Patxi stirred and looked around. "It"s gone!" he said. "The curse is gone."
"It"s gone," Cube said. "Now you can retire."
"But this path isn"t finished."
"You don"t have to finish it. Your curse is no more."
"But it wouldn"t be right to leave it incomplete. Folk might get lost."
Cube exchanged a look with Kim. Had they really abated the curse?
Then Silhouette stepped in. "This path was, in a manner, my salvation. I was here before, though you did not see me. I kissed you."
"Oh, I think I would remember if--"
"Like this." She kissed him.
Patxi reeled, almost falling. "That was you!" he exclaimed.
"In Cube"s body," she agreed. "She saved my life. I think it would be nice if you completed this one path, so that it does go somewhere, as my life is doing now. It is symbolic. I would consider it a personal favor. Then you may retire if you wish to."
"I"ll do that!" he agreed gladly.
She smiled at him, then turned away so that he could recover. She caught Knut"s hand and walked back down the path. Her effort not to leave him stunned was not entirely successful, because her backside was as esthetic as her frontside, even fully clothed, but then she rounded a turn and was out of sight. Then he blinked, getting his eyeb.a.l.l.s realigned, and returned to work, not even noticing Kim and Cube.
Cube was almost sick with longing for a figure like that. Would she really have one, after the Quest?
"Beauty has power," Kim said as if reading her thoughts. "But there are other things."
"For men?"
Kim shrugged. "Sometimes."
The thread led back the way Silhouette had gone. "I think we"re done here," Cube said.
"Yes. It has been nice visiting, but Dug"s waiting for me."
They rejoined Karia, finding Silhouette and Knut already mounted. The thread stopped there. They mounted too, and soon were flying south.
They landed at No Name Key and went to the picture. They saw Turn Key and Phil there, looking out.
"We will take you home," Silhouette said to Kim. "I hope we can be friends hereafter."
"Surely so," Kim said. "We"ve been to Xanth together."
Silhouette turned to Cube. "I owe you everything," she said. "I fear we"ll never see each other again. I hope you finish your Quest and gain your desire." Then she embraced Cube and kissed her on the mouth.
Such was the power of her beauty that Cube, too, was stunned. By the time she recovered, Kim, Knut, and Silhouette were in the picture. They waved to her, then walked out of sight.
"Charming folk," Karia said.
"Yes." Cube felt as if she had just lost lifelong friends.
Chapter 10: Nimby.
"I believe I see the thread," Karia said.
Cube looked. There it was, proceeding to the edge of the key, and on across the surface of the water. "I can"t walk on water!"
"But I can fly over it, and follow the line," Karia said. "That"s no problem. I"m glad the landbound centaurs separated No Name from Centaur Isle; it would have been awkward for me otherwise."
"They separated it?"
"Originally they had bound it in with their main isle. But there was too much traffic through the portal. Once, I understand, an entire Mundane vehicle came through, with a Mundane family. The centaurs were courteous to them, but thereafter decided that this was not the sort of intrusion they preferred. So they cut it loose. That means that magic centaurs like myself are not barred."
"That is convenient," Cube agreed. "I don"t know how I would have come here without your help."
"That"s why I am on this Quest. Now you have been rather busy, and had emotional experiences. Why don"t you relax in the pouch while I follow the thread? I a.s.sure you I will notify you when your presence is required."
Cube remained slightly faint headed from the kiss. She had never had any romantic interest in women, yet that kiss had stunned her in much the way it had stunned Patxi. She needed to sort that out. "That would be nice," she agreed.
So Cube slid into the pouch, and Karia put it in her quiver. Cube was aware when she took off, then turned her thoughts inward. She had been in Silhouette"s body, and used the power of that beauty herself, braced by her own gumption. Then she had met the woman, and seen how she affected others, including the old man and the young boy. Then she had experienced it herself. Beauty was power: that was all there was to it. The old man hadn"t wanted to romance Silhouette, and neither had the young boy; it was merely a social effect. Now she understood that it worked on women too.
And that was the kind of power Cube craved for herself. She had seen it in action, and felt it. Now she wanted to wield it. And perhaps, once the Quest was done, she would.
Satisfied, she sank into sleep.
She woke when Karia landed. She slid herself out of the pouch. They were at one of the enchanted rest stops. She appreciated those twice as much as she had before meeting Patxi. "There is a problem?" she asked.
"Just that the thread seems to terminate here," the centaur replied. "So I thought it was time to stop for the night."
"The night! How long have I been sleeping?"
"All day. I flew across the strait separating Xanth from the keys, then across the Gold Coast and southern Xanth, past Lake OgreChobee, and within sight of Mount Pinatuba, as you can see." She gestured.
Cube looked. There in the sunset was a towering conical mountain. "Isn"t that the bad-tempered one?"
"Yes. Once it blew its stack so hard that it cooled all Xanth by one degree. We all hope it won"t blow again. I understand it is very sensitive to disparaging remarks."
"As are so many inanimate things," Cube agreed. "Well, I will have no problem. I think it"s a magnificent peak."
"As do I. Nevertheless, I hope the thread does not take us there."
"Agreed. Though I am curious where the thread is taking us. It seems to have a mind of its own."
"Yes. It is a most remarkable effect."
They picked pies for supper, washed up at the local stream, and settled in for the night.
Then someone came. It was a flying creature. In fact it turned out to be a winged mermaid, innocent of clothing like all her kind.
"Now that"s interesting," Karia murmured. "Another complicated crossbreed, like me."
"h.e.l.lo," the mermaid called, hovering outside the shelter. "Is everything all right?"
"Of course it is, thank you," Karia said. "This is an enchanted campsite."
"It is, but it still requires upkeep," the mermaid said. "That"s my job: to check it regularly and make sure everything is in place. I am Nepherina."
"I am Karia Centaur. We are both winged monsters."
"Yes," Nepherina said, giggling.
"I am Cube," Cube said.
"I see you have four wings," Karia said. "Like a dragonfly."
"Yes, it enables me to hover or fly backwards. But your feathery wings are prettier."
"That depends on whether the viewer is an insect or a bird. Any style of wing is fine as long as it does the job."
"There is one thing," Nepherina said. "This is an enchanted site, so it is protected. But there may be danger close by."
"We can handle ordinary dangers," Cube said. "We can repel aggressive creatures."
"This is not that type. The stream derives from Mount Pinatuba, and it can be as mean tempered as the mountain. There is a great lake that formed in the cone after the last eruption, and we fear that one day that lake will burst out and inundate everything below. So please don"t dally long if you go outside the protected perimeter. If the lake burst right then--"
"We understand," Cube said. "Thank you for the warning. We will stay clear of the base of the cone if we possibly can."
"That"s good. Have a good night." The mermaid flew toward the river, and in a moment they heard a splash as she plunged into it.
"I wonder what she does with her wings in the water?" Karia mused. "They seem very delicate."
"They probably fold down behind her," Cube said. "Maybe she even flies in the water."
"If that lake let go and a torrent came down, she"d probably have to take to the air to escape."
"Which perhaps makes it safe for her to use that river," Cube said. "She is not bound to it."
"So she can tend to this campsite," Karia agreed. "Which in turn suggests that the threat is real. They wouldn"t a.s.sign someone who could be washed away by the flood."
"I wonder how the enchantment protects against a flood."
"It must divert it. I hope."
On that slightly nervous note they slept. Cube had no trouble sleeping despite her long nap of the day. Maybe she had been affected to some extent by the time-stopping effect the others experienced, so hadn"t really been sleeping long.
In the morning the thread resumed. It left the enchanted path and plunged into the thickest brush. "I can"t go there," Karia said.
"You have been on duty a long time, and done a lot of flying. It"s time for you to rest. Go in the pouch, and I"ll tackle this. It probably won"t last long."
The centaur nodded. "It was a fair flight yesterday, and my wings have not yet fully rested. I kept myself light, but it still requires energy for the forward motion. Don"t hesitate to call me out if you need me again."
"I won"t hesitate to bring any or all of you out if I need you," Cube agreed. "But since I"m not supposed to make my Quest obvious, I hope to travel by myself as much as I can, between emergencies."
"By all means." Karia put her forefoot to the pouch, and slid in.
Cube was on her own. She plunged into the thicket, forging determinedly onward. The brush caught at her body, trying to hinder her, but she kept going. Then she paused, distrusting a bush just ahead. It didn"t look quite right. But she had to pa.s.s it to get past the brush.
"Well, let"s test it," she murmured to herself. She conjured several nickelpedes. "Go check," she told them.
The bugs scuttled to the bush, and under it. In a moment three bad boys leaped out, exclaiming. The nickelpedes had gouged them in the pants, just below their BAD BOYS shirts. They fled and soon disappeared.
Just as she had suspected: that had been an ambush. Her talent had broken it up, but common sense had been perhaps more important. She was able to make her talent work for her better than otherwise, by applying that sense.
She brushed by the bush, which was now harmless; it would take it a while to reset for the next victim. She pa.s.sed a moderate cave, with a neatly printed label: COM. Suddenly something hurtled out from the dark hole: a plane, a bird, no, a bat. A very aggressive bat. It swooped at her, chittering.
"I"m not trying to invade your cave," she protested, ducking. "Just let me be, and I"ll soon be far from it."
But the bat continued to attack. Finally she conjured a really big nickelpede and held it over her head, its claw waving menacingly. That made the bat keep its distance. But it did not give up; it circled, looking for an opening.
What made it so aggressive? Had she stepped on its child? She looked back at the cave, seeing nothing but the label.
Then she thought she heard Karia"s groan. "A bat from the COM cave," she said. "Com-Bat. You like to fight."
"Aw, you figured it out," the bat chittered, disgusted. "Now where"s the fun?"
"You can talk!"
"You figured that out too, genius?"
"I didn"t know bats could talk human."
"Well, most can"t, but we guardians of Mount "Tuba are smarter than average as well as fiercer. My pal Pete"s just as smart as I am, and he"s a serpent. Likes to race."
Cube looked at the cave again. It was almost perfectly round, as if fitted for a snake whose torso was as thick as the height of a man. "ComPete," she said.
"Right. And if you think I"m bad, you should see him. He"d gulp you in one bite."
"I"ll pa.s.s up that pleasure," she said.
"Aw, I thought if I kept you talking long enough, Pete"d wake from his nap and come out."