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a dust devil,” he said.  “But there's no dust.  So it's probably a demon.”
    A face appeared at head height on the swirl:  two round eyes made from vortices of dust, and a mouth formed from a wriggling dust snake.  “No, a demoness.  What are you tankards up to?”
    “What?“
    “Cups, glasses, containers, bottles, mugs-”
    “Goblets?  “
    “Whatever.
    “Nothing interesting,” Gwenny said, hoping the demoness would go away.
    There was no point in correcting her about the distinction between a goblet and a goblette, or in reminding her that there was only one goblin in this party.  They had enough problems without having them complicated by a supernatural creature.  Demonesses were supposed to be less worse than demons, being mischievous rather than mean, but their mischief could be formidable.
    More of the form appeared.  Smoky hair sprouted and curled downward.  A larger swirl of dust became a voluminous skirt.  There was nothing between the skirt and the head, but they were evidently connected.  “I don't believe that.  You seemed most eager to get across the Gap.”
    Gwenny caught on.  “That horrible demon blocking the way!  That was you!”
    “Of course.  That path is enchanted.  A real monster couldn't be on it, but since I mean no harm and the menace was illusory, no problem.  I just wanted to see what you'd do.”
    “Gee, thanks,” Gwenny said sarcastically.
    “You're welcome.“ Sarcasm was of course wasted on demons.
    Jenny returned, realizing that something was happening here.  “A demoness?” she asked.
    The dust coalesced into a rather shapely figure of a woman.  “Metria!”
    Che and Jenny exclaimed, almost together.
    “You know her?” Gwenny asked, surprised.
    “She pestered us when we were coming to Goblin Mountain,” Jenny said.
    “She pretended to be Nada Naga, and talked to Prince Dolph.”
    “Well, a winged centaur foal traveling with goblins and an outsized elf girl on the back of a sphinx was interesting,” Metria said defensively.
    “Well, we're dull now,” Gwenny said.
    “I doubt it.  Why are three young folk traveling alone, when they are under the protection of the winged monsters?”
    “Because we're trying to learn to be independent.”
    “And what would a long-haired goblin woman have to do with any of this?”
    “She's my mother,” Gwenny said shortly.
    “So your mother left Goblin Mountain to come to the centaur family, and next day you three depart alone, going in another direction.  You say that's not interesting?”
    Gwenny realized that Metria would not be denied.  “If we tell you what we're up to, will you leave us alone?”
    “That depends.  Let's make a different deal:  if what you tell me is interesting, I'll tell you something interesting.”
    Gwenny looked at Che.  “Is that a good deal?”
    “It probably is,” the centaur said.  “I understand that Metria always honors her deals, and always tells the truth.
    But that often the deal doesn't turn out the way the other party thinks it will, and often the truth is not what he, wants to hear.”
    Metria shot him a glance.  “Even little centaurs are entirely too intelligent.”
    “However,” Che continued, “it will be necessary to obtain her commitment to privacy, because our mission is of a private nature.”
    Metria grimaced.  “That ruins half the fun of it.  But secrets are more interesting than what everyone knows. I'll agree.”
    “Very well,” Gwenny decided.  “I'll make that deal.”
    For she realized that if their story bored the demoness, she would go away, and that was what they really wanted.
    “My father, Gouty Goblin, just died, and I have to try to be the first female goblin chief of Goblin Mountain.  But I can't see very well without spectacles, and I'll never get to be chief if the other goblins know that, so I've got to get contact lenses instead.  I'm going to ask the Good Magician where I can get them.”
    “The first female