xanth 40 - isis orb (17 page)

“Actually I’m only visiting,” the little fairy explained. “I used to associate with my own tree, but a jeweler cut it down to make a house. When he discovered that it was my tree, he was chagrined. So he made this crown out of its remaining wood, and that enables me to roam freely, no longer bound to a particular tree. But without that limitation, I ate too much junk food elsewhere, and got fat.”

“You don’t look fat,” Hapless said.

“This is how I look without the illusion,” Spelfie said, and became quite fat. After barely half a moment she returned to her slim appearance, but Hapless knew that Feline no longer resented her. That was a relief.

“Oh, look—there’s the opti-mist,” Faro said. “It sometimes appears in the evening.”

Hapless looked and saw a small cloud floating close above the ground. It brushed by them, and suddenly he felt much more positive. They had found their fifth Companion, enabled her to fly, and surely their Quest would succeed.

“It puts a positive slant on things,” Faro said. “That has helped me endure my confinement to the island. Oh, the elves are nice and the island is fine; it’s just that I so very much want to fly on my own without being crippled by fear.”

“Surely you will when the Quest is done,” Hapless said.

“And a rainbow!” Feline said.

There it was, arcing beyond the mist, raining little bows. Feline picked up a pretty red one and put it on her hair. It remained though the rainbow faded.

“There’s Julius,” Faro said, waving to a man beyond the littered bows.

“Hello, Faro,” the man said. He was clearly old, but spry. “I was just collecting some of these bows; there’s no telling when they might be useful.”

“These are my new friends Hapless and Feline,” Faro said. Then, to them: “This is Julius Saucier, from Mundania, so he doesn’t have a magic talent yet, but he can almost work magic with wood. He’s a creative carpenter. You should see the grandfather clock he made, with all wooden gears. He even made a wood crossbow; I don’t need it, of course, but it’s a nice instrument.”

“It’s been a real pleasure getting to know Faro and the elves,” Julius said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better place to retire.”

Retire? Unless he had found a special route to Xanth, Julius was dead. Hapless kept his mouth shut.

“I’m sorry, but I will be leaving tomorrow,” Faro said. “I’m joining a Quest.”

“We will miss you,” Julius said. “You prettify the local scenery.”

Faro smiled. “Thank you.”

They moved on. “I want you to meet my friend Corny.”

“Is that a nickname?“ Hapless asked.

“Not exactly.” She showed them to a field where a unicorn grazed. “Don’t try to get too close; she’s shy. It took me a while to get to know her.”

When they got close, Hapless saw that the unicorn’s horn consisted of a corncob. “Corny Unicorn,” Feline murmured.

They returned to the stall. “My feelings are mixed,” Faro said. “I am eager to join the Quest, but I’ll miss these sweet folk of the island.”

“You’ll be able to visit them anytime,” Feline reminded her.

“Yes. I depend on that.”

Faro went to stand beside Zed to sleep on her feet.

Feline joined Hapless for the night, sharing a blanket. “She’s such a nice filly, I really can’t resent her no matter how much you associate with her.”

Because he would be riding and guiding Faro. “I’m pretty sure she’s not my other girlfriend.”

“What, despite those matchless frontal curves?”

“I appreciate her for other reasons.”

That shut her up.

Chapter 8:

Fire Faun

In the morning they returned to Hapless’s pack with the box still anchoring the new path, such as it was. He picked up the pack and put it on, and the faint outline of the path remained. They all could see it, except Faro; they had had practice with paths, and she didn’t need to.

Several of the elves came to watch. This was a novel experience for them, too.

Zed got into the harness, and Faro flicked him light. The two half dragons changed to dragon form, with Quin donning the other end of the rope so that he could haul the main harness up. Zed was now feather light, so it wasn’t at all difficult.

Quin and Nya took off together, spiraling upward near the path. Zed lifted as the line went taut. He did not look comfortable despite being safely light. Hapless couldn’t blame him; his position seemed precarious.

“Close your eyes!” Faro called.

Zed did, and looked more relaxed.

The elves waved, and the dragons waggled their spread wings in response.

Feline assumed cat form and joined Hapless on Faro’s back, taking hold just in front of the great folded white wings while Hapless rode behind them. Then he tied the blindfold around the centaur’s head, as she twisted her front section to face him, securely covering her eyes. He knew Feline was glad Faro couldn’t fly facing back; she knew where he would be looking.

“Take off,” he told the centaur.

She trotted forward, then spread her wings. She pumped the air and lifted.

“Spiral left, ascending,” Hapless said.

She did. When they were high enough, Hapless oriented on the path. He guided the centaur to it. “That’s good; fly level.”

The elves waved again, and Hapless waved back. “Can you waggle your wings?” he asked Faro. “They are waving to you.”

Faro did. The elves applauded. Then they were left behind as the flight went out over the water.

They were on their way.

The path achieved cruising level then curved to follow the shoreline. Where was it going?

There were birds in the air. They glanced curiously at the odd group but stayed clear, as well they might; who would want to tangle with two dragons and a flying centaur?

Then a pair of young griffins oriented on them. They were the color of shoe polish, two shades. They squawked as if looking for trouble, and headed toward the group. Nya detached from the formation to intercept them, but this did not faze them; they merely separated so that she could not toast them both. She flew toward one, but the other slipped by and came toward the swinging centaur.

“Can you hit a target blindfolded?” Hapless asked Faro. He was conscious that they did not have the protective shield of the other paths.

“Yes, if you spell out its location precisely.”

He wasn’t sure how to do that, since both parties would be moving. Then he got a notion. “When a griffin squawks, could you hit that sound?”

“Yes.”

“Draw your bow.”

The bow appeared in her hands, arrow nocked.

“The griffin is at three o’clock,” he said, using the standard directional system. “Same elevation as we are.”

Faro twisted her torso to aim at three o’clock.

The griffin considered, then flew away, knowing better than to dare a centaur. The other did the same, no more eager to dare a fire-breathing dragon.

“They’re gone,” Hapless said. “We bluffed them off.”

“Bluffed?”

“I really didn’t want to have to shoot it,” he said. “You would have lost the arrow, unless we landed to recover it from the body.”

“Meow!” Feline meowed, her tone saying “Nice catch.”

They continued flying. No other creatures challenged them. Maybe word had gotten around.

Then the path abruptly curved, proceeding inland. “We must be orienting on our target,” Faro said.

“I guess so. So far it’s just forest land.”

Soon there was a glowing wall ahead. “The region of Fire!” Hapless exclaimed. “Naturally that’s where the Fire Totem would be!”

“Now it makes sense,” she agreed. “I trust there’s a route past the firewall? Flames are not good for wings.”

“Uh, yes, I think. The path is angling up.”

They angled up. The firewall was like a thin mountain, with peaks and valleys, all well above the ground. Only high fliers could cross over it. The outline wasn’t fixed; where there was a gap one moment, there would be a new flame the next moment. There did not seem to be any safe crossing at this level.

Then the path angled in toward one of the higher flames. What was it doing?

But as they approached it, the flame dissipated, leaving a gap. The path had found a temporary pass, and zoomed through it. The flames closed in behind, too late.

Now that path led down to the ground. They landed in a charred lot surrounded by adjacent fields that had not yet been burned out; their flames were hot. But here it was merely warm.

Hapless removed the veil. “We’re here,” he said. “Great flight.”

Faro looked around. “I merely trusted you to guide me.”

“And I trusted the path. It knew what it was doing.”

Feline changed to human form. “But where is the Fire Totem?”

They all looked around. There was no sign of a fiery faun.

“It must be a rest stop,” Zed said, stepping out of his harness. “But we are surely close.”

“Surely,” Faro agreed. “There’s a mound of rocks here. Maybe it covers an underground den.”

Then Nya spied something. “Look. In the next field.”

There was the fiery faun. He was manlike, naked, with small horns on his head and goat hooves in lieu of human feet. Fauns were human/goat crosses, and it showed. He was busy with a flaming torch, setting fire to any bushes that were not already burning.

Hapless slowly figured it out. “This must be where the faun lives when not actively setting fires. He should return here when he’s done with the next field. We will have to be ready for him.”

Then Zed figured it out further. “We need the Fire Totem, but the picture was of a fire faun. Could they be the same? Or could one be the guardian of the other?”

“That could be it,” Quin said. “We need to catch the fire faun to make him lead us to the Fire Totem.”

“And how do we do that?” Feline asked.

“There’s something else, now that I ponder it,” Zed said. “On Quests of this type, where amulets or tokens or Totems need to be gathered, it is generally one Companion to one artifact. I suspect that the Companion who is destined to carry the Totem is the one to obtain it from its guardian.”

“Who is supposed to get the Fire Totem?” Hapless asked.

“That is the question,” Zed said. “Perhaps we should decide that now, lest the wrong one come to grief.”

Feline gazed across at the fire faun. “Someone who can handle fire, I should think. Like maybe a dragon.”

“That lets me out,” Quin said. “I’m a steamer.”

They looked at Nya. She nodded. “I am a fire breather, yes. I must be the one. Does anyone have any idea how?”

“Excellent question,” Hapless said. “While we ponder that, I have another notion to pursue. If the Totems represent the five Elements of Fire, Water, Air, Earth, and the dread Void, how do the rest of us align? If we don’t match up, maybe this is a bad idea.”

“Water,” Zed said. “That is typically fluid, yielding, changeable—”

“Curvaceous,” Nya said.

Feline straightened up. “I must be Water,” she agreed, surprised.

“Then Air,” Zed said. “Who is like air?”

“Someone who flies?” Hapless asked.

“That narrows it down to three,” Zed said. “Nya, Quin, Faro.”

“I’m taken,” Nya said.

“And I can’t fly alone,” Faro said. “I doubt I qualify.”

“Which leaves me,” Quin said. “Steam is like air. I must be Air.”

“Earth,” Zed said. “I am land bound and solid. I must be Earth.”

“That leaves the worst one,” Hapless said. “The Void, from which nothing escapes.”

“And by elimination, that must be me,” Faro said. “Though the prospect terrifies me.”

“Your acrophobia relates?” Zed asked.

“Oh, yes. I’m afraid of heights. The Void might seem to be the opposite, but it is similar: a fall into it has no returning. I’m afraid of that fall.”

“Could your fear qualify you?” Zed asked.

Faro winced. “Oddly, it might.”

“But that could be positive,” Zed said. “You have found a way to fly. Could you similarly find a way to conquer the Void?”

“There is logic there,” she agreed with a shudder. “But not one that appeals to me.”

“Another thing,” Hapless said. “She conquers heights by being blindfolded. I don’t see how that would work with the Void.”

“Unless she could also navigate the Void blindfolded,” Zed said.

“Something else,” Feline said. “Faro got the Void by elimination. Elimination means taking away things. It’s consistent.”

“Again, it is a consistency I don’t much like,” Faro said. “But if it must be, it must be. I am the Void.”

“Which leaves us with the first question,” Nya said. “How do I handle the fire faun?”

There was silence. None of them knew.

“Well, I have another question,” Hapless said, his nose uncomfortable as it tried to pop out of joint. “Why don’t
I
have a Totem? You figured it would be Faro by elimination, but you forgot me.”

The Companions exchanged an awkward glance. “Well, you’re not a Companion,” Zed said. “You’re the Quest leader.”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t participate,” Hapless said hotly.

Nya looked at Feline. “Maybe you can explain it to him.”

“Explain what?” Hapless demanded. “That you don’t think I’m competent?”

“I’ll try,” Feline said. Then she took his arm to lead him aside, as if he were a difficult child.

He refused to go. “I get to conjure musical instruments, but I can’t play any. Now I get to lead the Quest, but I can’t participate! What’s wrong with me?”

“Nothing’s wrong with you, Hapless,” she said soothingly. “You’re a fine person and we need you. It’s just not your role to get a Totem.”

“Because you think I can’t handle it?” He was getting angrier by the moment.

Feline drew him close and kissed his ear. That put him into a third of a trance. “It’s not a matter of competence. It’s just that each of us needs to perform the role we are assigned, and yours is to organize the Quest. You don’t need a Totem for that.”

“I don’t see why not!”

She drew her skirt tight against her body so that the line of her panties showed beneath it. That intensified his trance to two thirds. “Hapless, please be reasonable. Let’s—let’s go behind those rocks for a bit of privacy, and consider.”