Cube Route (21 page)

    “A cloud!” Silhouette exclaimed. “A cloud has sentience?”

    “Oh, yes, in Xanth,” Kim said. “Just about everything has some awareness and feeling, so you have to be careful what you say.”

    “Fascinating. And they have a child? Gladys must be a sexy lady cloud.”

    “Yes, in Xanth she became Hurricane Happy Bottom.”

    “Ugh!” the centaur said.

    “She doesn't like puns,” Cube explained.

    “Oops. I suppose it is. I apologize.”

    Karia flew toward the cloud. “Fray!” she called. “Move aside!”

    But the cloud moved ahead of them, blocking their way. “And sometimes she doesn't back off,” Karia said grimly. “I'll have to fly around her.” She veered to the side.

    But the cloud moved to intercept her again, playing a game. Little jags of lightning zipped across her face.

    “I can erase part of her if I have to,” Kim said. “But I'll need my hands free.”

    “I'll take Knut,” Silhouette said. Kim passed the boy forward, and Silhouette held him before her, standing on the centaur's mane. Then she caught on to another aspect. “How can you erase a cloud?”

    “That's my talent,” Kim explained. “If I can see it, I can erase it magically with a sweep of my hand. Normally I use it to eliminate obstacles in my path. I'll try to be careful not to hurt Fray, just brush her back a bit so we can pass.” She moved her hand, and a swath of outlying vapor disappeared.

    “Nice cloud,” Knut said admiringly.

    Fray reacted. A vague smile formed across her substance.

    “Well well,” Silhouette murmured. Then she smiled at the cloud. “Nice cloud,” she echoed.

    Fray turned pink and floated back. She was blushing! Because a truly beautiful woman had smiled at her. Cube wished she could do that. Maybe once she got beautiful herself...

    Karia flew past the cloud without molestation. Knut and Silhouette waved as they passed. They were still hitting it off.

    “That was a better way,” Kim said. “The last thing I want to do is hurt a child.”

    Cube was nevertheless impressed with the bit of erasure she had seen. That was a dangerously powerful talent.

    Karia glided down for a landing on the path, out of sight of its end. “I'll wait here,” she said as they dismounted.

    “Perhaps I should wait also,” Silhouette said uncertainly.

    “No, I think it's all right,” Cube said. “I'll introduce you as a Mundane I know. That's all that needs to be said.”

    “Very well.” Silhouette was still holding Knut's hand. He obviously liked her. It was yet another demonstration of the power of beauty. They walked together, following Cube and Kim.

    They came to the end of the path, which was farther along than it had been the day before. There was Patxi, laboring diligently to clear brush by hand. It was obvious that his job was tedious, with his magic applying only when he had the path set. Cube had used the enchanted paths without ever thinking about their construction; that would never be the case again.

    Patxi paused when he saw them. “Hello a third time,” he said to Cube. “I don't believe I know your friends.”

    “This is Kim, who I hope will abate your curse,” Cube said. “And this is Silhouette Mundane, with Kim's boy Knut.”

    The man nodded to Kim, then started to nod to Silhouette, and froze. He too was smitten by her beauty.

    “Hello,” Silhouette said, smiling. That made it worse.

    “That's something,” Kim murmured. “Usually a man has to see bra or panties to freak out. She does it fully clothed.”

    “Beauty does as beauty is,” Cube agreed. “I'm so envious.”

    “Me too. But there are other things than beauty. After all, I managed to marry Dug.” Then she got more serious. “Now what's the curse name?”

    “Unthank,” Cube said. “My idea is for you to erase the first two letters. Can you do that?”

    “I'm not sure, but it's worth a try. With a computer, if you erase the name of a file, you lose that file. There are ways magic is similar to computing. Let's see what we can do.” She smoothed a place on the path, then took a stick and wrote UNTHANK. “Is that it?”

    “That's what the Princesses said,” Cube agreed.

    Kim brushed her hand across the first two letters, erasing them.

    Nothing happened.

    “I was afraid of that,” Kim said. “You have to know how to address a spell.”

    “Maybe if we made it clearer that it relates to him,” Cube said.

    They went to the man, who was still gazing raptly at Silhouette. Cube put some dirt on her finger and wrote UNTHANK across his back. “This is your secret name,” she said to him, though he seemed to be beyond hearing. “This is the word that enchants you.” She felt a small shudder of power. “I think that connected.”

    Kim brushed away the first two letters, using her magic. It was a bit strong, and his shirt disappeared in that region too. But nothing else happened.

    They looked at each other. “We need a better instruction manual,” Cube said. Unfortunately magic seldom came with instructions. They were stumped.

    Then Knut walked up to Patxi. “You made this nice path? Thank you.”

    And something dissipated around them, like a fire going out. Magic was fading.

    “It worked!” Kim said. “We did it! We just didn't think to complete it. To thank him.”

    Patxi stirred and looked around. “It's gone!” he said. “The curse is gone.”

    “It's gone,” Cube said. “Now you can retire.”

    “But this path isn't finished.”

    “You don't have to finish it. Your curse is no more.”

    “But it wouldn't be right to leave it incomplete. Folk might get lost.”

    Cube exchanged a look with Kim. Had they really abated the curse?

    Then Silhouette stepped in. “This path was, in a manner, my salvation. I was here before, though you did not see me. I kissed you.”

    “Oh, I think I would remember if--”

    “Like this.” She kissed him.

    Patxi reeled, almost falling. “That was you!” he exclaimed.

    “In Cube's body,” she agreed. “She saved my life. I think it would be nice if you completed this one path, so that it does go somewhere, as my life is doing now. It is symbolic. I would consider it a personal favor. Then you may retire if you wish to.”

    “I'll do that!” he agreed gladly.

    She smiled at him, then turned away so that he could recover. She caught Knut's hand and walked back down the path. Her effort not to leave him stunned was not entirely successful, because her backside was as esthetic as her frontside, even fully clothed, but then she rounded a turn and was out of sight. Then he blinked, getting his eyeballs realigned, and returned to work, not even noticing Kim and Cube.

    Cube was almost sick with longing for a figure like that. Would she really have one, after the Quest?

    “Beauty has power,” Kim said as if reading her thoughts. “But there are other things.”

    “For men?”

    Kim shrugged. “Sometimes.”

    The thread led back the way Silhouette had gone. “I think we're done here,” Cube said.

    “Yes. It has been nice visiting, but Dug's waiting for me.”

    They rejoined Karia, finding Silhouette and Knut already mounted. The thread stopped there. They mounted too, and soon were flying south.

    They landed at No Name Key and went to the picture. They saw Turn Key and Phil there, looking out.

    “We will take you home,” Silhouette said to Kim. “I hope we can be friends hereafter.”

    “Surely so,” Kim said. “We've been to Xanth together.”

    Silhouette turned to Cube. “I owe you everything,” she said. “I fear we'll never see each other again. I hope you finish your Quest and gain your desire.” Then she embraced Cube and kissed her on the mouth.

    Such was the power of her beauty that Cube, too, was stunned. By the time she recovered, Kim, Knut, and Silhouette were in the picture. They waved to her, then walked out of sight.

    “Charming folk,” Karia said.

    “Yes.” Cube felt as if she had just lost lifelong friends.

Nimby

    “I believe I see the thread,” Karia said.

    Cube looked. There it was, proceeding to the edge of the key, and on across the surface of the water. “I can't walk on water!”

    “But I can fly over it, and follow the line,” Karia said. “That's no problem. I'm glad the landbound centaurs separated No Name from Centaur Isle; it would have been awkward for me otherwise.”

    “They separated it?”

    “Originally they had bound it in with their main isle. But there was too much traffic through the portal. Once, I understand, an entire Mundane vehicle came through, with a Mundane family. The centaurs were courteous to them, but thereafter decided that this was not the sort of intrusion they preferred. So they cut it loose. That means that magic centaurs like myself are not barred.”

    “That is convenient,” Cube agreed. “I don't know how I would have come here without your help.”

    “That's why I am on this Quest. Now you have been rather busy, and had emotional experiences. Why don't you relax in the pouch while I follow the thread? I assure you I will notify you when your presence is required.”

    Cube remained slightly faint headed from the kiss. She had never had any romantic interest in women, yet that kiss had stunned her in much the way it had stunned Patxi. She needed to sort that out. “That would be nice,” she agreed.

    So Cube slid into the pouch, and Karia put it in her quiver. Cube was aware when she took off, then turned her thoughts inward. She had been in Silhouette's body, and used the power of that beauty herself, braced by her own gumption. Then she had met the woman, and seen how she affected others, including the old man and the young boy. Then she had experienced it herself. Beauty was power: that was all there was to it. The old man hadn't wanted to romance Silhouette, and neither had the young boy; it was merely a social effect. Now she understood that it worked on women too.

    And that was the kind of power Cube craved for herself. She had seen it in action, and felt it. Now she wanted to wield it. And perhaps, once the Quest was done, she would.

    Satisfied, she sank into sleep.

    She woke when Karia landed. She slid herself out of the pouch. They were at one of the enchanted rest stops. She appreciated those twice as much as she had before meeting Patxi. “There is a problem?” she asked.

    “Just that the thread seems to terminate here,” the centaur replied. “So I thought it was time to stop for the night.”

    “The night! How long have I been sleeping?”

    “All day. I flew across the strait separating Xanth from the keys, then across the Gold Coast and southern Xanth, past Lake OgreChobee, and within sight of Mount Pinatuba, as you can see.” She gestured.

    Cube looked. There in the sunset was a towering conical mountain. “Isn't that the bad-tempered one?”

    “Yes. Once it blew its stack so hard that it cooled all Xanth by one degree. We all hope it won't blow again. I understand it is very sensitive to disparaging remarks.”

    “As are so many inanimate things,” Cube agreed. “Well, I will have no problem. I think it's a magnificent peak.”

    “As do I. Nevertheless, I hope the thread does not take us there.”

    “Agreed. Though I am curious where the thread is taking us. It seems to have a mind of its own.”

    “Yes. It is a most remarkable effect.”

    They picked pies for supper, washed up at the local stream, and settled in for the night.

    Then someone came. It was a flying creature. In fact it turned out to be a winged mermaid, innocent of clothing like all her kind.

    “Now that's interesting,” Karia murmured. “Another complicated crossbreed, like me.”

    “Hello,” the mermaid called, hovering outside the shelter. “Is everything all right?”

    “Of course it is, thank you,” Karia said. “This is an enchanted campsite.”

    “It is, but it still requires upkeep,” the mermaid said. “That's my job: to check it regularly and make sure everything is in place. I am Nepherina.”

    “I am Karia Centaur. We are both winged monsters.”

    “Yes,” Nepherina said, giggling.

    “I am Cube,” Cube said.

    “I see you have four wings,” Karia said. “Like a dragonfly.”

    “Yes, it enables me to hover or fly backwards. But your feathery wings are prettier.”

    “That depends on whether the viewer is an insect or a bird. Any style of wing is fine as long as it does the job.”

    “There is one thing,” Nepherina said. “This is an enchanted site, so it is protected. But there may be danger close by.”

    “We can handle ordinary dangers,” Cube said. “We can repel aggressive creatures.”

    “This is not that type. The stream derives from Mount Pinatuba, and it can be as mean tempered as the mountain. There is a great lake that formed in the cone after the last eruption, and we fear that one day that lake will burst out and inundate everything below. So please don't dally long if you go outside the protected perimeter. If the lake burst right then--”

    “We understand,” Cube said. “Thank you for the warning. We will stay clear of the base of the cone if we possibly can.”

    “That's good. Have a good night.” The mermaid flew toward the river, and in a moment they heard a splash as she plunged into it.

    “I wonder what she does with her wings in the water?” Karia mused. “They seem very delicate.”

    “They probably fold down behind her,” Cube said. “Maybe she even flies in the water.”

    “If that lake let go and a torrent came down, she'd probably have to take to the air to escape.”

    “Which perhaps makes it safe for her to use that river,” Cube said. “She is not bound to it.”

    “So she can tend to this campsite,” Karia agreed. “Which in turn suggests that the threat is real. They wouldn't assign someone who could be washed away by the flood.”

    “I wonder how the enchantment protects against a flood.”

    “It must divert it. I hope.”

    On that slightly nervous note they slept. Cube had no trouble sleeping despite her long nap of the day. Maybe she had been affected to some extent by the time-stopping effect the others experienced, so hadn't really been sleeping long.

    In the morning the thread resumed. It left the enchanted path and plunged into the thickest brush. “I can't go there,” Karia said.

    “You have been on duty a long time, and done a lot of flying. It's time for you to rest. Go in the pouch, and I'll tackle this. It probably won't last long.”

    The centaur nodded. “It was a fair flight yesterday, and my wings have not yet fully rested. I kept myself light, but it still requires energy for the forward motion. Don't hesitate to call me out if you need me again.”

    “I won't hesitate to bring any or all of you out if I need you,” Cube agreed. “But since I'm not supposed to make my Quest obvious, I hope to travel by myself as much as I can, between emergencies.”

    “By all means.” Karia put her forefoot to the pouch, and slid in.

    Cube was on her own. She plunged into the thicket, forging determinedly onward. The brush caught at her body, trying to hinder her, but she kept going. Then she paused, distrusting a bush just ahead. It didn't look quite right. But she had to pass it to get past the brush.

    “Well, let's test it,” she murmured to herself. She conjured several nickelpedes. “Go check,” she told them.

    The bugs scuttled to the bush, and under it. In a moment three bad boys leaped out, exclaiming. The nickelpedes had gouged them in the pants, just below their BAD BOYS shirts. They fled and soon disappeared.

    Just as she had suspected: that had been an ambush. Her talent had broken it up, but common sense had been perhaps more important. She was able to make her talent work for her better than otherwise, by applying that sense.

    She brushed by the bush, which was now harmless; it would take it a while to reset for the next victim. She passed a moderate cave, with a neatly printed label: COM. Suddenly something hurtled out from the dark hole: a plane, a bird, no, a bat. A very aggressive bat. It swooped at her, chittering.

    “I'm not trying to invade your cave,” she protested, ducking. “Just let me be, and I'll soon be far from it.”

    But the bat continued to attack. Finally she conjured a really big nickelpede and held it over her head, its claw waving menacingly. That made the bat keep its distance. But it did not give up; it circled, looking for an opening.

    What made it so aggressive? Had she stepped on its child? She looked back at the cave, seeing nothing but the label.

    Then she thought she heard Karia's groan. “A bat from the COM cave,” she said. “Com-Bat. You like to fight.”

    “Aw, you figured it out,” the bat chittered, disgusted. “Now where's the fun?”

    “You can talk!”

    “You figured that out too, genius?”

    “I didn't know bats could talk human.”

    “Well, most can't, but we guardians of Mount 'Tuba are smarter than average as well as fiercer. My pal Pete's just as smart as I am, and he's a serpent. Likes to race.”

    Cube looked at the cave again. It was almost perfectly round, as if fitted for a snake whose torso was as thick as the height of a man. “ComPete,” she said.

    “Right. And if you think I'm bad, you should see him. He'd gulp you in one bite.”

    “I'll pass up that pleasure,” she said.

    “Aw, I thought if I kept you talking long enough, Pete'd wake from his nap and come out.”

    “Some other time, thanks all the same.”

    “You have a sarcastic streak. I like that.”

    “You're welcome.” She plunged on, holding the nickelpede aloft, and finally the combative bat left off, maybe getting too far from its cave. It was probably hard to be aggressive when half of your nature was out of sight.

    Now she came to a small but deep and rushing stream. It was probably another section of the mean-tempered river the winged mermaid Nepherina had warned them about, that flowed from the lake that stopped up Mount Pinatuba. She would have to be careful of it.

    The thread went right across the stream. The footing on the banks seemed good, so Cube made a good jump across.

    Too good. Her effort caused the pouch to be dislodged from her waistband. She grabbed for it, but missed, and it fell into the water as she landed on the far bank. She turned around and threw herself down, reaching for it, but it was already being carried away by the swift current.

    Cube scrambled to her feet and along the bank, trying to get in position to catch the pouch. But the thick brush held her back, and she couldn't quite keep pace. What a situation! She had to recover that pouch.

    Then she saw something worse ahead. The river disappeared. It sucked down into the ground, looking like a reverse-flowing spring. The pouch was circling, descending into the small whirlpool. Cube flung herself down, making a final desperate grab. Her hand splashed in the chill water, but didn't catch the pouch. It vanished into the ground.

    Cube sat there, for the moment stunned by the enormity of the disaster. She had lost the pouch! All her Companions were there. She couldn't summon any of them to help, because they were completely out of reach.

    She thought about crying. But she was not the crying type. She knew she had fouled up. She might have forfeited her Quest by this blunder. But worse, she had put all her friends into oblivion. They could not get out unless she brought them out. Their fate was her fault.

    She sat with her head in her hands, suffering for a good three moments. Then she summoned her gumption. What could she do? There had to be something.

    Maybe the stream emerged from the ground farther along, and would carry the pouch there, so she could recover it. But if so, where? She had no idea. Karia might have carried her high enough so she could see where, but Karia was in the pouch. And even if the stream did emerge, there was no guarantee that the pouch would be with it; it could get stuck anywhere below, or simply sink to the bottom of some unknown and inaccessible underground pool.

    Cube realized that she was not competent to recover the pouch by herself. She needed help. But who could--or would--help her, when she wasn't supposed to let the nature of her Quest be generally known? No one, she feared.

    But there had to be something. She couldn't just give up. So she made her way back to where she had crossed the stream--and saw the thread, leading on. The thread didn't know she had lost the pouch! What point to follow it now?

    Or did it? It had seemed remarkably savvy so far, even when it had led her to seemingly irrelevant places, like Mundania. Was it possible that it still had something for her?

    Well, there was one way to find out. She would follow it. If it didn't lead anywhere, what would she lose? No more than she already had. And if by chance it took her to someone who could help, then maybe she could salvage this Quest after all.

    She followed the thread around and about, o'er hill and dale, avoiding dragons, pitfalls, and tangle trees. As it skirted a village she saw a man wandering somewhat uncertainly, as if lost. She knew the feeling, so she paused, leaving the thread briefly to check on him. If he turned out to be a bad man, well, a few nickelpedes would distract him.

    “Hello,” she said. “You look confused.”

    “I am,” he said. “My name is Bruce, and my talent is finger writing in stone.”

    “I'm Cube, and I can summon nickelpedes. You write in stone?”

    “Yes.” He demonstrated by lifting a rock and using one finger to make a smiley-face. The surface seemed to be like malleable clay. Then he handed it to her.

    Cube touched the stone, expecting it to be soft, but it was rock-hard. “That's impressive. What's confusing?”

    “That is just about all I remember. I don't know how I got here, or where I'm going.”

    Oh. “Did something happen to you?”

    “I don't know,” Bruce said. “I just suddenly found myself walking here.”