The dark magics animating the undead creature gave it much more strength than any mere living opponent, though, and the knife was pushed inch by relentless inch closer to Barl's heaving chest. Tak, seeing his difficulty, grabbed a pike from a wall display and swung it, but his unfamiliarity with such a weapon meant that he hardly tapped the zombie, whose only reaction was to turn and stare at him with its empty, maggot ridden eyesockets. Tak draw back and stabbed with its steel point, and as the creature's skin was punctured it released a hiss of decomposition gases that sent Tak staggering back, gagging and his eyes watering. Its concentration had been broken, though, and Barl was able to throw it away, back into the room. He slammed the door closed and ran away, rubbing his bruised and bleeding throat.

     They found the staircase a few moments later. A concealing tapestry had been thrown aside in the necromancer's haste and the door behind stood open. They paused in the entrance for a moment, hastily checking for traps and other hidden defences, then they descended warily, wanting to run but with enough self control to know that stealth might be the only thing that would save their lives. Cuthbert had to know they were coming, after all.

     No, he knew Tak was coming, Tak corrected himself with sudden excitement. He didn't know Barl was with him. He grabbed Barl's sleeve and whispered in his ear, describing the bare outlines of a plan.

     Barl listened, then nodded. "It might work," he whispered back. "It's got to be worth a shot." He waited while Tak went on alone, therefore, waiting until his colleague was out of sight before creeping after him.

     At the bottom of the stairs was a long, dark corridor, lit at wide intervals by torches sitting in wall sockets. The wall on his right was solid stone, but on the left, once he'd passed the guardroom, was a row of cells, their iron bars brown with rust but still strong and solid looking. The first few were empty, but further along they contained bits and pieces of rubbish and disused equipment, looking as though they'd been simply dumped there in the absence of any better storage place, like someone's attic or garage. The laboratories must be further ahead, unless they'd chosen wrong and he'd gone up instead, into one of the towers. Gods, please no, he prayed silently. He's got to be here. He must be! Might they already be too late? he wondered. After all, how long did it take to activate a crystal ball and blurt out a few words to tell of their treachery? But that was assuming Cuthbert's first thought was to inform Khalkedon. Might he instead be more concerned with escape and survival? But if he just wanted to escape, why come down into the dungeons? He cursed under his breath. They should have tried the towers first. They should have...

     His life was saved by his acute hearing. He heard the chanting of magic words from somewhere ahead of him and dodged into one of the cells, hiding behind a large wooden crate which exploded as it caught the full force of Cuthbert's spell. If the necromancer had decided to stand and fight, that had to mean he had nowhere left to run. Stupid of him to let himself be cornered, unless... Of all the wings and levels of his castle, thought Tak, his mind racing, this was where he'd run to when he was threatened. What did he have here that he was counting on to save him? Tak found himself suddenly growing very worried. If only he'd been able to take him by surprise, as he had Gal-Gowan. Damn the luck that had brought the red wizard visiting today, of all days!

     "You're dead, my young friend," called out Cuthbert, giggling hysterically. "I don't know what madness drove you to this, but you'll have plenty of time to tell me. My little pet here doesn't kill quickly."

     He tittered insanely, and Tak heard the rapid chanting of magic words. Knowing that whatever spell he was casting would keep him occupied for a crucial moment, Tak took the chance to jump out of cover and sprint down the tunnel. He passed a large cavern, and caught a brief glimpse of the necromancer at the top of a ladder. He was reaching down into a huge vat, helping something out, but the younger wizard didn't pause. He hurried on, past the cavern, to where the tunnel continued on through a number of other roughly hewn rooms full of bloodstained tables and bottles of bubbling liquids. Here he paused with his back to the bare stone wall, gasping for breath. He and Barl were now on opposite sides of the necromancer, who didn't know the redhead was here. If Tak could occupy his attention for long enough, Barl would be able to take him from behind.

     There was the sound of dripping, running water, like someone getting out of the bath, and Cuthbert giggled as he ordered something to pursue and capture the invader. Tak peeped nervously around the corner, burning to know what it was that the necromancer was setting on him, but there was nothing yet to see and all he could hear was the slopping of something big and wet pulling itself towards him.

     "He's not full grown yet," giggled Cuthbert, "but he's easily big enough to take care of you, my young friend." Then he raised his voice in an awful parody of a parent doting over a child. "Baby want din dins? It's dinner time for baby! Daddy got some lovely din dins for baby! Baby going to eat it all up!" Then he laughed, and it was the laugh of a lunatic.

     He's lost his mind! thought Tak in terror. And what's he created? Is it what Gal-Gowan came to see?

     Then he saw it, dragging itself slowly and painfully across the floor, leaving a sticky trail of fluids on the stone tiles behind it. It seemed to be a shapeless mass of rubbery flesh, so obese that it barely had the strength to move itself, but its feebleness only made it seem more horrific, not less, and Tak didn't doubt that it was easily powerful enough to tear him apart. Then it unfolded a little, and Tak was horrified to see the greedy, piggy eyed head of a baby emerging from the mountain of flesh. It fixed its eyes on him, and bawled like a grossly spoiled child that wants another sweetie.

     Tak was paralysed with shock, the fear eclipsed by outrage and horror that the human form should be perverted into such an obscenity. He couldn't take his eyes off it, couldn't move as it dragged itself towards him yard by agonising yard, pudgy arms and legs reaching out to press and push against the bare stone floor. It bawled again, screaming its greed at the shuddering, trembling wizard. It reached out, and an obscenely fleshy, pudgy hand closed around his leg...

     The feel of it snapped Tak out of his paralysis and he pulled himself free, backing away a dozen yards. Then he reached out with his hands and gabbled the words of a spell. Crimson fire lashed out, enveloping the thing, and he gasped with relief as he watched the purifying flames dancing across it. Then the flames died out, though, and he stared in shock to see that the thing was completely unaffected.

     He backed away as it continued to advance, and he heard Cuthbert's insane laughter mocking him as he came up against solid stone. "Oh no, my young friend. Magic just makes him stronger. And hungrier. He's a wizard himself, you see. Of a sort. Moulded from wizard stock, anyway. I bred him to kill wizards. To feed on their spells and then crush them under his dainty pink bottom when they're done. See what a marvel he is already! Imagine what he'll be when he's fully grown!"

     "An abomination!" shouted back Tak, staring at the approaching monster in horror. "Once they learn what you've created, they'll team up to destroy it!"

     "Destroy it how?" giggled Cuthbert. "It's immune to magical attack, and its hide is tough enough to resist any blade. It's my masterpiece! My name will live forever in the annals of wizardry! I will..."

     There was a choked cry and the insane voice fell mercifully silent but Tak was in no condition to appreciate it. The thing was almost on him now, breathing down on his face as it towered over him, its pudgy hands reaching out...

     He heard a spell being cast, and recognised Barl's voice, speaking as rapidly as he dared without gabbling the tonguetwisting words into uselessness. There was an earsplitting clap of thunder and a binding flash of light, and the monstrous thing shuddered, its eyes widening in alarm. Then it turned, slowly and ponderously, Tak forgotten for the moment, and the wizard took the opportunity to dodge around its other side, feeling his way along the wall as a purple afterimage all but filled his vision.

     He saw Cuthbert was lying in a pool of blood, a knife sticking out of his back, and Barl yelled for him to run back to the stairs. Tak didn't need to be told twice and the two wizards sprinted for it, aware of the obscene mass of rubbery flesh dragging itself after them. It was bawling now, the sound so much like a baby demanding a feed or a change of nappies that it tore their hearts, but when they reached the top of the stairs Barl cast another spell that brought the ceiling crashing down, blocking the passage with tons of rock and billowing clouds of dust.

     "Will that keep it in?" gasped Tak, still shivering from his close escape and rubbing his eyes in an attempt to get some vision back. All he could see was the after image of Barl's lightning bolt spell. It was a dangerous spell to use indoors, where it could rebound off a wall back at its caster, but he'd had no choice.

     "For now," replied Barl. "Long enough for us to get back to the city. We can come back later, find a way to finish it off."

     When they did eventually return, though, a couple of weeks later, they found that the rubble had been forced out by sheer brute force. A trail of slime lead through the passages of the castle to a back entrance, from which it vanished into the woods. They searched for the creature for many days, occasionally coming across places it had been but never able to close on it, and they were eventually forced to give up, hoping that it would simply die from lack of care and attention.

     It didn't die, though, and several years later they came across it again, now grown to its hideous and terrifying full size. They fought against it for a long time before eventually finding a way to destroy it, but that's another story.