a jingle. The pouch on his belt moved slightly and made a tinkling sound of coins jumbling together. Tad looked at Nico, then back down at the pouch opening it. Inside, the large coin he had gotten from the Librarian was flipping around like a beetle stuck on its back. He picked it out of the pouch. The view of a large room full of seated creatures, all similar to the mechanical Librarian Libby from Vilamra's Great library, appeared in a burst of light. They were all looking at him, many of them pointing. One looked like she might be waving to him. Two of them were standing much closer, looking at Tad. Tad could see Libby standing next to another, a rough-looking metalic male. He had an odd conical hat with strands of cord hanging down the side from the point. He wore a robe, and all of them had that odd blue magical consistency Tad had seen more than once when someone was projecting a magical scene. It reminded him of his dual with Lamruil, where the crowd could see the fight above the great table in the Elvin city. That fight seemed like ages ago to him now, even though it had only been months.

"Tad, can you see me?" asked Libby.

"Yes," said Tad trying to figure out what was going on. Nico walked up behind him and placed his hand on Tad's shoulder.

"Oh, " was all Nico said.

Libby looked briefly at Nico, then continued.

"Our resident theologian would like to offer you help, Thaddius," said Libby.

Tad wasn't in the mood for this, "What kind of help, and what is the price? " asked Tad cutting to the inevitable end of the conversation. Libby paused for a moment taking in Tad's blunt response.

Tad had made his deal with these creatures to keep from being indentured to them for life. He wasn't interested in more deals with any magical creatures, friendly or not.

Libby nodded to the male in the hat standing next to her and stepped back.

He cleared his mechanical throat then spoke in a deep voice that had a slight echo, "Hello Tad. It is a pleasure to meet you. You are becoming quite popular here, you know. Most mornings, we have to chase the folks out of this room to get any work done. Oh yes, sorry. Let me introduce myself. I am Maximilianus. I am the head of the theology wing of the Library. When the ladies here noticed the goddess Niucrelath lying on the floor, they asked me to come by. I am here, and now that I can finally see what is going on, I would like to offer you my expertise in the problem with your friend Bubbles and the Goddess. " said Maximilianus.

Tad's eyes narrowed at the man. He felt anger inside. One of his oldest friends is in some magical blob, he had just been attacked by a cursed artifact, and some devil had tricked him all in the same day. Now this bastard was going to offer him some other deal he is going to hate because? He was tired, tired of all of it.

"What do you want? " asked Tad. He knew the creature wanted something. They always want something.

"Oh yes. Well, I'd like you to allow me to study that librarian construct in your pocket dimension," said Maximilianus. "I assure you that I mean no harm, and I very much doubt you will be able to save your friend without my help. She is going to wake up soon as something else, and if you are not prepared, she will cease to exist shortly after."

Tad was really angry. He worked on calming, closing his eyes. Nico had moved up next to Tad now. Still touching his shoulder, he must be seeing the conversation that way, thought Tad.

"No, " said Tad taking a deep breath and letting it out.

"What? I did just explain to you that she will cease to exist?" said Maximilianus. The man looked back at Libby like Tad was daft or an idiot.

"No, you are going to offer more than that. You will talk to your friends there and find others who will also help me. I will need help understanding the constructs, this city, the curse, and how I'm to use this place for my people. " said Tad. He was tired, and they wanted something. He knew that. He also knew that events like what is going on here rarely ever happen, perhaps haven't ever happened.

Maximilianus turned back to Libby. Tad realized they had stopped letting him hear them speak. Several metallic people in the crowd of watchers waved their hands and spoke, and a few shook their heads negatively. Libby said a few things and tilted her head once to the side. This Tad knew is when she checks with someone or something for answers.

Maximilianus turned back around, looking at Tad. "We agree with the added contingency that you allow us to test and explore the creature you call Kettle and that armband. "

"No, " said Tad, "I'll give you leeway to ask questions directed to me that he will answer through me. But at no point will you touch or interact with Kettle. Nor will you try to get others to do it for you. I understand your curiosity, but it will not happen. " Tad was getting angry again. He needed some food and sleep soon.

Maximilianus nodded, "Fine. We agree. I'll contact you again, but for now, you need to gather up items and creatures to fulfill the requirement of a goddess that will be emerging from the cocoon. In short you will need a champion, a high priest, an artifact, a method of worship, " he paused tilting his head like Libby, " symbols of her: a creature, a symbol, a plant, and a fish. Of course, you can have multiples of each, but if you do not have one, the creature will either dissipate or survive as something else. Neither of those results will save your friend. "

"Wait, what? I thought you said I could save Bubbles," said Tad.

"You are; you can't reverse the change, though. She is in the process of merging with the center being of a goddess that isn't dead but not alive. She will be saved, all though changed in many ways. You need to be prepared. Oh, the stronger the artifact and creatures, the stronger the goddess. Like with anything, she will be the sum of her parts. I still do not know what your friend Bubbles was, but she must have been very powerful at one point to be able to do what she is doing. " said Maximilianus.

Tad spoke softly and slowly, "She was a primal Tree." He had known this for years. Bubbles had circled him and influenced him for his entire life. Tad used to dream of being a giant tree that small humanoid creatures dwell under and in his branches. He had always known she had been some tremendous magical tree. He had never told anyone. It wasn't their business. But he knew.

Tad saw Maximilianus look at someone sitting in the front, and he saw them talking but didn't hear them. Nice spell, he thought.

Maximilianus turned back, "She will be strong enough. You should know that those trees ceased to exist many thousands of years ago. "

Tad didn't know that, but he figured as much. Bubbles would not have left her home plane to wander the beast lands if she had others of her kind to be with; Tad knew this. He figured Samphire knew it, which was why he was never concerned with the Ancient Free Spirit in the Carnival. Jack probably knew also. Jack had told him how powerful Bubbles was once, not directly, but Tad understood.

"I need someone that can teach me how to identify magic items. I will contact you again in a few hours after I get some food and sleep," said Tad. He was certain now this was the place he was intended to find. He didn't know how he was going to stop the curse or the sands or how he was going to feed everyone, but he knew this was the place.

Maximilianus nodded, and the magical crowd disappeared. Nico moved away from Tad.

"Lamruil and Zanna should be back soon with the bags. We decided to camp here for now. You should see what Zanna did to that Imp. " said Nico looking at his friend.

"Thank you, Nico. You have been a better friend than I feel I deserve sometimes." Tad looked again at the magical cocoon. It was twenty feet long and easily five feet thick, and it wasn't moving, but Tad could sense the magic swirling around inside and Bubble's presence.

A tired-looking smile crossed Tad's face, "Nico, how do you like vampires? "

***

Tad spent the time the two waited talking with Kettle coordinating the move to the valley. The Carnival's smaller wagons would be loaded on the dwarven war-wagons tonight, and a whole battalion of dwarves would escort it directly across the desert to the valley. It should only take a couple of days, and the trip would be much shorter than Tad's ride, which had wrapped around the cliffs of the mountains.

The dwarves had agreed to supply a couple of months of food for all members of the Carnival, minus the blue lasso spider. Tad thought about all the dire rodents. He didn't think feeding the creature was going to be a problem soon. He was debating on how best to use the creature or if releasing it was a better choice.

The giant honey bees had emerged from their chrysalis, and Iliphar was feeding them sugar water mixed with what honey they had at the moment. The queen bee was talking with the druid on and off. The sugary substance from the giants seems to be working for now.

It was a couple more hours before Lamruil and Zanna came back. There had been a horde of gretchics that the Imp had to be ordered to halt farther down the tunnel. The Imp had control of the creatures to some degree, and they were afraid of the little devil.

Zanna walked into the Temple carrying her mace over one shoulder and two travel packs over the other. Lamruil had the rest of their gear.

Zanna had strapped the Imp to her mace, and it was tightly bound to the handle. Tad wasn't sure what type of metal was used to create the mace, but it appeared to absorb energia, and the little devil could hardly move.

Tad looked at the Imp strapped to the handle of the mace. He had thought about what to do with the creature. Half the planes of hell would know where Zanna was soon as it reformed in the abyss if they killed it. But the Imp was clearly dangerous, and Tad had to do something about that.

Zanna made her way down the stairs to where Tad and Nico had been seated. She dropped the packs and handed the mace to Tad. "You can do what you want to it. It deserves everything it gets. "

Tad took the mace and looked at the little Imp. "The rod under the corpse was the artifact, wasn't it? "

The Imp didn't answer at first, as it hung there with several wires holding it to the haft of the mace.

"Yes, " said the Imp, trembling.

Tad looked at the little creature. He had thought about this Imp. The creature knew it was bound by magic to Zanna. It had to have known it wouldn't escape after doing something so malicious, so it wanted to be caught and punished, which meant that it probably wanted to die to reform in the abyss to be free of its magical bonds.

Tad placed the mace on the floor. Then he rolled the mace back and forth with his foot. The Imp's little face squished into the floor, and the weight of the mace was causing it more than a bit of discomfort. He waited a few moments, and he picked up the mace and healed the little Imp.

"You know. I was thinking about putting you out of our misery. But I've changed my mind. " Tad looked up at Zanna.

"He will follow any order you give him to the letter? Into eternity or death? " asked Tad.

Zanna nodded in affirmative to him.

"Tell him to follow my orders as if they were your own until the end of time. " Tad waited.

"Zel'gonnol, imp of the lower planes, you will follow the orders of Thaddius Rockgrip as if they were my own until the end of time," said Zanna. She raised an eyebrow at Tad, trying to figure out where he was going with this.

Tad nodded looked down at the Imp called Zel'gonnol.

"From this time till the end of time, your name will be Dammit. You will embrace this name, and it is now you. From this point forward, you will not, by your action or inaction, endanger me or others in my care or any known as a friend to me or mine. You will harm no one, no thing, and no creatures without Zanna or I telling you to do so. Until Zanna or I say otherwise, your new job will be to clean these tunnels. You will start with cleaning all the feces from the cave containing all the gretchics. You will take this feces, and you will bury it outside in the fields or under the soil of the mushrooms. Any feces you find from gretchics in or around this valley to a distance of two miles, you will clean. You will do this till you tire each day, after which you will wash then report to Zanna or myself on your progress. For rest, you will come here and stand to do penance for the evil you have done and think of ways to better people's lives in this valley. If you find something that will help them, report it to Zanna or me immediately. Now repeat back to me what I just instructed you. " said Tad.

Tad listened, and the Imp repeated it back in a clear high voice. "Now, one last thing. You will not allow yourself to be destroyed. If you believe your life is threatened and you think Zanna or I would agree with this assessment, you are to flee and find shelter. You will inform either of us why you fled, then continue with your previous tasks. "

Zanna was smiling at Tad after he was done.

"Master, how will I ever move all of the feces. The gretchics fill the whole cavern almost daily? I'm just a small creature, and there is a mountain to move." said Dammit.

"Dammit, " Tad paused using his best carnie voice, "everyone knows you move mountains one shovel load at a time. I expect this of you. Now go and do not disappoint me, " said Tad as he unwrapped the wire binding the creature. Tad knew the mushrooms were absorbing the scat as fast as it was created by the creatures. He wasn't sure what the nature of the cave was, but he figured the Imp would have the pleasure of figuring it out for him.

He couldn't kill it, and he didn't really think locking it in a box for eternity would be enough. The thing had tried to kill him then enslave him to a cursed artifact.

"Tad, your book updated. The first tenant added: Penance for wrongs done. A canonical punishment inflicted according to the earlier discipline of the ???? " said Kettle.

"Is that related to Bubbles? " projected Tad.

"I think so. The question marks are at the end. It makes me think there are other things involved later," said Kettle.

Tad looked at the large statue in the middle of the dais below them. Tad could feel the statue was a construct, and the Torque could control it. He looked around the room. He could feel several smaller ones along the wall, and in the upper gallery were also constructs. He hadn't noticed them earlier because he didn't understand the magic involved. The Torque showed him.

It also showed him that each of the statues had a slightly different color when he looked at them. It was a dim magical aura that he hadn't seen before using the artifact. He ordered half of the smaller ones from the alcoves to guard the door for intruders and the other half to put down their stone weapons and clear the rubble from the stone passage leading up and out of the Temple.

The passage up was full of stones and sand, and Tad wanted that cleared. He left the giant statue standing over Bubbles with only one instruction. Guard her from harm. Then he grabbed his pack, using it as a pillow, and hunkered down between the stone benches to get some sleep. He saw Lamruil tossing Nico a gold coin right before he closed his eyes.

***