Five Portraits (22 page)

One by one the other children did the same, each declaring love without looking, each being kissed and passed along. Then all five of them stood at the far side.

“It will work for any sincere child,” Firenze said.

“According to the rules of this game,” Santo said.

“Which won't have a real basilisk in it,” Squid said.

“Just a pretend basilisk,” Win said.

“But we do love our real one,” Myst said, taking Astrid's hand briefly.

Gambol nodded. “I like your game. I'll take it. Depart in peace.” He vanished.

“Oh, thank you, children!” Astrid said. “You came through, again. I even liked the way you did it.”

“We do love you,” Firenze said.

“And I love you, all of you,” Astrid said, tears in her eyes.

They didn't delay. They set out swinging, heading for the far side of the gulf, where Astrid now saw a sign saying EXIT. No illusions attacked. They were truly being allowed to go in peace.

Win blew the last swing, setting it in motion. It swung away—but snagged on an outcropping of rock that Astrid could have sworn had not been there before.

“Blow it again,” she called.

Win did, sending another gust. But the swing stayed snagged. She blew up a gale that tugged violently at the ropes.

And a rope broke, dropping the swing's board into the gulf.

They stared, horrified. Had they lost their way out at the last stage? Without that swing they could not complete their crossing.

“
GOTCHA
!”

Suddenly Demoness Fornax was there. So was Demon Nemesis, caught with his formerly invisible hand on the rope. So it had not been an accident!

“You are guilty of interfering in a Demon Wager,” Fornax told him. “As you did when you folded up the Playground and locked the children inside. This time I caught you. You thought to hold them hostage to force me to comply with your desire, or to intervene myself to save them and forfeit my case. But I lurked throughout, watching, and nailed you. Your backside is mine, Demon!”

Demon Nemesis looked at his backside, abashed. “You caught me,” he agreed. “You can destroy my reputation among Demons, a humiliation I can't tolerate. Naturally you have some fell motive in mind. What is your price?”

“I will think about it,” Fornax said. “But whatever it is, you will pay it without question, or suffer the consequence.”

“I will pay it,” he agreed.

“Now repair that swing and be gone.”

The Demon disappeared. The swing hung there, intact. Win blew it, and got it swinging. They resumed their progress.

“Thank you,” Astrid said as Fornax floated beside her. “You saved us.”

“It is what a friend does. I did not desert you. I merely had to hide and let you proceed alone so that Nemesis would show his hand. I would have intervened had any of you gotten in real trouble.”

That was comforting to know in retrospect. By “real trouble” she meant likely death. But it would have cost the Demoness hideously. “I'm glad you didn't have to.”

“But it was nevertheless a great satisfaction to nail Nemesis's backside.”

Astrid laughed. “I'm sure. Only you could have done it.”

“And that was touching, the love you share with the children. I love you too, Astrid, as a friend. I knew it when I saw that happen.”

“Wenda Woodwife was right. Children are the key to friendship and love.” Astrid sighed. “But I have a problem.”

“I will help you with it if I can.”

“We are about to escape this prison and return to Xanth proper. The children will be free. But I don't want to give them up.”

“Because you love all of them.”

“Yes. I liked them before, but this adventure, which really put us all through our paces, brought out their marvelous qualities, and now I love them.”

“And we love you, Aunt Astrid,” Firenze said. “We don't want to leave you.” There was a murmur of agreement along the swing line.

Astrid had for the moment forgotten that her dialogue with the Demoness was not private. Now she had to argue the other side of the case. “But you have to be adopted into five families, and get your family portraits painted, so that Xanth will be saved.”

There was a sigh along the line. “We do,” Firenze agreed sadly.

They let the subject drop, and it fell heavily into the gulf, vanishing without even a splash.

One by one they came to the EXIT sign and swung through the wall. They landed on firm rock in a tunnel whose steps spiraled upward. There was even a convenient handrail. There was a landing at the top, with another door. They opened it and stood on a landing overlooking a pleasant wooded vista. There was a path wending politely down the slope. The air was fresh and sweet.

They hugged each other, phenomenally relieved. They were out.

Chapter 11:
Home

Fornax stood by the side, looking a little sad. Squid noticed, and went to her. “You helped us, again, Aunt Fornax,” she said. “You saved me before, and then when you caught that mean Demon. Give me a virtual hug.”

Fornax assumed her ghostly form, and the child carefully hugged it.

“We do appreciate what you did for us,” Santo said.

“Thank you,” Fornax said. Astrid could see that she appreciated this recognition.

“Now we need to figure out where we are,” Astrid said. “I thought we'd come out the other side of the folded Playground, but that does not seem to be the case.”

“I must not do anything to facilitate your progress physically,” Fornax said. “Nemesis is watching, hoping to catch me intervening, just as he did, thus nullifying my advantage over him. But considering that we are here because of his interference, I believe I can safely clarify some details. We are in a placid corner of the Region of Earth; the next volcanic eruption here is not due for a while, so it's safe.”

“For a while?” Astrid asked, uncertain whether to be alarmed.

“A century.”

Astrid laughed, relieved. “That will do. But why is the Playground exit here?”

“Gambol wanted a convenient site at a fixed place. The Playgrounds—there are several of them—may move around, as folk transport them, but when he needs to enter their common Storage to stock another game he doesn't want to have to search. So the back entrance remains in one place, regardless where the front entrances go.”

“That makes sense,” Squid said.

“But where is the folded Playground?” Win asked.

“Nemesis flipped it into the Gap Chasm.”

They stared at her. “Then it's lost!” Myst wailed.

“Not so. It remains where it landed, caught in a partridge pear tree.”

“But we can't get it there,” Firenze said.

“You can if you choose to,” Fornax said. “You can simply travel there and pick it up.”

“But what about the Gap Dragon?” Santo asked.

Fornax smiled. “I suspect Astrid could handle him.”

Squid laughed. “I guess she could.”

“But the Gap Chasm is big,” Win said.

“How could we ever find it?” Myst asked.

“That is part of the beauty of Gamble's system,” Fornax said. “He wants to know where the Playground are at all times, in case he want to impress a new child with one. So he set up a pointer.”

“A pointer?” Firenze asked.

“Here,” Fornax said, indicating an alcove in the mountain behind them. There was a small stand there with what looked like a weather vane. “This always points to the one the person associated with, and the size of the arrow indicates how far away it is. A small point means it is far in the distance; a large point means it's close by. So this means that it is moderately far away, in this direction.”

“So we can go that way, that far, and find it?” Santo asked.

“Yes.”

“Neat,” Squid said.

“Unfortunately the direct way is crowded with dragons, harpies, nickelpedes and some less savory creatures.”

“We have had enough of those,” Astrid said. “Anyway, it is time for us to get on home to our companions, who surely are distraught about our disappearance.”

“Not so,” Fornax said.

They all looked at her. “They don't miss us?” Win asked.

“They did miss you, the morning you were lost. Kandy contacted me, alarmed. I told her that you were reasonably safe and working your way through the labyrinth, and would return to them in due course. They were reassured, and went on about their business.”

“This was an aspect of your compromise,” Astrid said, working it out. “You could not do anything to help directly, but you could provide information about what Nemesis had done.”

“Exactly. Telling on him did not constitute a violation of the Demon Protocols, though I did not identify him personally.”

“Neat,” Myst said, giggling.

“Still,” Astrid said, “we should not let them worry any longer. We should return there now.”

“But we want the Playground,” Firenze said.

“Because we can use it to better plan what to do,” Santo said.

“And it's fun,” Squid said.

Astrid threw up her hands, almost losing them in the sky. “You really want to rescue the Playground, after all the mischief it brought us?”

“Yes,” Win said. “Because that mischief was with you.”

Astrid fended off her flush of pleasure. “So you want to search it out. Fighting off all the monsters in the way as we go to the Gap?”

That made the children pause. “Commune,” Myst said.

They linked hands, Communing.

“That Communing is really an extra talent,” Fornax remarked. “Each of them must have a piece of it, and when they get together, it manifests. I don't recall seeing that in Xanth before.”

“Maybe in the future people have learned how to get a bit more than one talent apiece,” Astrid said, similarly intrigued.

The children separated. “We have it,” Firenze said.

“I will make a hole,” Santo said.

Astrid exchanged a glance with Fornax. “A hole?” she asked blankly.

“A big one. From here to there.”

“But there are mountains between here and there,” Astrid protested. “You get tired just making holes through stones.”

“My power is growing, and the other children enhance me. I can do it.”

“They are special in the way they support each other,” Fornax said.

What could she do? “If that's the way you want it, then do it,” she said. “But it's still a long haul.”

“Maybe not,” Squid said.

Santo focused. A huge hole with a circular rim appeared before him, going in the direction of the arrow. It seemed to be a translucent hole in the substance of Xanth itself, for it started at the slope of the mountain and angled down slightly, passing through the air on the way to the ground across the valley. Inside it was shiny and slightly glowing.

“But it's still a long way,” Astrid said. “And not big enough for me to walk upright.”

“We'll make a cart,” Win said.

They got to work on it, fetching fallen branches and tying them together with vines. Firenze heated his head and burned the edges off three sections of wood to form disks, and Santo made holes in the centers. They put poles through the holes. Before long they had a three-wheeled cart with a sail made of a harvested sheet. They set it in the hole and sat on it with Squid in front, her tentacles wrapped around the steering column of the front wheel.

Then Win, standing on the back of it, started her wind. It caught the sail and pushed the cart forward. It accelerated, and soon they were moving rapidly along the tunnel.

Astrid, seated in the center with Firenze, Santo, and Myst, was amazed. The ride was remarkably smooth. She could see through the wall of the tube as they zoomed through hill and dale, now in the air, now underground. The children had made all this, somehow knowing how to do it.

“Really talented kids,” Fornax remarked approvingly.

Something about the way she said it aroused Astrid's suspicion. The children were
too
talented. They had developed not only magic talents of remarkable power, but also the ability to coordinate them so as to accomplish more than seemed likely. This seemed to be way beyond the likely abilities of children. They were receiving effective guidance. They called it Communing. But it had to be more than merely pooling their awareness.

In fact it seemed more likely that they were actually channeling advice and support from a phenomenally more potent source. One who was sincerely trying to understand and assist the children. One who could not help openly, because that would constitute Demonly intervention and be banned by the other participants in a Wager. By passing it through the mechanism of Communing, she could mask the real source. A friend who was not seeking credit.

Astrid could not say a word, lest she trigger mischief. But she realized that just as she loved the children, she was coming to love Fornax too.

The Demoness glided along beside her, pretending to be oblivious.

“We're getting there,” Squid said.

The wind eased. The cart slowed. They drew up to the end of the hole. They scrambled out.

They were deep in a
U
-shaped canyon whose sides rose awesomely high. This was the dreaded Gap Chasm.

“The Playground will be somewhere around here,” Firenze said. “We just need to find it.”

There was a puffing sound. “That's a steamer,” Squid said.

“Stanley Steamer,” Astrid said. “The Gap Dragon.”

“We can't go until we find the Playground,” Santo said.

“You look for the Playground,” Astrid said. “I will intercept Stanley.”

She walked out toward the approaching sound. Now she heard a whomping, as the dragon undulated toward her. She stood her ground.

The Gap Dragon hove into view. It was full dragon size, long and sinuous. It had six small legs, two vestigial wings, and a horrendous green head. Steam puffed from its mouth and joints. It moved by lifting a section and whomping it forward like a giant inchworm, the raised section traveling back along its body until it expired at the tail. The raised section seemed not to move; it was the rest of the body that moved, sliding through it. Overall, it was an intriguing and impressive effect.

The dragon spied her and paused. He inhaled.

“I wouldn't,” Astrid said. “I give you fair warning that I am a basilisk in human form. I can stun you or kill you before either your teeth or your steam can reach me. I suggest you listen to me before proceeding further.”

Stanley considered. Then he resumed inhaling.

Astrid removed her glasses without looking directly at him.

Maybe it was her clear disdain for his power that impressed him. Few creatures acted that way without reason. He breathed out, not firing a jet of super-heated steam.

“Good enough,” Astrid said, putting her glasses back on. “I am Astrid Basilisk-Cockatrice, on a mission to eradicate the pun-destroying virus. We are a party largely of children who have lost a rather special Playground. Someone folded it up into a matchbox and tossed it into the Gap. We are here to find it, and when we do, we will depart. We mean no harm to you or the Gap Chasm. We know you, Stanley Steamer, and would much prefer to cooperate with you than oppose you. Will you agree to a truce?”

The dragon considered. Then he nodded.

“The children will be glad to meet you,” Astrid said. “They know you by reputation.” She turned and walked back the way she had come.

The dragon followed.

“Children!” Astrid called. “Allow me to introduce Stanley Steamer, the dread Gap Dragon. We are in a state of truce.”

The dragon nodded again.

“And Stanley, here are the children: Firenze, Santo, Squid, Win, and Myst.” Each child dutifully faced the dragon and nodded when identified.

“Ooo!” Squid said. “You're so handsome, Stanley. I adore fearsome dragons.”

The dragon's snoot turned a darker shade of green: his way of blushing.

“The children would like to meet you up close,” Astrid said. “May they?”

Stanley nodded again. Squid, Win, and Myst ran up to him, hugging his scaly neck and kissing his hot nose. He plainly liked the attention. Before long they were riding him, squealing with delight as they rode the traveling hump and slid off the tail. Astrid was glad to see it, knowing how appealing little girls could be, but she did keep a careful eye out. One never could be quite certain with dragons.

Meanwhile the boys continued the search, but there was no sign of the matchbox. “It's got to be here,” Firenze said, frustrated.

“Strike a match,” Astrid suggested.

He banged his head with the heel of his hand as if knocking the dottle out. “I forgot.” He brought out his match and struck it against a rock. And disappeared.

Astrid looked around, searching for him.

“Over here!” he called.

He was in a large bramble bush some distance to the side. He was holding up the matchbox, having found it where it had fallen out of the partridge pear tree. In a moment his head heated; he put it down and burned off the brambles, and stepped out.

Astrid went to him and kissed him, relieved, as he held his breath. Then she called to the other children. “We have the Playground! Firenze found it!”

The three girls left the dragon, to mutual reluctance, and rejoined Astrid. Only Santo remained apart, standing beside Fornax; the two had evidently been talking. “I think we need to consult,” the Demoness said.

“There's a problem?” Astrid asked.

“He's catching on.”

“Uh-oh,” Firenze said.

Astrid did not ask for details. “We need privacy.”

“My place will do.”

“Your place,” Astrid agreed.

“This way.” Fornax ducked down and stepped into the open hole they had used to get to the Gap.

Astrid herded the children after her, sitting them on the wagon, facing in. Then she joined them. Win blew it forward. In a moment they were zooming back through the tunnel.

In another moment they came out. Not by the mountain they had started at, but in a stone castle. “Welcome to my residence,” Fornax told them.

“In Fornax Galaxy?” Firenze asked.

“With CT matter?” Santo asked.

“The terrene enclave that I maintain in the ContraTerrene galaxy,” Fornax agreed. “You are safe here, as long as you do not stray beyond the castle environs, and our dialogue will not be overheard. Complete candor is possible. But with it must come complete trust.”

The three girls looked puzzled. “Why?” Squid asked.

“Because your lives could be in danger if you break the trust,” Astrid said.

Now Squid caught on. “Aunt Fornax's been messing in again!”