Man From Mundania (53 page)

he was done there, he would restore the tree's magic—and

if it was a smart tree, it would not bother him again.

Ivy really hadn't thought about this aspect very much,

but now she realized that she was as safe with Grey as it

was possible to be, because nothing magic could hurt

them. That included just about everything in Xanth. Grey

could nullify magic partly, or not at all, or even enhance

it by the rebound effect. Thus he could use or not use

magic, as he chose, to the degree he chose. He really was

a Magician, whose power matched her own.

They were well matched in other respects, too. Grey

had loved her though he did not believe that she had magic

or that she was a princess. She had loved Grey though she

thought him Mundane. Now each understood what the

other was, and it was wonderful. Yet it was all a plot by

Com-Pewter, and that made it awful. How near and yet

how far!

The waves rose up ahead of her, forming odd shapes.

She realized that she had been unconsciously enhancing

the magic of the sea as she stood there musing about Grey.

Now the water was glowing, and the spume was forming

faces.

Curious, she enhanced it further. Soon a big wave took

shape and held its position. Its frothy eyes stared out at

her, and its little whirlpool of a mouth opened. ' 'Beee-

waare!" it splashed.

Ivy's own mouth dropped open. It had spoken to her!

Why would a wave try to do such a thing? Did it like

being Enhanced?

Electra and Donkey approached, quietly. ' 'It's warning

us about something," Electra murmured. "We'd better

find out what!"

Ivy agreed. She concentrated, giving the wave her best

Enhancement. "Beware of what?" she called, uncertain

whether it could hear or understand her. She tried to en-

hance its hearing and understanding, but knew there were

limits.

"Paaath oooouut!" the wave replied. Then it collapsed

back into mere water.

"The path is out?" Electra asked. "Maybe a storm

washed out the dirt?"

"We should readily see that," Donkey said. "It really

did not require such a dramatic warning.

"Maybe the wave isn't very smart," Electra said.

"Still, it meant well," Ivy said. She had never talked

to a wave before; that sort of thing was her father's talent.

Could she now Enhance inanimate things too? Or had she

always been able to without realizing it?

She cupped her mouth with her hand. "Thank you,

Wave," she called. "We shall beware the path."

A surge of bubbly water washed up around her feet, as

if licking them.

Grey returned. They gathered breadfruit and butter-

balls, and even found an eye scream bush with several

flavors of confection.

They settled for the night. Ivy wanted to sleep beside

Grey, but chaperone Electra was right there watching, ea-

ger to catch them at anything that smacked even faintly of

stork. Ivy wasn't sure whether the girl was moved more

strongly by duty or curiosity. She remembered how curi-

ous she herself had been about the business of stork sum-

moning. In the last year or so she had finally succeeded

in piecing together diverse bits of information and, aided

by strong hints from Nada, had pretty much solved the

riddle. She believed she would be able to summon the

stork when the time came. But she had no intention of

doing so before she got married. Now she was part of the

Adult Conspiracy, obliged to hide the information from

children—and Electra was still mostly a child, despite her

love for Dolph and her betrothal to him.

So she piled her pillows and blankets and bedded down

246 Man from Mundania

by herself, and Grey did likewise, though she would so

much rather have hugged him to sleep.

In the morning the ghost horses returned, and they re-

sumed their journey. Not far up the path. Peek lifted her

nose and sniffed. Pook and Puck did likewise, evidently

disturbed by something.

"That warning," Donkey said. "Do you think this is

where the path is out?"

"It looks firm to me," Grey said. They had told him of

the wave warning.

They went on, cautiously. The path was whole, entirely

normal. But the three ghost horses remained skittish,

which was unusual for them.

They rounded a turn—and there was a huge land dragon

straddling the path. It was a smoker, with clouds of deep

gray smoke wafting back from its nostrils.

Grey, in the lead on Pook, came to a sudden halt. "I

thought you said this path was enchanted!" he exclaimed.

Ivy, next in line, stopped as suddenly. "It is! No pred-

ator is supposed to be able to intrude!"

The dragon formed a toothsome grin. Obviously it had

another opinion.

"Well, I'll just null it," Grey said.

"Watch the smoke!" Ivy warned. "It can blind you and

choke you before you get close!"

"Pook can get me there before the dragon gets its smoke

really up," Grey said. "It won't be expecting us to charge

it." He patted the ghost horse. "You do believe in my

power?''

Pook nodded, though a trifle uncertainly. He had been

told of it, but had not seen it demonstrated.

There was a roar from the rear. Ivy looked back. There

was another dragon, like the first but slightly smaller.

Surely the smoker's mate! "It's a trap!" she cried. "They

have boxed us in!"

Electra, on Donkey, was third in line. "We'll take this

one!" she cried.

"No!" Ivy screamed. "You can't—"

Man from Mundania

247

But now both dragons roared horrendously. Smoke bil-

lowed, for the moment masking them.

"Now!" Grey called. "While they're drawing breath!"

"But—" Ivy started, flustered.

Pook charged forward, and Donkey charged back. Ivy

was left in mid protest in the middle.

Grey disappeared into the cloud of smoke. She knew he

could null the dragon if he got close enough to touch it,

and at the rate the ghost horse was going they would not

just touch but collide. It was Electra who needed help.

Peek, responding to Ivy's decision, whirled and gal-

loped back. The smoke was thinning. She saw the fuzzy

outline of Electra strike the dragon on the sooty snoot.

The dragon blinked, shocked. But Ivy knew that Electra's

charge could not knock out a dragon this size; it would

only set it back a moment. Then there would be real trou-

ble.

As Ivy reached them. Donkey was kicking the dragon's

head with his hind hooves. The dragon, still jolted by the

electric shock, was not moving, but the hoof strikes were

only rattling its head, not making it retreat.

Still, it was an idea. "I'll Enhance you," Ivy told Peek.

"You turn about and deliver your hardest kick to its chin.

Don't miss!"

She concentrated on Enhancing Peek's power of kick. She

imagined the hooves as having the same hardness as the

metal chains, and the legs having enormous power. This

would be some kick!

Peek turned, threw down her head, and let go with a

phenomenal two-hoof kick. It connected. Ivy felt the

shock; it jolted her teeth. Was it enough?

Peek's feet came down. She turned again. They both

looked, and so did Electra and Donkey.

The dragon was flat on its back, its tail twitching. Peek's

double-hooved kick had flipped the monster all the way

over, and knocked it out. The kick had indeed been

enough!

Grey and Pook trotted up. "The front dragon is uncon-

scious," Grey reported. "And so is this one, by the look

of it."

248 Man from Mundania

"But how did they get on the enchanted path?" Electra

asked.

"Now I think I understand," Donkey said. "The wave's

warning: the spell on the path is out! So it isn't safe, in

this section."

All three ghost horses nodded. They had known it, but

had been unable to speak their knowledge.

"But the spell was set by Good Magician Humfrey,"

Ivy said. "He wouldn't let anything happen to it!"

"Not if he were still around," Electra said. "But he's

been gone for seven years."

Ivy felt stupid. Of course the Good Magician was gone;

it was Dolph's Quest for him that had introduced him to

Nada and Electra, and Ivy's Quest for him that had intro-

duced her to Grey. Now other folk could tinker with his

spells with impunity. "We've got to get him back!" she

muttered.

"There must be a counterspell here," Electra said. "To

cancel out the path enchantment. So the monsters can get

in."

"Then maybe I can null it," Grey said. "Except I don't

know how to relate to it."

"I'll Enhance your ability to relate," Ivy said. "Then

maybe you can null it."

He shrugged. "It's worth a try."

They dismounted and took each other's hands. "You're

Holding Hands!" Electra exclaimed. "I'm going to Re-

port that!"

"If you do, I'll report that time you sneaked into my

little brother's room and held his hand while he was sleep-

ing," Ivy said darkly.

Electra looked so abashed that Ivy, Grey, and Donkey

burst out laughing. One of the charming things about Elec-

tra was that she retained so much of the innocence of

childhood.