Knot Gneiss (18 page)

They didn’t wait. They hauled the wagon rapidly across the field and through the region where the fort had been. By the time the giant returned with the fort, they were safely beyond.

“About that kiss,” Meryl said.

“Ah, yes,” Hilarion agreed. He enfolded her and kissed her so effectively that several little hearts flew up.

But Wenda’s attention was taken by something else. “The Sidewalk!” she exclaimed.

Indeed, there it was at last. “Get on it, sidle right, and through the door,” Wenda said, afraid that the Sidewalk would not remain there long.

The men hauled the wagon up to the walk, but the wheels stalled against the raised edge. They heaved the front wheels up, but the rear ones remained off. Wenda and Ida pushed and lifted together, and with a struggle managed to get them over the rim. Then they had to get the wagon turned sideways to move along the walk. It almost tipped over, which would have rolled the Knot off; they barely leveled it in time.

“I have the feeling that the Knot is enjoying this,” Ida gasped. “I feel its underlying malignity despite the effect of the reverse wood.”

“The Strip must have worn out the wood faster,” Wenda agreed.

“It’s a nuisance, having to keep changing it,” Meryl said. “But what choice do we have?”

They rolled the wagon to the Door. “Open it,” Wenda called.

Hilarion did so. Then they wheeled the wagon through. As it got clear of the doorway, Wenda made a last check to be sure all members of their party were present, then slammed it shut. They were back.

“That’s a relief,” Meryl said. “Those puns are corrosive.”

“Something is odd,” Hilarion remarked, looking around. “I have traveled Xanth somewhat, but have never seen this region.”

“I agree,” Jumper said. “This is new to me.”

Ida looked. “Uh-oh,” she said. “I fear this isn’t Xanth.”

“Of course it’s Xanth,” Wenda said. “Where else could it be?”

Meryl got an unkind notion. “Which Door did we go through?”

“The one at the end of the right Sidewalk, of course,” Wenda said.

“I think it was the left one,” Angela said. “I thought I had confused what you said when I saw it happen.”

Oh, no! “The reverse wood,” Wenda said. “It reversed our direction. We went through the wrong Door!”

“Then where are we?” Hilarion asked.

“That, I fear, remains to be discovered,” Ida said sternly. “The left door leads to parts unknown. It could be any world in the circuit.”

“Any world in the endless loop?” Jumper asked.

“That is my understanding. I believe it is a random access.”

They exchanged alarmed glances. What had they blundered into?

The Knot was grimly amused.

8

R
EVERSE
W
ORLD

Actually the scene was pleasant enough: a gently undulating white cloud surface where a number of angels flew, perched, and sang sweetly.

“Can this be Heaven?” Hilarion asked. “We may be fortunate to have a native guide.”

“This is not Heaven,” Angela said. “At least, not any province of Heaven I know of. But I will inquire.”

She flew to the nearest angel, a handsome male, while the others waited with the wagon. The two held a momentary dialogue. Then the male angel tried to grab Angela and throw her down on the cloud. Angela screamed and leaped free. The other angel’s hands passed through her body without effect. What was going on?

Angela flew back to the group. “That’s no angel!” she said. “That’s a demon! He tried to—to r*pe me!”

“To rape you!” Ida said, appalled.

“Yes. But he couldn’t hold me, because I am immaterial here, while he is material. His form is illusion. This is definitely not Heaven. It could be H*ll.”

“How can this be?” Jumper asked. “How can Hell pretend to be Heaven?”

“I don’t know. But now I realize it’s not H*ll either, because real demons would have the same reality there that I do. It is something else.”

“So it seems,” Ida agreed, frowning.

“Before we go further, we need to know what we’re up against,” Wenda said. “Are the demons real or illusion?”

“I may be able to help,” Jumper said. “I tend to forget it because I’m not used to it, but Eris made me invulnerable as well as giving me the power to change forms. So even a solid physical demon can’t hurt me.” He assumed the form of a male angel, complete with halo, and flew out to meet the thing that had attacked Angela. He had forgotten to scrounge for clothing, but maybe it didn’t matter.

A female angel flew in to intercept him. The others of the Quest watched as she floated before him, speaking to him. Then she came forward to kiss him. Only as her face touched his, she opened her mouth to show sharply pointed teeth, and bit his face.

Jumper, unharmed, put his hands on her body and lifted her away from him. She struggled, but his spider strength held her captive. Now Wenda could hear their dialogue.

“Who or what are you?” Jumper demanded. “I think you’re no angel.”

“Of course I’m a blessed angel,” she said. “See my body. Feel it.” She put her hands to her dress and tore it asunder to reveal an extremely shapely torso. “Are you man enough to handle that?”

“That’s a demoness!” Angela whispered, amazed. “That body, that attitude. Heavenly creatures never acted like that.”

Jumper remained frozen in place. “Oh, bleep!” Wenda swore. “She freaked him out with that exposure.”

“He’s your close friend,” Meryl said. “Can you reach his mind?”

“Yes, maybe.” Wenda reached out telepathically, jogging his blank mind.
Jumper! See her through my eyes. A body with too much meat on it.

Jumper revived.
Thank you. Stay connected, neutralizing her meat.

Gladly,
she agreed.
Now question her.

“I am just looking for some information,” Jumper said. “Why did you try to bite me?”

“I thought you were an angel. Now I know you are of harder stuff. I’d like to get a piece of it.” She glanced at his midsection in such a way that he blushed. She was certainly no angel.

I am at a loss,
Jumper thought to Wenda.
What do I do or say now?

She’s a demoness,
Wenda thought back.
Ask her what world this is.

Evidently perplexed, Jumper obeyed. “What world is this?”

“You must really be from the backwoods! It’s Reverse, of course.”

Then Wenda got an idea.
Read her mind.

Jumper held the demoness before him another moment and a half. Then he threw her away and returned to the group. “Ugh! Demon minds are ugly.”

“Did you learn anything useful?” Wenda asked.

“Yes. This is Reverse World, made entirely of reverse wood or its equivalent. It is shaped like a giant reverse-wood tree. We are standing on the trunk section. Nothing is what it seems. Demons seem like angels, and vice versa. They look, sound, and feel like their opposites. This is true for everything.”

“Amazing,” Hilarion said. “How will we navigate it, assuming we have any idea where to go to find a Door back to Xanth, or—ugh—Comic?”

“I think we shall have to learn to appreciate it for what it is,” Ida said. “That is, to know that whatever we encounter is actually its opposite. With that caution we should be able to travel.”

“There was a Door here,” Meryl said. “There must be a Door back.”

“I’m sure there is,” Ida agreed.

“The Doors on Comic are in the Strips,” Jumper said. “But I doubt there are Strips here. The Door must be in the least likely place. That is, the reverse of what seems likely.”

“I should think a Door would be set in the trunk,” Wenda said. “So maybe it’s in the foliage instead.”

“That makes reverse sense,” Hilarion agreed.

“So let’s travel to the foliage,” Jumper said. “If we can find it.”

“I will find it,” Angela said. She flew straight up, impossibly high. Wenda realized that she was trying to gain the magic of perspective so she could see enough of the planet to make out its outline.

Soon she returned. “That way,” she said, pointing.

“Next question,” Hilarion said. “How do we get there, when we can’t even take a step without endangering ourselves?”

Now Wenda had an idea so bright that the bulb almost blinded the group. “Jumper can change to more forms than just the few he’s had so far. He could become a big roc bird and carry us and the wagon swiftly there.”

“I could,” Jumper agreed, surprised. “I’m not used to multiple form changing, so haven’t tried it. But I’d want to practice with the roc form first, lest I be clumsy and dump the rest of you into a volcano or something.”

“Practice,” Ida said encouragingly.

But now a dragon was approaching. It was a fierce fire-breather, monstrously huge, and it looked ready to toast them all with a single snort of fire.

“Maybe I’d better become a dragon to balk it,” Jumper said.

“Wait,” Ida said. “If nothing here is what it seems, we should check for its opposite. It may be harmless.”

“That’s right,” Jumper agreed. “But how can we be sure? We don’t want to get fried.”

“Use your invulnerability,” Wenda suggested. “Meet it as something harmless.”

Jumper became a fluffy white lamb. He frisked out to meet the dragon—and the dragon reared back, turned about, and fled.

“So it was a lamb, or some other harmless creature,” Ida concluded. “And it thought Jumper was a dragon, reversing to look meek.”

That seemed to be the case.

“I wonder if the angel/demons would know where the Door is?” Meryl said musingly.

That was a question, rather than an opinion, so Ida could not agree to it and make it so.

“What do you think?” Wenda asked.

“I have no idea.”

So much for that. “Let’s camp here for now,” Wenda suggested. “There must be some food the demons eat, since they are solid here. We should get some for us.”

“I will look,” Ida said. She brought out a basket from somewhere. Evidently she had joined the Quest well prepared for incidental chores.

“So will I,” Wenda said.

“I will come too,” Angela said.

That left the men and Meryl to watch the Knot. Wenda did not want to leave it unattended. It seemed too satisfied to be here, and she did not trust that at all. Could it have some devious plan for escape?

They soon found a lovely patch of green, red, brown, black and blue berries. Those would do nicely.

“Don’t touch them,” Angela said. “They have to be revolting sludge, or maybe poisonous.”

“True,” Ida agreed regretfully. “We must seek the ugliest food.”

They found a ditch where sludge and bones had collected. It was a repulsive mess. They nerved themselves and collected a fair quantity. This would be dinner.

“I wonder,” Angela said as they started back.

“Wonder what?” Ida inquired, evidently aware that the angel was hesitant to express herself too forcefully. It wasn’t angelic.

“When I talked with the demon I thought was an angel—why weren’t our words reversed?”

“What kind of reversal would that be? Speaking backward, so as to be unintelligible?”

“Or making truth a lie, and vice versa,” Wenda said.

“I’m not sure. But I understood him well enough, especially when he grabbed me and said, ‘Lie down, b*tch.’” She blushed blue, embarrassed by the unheavenly crude word. “So I don’t think either kind of reversal occurred.”

“Now that is interesting,” Ida agreed. “Their appearance was reversed, as was that of the lamb or dragon. As is our blushing. But not their speech.”

“Or their gender,” Wenda said. “That was a male demon. That was clear by its nasty action.”

“Oh, they aren’t all nasty,” Angela protested. “Beauregard isn’t.” She blushed blue again.

“Of course not, dear,” Ida said. “Demons vary, as I am sure do angels.”

“They do,” Angela agreed. “Some in Heaven are almost mean-spirited.”

“Which suggests that the reversal does not affect their underlying natures,” Ida said. “Natural variation accounts for it, with most demons being nasty and crude, and most angels being nice and sweet.”

“It’s limited to one kind of reversal,” Wenda said. “Which is curious, if this is Reverse World. Shouldn’t there be all types of reversal? Sight, sound, gender, and so on? And why aren’t we affected?”

“It is curious,” Ida agreed. “Normally reverse wood affects anyone who touches it.”

“And we’re not touching it!” Wenda exclaimed. “We’re wearing shoes, and Angela is flying.”

“So we are,” Ida agreed, looking down at her feet. “Indeed.”

“Your shoes are reversed!” Angela said. “They look like gloves.”

Wenda looked at her own. They were like mittens. But they felt the same as usual. “They, too, changed their appearance,” she said. “But not their actual nature. That’s why we didn’t notice. They don’t
feel
different.”

“I confess to an unbecoming curiosity,” Ida said. She stooped and touched the ground with one hand.

She became an ogress. Wenda would have been appalled, if she had not known it was Ida.

“You are reversed,” Angela said. She descended and touched the ground with a hand. She became a demon, as she had before when they worked with the second batch of reverse wood. It seemed that the larger ambiance here could affect her, when it had been at best intermittent on other worlds.

“But I became a child, before,” Ida said.

“That was a reversal of nature,” Wenda said. “This is a reversal of appearance.”

“I became a demoness before,” Angela said. “And one now. Why is it the same?”

“I think I know,” Wenda said. “That was a reversal of your nature. You became demonly mischievous, even trying to flash your panties. You couldn’t, because they were still invisible. This is a reversal of your appearance, not your nature. Do you want to flash your panties now?”

“Heavens, no!” Angela said, appalled. She sailed back into the air, reverting to her angelic aspect.

“Sometimes appearances are similar,” Ida said. “Then you were a demoness; now you merely look like one. It is an interesting distinction. And an interesting limitation. I would have thought that this world would apply all kinds of reversal, not merely one.”