Part 19 (1/2)
But the Herd Stallion was free. He launched himself at the bars. ”No!” Stile cried in alarm, knowing the stone was too strong for the animal to break. But the Stallion s.h.i.+fted in midair to roach-form, sailed between columns, and s.h.i.+fted on Stile's side to dragon-form. The dragon spread his wings, banked about, and fired forth a horizontal column of flame that seared the oncoming goblins. The stench of burnt flesh wafted back. Stile felt sorry for the goblins, then remembered how they had treated Clip, and stilled his sympathy. The creatures of the frame of Phaze conducted their business violently, and goblins were among the worst. Stile continued to concentrate on the healing, letting the Stallion guard him, and slowly the two parts of Clip's horn melded together. Stile felt the living warmth creep along the length of it, animating it. Soon all would be well.
A horde of goblins poured in from the far side of the prison. ”Stallion!” Stile cried, and the Herd Stallion turned about, charged the bars, s.h.i.+fted into and out of roach form, and appeared on the other side in dragon-form again. Another burst of flame seared out, cooking more flesh.
But greater trouble was gathering. Stile could feel the rumble of the march of many feet as hundreds or thou sands of goblins closed in, traveling in unseen neighboring pa.s.sages. He knew he had alerted the enemy Adept, for he had performed Adept magic; that would further complicate the situation. Still he held on to the horn, waiting for the final inch to be restored to life so that Clip's full capacity would return. He would settle for nothing less.
There was a puff of fog. The White Adept stood beside Stile. Her hair was white, matching her eyebrows, and a sparkling white gown bedecked her somewhat stout form. ”So it is thee. Blue, as we suspected,” she said, her voice and gaze cold as ice. ”Thou didst take the bait.”
”I took it,” Stile agreed grimly. He was not really surprised; his relations with the White Adept had always been chill. But why was she involved with the goblins? ”I got tired of getting ambushed by the likes of thee.” Would she tell him anything before making her move? If she started a spell-diagram before he was finished with Clip's horn, he would be in trouble; he would have to defend himself, for without him the unicorns could not escape. But White could have generated a spell that acted at a distance instead of facing him directly. Maybe she wanted to talk. The Herd Stallion turned from his endeavors, leaving a pile of scorched goblins rolled up like dehydrated bugs, and saw the witch. He braced for renewed action.
”Caution,” Stile called. ”She's Adept.” The mighty animal stood still. He knew better than to attack an Adept in a situation like this. He also knew that Stile was not finished with Clip. For the moment it was an impa.s.se.
”I can not attack thee directly. Blue,” the White Adept said. ”And thou canst not attack me. Yet can our minions make mischief.”
”Agreed,” Stile said. ”But why has mischief been made? I sought none.”
”Abate thine onus for the moment and hear me out,” she said. ”Blue, I would reason with thee.” In Stile's experience, those who claimed to want to reason with others were apt to have cases that were less than secure. Still, it was better to talk than to fight. Now at last Clip's horn had healed. Stile let go, and the unicorn backed away, blowing an experimental saxophone note. It was off-key, but strong. His coat seemed to be brightening under the grime; he had been restored to the joy of life. The White Adept had known what Stile was doing, and had not interfered. She had to be serious about her subject, and Stile seriously wanted to know what this was all about.
”Give thy word there will be no attack by Adept or goblin without fair warning,” he said. ”No treachery.”
”I give it. Blue.” There was a faint ripple in the air about her.
He had to accept that. Truth animated the very atmosphere and substance of Phaze. Adepts did not get along well with each other, but they honored the deals they made. ”Then I will hear thy reason.”
”Thou knowest that the end of Phaze draws nigh,” she said. ”The Purple Mountains have shaken, the Fore ordained is on the scene, the Little Folk ma.s.s as for war, and portents abound.”
”Aye,” he agreed. ”They tell me I am involved. Yet all I sought was to honeymoon with my wife. Someone set traps for me, and one trap setter resembled thee.”
”Merely to warn thee off,” she said. ”Thou art Adept and perhaps the strongest of us all. Thou hast suffered much, yet thou shouldst be the leader in our effort instead of opposing it.”
”What effort?” Stile's interest intensified.
'To save Phaze.”
”Of course I want to save Phaze! I love this land! I want to live and die here!”
”But not, methinks, before thy time.”
Stile smiled grimly. ”I wish not to die here among goblins, true. But I sought no quarrel with goblins. Thou didst kidnap my steed, and abused him, and forced this quarrel on me.”
”Aye. Unable to strike effectively at thee or at thy Lady, or to warn thee off, we finally had to take thy steed. It is not a thing I like. Now thou canst have thy freedom with our apologies, and thine animals with thee, and leaders.h.i.+p in the present order, if thou wilt but accept it.”
”Why should I not accept it?” Stile asked, not rhetorically.
”Because thou art prophesied to be the leader of the forces of the destruction of this order. The Foreordained is only part of it; thou art the other part.”
”Obviously there's a loophole,” Stile said. ”Aside from the fact that I have no intention of harming Phaze, thou wouldst not be pressuring me if thou didst believe my destiny was fixed.”
”There is a loophole. A dead man cannot lead.”
Stile laughed ironically. ”Kill me? My fate will survive thine effort, if it be truly set.”
”Aye. Fate has indeed charmed thee, unlike thine other self. But we are not a.s.sured thou canst not be killed, only that if thou dost remain alive in Phaze, thou wilt destroy it. The charms that preserved thee so cleverly before are pa.s.sing. Thou hast already conceived thy son on the Lady Blue-”
”I have?” Stile asked, surprised.
”-which is why she joins thy former steed and accepts the protection of the animal herd. So fate no longer preserves thee for that. It preserves her. Still, her feeling for thee is such that she might not survive thy demise, so thou art indirectly protected yet. I warned the others of that, but they heeded me not; they thought they could vanquish thee before thou didst reach the West Pole.”
”They?”
”The other Adepts. We all are patriots in the end. Blue. We all must needs try to save our land.” She seemed sincere! ”All the other Adepts are against me?” he asked incredulously.
”All except Brown; the child wavers. She likes thy steed.”
Stile remembered how Neysa had given the little girl a ride. It seemed that kindness had paid a dividend. ”What of Yellow?” Stile had had differences with the Yellow Adept, but recently had gotten along with her tolerably well. He could not believe she was his enemy.
”Dost thou want it from her own mouth?”
”Aye”
”Then let me bring her here.” White made a diagram on the floor and tapped it three times. A puff of smoke formed and dissipated, and there stood the Yellow Adept in her natural hag-form.
”Oh, no!” Yellow exclaimed. ”Let me just get changed for the occasion, my handsome bantam.” She brought out a vial, tipped it to her lips, swallowed-and changed to a young, ravis.h.i.+ngly pretty creature.
”White tells me that thou and the other Adepts think I will destroy Phaze, so are against me. Yellow,” Stile said. ”Can this be true?”
Yellow made a devastatingly cute moue. 'It is close enough. Blue,” she said. ”I am not thine enemy and will not oppose thee-but neither can I join thee, for that thou art indeed destined to wreak much mischief and overthrow the natural order.”
”How is it I know nothing of this?” Stile demanded.
”The instruments of great events seldom know their destinies,” Yellow said. ”This prevents paradox, which can be an awkward complication and a downright nuisance.”
”Nuisance, h.e.l.l! I was attempting to have my honey moon! Why should this represent a threat to anyone?”
”Thou didst bring the Foreordained, and then thou didst travel to the West Pole. These were elements of the prophecy.”
”So the other Adepts decided to stop me from getting there,” Stile said, grimacing. ”Setting neat little magical traps.”
”Some did. Green chose to stand aloof, as I did, disliking this. Sure enough, thou didst get there. Now the onrush of events is upon us, and if we do not get thee away from Phaze promptly, we all are doomed.”
”So you propose to remove me by killing me?”
”Nay, we know that would not work,” Yellow said. ”At least White and Green and I suspected it would not. Black and Orange and Translucent did not partic.i.p.ate in the proceedings, and Brown opposed them. We had to suppress her, lest she warn thee.”
So it now developed that the other Adepts were any thing but unanimous; most were at best neutral. That explained why they had not simply ma.s.sed their magic against him. Stile's expression turned hard. ”Suppressed Brown? What dost thou mean by that?”
”A stasis-spell,” White said quickly. ”No harm was done her. It is hard indeed to do direct harm to an Adept; the spell is likely to bounce and strike down the speller. But slantwise action can be taken, as with the silence and confinement for thee.”
”You froze the child in place?” Stile demanded. ”Our truce is just about to come to an unkind end.”
”She would have blabbed to thee,” White repeated.