Man From Mundania (47 page)

the ruins. "Well, why so smug, Grey? Did she make that

much of an impression on you?" She was angry for what

she knew was no good reason.

Grey opened his mouth. Redness welled out. He turned

to the side and spat blood. "I, uh, couldn't say anything,

because if the blood showed they wouldn't believe she was

tame."

Ivy stared. "She did bite you!"

He found a handkerchief and dabbed at his lip. "Yes. I

think it was involuntary, like a sneeze. She just couldn't

get that close to a man without attacking, at least a little.

I couldn't break the kiss until she let go. So I sort of

concentrated and nulled her magic nature until she had to

stop."

"So that was what made her so respectful!" Ivy ex-

claimed. "She felt your power!"

"I guess so. I think she was sorry about it anyway. But

she's been a Wild Woman all her life, and it must be hard

to change right away, even if she really doesn't like

blood."

So the Maenad had not quite lost her taste for violence!

Somehow Ivy felt better. "You poor dear," she said,

abruptly full of sympathy. "Let me enhance your heal-

ing." Since the wound was in his mouth, she touched his

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lips—with her own. She enhanced the kiss, making him

recover rapidly.

Soon they resumed their walk along the path, holding

hands again, but with better rapport than before.

Chex was glad to see them. "We heard some commo-

tion, but did not want to intrude," she said. "Did the

Muse answer your question?''

"Not exactly," Ivy said. "But we did leam that Grey

does have a talent. It seems he nullifies magic, when he

wants to. That explains a number of little mysteries."

"I should think so," Chex agreed. "But are you sure?

I saw no evidence of magic on his part before."

"Let's test it!" Electra exclaimed with her usual exu-

berance. "Let him try to stop you from flying!"

"But I don't want to do that!" Grey objected.

"Not permanently," Ivy reminded him. "Just enough

to demonstrate your power." She didn't add that she her-

self needed reassurance about it. He had subdued the Py-

thon, but that might have been because the big reptile

couldn't hypnotize Mundanes or maybe had trouble with

men. He thought he had nulled the Maenad, but it might

have been because continued close contact with him stirred

certain natural, hitherto suppressed romantic urges in her.

Could she, after all, be so emphatically a woman in every

physical respect without having at least a little womanly

passion? The glow in her eyes had been something, after

she kissed Grey! But Ivy did not want to discuss such

things openly. It would be embarrassing if she were mis-

taken.

"It does seem like a good test," Chex agreed. "Here,

Grey, get on my back. If you can prevent me from taking

off, I will know you have magic power to counter mine."

Grey climbed on in the awkward way he had. Ivy mar-

veled that she found his clumsiness endearing, but she did.

Grey was nobody's idea of a dashing hero, just a decent

man.

Chex spread her wings, braced herself for a leap, and

nicked her tail twice. The first time the tip touched Grey,

the second time it touched her own body. That of course

was her magic: the flick of her tail made whatever it

touched become light, so that her wings had much less

weight to lift. That was why she was able to fly without

having wings ten times as large as they were.

Chex leaped—and stumbled. She came down solidly on

all four hooves, a look of surprise on her face. "I can't

get light!" she exclaimed.

"I nulled your tail," Grey explained. "Do you want

me to reverse it?"

"No. Let me try again." She flicked her tail several

more times, but with no better effect. "Indeed, there is

no effect," she confessed. "Very well, reverse it."

Nothing showed. Chex flicked her tail again—and sud-

denly floated into the air, her wings only partially spread.

"Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed, frantically pumping

her wings to get her balance.

Grey hung onto her mane as they wobbled in the air.

"Rebound!" he said. "All those prior flicks must be tak-

ing effect now, making you too light."

"Can you null me just slightly?" Chex asked, evidently

fighting to prevent herself from sailing way up out of con-

trol.

"I'll try." Then she stabilized and came slowly to earth.

"He has magic," Chex announced as Grey dismounted.

Her mane was in disarray, and she looked flustered.

"Rebound," Nada said. "That must be why the Mae-

nads' wine spring got even stronger than before when you

canceled the null. That's some magic!"

"That's like my magic," Ivy said. "I simply Enhance,

but you can enhance by rebound!" She was impressed by

the demonstration; she trusted Chex's judgment. "But I

wonder how general this talent is."

"See if it works on me," Nada said. "Stop me from

changing form." She went to Grey and held out her arm.

He took it. They stood there, doing nothing.

"Well, go on, try to change," Electra said.

"lam trying!" Nada replied.

"Oh." Electra smiled. "Well, then, let her do it,

Grey."

Suddenly Nada turned into a serpent with a human head

218 Man from Mundania Man from Mundania 219

at each end. "Eeeek! What happened?" she cried in

chorus.

"Rebound!" Ivy said, amazed. "Quick, Grey, null her

down a little!"

The heads disappeared. For a moment the serpent had

no head. Then Nada's regular form appeared: the body of

the serpent, with just one human head. "That was horri-

ble!" she said. "I never had trouble with my natural form

like that before!"

Cheiron nodded. "Undisciplined magic is dangerous.

We should cease these experiments until a safer program

of testing can be established."

"Yes," Grey agreed immediately. "I don't want to mess

anyone up. I'm not used to having a talent at all."

But Ivy could not be satisfied yet. "They were calling

you Magician."

"I never claimed to be that!" he protested. "The Mae-

nads assumed—"

"I am a Sorceress," Ivy continued evenly. "That is the

same as a Magician, only female, the terminology a ves-

tige of what my mother calls Xanth's sexist heritage. Noth-

ing short of Magician-level magic could null my talent.

So let's find out if—"

"I advise against this," Cheiron said. Chex nodded

agreement, and Xap squawked.

"No, I really want to know," Ivy said. She had always

managed to get her own way, ultimately, and she intended

to have it now. "I want to know if Grey is Magician level.

Try to null me, Grey."

"I, uh, really don't think—" he began. Then, seeing

her set face, he yielded. "But I'm not sure exactly how,

uh, it would work."

"I'll try to enhance something, and you try to prevent

me." She looked around. Her eye fell on a glowworm just

poking its head up as the evening approached. "I'll en-

hance that glowworm."

She picked up the worm. It wriggled in her hand, glow-

ing faintly. Grey put his hand on her other arm. "Very

well—I'm nulling you," he said.

Ivy felt nothing. She concentrated on the worm, willing

it to brighten.

It nickered, but did not increase its light. She concen-

trated harder, but it remained dim. She put forth all her

effort. Then the glow brightened slightly. Grey had defi-

nitely crimped her style!

"Now unnull," she said.

The glowworm flashed like a lightning bug, so brightly

that the entire region became noon-lit. Then it exploded,

burning her hand.

They stared. The glowworm was gone; only ashes re-

mained.

"We killed it!" Grey said, appalled.

Ivy looked at her smarting hand. "Oh, I wish I hadn't

done that!"

"Precisely," Cheiron said, in a fools-heed-wamings-

not tone. "Now we know that Grey truly is Magician cal-

iber. No more experiments."

"No more experiments," Grey agreed, staring at the

ash.

"No more experiments," Ivy agreed. Then she started

to cry. That poor glowworm!

They camped for the night, subdued. They had found

Grey's magic, and that was wonderful. It was Magician

level, and that was amazing. They could now get married,

and that was best of all. But they had done harm in the

testing of it, and that was bad. Way too late. Ivy wished

she hadn't pushed it. There had been no need to destroy

the innocent glowworm. She just hadn't thought of the

consequence, despite Cheiron's warning.

In the morning, after breakfast, they discussed it—and

came up with a disturbing question. It was Electra who

posed it, but perhaps it had been in the back of the minds

of the others too.

"How can a man from Mundania have magic at all, let

alone be a Magician?"

There was the root of it. Something was fundamentally

wrong, unless everything they knew about Mundanes and

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