Zombie Lover (28 page)

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PlfRS A \THON1

"Yes. And when the isle isn't there, the boat just goes right on, looking for it. So it really is going nowhere fast."

1 That would seem to be a paradox a boat going somewhere in a hurry yet going nowhere "

"Paradox!" she cried, a light flashing over her head. She loved that incidental magic of Xanth. "That's it!"

"/ beg your pardon?"

"That's the magic pun. Ralph said this dock is called Paradox. That's pair o' docks, with the boat going between them. That's all it knows to do—to shuttle back and forth. But when one dock is missing, it's got nowhere to go, so it goes nowhere. Somewhere becomes nowhere. Paradox."

Justin's astonishment washed through her. "/ believe you are correct, Breanna There must be a pair o' docks, or there is paradox And Ralph is caught in it"

"Yeah." She watched as the boat sped out to sea, becoming smaller as it gained distance. A pair of arms was waving frantically over it. She didn't have much sympathy.

"Had you set foot on the dock, that might have been your fate," Justin said, shaken.

"Yeah. So I guess Ralph did us a favor, showing us exactly how it works." She stretched. "Meanwhile, I'm going back to sleep."

"To be sure "

"If I can relax enough, after that fracas. My heart's still pounding."

"/ could sing you a lullaby "

She laughed, then paused. "Are you by any off-chance serious?"

Yes / used to be a fair singer, though that was not considered a masculine trait I often imagined melodies of nature, as a tree, with associated images I think I could do it in my mind, and you could hear it and see, if you wished "

"Gee
 
Sure. Give it a try."

He began to sing, and it was marvelous. It was as if the forest itself were serenading her, with the sound of wind through trees, the movement of birds' wings, the swishing of the tails of fish in a running stream, and even the gentle drifting of clouds against a deep blue welkin. Sound and image were one, and wonderfully soothing.

"That's really great, Justin! Can you do it until I fall asleep?"

' Yes, I can do it indefinitely I am glad to have an appreciative audience '

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"And thanks for alerting me about Ralph." "You are more than welcome I would not want anything untoward to happen to you "

"Me neither." Then she thought of something else. "Can you show me your tree again? I mean, the forest, and all, sure, but your own special tree specifically?"

"Certainly " A modified picture formed in her mind, with the tree centered.

"Thanks. Now I'm sure of it. You're cute too." She felt her face heating, and knew he was blushing again. Satisfied, she sank back into sleep.

8

ISLES OF WO

D

or woke. He was on the bed in the chamber of Castle Zombie. On adjacent beds his father and son were stirring.

What a chain of worlds they had seen! He ticked them off on his mental fingers and toes: Ptero, Pyramid, Torus, Cone, Dumbbell, Pincushion, Spiral, Tangle, and Motes. That was nine in all, each seeming as big and competent as Xanth, despite being impossibly small. And perhaps an infinite number beyond them, that the Zombie Master was still touring.

Dor put his feet on the floor and stood up. Actually this was no worse than orienting on another dream world. This just happened to be the real one. Or was it? Could the Land of Xanth be on a globe or other shape orbiting the head of some giant Ida? The notion was mind boggling, so he set it aside.

The door opened, showing Millie. "I thought I heard stirring," she

said.

"Yes, we are back," Dor said. "Jonathan says he is making progress, and hopes soon to find a suitable world for the zombies. He is on the ninth derivative at the moment, a cluster of floating rocks called Motes. So we shall return and report that the zombies should be out of the way by the date of the wedding."

"That's good," Millie said. "But there is another problem. The blob—"

"Has become a winged mermaid," Dor finished for her.

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"How did you know?"

"Her name is Aurora. She couldn't make it on her own world, so has merged with the blob to give it identity and form. She should do well enough in Xanth."

"That's the problem: she has no idea where to go, and I don't know what to tell her. She is asking for the three kings."

Dor glanced at the others, then nodded. "I suppose it is our responsibility. We had better talk to her before we go home." He paused, seeing the jar of sleep potion. "You say you have plenty of that?"

"Oh, yes," Millie agreed. "Would you like to take that jar with you?"

"Yes, just in case. One can never tell when something like that might be useful."

Millie picked up the jar and brought it to him. Dor put it in his pocket. "Thank you."

"But remember," she warned him. "This is not for ordinary sleeping. It's for the dream worlds."

"Yes. I will use it only when warranted."

"You had better," the jar said from his pocket.

They went to the other chamber. There was Aurora, sitting on the edge of a wooden tub, soaking her tail in water. She was of course beautifully bare.

"Oh, you are here!" she cried, spying them. "See—I did manage to get lungs, so I can breathe your air." She inhaled, and her chest inflated, causing Dor's eyes to lock. She spread her wings and flew across to plant a kiss on Dor. "You must tell me where that other winged mermaid is!"

"Actually 1 saw her only once, at Chex Centaur's wedding," Dolph said. "Fifteen years ago. She would be of mature age by now."

"That's all right. She will surely know the scene." Aurora stood on her tail, keeping herself upright by flapping her wings at half speed. She was a most scenic female figure, with sightly attributes, in utter contrast to the former aspect of the blob. Dor was privately amazed that the same flesh could assume such different forms. This wasn't the kind of magic transformation Dolph did: it was a given mass reshaped. That made it special.

"We can ask some regular mermaids," Dolph suggested, trying

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PIEKS ANTHON\

without success to wrest his gaze away trom two attributes
 
"They should know where the winged ones are "

Dor nodded
    
We will take you to the nearest mertolk colony and

inquire ''

"Oh, thank your' she exclaimed, and kissed him again, m the

process squishing an attribute against him

"I am glad that is settled," Millie said, with a section of a remi niscent smile
  
"But first you must have more tee and crumples, I

have them ready "

Dolph looked at Aurora "I know you can fly, but I think I had better carry you, when we travel, because I'll be flying high and tast, and I am iamihar with the terrain "

"I'm sure you know best," she said demurely

In due course they exited the castle, and were ready to travel But with three folk to carry, Dolph couldn't use the roc form
  
So he became a large six-winged dragon, and they straddled his serpentine mid section Aurora had no legs, so couldn't straddle, so she sat side ways while Dor held her securely in place around the waist

Dolph took oft He spiraled up into the sky, avoiding passing clouds With each beat of those great wings, the dragon body lifted powerfully, and they felt extra weight, and Aurora's attributes pressed down against Dor's arm Then on the return stroke the dragon seemed to be floating, and everything became light Dor hoped that no one else was aware of his arm He wouldn't care to try to explain his impressions to Irene

"Do you have demons here9" Aurora asked, glancing around "Yes, many In fact Dolph's ex-fiancee Nada Naga married Demon Pnnce Vore, and they have a two-year-old daughter named Demon-

ica "

'What happened to them during the Time of No Magic9"

"How do you know about that9"

"Cone is part of Xanth too, indirectly Our history and folklore say that all magic derives from the Demon X(A/N)th, and that when he departed for a day, so did most of the magic We were protected, because our nested worlds were stored in a special cell in the nameless Castle that didn't let its magic escape Of course that's just our legend there may be no such place on your world "

"There is such a place," Dor reassured her
   
'So it could be true I wondered where Ida s moon was, before it joined her "

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"But I should think it was a difficult time for unprotected demons who can't exist without magic '

"It was," Dor agreed "I believe they became dust devils as they do in Mundama Then they recovered when the magic returned '

"That's nice It wouldn't be the same without demons "

Dor hadn't thought of it that way, but found himself agreeing Most regular demons were nuisances, but some were important like Demon Professor Grossclout, and some were intriguing, like Demoness Me tna in her several guises

Soon they spied a river complete with merfolk sporting in a pool Dolph spiraled down and made a good landing in an adjacent field They dismounted, Dor set Aurora on her tail, and Dolph changed back to manform

"I hope I didn't bruise your poor arm," Aurora said, concerned

"No problem," Dor said gallantly

They approached the river The head of a lion popped from the water, spied them and roared

"Oh, go chomp yourself, mane brain," the river bank said

The sea lion bared its teeth, but there wasn't much it could do about a section of ground After a moment it bashed the water with its paws, then turned tail and disappeared with a flash of its flukes

"The sea lions aren't dangerous if you don t invade their territory," Dor said to Aurora "But you have to watch out for the ant lions They can pursue you on land "

"We have uncle lions on Cone," Aurora replied "They re really fierce ''

They walked downstream to the pool There were no mertolk show ing
  
"It's all right," Dor called
  
"It wasn't a real dragon
  
just a transformed Magician We are men, and one mer-person

A blonde head popped out of the water One eye was aittully covered by a trailing tress "Men1 Hello—I'm Ash ' She lifted in the water just enough to show her own attributes

"Three kings " Dor assured her
   
'We are looking tor— A redhead appeared
  
"Kings'
 
I'm Cedar
  
You are looking tor brides9" She lifted a bit farther trom the water

This was getting dangerous to eyeballs
 
"No We just want to— A dark gray-brown head appeared
  
"I m Mahogany
 
We don t do one splash stands
  
Not even tor kings " She lifted so high that her snug little waist was visible