Faun and Games (14 page)

It was a picture of his own neighborhood!
 
There was his sadalwood tree,

and the nearby clog tree across the glade.
 
He even saw the little disk

set in his tree.
 
"This is as it is right now!" he said, amazed.

"Here is yesterday," she said.
 
The Tapestry became blank.
 
She looked

surprised.
 
"Now that's odd; it has never done that before."

"Maybe it's because of what Chlorine did with my time."

"Chlorine is involved in this?"

He explained about the lovely woman and the dragon ass, and how it

always seemed to be morning when he traveled.
 
"I think she had

something to do with it."

Ida nodded.
 
"That would explain it.
 
Nimby has strange powers. She must

have asked him to rerun your mornings, so you could travel better.
 
The

Tapestry doesn't know how to account for that."

"Maybe if you try someone else's yesterday, like maybe my tree's, it

would work better."

She smiled.
 
"Yes, I'm sure it will."

The scene shifted.
 
The trees remained, but now there were fauns and a

nymph.
 
Soon the nymph ran away, and one faun chased her off the

picture.
 
The other faun retired to the sandalwood tree.
 
"You cati see

everything!" he said, twice as amazed.

"Yes, if we know where to look.
 
But it is too complicated to try to

watch all Xanth through all time, so we look only when we have reason."

She turned to face him.
 
"Ptero is like that, only more so.
 
It would be

difficult to explore, and perhaps dangerous."

"But I have to find that faun, or the tree will fade!
 
It was bad enough

losing my friend, without losing his tree too."

"Yes, of course.
 
I just want you to understand that this is no ordinary

mission.
 
It is stranger than anything you may have experienced."

"Whatever it is, it is better than letting my friend's tree fade."

"But if you should be lost, then your own tree would fade too."

That made him pause.
 
"Do you think that will happen?"

"I don't know.
 
I assume the Good Magician made sure you were capable of

handling the situation, to the extent anyone could be."

"No, he didn't even talk to me," Forrest said crossly.

"Did you go through the Challenges?"

"Yes!
 
And then he refused to hear my Question."

"What were the Challenges like?"

He described them to her, as she seemed genuinely interested, though he

saw little point in this.
 
Still, it was best not to be impolite to a

princess.
 
As he described each scene, it appeared on the Tapestry, just

as it had happened.

"So in each case, there was a physical Challenge," she said, which you

surmounted by using the talent of a person who happened to be there."

"Yes, actually.
 
The psychologist, the dot girl, and the wood changing

man.
 
I found a way to get them each to help me."

"I think this is the kind of ability that would be required on Ptero,"

the princess said.
 
"Surely this was the Good Magician's conclusion."

"But he didn't-"

"He always has good reason for his actions, though they are seldom

immediately apparent to others.
 
I believe he is trying to help you, in

his fashion.
 
He did put you in touch with Mare Imbri, after all."

"Yes.
 
But-"

"Now I think you are ready to see Ptero.
 
It is my moon."

"Your what'?"

Then he saw something even more surprising than the Tapestry.
 
A tiny

ball was swinging around the Princess' head.
 
It must have been hiding

before, because until this time all he had seen was a flicker of

something not quite there.
 
It was about the size of a large eyeball. As

it came closer to him, it brightened.

"This is Ptero," Ida said.
 
"It orbits my head, and reacts to my moods.

But it is more than just a tiny moon.
 
It is an idea."

"It looks pretty solid to me."

" It is, in its fashion.
 
You see, I am a Sorceress, and my talent is

the Idea.
 
Ptero is a condensation of all the ideas of Xanth, as they

were too numerous and complicated to fit inside my head.
 
So it would

appear that the faun you seek is no more than an idea, not yet

formulated in Xanth."

"But how can I find a faun who doesn't exist?"

"He does exist.
 
Just not in tangible form.
 
You will have to locate

him, and cause him to exist."

She had said this was strange.
 
He was beginning to appreciate how

serious she was.
 
"You mean that the idea of him is-is there in that

ball?"

"Yes.
 
The idea of everything is there.
 
It seems you will have to go

there to find the idea you need."

"But I can't go there!" he protested.
 
"It's tiny!"

"Mare Imbri has a spell to make you small enough, in a manner."

He didn't much like the sound of this.
 
"In a manner?"

"Your body will have to remain behind.
 
Only your soul can go. As you

said, Ptero is tiny."

"But suppose something happened to my soul?"

She nodded gravely.
 
"This is the risk you take.
 
I think it will be all

right, because the Good Magician evidently thinks so, but there are

always risks when the unknown is braved.
 
We don't know what you may

find on Ptero.
 
So it might after all be best if-"

"No!
 
I must save that tree."

"Then we shall have to prepare you for your journey.
 
Your body will

rest in this room while your soul visits Ptero.
 
I will be going around

the castle, but once you and Imbri are there, that will be no problem. I

will return every few hours, so that your soul can find your body when

it needs to.
 
And of course Imbri will be guiding you. She has visited

Ptero before, so has a small notion of its nature.
 
But none of us will

be able to help you if you have trouble.
 
In fact we won't even know

what you are doing.
 
The Tapestry doesn't orient on Ptero, because it

isn't part of Xanth.
 
It's a derivative.
 
So you will truly be on your

own."

Forrest swallowed.
 
"And nobody knows exactly what I'll find there?
 
But

if Imbri has been there-"

"I went to deliver only brief daydreams," Imbri said, appearing beside

him.
 
He realized that she couldn't speak to two people at the same

time, because she wasn't physically real.
 
She had to be in the dream of

one or the other, so she had disappeared when she talked to Ida.
 
"I had

a specific summons.
 
It was like going toward a light. I don't actually

know the geography.
 
I caught only glimpses.
 
Enough to know that it's a

whole world in itself, bigger than Xanth, and maybe more varied.
 
And

that time is strange, there."

"I'm sure Mare Imbri will be a great help," Ida said.

He glanced at her.
 
"How did you know that Imbri had finished speaking

to me'?"

"I waited for your blank look to pass.
 
It isn't polite to interrupt a

daydream."

"She says she doesn't know a whole lot about Ptero, and that time is

strange there.

"She will be able to locate friendly folk there, because she is used to

entering minds.
 
That may be your most important asset.
 
And she is

always good company, because of the nature of her business."

"Yes, of course." But he was being polite.
 
He had expected a competent

guide, and it seemed that Imbri was going to be something less than

that.

"I'm sorry," Imbri said.
 
"I will do my very best.
 
But it's true; I

can't guide you perfectly.
 
I think that I turned out to be the best of

a bad lot, as far as the Good Magician was concerned."

There wasn't much he could say to that.
 
It would be dishonest to deny

what she said.

"I must ask you again," Princess Ida said.
 
"Do you really wish to make

this excursion?
 
Realistically, I think we have to say that your chances

of success are no better than half, and if you fail, both trees may

fade.
 
This is at best a doubtful endeavor."

He knew she was making sense.
 
But the thought of giving up, of breaking

his promise to his friend's clog tree, appalled him.
 
"No.
 
I must do

it."

"As you wish.
 
Are there any arrangements you wish to make before you

go?"

"No.
 
I just want to get it done, and return to my tree."

"Then lie on this bed, and sniff from the bottle the Good Magician gave

you.
 
Its spell will free your soul from your body, so that it can go to

Ptero.
 
I will remain close until you arrive there."

"But how will you know?" Now that he had decided, he was finding new

things to worry about.

 
Imbri will tell me.
 
She will guide you there, then make a quick trip

to let me know."