Part 21 (2/2)
”You don't wish to go?” Becka asked.
”Well, it wasn't much of a life being a harpy, and it's not much of a death being a zombie. All that kept me going was my role as a locator of a Ring of Xanth. Now that's done and I have no further use. Some other zombie will do it once it gets hidden again, so that no living person will know where it is. It was sort of fun being part of an adventure. Now there's nothing.”
”You know, you're a winged monster,” Becka said. ”So am I, in my other form. Sometimes I would like to fly far, like maybe to see my father Draco Dragon, but I can't because that would leave Castle Maidragon unattended. But if there were someone else to watch it-”
”I don't understand,” the harpy screeched.
”Yes you do,” Sim squawked. ”She is asking you to stay here and help guard the castle from intruders. That would be a useful task, so you would have something to give your half-life meaning.”
”But n.o.body wants a zombie nearby.” She was plainly touched, as she forgot to screech again.
”Well, maybe I had a little prejudice against zombies,” Becka said. ”But I have gotten to know you, and we have worked together to help find the Ring of Air. I think I could stand you, and I could use some help. It gets sort of quiet here, between visitors.”
”It's never quiet around a harpy!” Garnishee screeched.
”Precisely.”
Sim saw that they had worked it out. ”I can find my own way back,” he squawked.
They escorted him outside. He spread his wings and took off, satisfied in more than one respect.
CHAPTER 8: SEARCH.
Breanna of the Black Wave ran to hug Justin Tree as he returned with his Ring. ”I got mine; you got yours!” she exclaimed happily. ”Now we'll get married.”
”I fear not yet,” he said.
”Not yet?” she demanded dangerously, a black cloud forming over her brow. ”Just as soon as the others return, we'll have all the Rings.”
”It seems that there are six Rings of Xanth, and only five members of our party. We will be short one Ring.”
”Short one Ring!” she repeated. The black cloud swelled up dangerously, emitting a warning peal of thunder. Castle Zombie shook on its sloshy foundation.
Cynthia Centaur trotted up. ”He is correct,” she said. ”There are six Rings. There must be one more zombie, and none of us can go for a second Ring.”
Lightning jags poked out from the cloud. ”What zombie?” Breanna demanded, swinging her dark gaze around.
A zombie horse perked up his ears. A dreamlet formed, showing a slightly sloppy speech balloon. ”That would be me,” the balloon wrote.
”I don't remember you, horserump,” Breanna said. ”Who are you?”
”I am Palus Putredinus the zombie night colt, knower of the Ring of Void. No Ring Seeker has approached me.”
Breanna realized that they had all overlooked the obvious: They needed a sixth person. The job was not yet done. ”Do you have any idea who that Ringer might be?” she asked, her cloud dissipating as she accepted the inevitable further delay.
Another speech balloon dreamlet appeared. ”Only that this person must be a dreamer, for this Ring controls all dream things.”
Breanna looked around. All the others were now present, with their Rings. All looked blank.
”Then I guess it's up to me,” she said. ”We'll go ask the lord of dreams, the Night Stallion.”
”But Breanna, you know you can't seek a second Ring,” Justin protested.
She grabbed him and planted a hard kiss on his mouth. Then, as he stood stunned, she answered: ”I'm not seeking a second Ring, wood-for-brains. I'm seeking the ident.i.ty of the sixth Ring holder. That's the one who will seek the Ring of Void.”
”But I can't go there,” the zombie night colt speech-ballooned.
”Why the bleep not?” she demanded. ”It's your bleeping Ring, Putre!”
”That is a moderately complicated story.”
”Tell it as we travel,” she said. She vaulted onto his back. ”If you can't go all the way there, you can at least deliver me to the next-door address.” She slapped him on the flank, and he bolted. It was in the equine book of rules that they had to bolt when flanked.
The colt leaped forward. Breanna saw the surprised faces of the others. Then they were gone, as the horse galloped through the forest. That was literal, for he was a creature of dreams; only the fact that he was a zombie made him solid enough to support her, and only because she had a certain authority over zombies.
”It is like this,” his dreamlet speech balloon wrote. It was easy to read, because it actually appeared in her head, only seeming to be in front of her face. ”Some time back, Mare Imbrium salvaged half a soul, and failed to turn it in to the Night Stallion. This gave her a conscience, and she was no longer able to properly punish sleepers with bad dreams. So she became a day mare, carrying good daydreams, and later a tree nymph.”
”I know all that,” Breanna said. ”Mare Imbri's my friend.”
”But perhaps you do not know this: During her tenure as a day mare, bringing nice dreams to good folk, she had a relations.h.i.+p with the Day Stallion and took delivery of a foal. Thus it was that I traveled from the realm of Ptero to the realm of dreams. Unfortunately there is little place for male equines in the dream realm; they are routinely abolished. She tried to hide me, but in time the Night Stallion discovered my existence and struck me with a dream bolt and destroyed my life. But Imbri had given me part of her soul, so I didn't fade out entirely. She really respects the power of a soul. She took my remnant to the Zombie Master, and he not only zombied me, he made me the knower of the Ring of Void. That protected me from further a.s.sault. But the Night Stallion harbors a grudge, and should I ever come into his domain, he will strike me again and this time certainly destroy me, and some other zombie will inherit the knowing of the Ring.”
Breanna realized that the zombie had a case. ”I never knew Imbri had a foal.”
”She does not bruit it about, for fear it will bring me mischief. We never thought a need for the Ring would come so soon. Now I must do my duty, but I must try to avoid the Night Stallion.”
Breanna pondered, then came to a decision. ”No. I'm in a hurry and I need your help, and the Ring Holder will need it too. This mission is too important to let it get hung up because of a hang-up by the Night Stallion. I will try to protect you.”
”There is no protection from the lord of dreams. Not for a dream creature.”
”This may be an exception. Let's give it a try.”
”I am not able to defy you, for you are becoming mistress of zombies. But I fear you are leading me to destruction.”
”Well, I hope not. Take me directly to the Night Stallion.”
Putre shuddered, but then veered to the side where a hypo-no gourd was growing. He made a special leap, right into the gourd. That seemed impossible, but she saw it happen; they pa.s.sed right through its expanding peephole. Suddenly they were in some kind of cave-and there before them stood the Night Stallion. She recognized him immediately, though she had never seen him before; he was a magnificent horse of another color.
This was of course a dream, but it seemed uncannily real, the way dreams did. So she dismounted and plunged in. ”h.e.l.lo, Trojan. I am Breanna of the Black Wave. I have come to-”
”What is this miscreant doing here?” Trojan demanded. He seemed to be speaking, but probably he was just projecting his thoughts into her mind. It hardly mattered.
”This is Putre, who brought me here. Leave him alone. Now about my mission-”
”I will destroy him!” The Night Stallion brought his terrible gaze around to bear on the colt.
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