He pressed on, conscious of the passage of time, wondering what his enemies were up to. He ate dried fruit as he walked, and drank from his water bottle. At least there were no more geysers to jump into. Still, he was footsore and hungry by the time he entered the warren of caves and tunnels that formed the Demon King’s lair under Gray Lady.

“Sorry, Alister,” Crow said, overhearing Han’s thoughts. “Lacking a body, I tend to forget about the necessity of eating. And it’s a shorter distance from Gray Lady than from Hanalea. It should be fairly accessible from your new quarters on Gray Lady.”

New quarters? Right. He was High Wizard now, at least until he was arrested and executed.

Now they were running into magical barriers and traps. Crow whispered directions as Han navigated the dangerous labyrinth.

“Strange,” Crow muttered. “I don’t remember some of these barriers at all.” Still, he had no difficulty coming up with the charms so that Han could disable them.

“How does it feel,” Han asked, “to be back here again after so long?”

After a long pause, Crow said, “Now that I’m here, it seems like it was just yesterday that I had dreams and aspirations. Hopes for the future. A woman I loved more than life itself.”

Han kept quiet after that.

“We’re getting close,” Crow said finally. “Up ahead, there’s a door, if you peel away the spellwork.”

Han did, and there was a door, buried in magic, inscribed with runes. “Wait. Don’t open it,” Crow added quickly as Han reached for the latch. “I just remembered something. How are you at singing?”

“Singing?” Han said blankly. “Not very good, to tell the truth.”

“Are you loud, at least?” Crow asked. “Can you carry a tune?”

“Why is that important at this particular time?” Han asked, exasperated.

“The next chamber is full of songbirds, if I remember right. Their music is like turtleweed. It will put you to sleep if you listen to it. They sleep most of the time, so the best thing is to pass through without waking them up. If they do awaken, then you must sing loud enough to drown out their music.”

“Great,” Han said. “Whose idea was that?”

“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Crow said. “I was an excellent singer.”

“Can’t I just put my hands over my ears?” Han said.

“Do that, too,” Crow advised. “But there’s always the chance that the sound will filter through. If you fall asleep, you’ll never wake up.”

“This is the easy way, right? That’s what you said, right?”

“Shhh,” Crow said. “Not so loud.”

Han struggled to think of a song long enough to carry him through the rock chamber. The only one that came to mind was a bawdy tavern song about Hanalea and the Demon King.

He eased open the door.