Vengeance of the Dancing Gods (22 page)

By a crazy twist of fate he's the only human being among us..

"Fairies get no good answers, it's true, But any mortal among you will do.

Fahadur, mermaid, human all three Can get some decent results from me.

Please step outside before we begin.

It's something I need to start my discipline..

They went out onto the porch and saw that the tremendous number of nymphs who'd greeted them at the dock, joined by countless others, were all gathered there at the bottom of the great stair. The Oracle smiled and then gestured, and the nymphs began to chant.

"Oracle! Oracle! You're the greatest! With your verse you satiate us! You're so wonderful, just divine.

Your wondrous talents always shine! JACK L. CHALKER 149 Go, Oracle! Go, Oracle, Rah! Rah! Rah! Go, baby! Go, baby! Cha! Cha! Cha!.

He turned sheepishly to his visitors.

"/ know it's false, not worth a cent, But all great artists need encouragement..

With that, they went back inside and the oracle took the usual lotus position on the floor in front of the big fountain.

"All right, then," Macore said, feeling even more skeptical, "let's get this over and done with. I want to know if there is in fact a dangerous evil now facing Earth from Boquillas and Dacaro..

The Oracle closed his eyes, seemed to concentrate for a moment, then said, "The Armageddon bell rings clear Should the evil ones appear To the millions and with one breath Page 116 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods Give to the west the kiss of death..

Suddenly he snapped out of it, looked around, and smiled.

"Hopefully you got some news.

I remember not my own muse..

"We got it, all right," Marge told him, "and it isn't good..

"Yeah, but what's it mean7" Macore asked.

Marge shrugged. "I don't know if we can figure out the specifics yet, but it's clear that Ruddygore was right.

It's Armageddon if they aren't stopped..

"If they can be stopped," Macore responded worriedly.

"The prophecy said if, not when," she reminded him.

"That means there are two probabilities and we're the 150 VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS other one. You seem to know the questions, Macore.

Keep going. You're doing fine!.

"Okay, Oracle, then I ask this. Who will be needed to stop them?.

Again the monkish man closed his eyes for a moment, then got the message and delivered it.

"The two who came must go once more To the place from which they tore Their lives but not their inner souls.

To this the thief must burrow through holes To set the treasure before those who wish While the demons are stopped by a pickled fish.

For when evil wishes upon a star It makes no difference where you are.

With Peter Pan's glow and swords below It must grant the wish or Earth will blow..

"Whew!" Marge sighed. "That's a lot. Well, at least part of it is clear..

"Clear as mud," Macore responded.

"The two are obviously Joe and me. You, obviously, are the thief," Marge pointed out.

"Yeah, okay, I'll buy that. But where do we get the pickled fish? And it seems like I'm supposed to steal Page 117 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods something but give some treasure away. What treasure.

And who or what is a Peter Pan? It may all be true, but it makes no sense..

"I know who Peter Pan is, but it doesn't help, believe me. Maybe it will make sense to Ruddygore," Marge said.

"Yeah, well, maybe. It might also make sense to us when we see Earth blow—firsthand. I'd say that meant fire, or disaster, or war..

"Yes. The last war. And something they're going to do will cause it." Marge sighed. "We need more information, but we're not getting it here. I think, though, we ought to ask a couple of personal questions about our own situation.

Considering those lines, I'd say they're critical..

Macore nodded and turned back to the Oracle. "Okay, JACK L. CHALKER 151 time for a personal question. Is there any way, other than trafficking with demons, to get back into our old bodies, and will we?.

The Oracle again closed his eyes. Marge wondered what his mind must be like if it touched, even grazed, Heaven for only an instant.

"Physical bodies matter not; Souls are real and what you got.

All can find the way back home, But only those that did not roam..

Marge gasped. "Poor Joe!" she sighed. "And we obviously need him..

"Well, good news for us, anyway. Cap," Macore commented.

"Marge? Anything else you want to ask?.

'Wo more questions will I call.

Your deposit's run out and that's all,.

said the Oracle.

"Well, that's it, then." Marge sighed. "I guess we should be heading back. You know the itinerary. Captain. What happens now?.

The captain finished writing down the prophecies in a small notebook, then put away his pencil. "We go back.

There's a good chance we can still beat that storm and be in before two in the morning if we leave now. We're to return to Marahbar and check into the Hotel Windjammerjust up on the riverfront and wait. Ruddygore will either meet us or send for us there. That's all I know. Then I get paid, and maybe I get my old body back—if we both still want it that way. I'm getting somewhat used to this..

"Same here, but I think we're not well suited for our respective businesses. Cap. Let's be off..

They thanked the Oracle, who responded with some Page 118 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods bad and innocuous verse and then clapped his hands. A huge, muscular satyr, the first male of any sort they'd seen other than the Oracle himself, appeared, bowed to 152 VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS the monkish prognosticator, then came over to them. "I will assist you in getting back to your ship," he rumbled.

"I understand one of you has problems with stairs..

They went back and found Tiana and Joe, who seemed to have recovered a bit. Both looked almost awestruck at the sight of the satyr, and Joe had to be physically restrained.

"No problem," the satyr commented, and picked up Joe and Tiana, one under each arm, and began the walk down the stairs.

Marge flew along, seeing Joe's agony but knowing it was all for the best. "You're the first male anything we've seen other than the big man himself," she noted. "Did we just miss the males or am I right?.

"Oh, you're right," the satyr growled. "He doesn't like males around very long, that's true. It's just that he needs me. You see, my actual name is Porange Chilver..

She shrugged in midair. "So?.

"Think of what insanity he would endure if he ever accidentally ended a sentence in 'orange' or 'silver,'" the satyr commented.

The coach was waiting below, and the creature almost threw in the two he carried and immediately bade farewell.

"Best I get away fast or that nymph will have to be knocked cold," he noted, and he was indeed away fast.

It required all of them to hold Joe down, but the centauress team was off in a flash and they headed back to the dock.

While still going along the broad avenue leading to and from the Oracle's mansion, Joe suddenly went wide-eyed, then swooned and fainted. They checked and saw signs of life, but all were clearly worried.

"He's burning up, like a fever," Tiana commented.

"His head feels as if it's on fire..

Marge looked at the small figure and felt concern. "The inside is as bad as the outside. The fairy blood is telling.

He's fighting it like hell, but I'm afraid we're losing him..

JACK L. CHALKER 153 Page 119 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods They beat the storm into port, but the wind was way up and it began to rain heavily while they were still on their way to the hotel. It was an old, low, sprawling structure several miles downriver from the port, but it was certainly first class in every way. That was one thing about working for Throckmorton P. Ruddygore; he might get you killed or changed into a toad, but everything was always first class.

The suites were actually duplexes around a small private courtyard and pool, which suited Tiana quite well.

She had been out of the water too long; if she didn't get a good immersion, and not merely from a rainstorm, she could find herself with peeling skin and a painful skin condition. She was, of course, reluctant to leave Joe, who was still out, but Marge assured her that she'd keep watch.

The attendants at the Windjammer had certainly seen everything before; they took Joe in on a baggage cart without so much as a comment, although they did offer to fetch a healer with some expertise in fairy ailments, which was accepted.

The one who arrived in the hour before sunrise was a rather severe-looking middle-aged woman who told them that she was Auruga of the Western Wastes. She had much experience with the fairy folk and with nymphs, but she was now retired and working for the Witches Anti- Defamation League.

She listened to a general account of what had happened, performed an examination and a series of rituals, then told Marge, "There's nothing really that can be done.

Whoever inhabits this body is mandated to be a wood nymph and nothing else. The body's housecleaning now, as it were. When she awakens, she'll have no memory, no curiosity, and no will or capacity to leam anything beyond what it takes to be a better wood nymph. She'll know everything about what nymphs do, because that's part of her nature, and that will be that. Sorry..

"Then—Joe's essentially dead?" Marge couldn't believe it.

154 VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS "More or less. Oh, when the Final Judgment comes, assuming the body lives that long, the information and personality might be restored, but not until then..

"But, damn it, I became one of the faerie and it never happened to me!.

"That's because you're a more complex organism doing a more complex job. Many of the fairy races are smarter than people in their given areas. It neither hurt nor interfered with your function to retain your old self. Nymphs are among the simplest forms of fairy folk. They serve a Page 120 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods function, nothing else. Best thing for her would be to take her to a nice forest and leave her. She'll mate with a tree and be happy and never know the difference..

They couldn't bring themselves to do that; but with the witch's visit, all hope was really gone, not only for Joe but for the mission.

Joe had still not awakened by early the next evening when Ruddy gore arrived. He usually liked a flourish, but in this case he came secretly, in a plain brown robe and hood. Somehow he seemed to think that this effectively disguised his massive nearly four hundred pound frame and huge white beard. Without a transformation spell, Ruddygore could never be in any way inconspicuous, let alone incognito.

His usual jovial mood was gone, though. Things had not been going well for him, either, and he seemed less concerned with Joe's plight than with the contents of the Oracle's verses.

"Do you understand any more than we do?" Macore asked him.

"No, not much, but it's pretty clear the direction we must take. Things have gotten pretty nasty here, but the Earth threat still takes first priority, because, if it goes, we go. The two are connected in more ways than one, I fear..

"You mean our friend in black?.

"Indeed. I am no longer head of the Council. Because of his trick with the bodies and souls, which is quite good 155 JACK L. CHALKER I might add, he's effectively destabilized the religion we set up and, as such, turned the Council into acting on its own to preserve their domains and interests. He has made deals with a sufficient number of them to keep them pretty much out of the fray and he's already beginning to capitalize on it. He is coming out of the northwest of Hypeboreya with a legion of the living dead who are his slavish and unkillable troops. They're not invincible, but every casualty they inflict on the defenders becomes another of their own number. A few wizards are nervous about him, but he's working entirely within the Rules and playing very good politics with his equals. Nobody knows how strong he really is, so they are loathe to challenge him and quick to make deals. Of course, he doesn't know how strong he is, either, or he would have waited for me..

Macore sighed. "So it's all falling apart again. Get rid of one Dark Baron and you get a Master of the Dead..

Page 121 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods "Well, it's pretty much the rules of the game, isn't it.

Evil loses battles but never wars. I've been going crazy trying to organize and devise a defensive strategy against him. It's been difficult because he is as good a politician as sorcerer, and because he seems to have armies of the dead planted all over the place. We brought up massed dragons and stopped them at the River of Sighs, but another force of the same simply came marching out of the Misty Mountains to the south. No place is safe from him, but he stays in the background and relies on his anonymity to protect him from a direct challenge. It's frustrating..