Faun and Games (53 page)

"I don't think I do.
 
But this is not the same world as Ptero."

"Yes," Eve said.
 
"We have been trying to get used to its rules.

We have come to stop its Wizards from hurting our people on Ptero."

"Oh, are they doing that?
 
I didn't know."

"I'm afraid they are," Forrest said.
 
"We hoped that you would know how

to stop them."

Ida shook her head.
 
This caused her moon to wobble and careen into

view.
 
Apparently it had been hiding behind her head until now.

"Look at that!" Dawn exclaimed.

"A doughnut!" Eve said.

The moon zipped back into hiding.

"Please don't use that word," Ida said.
 
"The correct term is Torus."

"Oh, we're sorry," Dawn said, blushing a modest blue.

"Extremely sorry," Eve agreed, blushing an immodest blue. "We're so

ignorant."

Forrest knew that this was at least in part an act, similar to their

flirtation with him, but it was nevertheless impressive.
 
The twins were

very good at manners.

"Well, I suppose you couldn't know," Ida said.
 
"Being from another

world."

"Yes, but we want so much to learn," Dawn said.

"And never to make the same mistake again," Eve said.

Ida glanced at Forrest in a way that indicated that she was not being

much fooled.
 
"At any rate, I was saying to my regret that I don't know

the answer to your problem.
 
The Blue Wizard has confined me to this

island, to keep me, as he puts it, out of mischief.
 
I am surprised that

you were able to locate me so readily."

"We asked around," Forrest said.
 
"We thought that since you have the

Sorceress talent of the Idea, you might have an idea about how we might

proceed."

"Why yes, of course."

"You mean you do know how to stop the Wizards?"

"No.
 
But I do know how you should proceed."

They looked at her blankly.

"You see," Ida explained, "I know where the answer is to be found.
 
I

don't have it, because I can't go there." Her eyes fixed momentar.
 
"Iy

on her moon.

Oh, no!
 
"On Torus?" Forrest asked weakly.

"Yes.
 
I'm sure that the Ida who lives there has the answer.
 
That's why

the Wizard confined me: to be sure that no one had access to my moon.

And no creature of this world is able to come here; a powerful spell

repels them.
 
But perhaps he didn't reckon on visitors from another

world."

It was beginning to make sense.
 
"We are certainly from other worlds,"

Forrest said.
 
"The girls are from Ptero, but Imbri and I derive

originally from Xanth."

"Xanth?
 
What realm is that?"

Forrest exchanged half a glance with Imbri.
 
Ida didn't know about

Xanth?
 
"It is a larger land," Imbri said in a dreamlet.
 
"On it is

Princess Ida, about whose head Ptero orbits."

"Fascinating!
 
And what larger land does Xanth orbit on?"

"Larger land?" Forrest asked blankly.

"Since Pyramid orbits the Ida on Ptero, and Ptero orbits the Ida on

Xanth, what land's Ida does Xanth orbit?"

Forrest found his jaw hanging as low as Imbri's jaw, which was

surprising, because her mare's mouth was larger than his.
 
"Why, we

don't know," he said.

Ida smiled.
 
"Maybe after your mission here is done, you can descend to

that world and find out.
 
I wonder whether it's an infinite

progression?"

"I wonder too," Imbri said.

"But now you will want to visit Torus," Ida said.
 
"You will have to

leave much of yourselves here, however.
 
Fortunately I have room in my

house.
 
But I am obliged by our nature to take some of your mass for the

favor of facilitating your trip.
 
Unless you can do me a return

service."

"We hope to free you from this island, and free Pyramid from the tyranny

of the Wizards," Dawn said.

Ida shook her head.
 
"These are hopes rather than realities."

"We can tell you all about what we find on Torus," Eve said.
 
"So that

you will know it as well as if you had been there yourself."

Ida smiled.
 
"Now that is a service no one else can do me, that I would

very much value.
 
So though I may gain some of your masses when you go,

you won't miss it because your bodies will be asleep, here.
 
And you

will recover it when you tell me about Torus.
 
Do come this way."

She led them into her blue stone house, which was neatly kept. There

were two beds there, and a couch.
 
The girls lay on the beds, and

Forrest took the couch, and Imbri lay comfortably on the floor. Then Ida

sat between them, in her chair.

Forrest brought out his bottle.
 
He gave each girl a sniff, and lay back

on the couch and sniffed it himself One by one they dropped into

unconsciousness, as their soul fragments drew free.

The process was becoming more familiar with experience.
 
This was the

third time for Forrest and Imbri, and the second time for the girls.

Efficiently they waited up, forming into floating shapes, making

eyeballs and ears and mouths.
 
Soon they looked reasonably like

themselves.
 
Then they flew toward Torus, condensing as they moved.

The world loomed larger, its doughnut shape becoming dramatic.

Where should they land on it?

Imbri seemed to know, so they followed her horse form.
 
She headed first

for the center of the hole, then to the inner surface.
 
The world was

variegated, which was a relief; that meant that they would not be

confined to shades of a single color.

"I am orienting on Ida's identity," Imbri said in a dreamlet.
 
"It is an

ability of night mares, to locate the sleepers who need their dreams.

it's not very accurate when folk are awake, so it didn't help on

Pyramid, but I think we'll be reasonably close to her when we land."

They were drifting toward a forest.
 
In the forest was a glade, and in

the center of the glade was a single large tree.
 
That did seem like the

best place to land, as their navigation was a bit unsteady and a clear

spot was best.

Indeed, they came down somewhat hard, having misjudged the oddly

contoured terrain of Torus, which curved away to east and west and

upward to north and south.
 
Imbri landed solidly on her four hoofs, but

Forrest fell on his back, and the two girls tumbled in spreadlimbed

disarray that would have been embarrassing if they hadn't been in blue

jeans.

As they got to their assorted feet, they discovered that the glade was

not nearly as nice as it had seemed from afar.
 
It was bare of grass,

and littered with bones.
 
"What kind of place is this?" Dawn asked

nervously.

Eve touched a bone.
 
"Uh-oh," she said.
 
"This bone belonged to an

animal that was eaten by a tangle tree."

"But that means-" Dawn said, looking quickly around.

Now they all saw it: the single tree in the center was the largest,

awfullest tangle tree Forrest had ever seen.
 
It had an enormous number

of tentacles, and these were now quivering as the tree realized that

prey was near.

"We have about half an instant to get out of here," Forrest said,

starting to run.

But a tentacle lashed out and struck his knapsack.
 
There was a dragon

claw on the end that hooked right in.
 
In only a quarter of an instant

Forrest was hauled into the air.

Imbri galloped over.
 
"I'll rescue you," she cried in a dreamlet. "I'll

bite through the vine before it hauls you into the maw."

"You can't!" Dawn cried.
 
"That tentacle is antiored with dragon scales!

"

She was correct.
 
Imbri reared up on her hind feet and clamped her teeth

on the tentacle just over For-rest's head.
 
There was a clang as enamel

ground against metal.
 
Then Imbri dropped down, unsuccessful.

"Get away from here, the rest of you!" Forrest cried.

"Not while you're in trouble," Eve said.
 
"We'll stop it somehow."

"You can't stop an armored tangle tree!"

But the two girls, heedless of their own safety, drew two sharp little

knives he hadn't known they carried, and reached up to stab at the

tentacle from either side.
 
One must have gotten a point past the armor,

because suddenly the tree squealed in pain or outrage, and the tentacle

hauled Forrest up twice as high.
 
Then two more tentacles whipped out

and wrapped around the girls.
 
They screamed as they too were hauled

into the air.

"oooh, this is worse than I thought," Eve cried, as she reached up to

touch a metal scale.
 
"The tree has eaten many dragons, and saved their

scales to make it impervious."

Dawn reached up similarly.
 
"And it has healing elixir in its sap, so

that it heals as fast as it is injured."

"Look at that trunk!" Eve cried.
 
"It has mirrors to make it almost

invisible."

"And it has the strength of a sphinx," Dawn said, gleaning more