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"I've heard of thes"

The parrot put its head on one side "It never worked All he ever got was a neuralger"

"What's that?"

"It's a demon that comes and has a headache at you"

De as the gods, who in many ways they closely resemble The difference is basically the sahters

Most of the demons occupy a spacious dimension close to reality, traditionally decorated in shades of fla point This isn't actually necessary, but if there is one thing that your average demon is, it is a traditionalist

In the centre of the inferno, rising majestically from a lake of lava substitute and with unparalleled views of the Eight Circles, lies the city of Pandemoniueon Dimensions, those endless parallel wastelands outside space and tieon Di of the world but siht and shape and try to war around it with about the sa to war to the same space-time wossna interest in huods of the Disc have never bothered o to hell if that's where they deserve to go Which they won't do if they don't know about it This explains why it is iht) At the l, the new King of the De had broken down again, not because he felt surrounded by idiots and plotters on every side, and not even because no-one could pronounce his naiven bad news The demon who had been chosen by lottery to deliver it cowered in front of his throne with its tail between its legs It was i wonderful was soon to happen to it (Demons have a distorted sense of values)

"It did what?" said Astfgl

"It, er, it opened, o lord The circle in Pseudopolis" "Ah The clever boy We have great hopes of hiain, lord" The deh?" "Er" The deues, clustered at the far end of thethrone rooh?" "In point of fact, o lord -" "Yes?" "We don't know Soave orders, did I not, that when the boy succeeded the Duke Vassenego was to

materialise unto hihts to bend hirowled The proble evil, he'd been forced to adreat innovatory thinkers and really needed the spice of hu forward to Eric Thursley, whose brand of superintelligent gorht, self-centred people like Eric They were e

"Indeed, lord," said the de the su all other te the world of men -"

"So where was he?" "Er Call of supernatural, lord," the deabbled "Hadn't turned his back for two h?"

"We're trying to find out -"

Lord Astfgl's patience, which in any case had the tensile strength of putty, snapped at this point That just about summed it up He had the kind of subjects who used the words "find out" when they ood for them

"Get out," he whispered "And I shall see to it that you get a commendation for this -"

"Osta corridors to his private aparty hind legs and hoofs Lord Astfgl had rejected all that sort of thing out of hand He held that no-one would ever get taken seriously by those stuck-up bastards in Dun all the tihts, a coith two rather sophisticated little horns on it, and a trident The end kept dropping off the trident but, he felt, it was the sort of get-up in which a de could be taken seriously

In the coolness of his chaods, it had taken hiet them up to some sort of civilised standard, his predecessors had been quite content just to lounge around and teently lifted the cover off the Mirror of Souls and watched it flicker into life

Its cool black surface was surrounded by an ornate frareasy smoke constantly unfolded and drifted

Your wish, master? it said

"Show ate over the last hour," said the King, and settled down to watch