Part 17 (1/2)

”Maybe the ceiling?” Pia asked.

Justin looked up. ”I fear it is just beyond my reach.”

”And mine, certainly,” she said, for he was substantially taller than she. ”But I could check it if you lifted me ”

”I suppose I could do that,” he said doubtfully.

She had a notion why. ”You don't want to pick up a girl who's not Breanna. It would seem too friendly.”

”This is an accurate observation.”

”Well, you could carry me without picking me up.”

”I don't understand.”

”Let me ride on your shoulders.”

”Oh.” He seemed not wholly relieved.

”We do have a job to do,” she reminded him.

He squatted down beside the wall, and she mounted his shoulders, putting her legs down in front. ”You clasp my knees, so my hands are free to reach up.”

He rose to his feet, somewhat unsteadily, putting his hands on her knees. She in turn clasped his neck with her thighs. Her dread panties were now in contact with his head, but he couldn't see them, so didn't freak out. It was possible to get around some of Xanth's magical effects, she realized.

He walked, and she reached sliding her fingers along the smooth ceiling. It was solid throughout: no illusion covered it. When they completed the circuit, they knew that they had failed.

”Squat down so I can dismount,” she told him.

Justin just stood there.

”Or lean over so I can jump down.” she said.

He did not react.

What was the matter? Couldn't he hear her? She realized that he hadn't said a word since they started the ceiling search.

Then she caught on: her panties were against his ears, or close enough so that he could hear their faint rustling. They had freaked out his hearing.

She wedged her hands down to cover his cars, breaking the contact. ”Get down.” she said, loudly enough to he heard through the barrier.

”Certainly.” He got down, and she climbed off.

”Well, we haven't gotten far,” she said. ”There just doesn't seem to he any waiy a minute we didn't cheek the pictures. There could he a pa.s.sage there.”

”Perhaps so.” he agreed, though he sounded weary.

They entered the mountain scene again, this time checking the side walls. There was nothing. They went to the next scene and checked similarly. Nothing.

”I'm getting depressed,” Pia said. ”But we'd better check the rest.” They checked the next three, and found nothing. One more failure and they would be done.

Resigned, Pia entered the Hooded scene-and found a gap in the wall. ”Justin!” she shrieked. ”I've found it!”

He made his way to her, and felt the wall. ”Dear girl, you are correct.” he said, ”There is an aperture.”

It was about head height on her. Justin boosted her up and she cradled into it. In a moment she was beyond the illusion, and saw that she was in a short tunnel leading gradually down. The sides of it glowed faintly, so she wasn't blind. ”Give me a moment to get clear, then follow,” she called back. She needed that moment, because she was on her hands and knees, and he would freak out if she didn't get her panties out of sight first.

”My hands seem to have gone numb,” he said.

They must have touched her panties during the boost. This was multimedia magic! ”Flex your fingers,” she called. ”They'll recover in a moment.”

She reached the base of the curve, and the tunnel debouched into another full sized pa.s.sage below. ”Okay, come on,” she called.

Justin scrambled into the tunnel and crawled down toward her. Soon he stood beside her. ”This certainly seems to he an avenue,” he agreed, looking around. ”It must pa.s.s under the inner pa.s.sage, going toward the center of the circles. That would seem to be where the answer to our question lies.”

”Yes Let's find it Then we can tell the others, and maybe finally get our night's rest.”

”That would he eminently satisfactory.”

The pa.s.sage sloped downward, and at the base there was water. It wasn't illusion: it seemed to be ground water that had seeped in and flooded the floor. It wasn't deep; they sloshed through it and come out the other side.

They came to a large chamber, whose ceiling was supported by a number of thick columns. The columns were square, rather than round. The chamber seemed to be curved: in fact it was like the two pa.s.sages, circling around a huge central pillar. This was the true center of the establishment.

”What's this place?” Pia asked, impressed by its magnitude.

”Why. I suspect these are square roots,” Justin said. awed. ”Cube roots, more accurately. And that this must be a tree.”

”A tree?”

”A very large, very special tree. In fact, I believe this is the Coventree.”

”The what?”

”It is largely isolated from the regular forests, but has remarkable properties. I know of it only by reputation, but believe the identification is secure. This would be its root system.”

Pia looked around with a new appreciation. ”All these columns- roots.”

”And the center is the main root.”

”So it's a big tree. So what?”

”The Coventree has the power of illusion. Were it human, it would perhaps rival the Sorceress Iris in that respect. That explains why we did not see it in the light of day; it's enormous upper girth was concealed by illusion. But because it is vegetable, it is not considered to be a Magician. Still, it is a plant well worthy of respect.”

”By other plants, maybe,” she agreed cynically. ”Other trees. But-” Then she made a connection ”You were a tree for a long time. That's why you relate.”

”True. I have learned appreciation for the way of trees. Yet by what coincidental chance I should find myself here escapes me.”

Another bulb flashed over her head. ”That spook who called us this way-it was you it really wanted!”

”Me?”