Part 11 (1/2)
”That's it,” the demoness agreed, squinting at it. ”See, it says RING OF EARTH inside.”
”But an imitation Ring could say the same,” Zyzzyva pointed out.
”We'll test it, then. Put it on, Che.” She handed it back to him. ”But be warned: Once you don it, you won't be able to remove it until its task is done. That may be a burden.”
”A burden?” he asked, slipping it on his little left finger, where it settled comfortably.
”You now have dominion over all the land-bound animals-the creatures of the earth. That's a considerable responsibility.”
”I do?” he asked, surprised.
”Test it,” she suggested. ”Give them a directive.”
Smiling, he did so. ”Bow down to my left forehoof.”
Immediately Zyzzyva and Wira got down on the floor, facing his hoof. Dafrey got halfway down.
”You're teasing me,” he said, embarra.s.sed.
”No,” Wira said. ”I am compelled.”
”So am I,” Zyzzyva said. ”And I am not pleased.”
”But why doesn't it affect Dara? And what's Dafrey doing?”
”I am not a creature of the Earth,” Dara said. ”I am compelled only by the Ring of Fire, which is not here. My son is half human, therefore half land-bound, so he bows halfway. But you can test it more directly: Try to remove it.”
Che did. The Ring, though not tight, absolutely refused to budge. It was locked on his finger.
”Are you going to let us up?” Zyzzyva inquired with more than a trace of annoyance.
Oh. ”Yes, of course. Please rise.”
They got up and dusted themselves off. But Che wasn't satisfied. ”If the Ring of Earth gives its wearer such power, why didn't it affect Wira when she tried it on? Why didn't it stick to her finger?”
”Because it belongs to the one who finds it,” Dara said. ”For the duration. You accept the commitment of it by donning it. For Wira, it was just a ring.”
”But a nice one,” Wira said.
”I thought I was just looking for it, to bring it back,” Che said. ”It is really Cynthia's mission, to find the Swell Foop.”
”And yours to help her,” Zyzzyva said. ”Let's go.” She climbed onto his back.
”Uh, yes. Thank you, Dara, Dafrey, and Wira. I sincerely appreciate-”
”Oh, cut it short,” Dara said. She slapped him on the flank. Startled, he bolted out the door, and was soon in the garden court, where he flicked them both with his tail, spread his wings, and took off.
”I'm not sure I like this,” he remarked as he gained elevation.
”Too bad,” Zyzzyva said unsympathetically.
CHAPTER 5: RING OF IDEA.
Justin watched Breanna depart with King Xeth. He wasn't totally easy about this, because Xeth had once wanted to marry Breanna, but he chided himself for even thinking of having doubt. After all, there was no question of Breanna's loyalty to him or Xeth's to Zyzzyva. Maybe it was that ever since his conversion from tree to young man, Breanna had been with him, and he wasn't used to being apart from her. He had been a tree for so long that he was hardly comfortable with the man state, but she had supported him throughout. They were about to be married, and though she liked to pretend that she was forcing him unwillingly into it, he truly wanted it.
But now he had to find his own zombie and search for a Ring of Xanth. According to King Xeth, all the Ring zombies were here, so he had merely to choose one and go find the Ring. He hoped it turned out to be that simple.
He turned to the nearest zombie, who was not far gone as zombies went. He had met most of the zombies in the course of the past year, and come to appreciate their qualities, but did not know this one personally. He was not part of the Castle Zombie contingent. ”h.e.l.lo.”
”Hullow,” the zombie responded.
”I am Justin Tree. Who are you?”
”Unpun.”
”Unpun, do you know where a Ring of Xanth is?”
”Yeth.”
”Which one?”
”Ring of Ider.”
This would require some finesse. ”Please spell that.”
”Eye Dee Eee Ay.”
”Ah, the Ring of Idea. That will do. Take me there.”
”Canth.”
”Can't? Why not?”
”Complishated.”
”It is complicated to explain?”
”Yeth.”
Justin considered. The brains of zombies were notoriously poor, and simplicity was best. But he saw no ready way around this complication. ”Then we shall just have to figure it out as we can. What makes it complicated to explain?”
Unpun started talking, with many confusingly slurred words. Justin focused, got clarifications on words, and managed to piece out the story.
Unpun was once a living young man with the talent of making puns disappear. He kept company with a young woman named Punny, whose talent was creating puns. They went everywhere together, their talents nullifying each other. They were not consciously controlled talents; it was just that wherever Punny went, puns grew in her wake. Wherever Unpun went, puns were destroyed. So as long as they were together, their wakes overlapped, and the pun ratio of Xanth was fairly constant. Of course some of her new ones got away, and he canceled some that had existed before, but overall there was no problem.
Then they encountered a bad situation. Justin was unable to clarify whether it was a dragon or some other monster. It attacked, threatening to gobble up Punny, because she was delectable, and Unpun tried to protect her. So it turned on him instead, and with one chomp killed him.