Zombie Lover (22 page)

But there was something wrong with her After a moment Dolph figured it out her body was human, but she had the head of a horse She was a crossbreed, like all the natives of this world But it had to be her, because there was a moon orbiting her head

Dor stepped forward
   
'We are visitors from Xanth several levels down
 
We are looking ior the Zombie Master "

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"Why yes, he did pass this way, two hours ago, ' she said 4He went on to Dumbbell " Her equine mouth seemed to have no trouble speaking She had delicate gills in her neck

"To stupid9'' Dor asked somewhat blankly

"My moon " she explained, angling her head to show it It was a tiny object in the shape of a dumbbell

"Would it be all right with you if we just went right on there9 We need to talk to him and return to our own world "

"We are actually dreaming this/' Bink explained

"Of course I can see that you are not crossbreeds, and that you breathe without gills Straight species are very rare on Cone " She paused "But I wonder whether I might ask a favor of you. before you go on "

"Oh, is this a world where favors carry burdens9" Dolph asked, intrigued

"No, not at all It's just that recently a misfit begged my help, and I thought it possible that you might be able to assist "

"What is it9" Dolph asked He knew they needed to keep moving, but he was curious

"On this world, folk live either on the outside, or the inside," Ida said "This is the inside, under the water Our magic is so construed that only couples that straddle the two environments can summon the storkfish "

Dolph nodded That explained all that activity at the edge of the water Land folk making trysts with sea folk

"In each case, babies are delivered to the couples If the baby has lungs, it goes with the land parent If it has gills, it goes with the sea parent But on rare occasion there is an error That is the cause of my concern ''

"But suppose the parents aren't together when the baby arrives9"

Ida looked blank
 
' Not together9 '

"In nine months, they could lose track and be far apart "

"Nine months9"

"The time it takes the stork to deliver "

Ida shook her head "There must be considerable bureaucratic delay m your realm Here delivery is within two days, or there's an investigation The couples remain together until the storkfish arrive with the bundles "

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PIERS ANTHONY

This world was more different than it looked! "So one was mis-delivered?"

"No. One was—defective."

"Defective?"

"Unsuitable for life on Cone."

"But what kind of crossbreed wouldn't fit on a world like this?"

"Let me introduce you to Aurora." Ida turned her head. "Dear, would you please come out?"

The door opened again, and a very shy girl swam out. Her eyes were downcast as if she was ashamed. It was hard to see why, as she was in her upper section a beautiful figure of a human female, and had a nice tail. She was a mermaid. She had red hair, brown eyes, and white wings.

Wings?

As usual, Dolph blurted out his question before he thought better.

"How do you fly in water?"

Aurora blushed. "Not very well," she confessed.

Embarrassed, Dolph tried to make amends by assuming the form of a male of her persuasion. He became a winged merman with gills. He spread his wings, and found that they dragged heavily in the water.

"I see."

"How did you do that?" Aurora asked, amazed.

"It's my talent," Dolph said, balancing awkwardly on his tail. "I can assume any living form I want."

"Then why don't you assume the form of a handsome man?"

Then it was Dolph's turn to blush. He hadn't realized that he was unhandsome. Electra had never told him. "I guess I didn't think of

it."

"Oh, I didn't mean—I mean—I'm sorry. I'm not socially clever.

I haven't had much experience."

"I know the feeling," Dolph said, smiling ruefully.

She smiled back, as ruefully. "Yes."

"How do you think we might help?" Dor asked Ida.

"I gathered from Jonathan that your home world is oddly mixed," Ida said. ' That you have just one surface, on which land and water

coexist."

"True. But—"

"In such a realm, a winged mermaid might be able to flourish. She might live in a lake, and fly to other lakes, holding her breath."

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"She might even be able to breathe in the air," Dolph said. "By flying through thick clouds. They always have water hidden away."

"That sounds wonderful," Aurora said.

"It does seem feasible," Dor agreed. "But this is a dream. How could a dream native travel from here to our world?"

"I have pondered that," Ida said. "Between the time when I learned of your world from Jonathan, and your arrival. She can't travel there physically, but if there were some native creature who was willing to accept her spirit, it might work."

"I saw a winged mermaid once," Dolph said. "At Chex's wedding on Mount Rushmost. But she has lungs."

"Still, she might show me around," Aurora said. "If I could get there.''

"I really don't think—" Dor began.

"What is needed is a creature who is unsatisfied with its form and mind," Ida said. "Who would be happy to let Aurora define those. And perhaps there is such a one."

"Even if there were," Dor said, "it would be back on Xanth, while Aurora is here. 1 don't see how they could get together."

"I'm thinking of the one who has been following you, by some wild coincidence."

The three kings hurled a glance around. "Something has been following us?" Dor asked.

"Yes. One of my friends told me that three foreign men were coming, followed by something else. We're not sure what that is, but it seems to be very unhappy."

"A monster?" Dolph asked, glancing back nervously.

"I don't know. But perhaps we can find out. Here it comes now."

The three of them looked back together. There was a stirring in the water, and a vague shape appeared.

"The blob!" Dolph exclaimed. "The one that was moaning in Castle Zombie."

"I told Millie to give it some sleep potion," Bink said. "That must have enabled it to join our dream."

"So it followed us, hoping for help," Dolph concluded. He had somehow suspected that Grandfather Bink would be involved, when Ida spoke of wild coincidence.

"Do you think it would like to become a winged mermaid?" Ida asked.

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PIERS ANTHONI

"Maybe 1 can ask it," Dor said
 
He assumed the form of a blob Now he didn't have a mouth, so wasn't sure how to speak
  
He rolled across and touched the other blob with his surface
  
"?" he inquired

"!" the blob replied

He returned to his normal form, unhandsome as that was
 
"I think

it says yes "

"But still, we are in a dream, while the blob is in Castle Zombie,"

Dor said
 
"I don't see how—"

"It you will return to your bodies when you wake," Ida said reasonably, "wouldn't the blob do the same when it wakes9 And it Aurora is with it, wouldn't she be carried there too9 Then she could give it live definition in her nature "

The
  
three
  
men
  
exchanged
  
another
  
wondering
  
glance
   
They

shrugged

Aurora approached the blob She reached out one hand, tentatively She touched it
 
"Oh, I like it," she said "It's just miserable because when the storkhsh—1 mean the stork—delivered it, it had not been shaped into a creature
 
It was left as it started, raw material
 
So its mother dumped it in the forest, throwing it away, where the zombies

found it''

"You can tell all that, just from touching it9" Dolph asked

"Yes Because our sprits are merging It will be glad to have my template And I will be glad to go to its world I think I can manage to form lungs as well as gills, in that context " As she spoke her hand was sinking into the blob

"Then when you get there, tell Millie the Ghost what happened." Dolph said "She's not really a ghost, she's the Zombie Master's wife She's nice She'll help you find suitable water "

"Thank you " Aurora's arm had disappeared to the elbow Now she stepped the rest of the way in, and disappeared into the blob

Ida walked over and clapped her hands over the blob
  
"Wake1"

she said sharply

The blob quivered as if surprised Then it taded But as it did, it assumed the torm of the winged mermaid

Ida looked at them "Thank you so much I'm sure Aurora will be much happier in your world Now please do go on to Dumbbell "

They linked hands and focused on that little world
  
Soon it ex

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panded, until it was a massive planet with two centers, connected b> a bar Dolph became a full sized roc bird and sailed down, looking for the glowing footprints

"I presume the inhabitants of this world are not very smart ' Dor remarked

"Zombies aren't smart either," Bmk said "Maybe this is the one "

Dolph flew down to one of the swollen ends ot the world and circled it, descending ever closer, peering down As with the othei moons, there were varied features of the terrain and signs of habitation As before, he soon got used to the notion that this was a tull-sized world with its own identity It was mind-bogghngly tiny in one sense, but full-sized in another

He spied a glow He circled down, and sure enough, there were the prints They started at the middle of the bulge, and went toward the connecting rod He followed

It was weird flying low overland as the rod came into view over the horizon Now it looked like an impossibly massive and tall tower rising from the plain, with a ball balanced on its end But as he followed the prints to its base, his orientation changed, and he was able to turn the comer in flight and follow them along the rod. which now seemed level rather than vertical Only on Planet Pyramid, it seemed, was personal orientation fixed by its plane of origin on the others the change was automatic This was easier

The tracks led to a neat house in the center of the bar Dolph glided to a landing in a nearby held, and changed back to human form "Good job, son," Dor said "We are making better progress