Pavel Konstatin ran down the alleys between candy buildings. He wondered how he

kept getting into trouble like this. He heard Ivanoviska running behind him in his

borrowed body. The baying of honey hounds filled the air behind the spirit.

They were going to die in a place between places and he hadn’t even said goodbye

to his wife. She would be furious when she found out.

At least he wouldn’t to worry about that if he could get through the underworld fast

enough. He might be able to move on to his next life without being summoned back.

Running seemed good at the moment, but he needed to think of a way out. They

couldn’t run forever. He didn’t know about Ivanoviska, but he would tire and be easy

game for their pursuers unless he thought of something.

He tried the doors to the buildings as he ran by them. They weren’t doors, but false

fronts. The windows were the same way. He frowned at being in a place where

everything was really solid gumdrops on a floor of honey and sugar.

Would the hounds be thrown off if the two of them could get to the top of the fake

buildings? How did they do that? He didn’t see any fire escapes, or ladders. There had

to be a way to buy time.

The longer they could hold out, the more likely his wife would arrive and bail them

out. And the queen of candy didn’t seem inclined to hurry things along.

Pavel had no doubt his wife could handle this situation with her usual brilliance.

“We need to get off the ground,” Pavel said. He measured the space between

buildings with his eyes. “We need to buy as much time as we can.”

“I’m all ears,” said Ivanoviska. He looked behind them for the baying of the hounds.

“Brace against the walls,” said Pavel. “We can get on the roof and try to stay out of

reach.”

“Anything is better than staying down here and being eaten,” said Ivanoviska.

The two men braced themselves against the sides of the alley. They inched their way

up the walls as fast as they could. Pavel didn’t like the way his feet sank into the

construction, but felt it didn’t matter if they could still make the roof. He got to the

top of the alley and realized he would have to turn around to reach either one of the

roofs. He hadn’t counted on that.

Ivanoviska made a noise and kicked out from the building they were using as a foot

brace. He turned in midleap and grabbed the edge of the building they were using as

a backbrace. He pulled himself on the roof. He stood.

“Need a hand, Pavel?,” he said. His face said he was glad to still be alive.

“That would be excellent,” said Pavel.

Ivanoviska held out a hand for Pavel to grab. He straightened his legs and leaned

away from the alley. That dragged the clerk on the roof.

“That went better than I thought,” said the spirit.

“At least we bought ourselves some time,” said Pavel. He brushed off his sleeves.

“How do we get out of here?”

“I don’t think we can unless we deal with the candy lady,” said Ivanoviska. He

gestured at the floor of the alley. The hounds had poured into the space and growled

at them.

Pavel looked around. He frowned at the horizon of gumdrop buildings, candy cane

trees, and patches of amber roads just visible from where he stood. He didn’t see an

obvious exit.

That meant it didn’t matter which way they went as long as they didn’t go down, or

back toward the candy queen. She probably had other things at her beck and call than

unnatural dogs.

“We have to stall for time,” said Pavel. He took one more look around. He wished his

wife was there. It would make some of this so much easier. “Let’s keep going along

the roofs until we can’t go any further. The dogs can’t get to us, and we’re running

away from that woman.”

“How big a space do you think this is?,” asked Ivanoviska. He waved both hands at

the city of candy around them.

“I don’t know,” said Pavel. He frowned at the expanse. “Some of this might just be

an illusion like putting a mirror on the other side of an empty room. I suppose a lot

depends on the initial starting spell and how much she has invested in it since then.”

“You’re talking about using dead people to expand this area,” said Ivanoviska.

“Almost certainly,” said Pavel. He ran and jumped across and alley to the next roof.

“Maybe we can lose the dogs if we’re careful enough.”

The two men worked their way across the roofs in a straight line from the direction

of the candy queen. The dogs were quickly lost behind them. A lone howl filled the

air to signal the weird canines couldn’t follow their prey.

Pavel paused at the edge of the last roof. He looked behind him. He rubbed his face.

The candy queen sat on her throne in front of him. He looked around and recognized

the landmarks from their first meeting. The small domain was smaller than he had

thought.

The candy queen looked up at them and smiled. She wiggled her index finger for

them to come down and face her. Pavel shook his head.

If she wanted to kill them, and harvest whatever life they had left, she was going to

have to come up and get them.

“She doesn’t look angry enough,” said Ivanoviska. He looked around. “I don’t see

anything she can use against us.”

“She can shape this whole place any way she likes,” said Pavel. He frowned at the

queen. “What’s her next move? She can’t let us live.”

“Maybe your wife is famous,” said Ivanoviska. He readied himself for another punch

in the face at the implication.

“I think it works the opposite way,” said Pavel. He jogged to the other side of the

building. He jumped over to the next building. “If this witch knew who my wife was,

I think we would be in a lot more trouble than a game of hide and seek.”

“So she would be actively trying to kill us?,” said Ivanoviska. He followed the clerk

away from the weird woman on her throne.

“And covering up that we had actually been summoned here,” said Pavel. He picked

another building to jump to and went ahead.

Ivanoviska followed silently. His new gift of spirit riding didn’t seem that useful in

this place. There were only two people he could possess and Pavel was untouchable,

and he was sure the candy queen had a similar shield to keep ghosts like him away.

And he suspected that he was closer to what she wanted to use for her realm of sweets

than Pavel. He didn’t want to think what would happen if she managed to get her

hands on him. The man he was riding, and his own spirit, would be turned into some

licorice tree judging by what they had seen so far.

The sound of something soft hitting something hard rushed to their ears. They looked

back. One of the buildings of the maze had slumped over on the next one in line. The

baying of hounds on the hunt followed the sight of the fused gumdrops.

“I guess she wanted to make things more exciting,” said Pavel. He ran to the next

gumdrop building and jumped the narrow alley.

“I can do without that,” said Ivanoviska. The only good thing about his new situation

was he didn’t seem to get tired from exertion. He could run forever.

He doubted the hounds were going to give them that much time.

Another building slumped over to the fugitives’ right. It fell away from them to

prevent them from jumping to it was what Pavel thought at first. Then more of the

living honey surged up the new ramp. He groaned as he veered to the left.

They needed a place to make a stand. Where could they find such a place when the

whole place was at the command of their enemy. Any weapon they might pick up

would be fodder for the queen’s command.

He wished he had time to say goodbye to his wife. That would make dying easier in

his opinion. Now he felt like he had unfinished business.

At least he had fixed those double dealers in his department. He could count that as

a win.

The sky opened up above with the ringing of a bell filling the air. The stranded men

looked up. Figures fell out of a hole in the blackness above.

“What is this?,” Pavel asked. He ran to the edge of the building and jumped the next

alley. Ivanoviska landed heavily beside him. When the big man looked up, his eyes

were different.

“Where am I?,” said the stolen body’s owner. “Who are you?”

“Explanations will have to wait,” said Pavel. “We’re in a lot of trouble, and you’re

going to have to run until we figure out what is going on.”

“I can do that,” said the stranger. “I’m Piotr Wulf.”

“Pavel Konstantin,” said Pavel. He looked behind them. The hounds had paused in

their pursuit. They started barking, and then started fleeing toward the ramp to the

street. “I think we should follow them and see how bad things are.”

“All right,” said Wulf. “I don’t remember anything. I must have had a lot to drink

considering all of this.”

“An acquaintance of mine roped you into this,” explained Pavel. “I’m afraid he

abandoned us.”

“He doesn’t seem like much of a friend,” said Wulf.

“He’s not,” said Pavel. “I know him from the old neighborhood. He came to me when

he got into trouble, and roped you in along the way. There was a magic user we were

running from when those fancy dress people showed up from the sky. Maybe we can

use them to get out of here.”

“All right,” said Wulf. “I am going to want to talk to your friend after this.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” said Pavel. He doubted he could get Ivanoviska together with

his horse after this. The spirit probably thought they were going to get killed by

whatever was happening.

Pavel paused when he reached a point where he could see the street. Five girls in

costumes attacked the candy maker with weapons of light and metal. She defended

herself with the surrounding park. The girls hadn’t even come close enough to make

her throne move in his estimation.

Then the hounds entered the combat, harrying the girls with candy corn teeth. More

oozed from the pavement as the pack tried to get close enough to bite without being

stabbed or crushed out of existence by the weapons in hand.

The sound of a gong filled the air. Pavel looked up. A hole punched through the sky.

A woman in a pink dress floated down to the ground. Her dark hair was braided so

it fell to her waist instead of the ground. Jewelry she had created herself covered her

hands and forearms.

“Who’s this?,” said Wulf. He gestured at the new arrival.

“That’s my wife,” said Pavel. He rubbed his chin. “Will you be all right up here by

yourself? I have to get down there and help her.”

“Go ahead,” said Ivanoviska. “I think I have done enough to save the day.”

“You’re the devil, Ivanoviska,” said Pavel. “The owner of the body you’re wearing

wants to talk to you.”

“I’ll worry about that when we’re clear of this, Pavel,” said the spirit. “Take care of

your wife.”

Pavel ran to the edge of the building. He braced his body between the gumdrops and

slid down to the ground. He dropped to the ground and ran out to where his wife

stood.

He could feel the glare she was giving off as he closed on her. The girls in costumes,

hounds, and the candy queen all looked at her like they had found a dragon in a box.

“So which of you dead women are going to start telling me what’s going on?,” asked

Mrs. Konstantin.

“Hello, beloved,” said Pavel, reaching her side.

“This is a mess, husband,” said Mrs. Konstantin. She waved her hand at the

assemblage against her. “Dead women, Alvas constructed space, and dogs that will

rot your teeth if you try to eat them.”

“Don’t forget Ivanoviska being turned into a body stealing ghost,” said Pavel.

“Don’t remind me,” said Mrs. Konstantin. “I almost sent him to the underworld

before he could explain his dragging you into this quagmire. Now, that I’m here, let’s

see what we can do to fix things. Who wants to tell me what’s going on here other

than my clueless husband and his more clueless and even more worthless childhood

friend?”