"But suppose they kill the foal?" the sphinx inquired.

Cheiron saw Chex flinch. He wished that question had not been asked, but he had to answer it. "Then we destroy that tribe completely," he said grimly.

They made suitable expressions of regret for the loss of the foal, but were thrilled at the prospect of mayhem on this level. It had been a long time since there had been a prospect like this. Cheiron was privately disgusted, but knew that his posse had to have the capacity to reduce that mountain to rubble; otherwise the goblins would laugh at the ultimatum. They might laugh anyway, until a demonstration of power was made.

"We expect to arrive at night," Cheiron concluded. "We will rest until morning, and then survey the situation while we negotiate. Remember: we may make a show of force, but we will not actually attack until they either refuse to yield the captive or show bad faith. Discipline is paramount."

They understood. They did not enjoy discipline, but it was the price of admission into the posse.

Grundy Golem joined Gloha on Cheiron's back, because he expected to use both of them in the negotiations. Gloha would talk to the goblins, and Grundy would translate for the benefit of the posse.

They took off. The small creatures hitchhiked rides with the larger ones, so dragonflies kept company with full dragons and the cockatrice rode with a roc. The harpies were relatively clumsy flyers, so they too had to hitch rides, promising not to befoul their steeds.

They flew in formation, north-northeast. The strongest flyers were the rocs, so they stifled their pace and formed a wedge in front, forging a channel for the others. The posse made swift progress to the Gap Chasm and beyond, as the day waned into dusk and then into night. They skirted the Kingdom of the Flies and the Element of Air, not wanting trouble on the way.

"I don't think I know you, Gloha," Grundy said. "I know of you, of course; when your parents came together, it almost made for a war. But you've been among the winged monsters, mostly, and not at Castle Roogna."

"Well, I am a winged monster," she replied.

"I never saw a prettier monster!" he exclaimed.

She grew hot, evidently blushing. Cheiron didn't mean to snoop on their dialogue, but there was little way to avoid it. "I wish there were a monster of my kind. But I'm the only one."

"I'm the only one of my kind, too," Grundy said. "But I found it didn't matter, when I met Rapunzel, the only one of her kind."

"But you're not a winged monster," she pointed out. "You don't have an obligation to establish a new species, without sacrificing its best properties."