Demons of the Dancing Gods by Jack L. Chalker Read Free Book Online Page A

joined in, like excited schoolgirls.
    It was obvious that the Kauri had no self-control over their
    emotions whatsoever. Emotional seven-year-olds. Marge decided,
    with the brains and physiques of very adult women.
    Naturally, they were in great demand as courtesans, exotic
    dancers, and everything else that adult physique implied. They
    could and did mate with practically any male of any species,
    human, fairy, or animal, and the occasional issue of such matings
    was an unpredictable hybrid in half the cases, or, of course,
    a Kauri in the other half. All Kauri were absolutely identical,
    it seemed, because all descended from an initial mother Kauri
    back at the start of the world. The laws of genetics often went
    wild in the magical Kauri world. The Kauri, at least, believed
    that many of the hybrid races of their world were their children
    —the centaur, the satyr, the medusae, and just about all
    other hybrid forms. Changelings, too—those bom of one race
    who turned into another, such as Marge—were their doing,
    although it was extremely rare that a changeling would become
    a Kauri.
    Marge sat down and relaxed with them, not sure if it was
    the fairy empathic powers that made her feel at ease or that it
    seemed she was back with a group of barely post-pubescent
    girlfriends in junior high school, but not really caring, either.
    They giggled, they played, and they seemed incapable of staying
    on a single train of thought for any length of time; but as
    the hours passed, she did get most of the information she
    wanted.
    In many ways, each of the fairy races embodied some basic,
    elemental force of nature, and it seemed that these elf-nymphs
    represented a curious blend of childlike enthusiasm and raw
    sexuality.
    They had no government, no ruling class or council. They
    could never have gotten organized enough for that, nor could
    any of them for long follow another's lead. Their lives, in the
    main, seemed the classic fairy ideal—they awoke, they played,
    they sang, they danced, they spent all the time having childish
    fun. Occasionally an emissary from some far-off place would
    appear at a clearly defined "gate" to Mohr Jerahl and make
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    Chalker, Jack L - Demons of the Dancing Gods
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    DEMONS OF THE DANCING GODS
    them a proposition. In exchange for their limited services at
    some great occasion or function, they would get—well, nice
    things. Their wing structure precluded clothing, but they loved
    jewels and jewelry—the finer crafted and the prettier the better.
    New songs, dances, games, toys, and puzzles for the whole
    tribe were also highly prized. There was no order or system—
    whoever happened to be around and felt like going for whatever
    offering was tendered just went.
    Although they had no active powers of their own—save
    projecting emotion, and that was best done one-on-one—their
    passivity was no problem in a violent and magical world. Without
    their knowing how, any spell or physical overpowering was
    somehow countered. They absorbed the strength, whether
    physical, mental, or magical, from the one trying it on them
    and retained its power for some time—from a few hours to a
    day or more. They had no idea of the nature of any of their
    attributes; they were too elemental to have a science. They had
    not reached their current point through evolution—they had
    always been as they were now and would always be so—and,
    therefore, had no interest in the matter. Marge began to realize
    what Huspeth had meant by saying she must put reason and
    logic aside and do things instinctively, unthinkingly.
    A top-grade sorcerer, of course, could negate their powers,
    since the very nature of long studies in sorcery was the scientific
    investigation of magic and its application. Ruddy gore knew
    how the Kauri's incredible defenses worked and so he could
    methodically prepare a counter to them—but few others could,
    and only the best would block all the magical loopholes.
    Still, the Kauri were