Geis of the Gargoyle (18 page)

"Remember, I'm a stone gargoyle.
 
Magician Trent transformed me for this quest, and I think won't transform me back until I complete it.
 
So I really have to accomplish it."

"A gargoyle," Hiatus echoed.
 
"Iris told me, but I forgot.
 
We are an unusual group indeed!"

"With an impossible mission," Iris said.
 
"I think Humfrey overreached himself on this one."

Two clouds of smoke appeared before them.
 
"We're baaack!" the larger one said.

"It was fuuun," the smaller one said.

"It is just as well that you returned before we entered the Region of Madness," Iris said.

"Oh, do you have to go there?" the larger magic cloud asked, shaping into Mentia.

"It's a mean place," the smaller magic cloud said, two eyelike swiris crossing before it shaped into Surprise.
 
"We didn't dare go in."

So there was a region the demoness avoided.
 
Gary made a mental note, in case the information should ever be useful.

"It's where Desiree Dryad is," Iris said.
 
"We have to find her."

"You'll get lost," the demoness said.
 
"Everything's weird in there."

"How well I know," Hiatus said.
 
"But how can we find her if we don't go in?"

Mentia considered.
 
"You might ask the fringe dwellers."

"The what?" Gary asked.

"Richard and Janet," Surprise said.
 
"We met them.
 
They're nice."

"They are human beings?" Iris asked uncertainly.

"Sure," the child said.
 
"They live right next to the madness, and sometimes the wind changes and sweeps it across them, so they know what it's like."

Gary exchanged two glances with Iris and Hiatus.
 
"Maybe they'll know something useful," he said.

Both Iris and Hiatus looked relieved.
 
"Yes, let's consult first with them," Iris said.

They turned the zombie animals and traveled beside the madness, rather than into it.
 
But the boundary wasn't smooth; filaments of madness reached out from it, and there were cracks extending into it.
 
They stayed suitably clear, because any stray breeze could mischievously move the madness across them.
 
They could see plants turning weird as the filaments passed them.

They came to a giant gourd, rotting at the edges.
 
"That's a hypnogourd!" Hiatus exclaimed, stopping before its giant peephole, shielding his eyes.
 
"A zombie gourd.
 
I didn't know there was one here."

"Why not?" Iris asked, shielding her own eyes so that she couldn't get locked into its spell.
 
"With mad magic anything can happen."

"That's right-it must have grown in the madness, and then the madness retreated a bit, and left the gourd out here.
 
I must tell my father when I return home, because he can use it to travel."

"Travel?" Gary asked.
 
As a stone gargoyle he hadn't worried about gourds, but now he took the cue from the others, and did not look directly at the peephole.

"A person can walk into one, and walk out another one on the far side of Xanth, if he knows the route through," Hiatus explained.
 
"My father marks routes so he can use them safely."

"But I thought it was the dream realm, inside the gourd," Gary said.
 
"That people couldn't enter them physically."

"They can when the gourds are big enough," Hiatus assured him.
 
"But it's not smart to do it without a marked route, because the dream realm is, well, it's a lot like the madness.
 
Anything can happen."

There was a rattle near their feet.
 
Then a snake appeared, biting the leg of the cameleopard.
 
The creature leaped, shaking off the snake, which quickly slithered into the gourd.

"Oh, now I've lost my steed," Iris said, irritated.

But the cameleopard did not collapse.
 
Instead it seemed to be healthier than before.
 
"Oh, it's one of those," Hiatus said.
 
"Its bite cures zombies.
 
They hate that."

"Instead of killing zombies, it makes them alive?" Gary asked, amazed.

"Why, I know someone who would love to be bitten," his said.
 
"Zora Zombie.
 
She's almost alive as it is.
 
I must tell her before I return to the caves.
 
Her husband Xavier will be pleased too."

"A zombie married a live man?" Gary asked.

"Well, Zora wasn't very far gone," Iris explained.
 
"And she's remarkably well preserved for her condition."

They moved on, leaving the giant gourd behind, his' cameleopard was stepping along with renewed vigor, being now completely alive.
 
Gary was sure Iris appreciated the fact that it was no longer icky.

As the day waned, they reached the house where Richard and Janet lived.
 
It was a neat cottage surrounded by clusters of toadstools and flowers.
 
"Why those are irises!" his exclaimed, delighted.
 
"And really fancy ones, too!"

They dismounted and approached the cottage.
 
"Hey, folks, come on out!" Mentia called, appearing.

A man appeared in the doorway.
 
"Oh, it's the lady demon again," he said.
 
"And the demon child."

"And some real live folk too," Surprise said, turning smoky and floating up to join Mentia.

A woman joined the man in the doorway.
 
Then both stepped out.
 
"Hello," the man said.
 
"I'm Richard, and this is my wife Janet.
 
We're from Mundania, originally, but we like it better here.
 
Are you native folk?"

"Yes," his said, stepping forward.
 
"I am the Sorceress his, and these are Gary and Hiatus.
 
We don't mean to bother you, but we thought you might help us locate something.
 
We understand you know something about what's behind the veil of madness."

"We really haven't been in Xanth long," Janet protested.
 
"Only a year or so-it's hard to remember exactly.
 
I couldn't see very well at first, and I haven't traveled.
 
So I'm afraid I won't be of much help."

"I haven't traveled either," Richard said.
 
"Only far enough to explore the immediate surroundings, and to meet Janet.
 
But I have talked with folk who travel through, and exchanged stories with them.
 
Perhaps I will have heard of something useful to you."

"We are looking for Desiree Dryad," Gary said.
 
"She's a tree nymph.
 
We hope she will know where to find a philter."

Janet brightened.
 
"Oh, yes, we met her not long ago, when the madness shifted away from her tree."

"We try to stay clear of the madness," Richard explained.
 
"It's weird in diere."

"Weird!" a voice exclaimed as two clouds of smoke appeared, one smaller than the other.

"Oh, the madness is returning!" Janet said, alarmed.

"No, those are the other two members of our party," Iris said, grimacing.
 
"They're already weird." She addressed the clouds.
 
"Mentia.
 
Surprise.
 
Shape up for a formal introduction."

The woman form and girl form took form for the form-al introduction.
 
"I'm the Demoness Mentia.
 
I'm a little crazy."

"I'm Surprise Golem.
 
I'm out of control."

"So nice to meet you formally," Janet said doubtfully.

"Would you like something to eat?" Richard asked.
 
"All we have at the moment are orangebemes, but they are tasty." He stepped into the house and brought out a bowl of orange berries.

"I want an icecream berry," Surprise said.

"I would find some if I could," Richard said-then stared.
 
For the child was holding a chocolate-shelled icecream berry, and licking it with gusto.

Gary was coming to appreciate the uses of diplomacy.
 
"Perhaps the others would like some icecream berries too," he suggested.

"Oh, sure," Surprise said.
 
Her eyes crossed.
 
Suddenly the bowl Richard held was filled with chocolate-covered icecream berries.

"She can change one fruit to another!" Richard said, surprised.

"Among other things," Gary agreed.
 
"We had better eat these before they melt."

They did so.
 
Each berry was a different flavor under the chocolate, but all were good.

"You inquired about Desiree Dryad," Richard said.
 
"Her tree is within range when the madness shifts away.
 
But most of the time it's in the madness.
 
She's not happy about that."

"What does it do to her?" Hiatus asked with restraint.
 
He was surely excited about this, but afraid to hope too much.

"Nothing to her directly," Janet said.
 
"But it affects her tree, and therefore her, indirectly.
 
It gives her tree square roots, and they don't work well, so the tree suffers.
 
If it weren't for the occasional periods of un-madness, that tree might have died by now."

"Died!" Hiatus cried, anguished.

Richard and Janet looked perplexed.
 
"He met Desiree before the madness came," Iris explained.
 
"He loves her but can't reach her, because of the madness."

"But tree nymphs don't usually marry ordinary men," Richard said.
 
"They just like to tease them, if they show themselves at all.
 
They don't like adults.
 
They relate best to children."

"Children!" Surprise exclaimed.
 
Her eyes crossed.
 
But for once nothing happened; she was already a child.

"But how could you talk to Desiree, if she won't meet adults?" Gary asked.

"We're somewhat childlike about Xanth," Janet said, blushing.
 
"It is taking us time to believe much of what we see.
 
We didn't know Desiree was different, until she told us."

"I think she was a bit lonely, after the madness," Richard said.
 
"Disoriented, maybe.
 
When she saw how little we knew, she was glad to talk.
 
But her tree is suffering.
 
We wish we could help her, but we'd just get lost in the madness.
 
So we visit only when it clears."

"When it comes here, we hide in the house and hardly move," Janet said.
 
"Fortunately it usually doesn't stay long.
 
Usually we can sleep through it, though our dreams are weird."

"It sounds as if the madness is constantly changing," Gary said.
 
"What makes it move?"