Parry could not return to Hell proper with out passing by the Judges; he himself had organized Hell this way, so that no damned souls escaped proper classification. Some who came to Hell were actually destined for Heaven, and the Judges had unerringly identified these and assigned them to mock Heaven until they were willing to travel on. Most of them had done so, at the time of Parry's wedding ceremony, but more souls arrived constantly, and the business of the Judges was never finished.

They could not fail to recognize him, no matter what form he assumed, for the Judges read not the physical appearance but the soul. If they turned him in ...

He joined the line of souls, and followed it gradually to its head.

Minos glanced at him. His gaze paused momentarily, then moved on, as if there were nothing out of the ordinary. "Pass to Limbo," he said tersely.

They were not giving him away! Parry passed on, as if he were one of the regular damned souls.

He came next to Cerberus, the three-headed dog he had assigned to be the guardian of the main gate. It had been some centuries since he had contact with the huge beast, and since the Judges passed him, he should be able to walk by without challenge, unrecognized.

"Ha!"

It was the Incarnation again. The cunning slob had been watching the main entrance, just in case.

"After him, dawg-destroy him!" the Incarnation cried.

Cerberus, not knowing any better, obeyed the voice of authorny. He launched himself at Parry.

Now Parry wished the dog had remembered him! He had to escape-and that was no easy thing to do. Cerberus could not kill him, of course, but he could tear Parry's apparent body to bits, and it would be a day before those bits reformed. That could be too long; the Incarnation was near the end of his trial period, and could be ousted at any point. If Parry wasn't ready-Parry dived back into the River Acheron. Cerberus followed, intent on his prey. One head watched above the surface, another looked back, and the third plunged under the surface to watch there, too. He was a good strong swimmer; in a moment he would overhaul Parry and chomp him.

Parry changed into a dirty brown fish. Now he had camouflage to match his environment, and was able to outswim the dog.

"Ob, no, you don't!" the Incarnation screamed from the bank. "I'll take you out if it's the last thing I do, you wait!"

He leaped into the water himself, and became a great while shark.

This was bad news! Parry had not realized that the Incarnation had learned shape-changing. It was not difficult, in Hell, for one in authority; he just had trusted that the Incarnation would have spent too much time in gorging himself and raping child souls to master it. Perhaps someone had provided the Incarnation with good advice, just as Lilah had for Parry in the early days. There were always damned souls eager to gain preferred treatment by pleasing the Master. Hell was hardly the place for honor or principle.