Geis of the Gargoyle (5 page)

"Yes, you have quartz of water," she said, alarmed.
 
"That's worse than pintz of water."

"Yes, the water's leaking, and I wondered if you know how to stop it," he said, nipping again for the edge, and missing again.
 
The feather fell from his head and landed in the water.

Then something odd happened.
 
The quill pointed up and squirted water.
 
A jet of it shot up, making an arc toward the woman.

"EEEEK!!" Fiera screamed, falling back.
 
"A Fountain Pen!!" She was so upset that she managed double exclamation points.
 
Her pert posterior landed on the wooden drawbridge and set it afire.
 
But the quill pen kept fountaining, drawing from the quartz.
 
Trying to escape it, she scrambled to her feet and charged past him in a fiery flash.

"I'm sorry!" Gary cried, starting to bound after her.
 
But she was already out of sight, and the pen was still squirting.
 
He had to turn back and pull out the feather, getting roundly squirted in the snoot.
 
The jet stopped when he got the feather clear of the water.

He looked around.
 
The planks of the bridge were still burning around the seat-shaped spot where Fiera had landed.
 
She must have lost control of her fire for a moment.
 
He could put it out, but he would have to use the rest of the water in the quartz, and he wasn't willing to do that.
 
So he dragged the half-full rock back to the stone circle.
 
Now he was able to prop it up without leaking.
 
He hoped it would heal in dme.
 
He had certainly made a mess of things.

When he returned to the drawbridge he saw that the fire had burned itself out.
 
But the remaining planks were charred, and he doubted that they would support his weight.
 
He realized that he could have crossed, and won the challenge, if he had just been willing to use up the rest of the water.
 
But he was a stone creature, and he had an affinity with stone, and just couldn't mistreat the quartz like that.
 
He was obviously not the type of creature the Good Magician wanted to see.

Still, there was not much to be gained by departing at this stage.
 
He might as well plow onward.
 
Even if the Magician wasn't going to let him in.

He considered the moat again.
 
Now he saw that the muck in the bottom was filled with fish.
 
They must have been stranded by the drought.
 
That was no good.
 
He didn't want to squish them underfoot, of course, but neither did he want to let them suffer longer.
 
They needed water, and plenty of it.

Perhaps this was what the quartz rocks were for: to refill the moat when it got dry.
 
But there weren't enough of them to do the job.
 
He needed to find some other way.

He lay down beside the moat and put his head over the edge.
 
"I want to help you, but you will have to help me," he said.
 
"Do any of you fish know where I can find enough water to fill this moat?"

One big fish wriggled a bit in the muck.
 
"Scales," it gasped.

"What do your scales have to do with water?" Gary asked, perplexed.

"Balance," it gasped.

"Balance?" He was no more enlightened.
 
But the fish had gasped its last gasp; it had no further strength for dialogue.
 
It was surely very uncomfortable for a fish to be out of water, and talking made it worse.

Still, this suggested that there was water to be had somewhere.
 
All he had to do was find it.
 
At least he could help the fish before he departed.

He bounded back along the path.
 
He discovered another fork leading from the glade in the cane grove.
 
The wind was still strong, but he was too heavy to be much affected.
 
He followed the new path.

It led to a small mountain.
 
On the top of the mountain was a big stone, precariously balanced.
 
It was a wonder the wind didn't blow it off its perch, so that it crashed downward crushing all before it.

Balance.
 
The fish had said that.
 
This must relate.
 
But what did it mean?

He looked around-and spied another mountain, with another boulder.
 
More balancing.
 
But he still didn't know how any of this could help.

He bounded between the two mountains, hoping for some clue.
 
He saw that the sunlight fell across this region in a checkered pattern, interrupted by the shadows of the mountains and stones.
 
Halfway between the balanced rocks was a square that seemed to have been etched into the ground by the pattern of sunbeam and shadow.
 
He wasn't sure how it had happened, because normally shadows did not stay still very long.
 
But this was a fairly magical region, and with magic almost anything was possible.
 
There must be some significance.

A checkered region between the balanced rocks.
 
Checks and balances? The scales of a balance?

Scales.
 
Now he saw markings around the square, as if something was being measured.
 
He followed the marks, and found a single fish scale.
 
He peered at it.
 
There seemed to be words: RAIN CHECK.

Suddenly he didn't care about scales, checks, or balances.
 
This related to rain, and rain was what he wanted.
 
Maybe it was an amulet or other magic device to summon rain.
 
He picked it up with his teeth and carded it away.

The wind was blowing more fiercely than ever, but Gary flowed on through it.
 
He reached the moat and dropped the rain check in.
 
"Rain!" he cried.

Suddenly the wind whipped into a storm.
 
Mist formed, thickening over the moat.
 
From beyond the horizon came a cloud, borne along by the fierce wind.
 
Gary gazed at it.
 
He knew that cloud! That was Fracto Cumulo Nimbus, who loved to float by and withhold rain at critical times.
 
That was one reason for the drought.
 
Fracto must be magically bound by a geis of his own, to honor the rain check when it was invoked.
 
Thus the scale between the balances, there for Gary to find-if he could.
 
He had more or less blundered across it, but had at least recognized it when he spied it.

Now Fracto was over the castle and the moat, boiling into a frenzy.
 
The bottom fell out, and water gushed out of the cloud.
 
The moat began to fill.

The big fish swam up.
 
"Thank you," it said, no longer gasping.
 
"You saved us!"

"You're welcome," Gary replied.
 
"I hate to see any creature suffering.
 
I'm surprised there are so many of you in such a small section of water."

"It's not normally this crowded," the fish confessed.

"We're here for the playoffs."

"Playoffs?"

"This isn't generally known, dryside," the fish said.
 
"But we of the wetside have a secret passion for baseball.
 
We play it all the time.
 
In fact we have twenty thousand leagues under the sea.
 
We gathered here for the Xanth championship series-and got caught by the drought.
 
We are extremely fortunate that you managed to abate it."

"Yes, now you can swim back to the sea," Gary agreed.

"By no means.
 
Now we can finish the series.
 
We've been tortured by our inability to complete it and determine the winning teams.
 
Ah, I think the moat is full enough now; it's time for me to go o-fish-iate.
 
Thank you and good-bye.
 
I'll send Naia." The fish swam away.

Gary hardly had time to consider what to do next before another kind of fish swam up: a mermaid.
 
"Hi, winged monster.
 
I'm Naia Naiad, wearing my tail for this occasion." She twisted, showing him a piece of tail.
 
"The big fish told me to guide you across the moat, so you can make your appointment with the Good Magician."

"My appointment?"

"Everyone who gets past the challenges gets to see him.
 
Didn't you know?"

"But I didn't get past them!" he protested.
 
She shrugged.
 
"You must have.
 
Well, come on, hero." Bemused again, he stepped into the water, which was now almost to the top of the moat.
 
He sank to the bottom, being denser than any water.
 
It was cloudy, because of the stirring of the mud, but the naiad swam close enough so that he could keep her tail in sight.
 
In fact sometimes he saw more than her tail, as she looped around to check on him; but since he wasn't human those parts didn't much concern him.
 
It did occur to him, however, that such creatures must be very good at feeding their babies.

Naia led him to the far bank.
 
He couldn't bound very well underwater, but he made sufficient progress by slowly flapping his wings instead.
 
He climbed out, shook his body and wings dry, and turned back to thank her, but she was gone.
 
The surface of the moat was rippling as the storm eased; the fish were already into their playoffs.

He bounded to the inner side of the drawbridge, and to the castle gate.
 
It opened as he got there, admitting him.
 
A human young woman of about twenty stood there.
 
"Hello," she said, looking past him.

"Hello.
 
I am Gary Gargoyle.
 
I am not sure I-"

"Oh, yes; we were expecting you.
 
I'm Wira, the Good Magician's daughter-in-law.
 
Come in."

"Well, I'm still a bit wet, as you can see, and-"

"I can't see, but I know what gargoyles look like.
 
I'm sure a few drops of water won't hurt.
 
Mother Gorgon wants to talk to you." She set off down the inner hall.

He bounded cautiously after her.
 
His state of bemusement seemed to have become chronic.
 
"Who? Your mother?"

"My husband Hugo's mother.
 
She's very nice, but her gaze turns people to stone, or it did before she had Humfrey make her face invisible and replace it with an illusion of her face.
 
She says she has an affinity for stoned creatures, so she came here for this occasion."

The business about an invisible illusionary face was beyond him, so he fixed on something simple.
 
"I am a stone creature, yes."

They came to a nice inner chamber with stone walls and stone furniture.
 
He felt quite comfortable.
 
Within it stood an older human woman.
 
"So nice to meet you, Gary Gargoyle," she said.
 
"I am the Gorgon.
 
We must talk."

"As you wish," he agreed.
 
"But I'm not sure I should be here.
 
I didn't-"

"You handled the challenges in your own compassionate fashion.
 
You are a good creature, worthy of the Good Magician's Answer.
 
But are you aware that there is a payment in service required?"