Night & Demons by David Drake

curveted slowly, its hooves striking occasional sparks from the flagstones. It was pretty ordinary-looking except for the straight horn in the center of its forehead.
    Seeing that Wally wasn’t going to say more, Howard raised an eyebrow to Genie. She shrugged and said, “I didn’t see it myself—Robert won’t let me in here while the tests are going on. But all that really happened is that the rabbit hopped out, perfectly all right, and a lizard ate it. The same thing could have happened anywhere.”
    “The lizard stared at the poor rabbit and drew it straight into its jaws, step by step,” Wally said without looking at the others. “ It knew it was doomed but it went anyway. I’ve never in my life seen anything so horrible.”
    Then you don’t watch the TV news a lot , Howard thought. Aloud he said, “It was a basilisk, you mean? Not just a lizard?”
    “It was a lizard,” Wally insisted stubbornly. “ But it wasn’t a lizard from, well, this world. It was horrible, and there are any number of other horrible things over there. It’s really too dangerous to send somebody into that world, but that’s the only way we can get . . . things.”
    “Well, an assault rifle ought to take care of any basilisks that come by,” Howard said reasonably. “Or dragons either, which is more to the point. Basilisks aren’t supposed to be big enough to eat people.”
    He sighed. “ I hate to say this, Wally, but science always seems to win out over romance. I really hate to say it.”
    “But that’s just what I mean, Howard,” Wally said despairingly. “ I had a leash on the bunny so I could pull it back, but it didn’t pass through the portal. The leash was still lying on the floor when the bunny disappeared. The volunteer won’t be able to take a gun or even clothes, and I really don’t believe he’ll be able to bring the scepter back for Mr. Strange.”
    “Robert thinks that purple scepter gives the fairy king his power,” Genie said, her hands clasped behind her back as if to underscore the restraint in her voice. “Robert wants someone to go through Wally’s portal and steal the scepter.”
    With absolutely no feeling she added, “Robert sacrificed a black hen the night Wally sent the rabbit through. He did it over the drain there—”
    She nodded toward the bare concrete.
    “—but you can still smell the blood caught in the pipe. Can’t you?”
    “Now, Iphigenia,” Wally said, blushing again. “Your father has his ways, but he’s been very generous with me.”
    Howard’s nose wrinkled. He’d noticed a faint musty odor, but the room was so ripe with the smells of electronics working—ozone, hot insulation, and flux—that he hadn’t given any thought to it. He still wasn’t sure that what he smelled was rotting blood rather than mildew or wet wool, but now that Genie’d spoken he wouldn’t be able to get the other notion out of his mind.
    “Wally, you’re a genius!” the girl said so forcefully as to sound hostile. “You could go anywhere and find somebody to fund your work! I only wish you had.”
    Wally turned and looked her in the face for the first time. “Thank you for saying that, Iphigenia,” he said, “but it isn’t true. I went many places after I first saw what the mica could do, and they all sent me away. Your father thinks I’m a magician and he’s wrong; but he doesn’t call me crazy or a charlatan.”
    A door—the door that the light had led Howard to—opened. Robert Strange, identifiable from the rare photos that appeared in news features but much craggier and harsher in person, stepped through. He wore a long-sleeved black robe embroidered with symbols Howard didn’t recognize, and through the sash at his waist he’d thrust a curved dagger of Arab style. Hilt and scabbard both were silver but decorated with runes filled with black niello.
    “Who are you?” Strange demanded, his eyes fixed on Howard. His voice was like scales scraping on stone, and his black