Two servants pushed forward a large tank of water. In it was a mermaid, her tail in the water, her head above the surface. "Yes, mistress," the mermaid said.
"Change-" The Wizard looked around. "That one." She pointed to Ghina.
The mermaid reached her arm toward Ghina. "Oink!" she said.
And Ghina became a visible pig.
Forrest was appalled. So was Ghina. She squealed as her clothing dropped off. She ran around the floor. She was clearly horrified.
Guards circled the pig and prodded it into a cage. It looked out, tears welling from its eyes, understanding its plight.
The Wizard turned back to Forrest. "Now I ask you again, faun: where is your sixth member? Where is she hiding?"
"But no one is hiding," Forrest said.
The Wizard pointed to Jfraya. "That one."
The mermaid gestured again. "Oink."
And Jfraya became another pig. She was just as chagrined as Ghina.
"It will be kinder if you tell me," the Wizard said. "Otherwise, after all of you are swine, we shall just have to hunt her down and kill her. Now where is she?"
Suddenly Dawn caught on. "She thinks Imbri"s an animal!" she said in a dreamlet.
"So one person is missing," Eve added.
And the Wizard was going to turn them all into pigs, trying to find that missing member of their party. She was really taking this matter seriously.
But that gave him the key to victory. "Imbri!" he said in the dreamlet.
"Locate the margins, with your dreamlets. Tell them. Now."
Then he spoke aloud to the Wizard. "She is hidden where you will never think to look. She will destroy your power. You can turn us all into pigs, but she will get you."
"So now you are ready to deal," the Wizard said, satisfied. "Turn her over to me, and I will let all of you live."
"As prisoners?" he asked. Actually he knew she would kill them, thus effectively banning them from this region. But he was stalling for time.
"Perhaps," the Wizard said. "Unless you agree to use your talents on my behalf, so I can take over the provinces of the three lost Wizards."
So that was why she even bothered to negotiate! She wanted to increase her power yet more.
"We won"t do anything as pigs," he said. He glanced at Jfraya"s cage-and saw that she had opened a door in it and was escaping. Neither the Wizard nor the guard monsters had noticed.
That gave him another notion. "Ghina," he said in a dreamlet. "Put the mermaid to sleep."
The Wizard considered. "It will be double or nothing. If you serve me, you can have your natural forms back. If you don"t, you can be fed to my hungry ores."
"How do I know you won"t feed us to the ores anyway?"
"You"re stalling. Cerci! That one." The Wizard pointed to Dawn. There was no response. The mermaid had fallen asleep. The Wizard glanced at her. "Cerci!" she snapped. The mermaid was jolted awake. She looked surprised. The Wizard squinted. "So one of you has the ability to induce sleep. Then we shall delay no more. Polly!"
Another young woman approached, coming from the far chamber.
"Polly Graph, tell me the truth," the Wizard said. She faced Forrest again. "Where is your sixth member?"
Polly"s talent had to be to know when a person lied. So Forrest was careful. "She is here."
The Wizard looked at Polly. "It"s true," Polly said.
But Polly couldn"t read the whole truth in the subject"s mind. So as long as he told part of the truth, while evading what the Wizard wanted to know, he could get away with it. Still stalling for time.
"Where is she here?"
Ooops. The Wizard was too sharp. What could he say? He said nothing.
"Cerci. That one."
This time the mermaid did it, and Dawn became a very pretty light colored pig.
" The answer," the Wizard said. "Now."
Could Imbri still communicate with the margins, if she were changed into a pig? Probably so. The Wizard didn"t realize that animals had intelligence. But if he identified Imbri, the Wizard might have her immediately killed. He couldn"t risk it. "I won"t tell you," he said.
"That one." And Eve was a lovely dark pig.
Now there was only Forrest and Imbri. And only very limited time before they were finished. If the Wizard had them all killed now, she would win. Maybe it was time to tell the truth. He hoped that would give Imbri the time she needed.
"She is here," he said. "She is this one." He indicated the mare.
"Impossible! That"s just a beast of burden."
"It"s true, mistress," Polly said.
The Wizard stared at her. "This beast?"
"Yes, mistress. He is speaking the truth."
"So I have them all. None are still out there."
"You have us all," Forrest said.
"Good. Now I need to know how you destroyed the other Wizirds.
So she knew only the fact, not the detail. "We stopped the margins."
"True," Polly said.
"Idiot! Of course they stopped the margins! But how?"
"We talked to them," Forrest said. "We told them the truth." The Wizard nodded. "So I think I know enough. Guards, take all these creatures out to the ores."
The guards closed in. But then a strange look crossed the Wizard"s face. Something was happening to her. "Oh, I"m shrinking! I"m shrinking!" she wailed. "You horrible faun! Look what you"ve done!
In half a moment the Wizard was the size of an elf. Imbri had gotten through, and the margins had cut off their lines. All the Wizard"s stolen favors had been canceled, and she had reverted to her original size.
"You"ve destroyed the Wizard"s power!" Polly said, amazed.
"True," Forrest said. "She will never again be able to exert such magic."
"Hey, that"s great!" Cerci said. "But who will rule in her place?"
"All of you who served her are now free." He hoped they wanted to be free.
"Gee. Do you want your friends depigmented?"
"Yes, if you please. Then we shall have to go home-as I hope the rest of you will do." Actually, once they left this world, they would be able to form their natural shapes. But Ghina and Jfraya wouldn"t. So it was better to get them changed back now.
They had won. And it was time to return to Ptero.
"Just a moment." It was the former Gray Wizard, who was now a gray elf.
Polly had grabbed her before she could escape.
Forrest looked at her. "You are hoping for better treatment than you accorded us?"
"Yes. Because you are kinder people than I was."
"True," Polly said.
"Why shouldn"t we just have you changed into a piglet and put outside with the ores?"
"Because you are too soft hearted, and I can be useful to you."
Forrest looked around. Cerci had changed all his companions back to their original forms. So no permanent damage had been done. "How can you be useful?"
"I can tell the ores to obey the new mistress of the castle, so you won"t have any trouble."
"Mistress?"
"Your green door opener. She would like the cushy lifestyle available as mistress of the Gray Castle."
"True," Polly said.
"But I never-" Jfraya protested.
"The folk here are a unit," the Gray Elf said. "They like working here.
They just don"t like me. If you treat them well, they will serve you well."
"True," Polly said.
"But I a.s.sumed they were all captives," Forrest said.
"True," Polly said. "You did so a.s.sume, but it is false. We were better off serving the Gray Wizard than we would have been out in the snow."
Jfraya remained bemused. "You, Cerci-you don"t want to go home to the sea?"
"Well, maybe for visits," the mermaid said. "To see my parents, Cyrus and Merci. But the truth is that the water out there is cold, and I am more comfortable here in the heated pool."
Forrest realized that the elf was performing a useful service. She had gotten huge by doing services for many people, so was good at it, even if she had stolen what she gave away. "How about Ghina?" he asked.
"I know where there is a winged male goblin of relatively sweet disposition, on the blue face, where she never would have found him."
Ghina"s outfit stood up straight. "How does he feel about appearance?"
"It is a matter of indifference to him. He is blind. This has severely restricted his flight and his social life. However, if he had a companion willing to guide him, he would be most grateful."
The elf was scoring. "What do you want in return?" Forrest asked.
"Because we are not going to let you do too many favors and regain your size."
"Only to be returned to my home elf village, where they have no idea of my career after departing."
Forrest looked at the two women. "Are you amenable?"
"Yes," they agreed, almost together.
"Then I leave the premises in your charge, Jfraya, provided you will see to Ghina"s trip to the blue face, the Gray Elf"s safe return to her village, and any visits elsewhere that other members of this household desire."
"Gladly," Jfraya said.
"True," Polly said.
He looked at the twins and Imbri, who were standing on the wall.
"Then let"s return to Pyramid."
"But will you visit?" Jfraya asked. "I haven"t known you long, but it has been thrilling."
The twins exchanged a glance. "We"ll try," Dawn said.
"Now that we know how to do it."
"But that requires the Good Magician"s bottle of soul dissolving elixir," Forrest said.
"We didn"t need it to return from Torus," Imbri reminded him.