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“It could be a trap,” Sunbeam said after a moment.

“It could be someone in danger,” Yudit countered.

Plenty of nasty, lethal monsters were capable of speech. The dragon we’d fought on the bridge was just one example of many. Ogres and giants. Sphinxes and manticores. Some species of carnivorous plants could even sing. In all likelihood, a hungry creature was trying to lure us in closer, the better to crunch on our bones without having to exert itself too strenuously.

On the other hand, it could be an unfortunate traveler, lost, frightened, and struggling to survive. Just like us.

“Fuck it,” I said. “Let’s go see.”

Whether it was a monster or a human, maybe it would have something that Yudit could eat.

Chapter Twelve

The Genius

The giant was about twenty feet tall. More or less. It was difficult to tell; he was stuck up to his waist in an immense mire of quicksand. But I estimated his head was somewhere around three times bigger than a human head. Or should that be nine times bigger, taking into account both height and width? Or twenty-seven times bigger, counting the front-to-back depth as well? I’ve never been sure how to do human-to-giant conversions.

“Ah, hello!” he said when he saw us. “Care to give a fellow a hand? I seem to have got myself stuck.”

He wasn’t any kind of giant I’d ever seen before. Instead of hair, his head was topped by a roaring fire, orange with occasional yellow flickers. His skin was orange as well, and he had lambent golden eyes with no pupils.

And for all we knew, below the surface he might have a mass of seething tentacles instead of legs, poised to lash around our necks if we came another step closer. Or something else just as horrific.

“It’s embarrassing, really,” he continued when we didn’t respond. “I thought I knew this part of the swamp like I know my own dungeon. But then, plop! I walked right into it.” He laughed, but it sounded strained. As we watched, he sank another few inches, the muck crawling up to his fist-sized belly button.

Tired though I was, I blinked away my exhaustion and gathered my wits. Yudit pulled herself up straight. We couldn’t afford to be caught unawares if answering his call turned out to be a dangerous mistake.

“What manner of creature are you?” I asked.

“I,” he replied with a proud lift of his chin, “am a genius.”

Yudit, Sunbeam, and I exchanged perplexed glances. “I’m sure you’re very intelligent,” Yudit said, “but—”

“No, no, no.” He shook his head, making the flames crackle. “A genius is an elemental spirit. Distant cousins to the djinni and ifrits. I happen to be a fire genius. Which makes my situation somewhat urgent. If the fire on my head goes out, then I go out as well, as it were. So if you wouldn’t mind hurrying…” He gave us the most ingratiating look that a fire-haired giant—or genius, I supposed—could manage.

Yudit tilted her head, frowning. “Do geniuses eat people?” she asked.

“The plural is genii,” he corrected her. “And, um, if you help me, I shall give you a fabulous gift!”

“I see.” Yudit’s flat tone made it clear that she’d noticed her question had gone unanswered. “What kind of gift?”

“Hm, let me think…I’ll enchant one of your horses so that it can speak!”

“Which horse?” Sunbeam said. “Because in my case it’d be redundant.”

The genius was rather taken aback. “Oh! Well, the other one, then, I suppose.”

“Will you make her more intelligent?”

“I can’t do that,” the genius admitted. “It’s not within my power.”

“No deal,” Sunbeam said firmly. “I don’t want to listen to the deep thoughts of Stinky the mare. Even for a regular horse, she’s pretty dense.”

The quicksand was up to the genius’s sternum now. He ran his fingers through his head-fire, as if checking to make sure it was still burning. “Then you shall have the pick of any item from my Storehouse of Wonders!” he cried. “A flawless gemstone, perhaps. An enchanted sword. A magic suit of armor. Or whatever else you please.”

“We do need new arms and armor,” I said hesitantly.

Yudit nodded in agreement. “We could also use another pack of playing cards.”