Part 35 (1/2)
”Curious.” That was what Saturn had thought of mortal existence. Demons evidently were intrigued by curious things. But that reaction fell short of complete commitment. It was interesting watching the bargaining; evidently Demons were quite careful about the rules of engagement.
”And the Swell Foop will apply a mortal emotion to each Demon, for the duration of the game or beyond.”
The Fornax figure scintillated for a moment before settling back into dull format. Its interest had been evoked. ”Details.”
Justin spread his hands. He had reached the limit of his information.
There was a flash of information in Cynthia's mind. Suddenly she understood. ”Each mortal figure will touch the Swell Foop, and it will apply an emotion to the Demon a.s.sociating with that mortal. Emotions will not repeat; each Demon will have a different one. Because actions and expressions will be governed by the a.s.sociating mortal, the emotions will not overwhelm the Demons. But the mortals will be affected by them to a limited degree, and so will any other mortal and Demon that is physically touched by those mortals. In this manner, mortals and Demons will be able to share their emotions, to an extent. This can complicate the interactions and render the outcome of any specific encounter doubtful, and therefore complicate the outcome of the game similarly.”
The Fornax figure scintillated again. There was definite interest here. ”Choice of mortals.”
Saturn flashed again, and Cynthia spoke her thought. ”Four mortals are committed. Two remain. Choose one, and the other will be a.s.signed to captive Demon Earth.” She faced the two. ”Justin. Jaylin. Present yourselves.”
The two exchanged a nervous glance. Then Justin spoke. ”I am Justin Tree, so called because I was for many years in the form of a tree. Now I am in human form again, and about to be married to Breanna of the Black Wave. a.s.suming we recover the Demon Earth.”
It was Jaylin's turn. ”I am Jaylin of Mundania-the region Demon Earth normally a.s.sociates with. I'm-I'm an ordinary fifteen-year-old girl who got into this by sheer accident. I don't know much of anything about anything.”
Fornax scintillated again. ”Setting?”
”We suggest a medieval castle similar to the kind that existed a while ago in Demon Earth's terrain: fas.h.i.+oned of stone, with many chambers, high turrets, dungeons, pa.s.sages, features of opulence, and armed guards.”
”Challenge?”
”The rescue mission will start outside the castle, and will have to enter, steal a set of door keys, locate the prisoner, and conduct him outside within a day and night. Ten guards to defend against such accomplishment.”
”Mechanism?”
More information flooded Cynthia's mind. ”Players and guards will be deactivated by a touch on the torso. Touches accomplished by the tips of extremities: hands or feet. Remainder of limbs used to defend against touches. Deactivated players to remain in place, inert until the game is finished. Prime players Earth and Fornax may not be deactivated, only partially nulled. If either is deactivated before the completion of the game, the game is null and must be replayed. Only the escape of Earth determines the outcome.”
”Nuances?”
Once more Cynthia received a flash, and spoke. ”These will be facilitated by the a.s.signed emotions, which may cause players to do illogical things.”
”Which?”
”Emotions to be randomly selected, and announced as a.s.signed, so that all know the guiding drives of each.”
Now Fornax demurred. ”a.s.signed by hidden compatibility, anonymously.”
A flash of something like pleasure pa.s.sed though Demoness Saturn: the joy of negotiating for advantage. This was close to the essence of every Demon. Fornax was bargaining. Cynthia looked around, and the others met her gaze briefly, and meaning was transmitted between their occupying Demons. ”Agreed.”
Fornax scintillated again. ”Done. Begin.” The figure moved across the chamber and abruptly merged with Jaylin. The girl looked startled, then understanding.
Justin, still holding the Swell Foop, looked around. ”I have no Demon a.s.sociate. I am unclear what I am supposed to do at this point.”
”Hold the stone out,” Fornax said. ”Each of us will touch it. Thereafter you will follow the guard to the cell where Demon Earth is confined. He will merge with you and touch the stone. At that point the game will commence.”
Justin held out the Swell Foop. The Demon Mars, as Che Centaur, approached, laid a hand on it briefly, and walked on. After that Breanna touched it, and Sim, and Cynthia herself. She received a phenomenal infusion of the same emotion she had just almost had: joy. This was so strong she felt like leaping into the air and clicking all four hooves together. But she controlled the urge, masking her emotion so as not to give it away to Jaylin/Fornax, who was watching closely. No sense in yielding any possible advantage to the opposition. She walked on and turned back to watch Jaylin.
Jaylin touched the stone. An odd expression crossed her face, then was quickly smoothed into neutral. Fornax had been jolted-but by what?
A guard stepped forward and paused near a doorway. Justin nodded, and went to join him, carrying the Foop. ”Until we meet again,” he said, perhaps a bit nervously. They departed the scene.
Then Cynthia and the others were outside the castle. It was a huge edifice, constructed on an outcrop of rock hanging over a violently heaving sea. The only land entrance was a single winding road that followed a ridge up to the castle gate. The few windows were small and barred. It looked forbidding indeed.
”We have twenty-four hours,” Che Centaur said. ”Fortunately we aren't limited to the ground.”
Cynthia held down her burgeoning joy, for there was still necessary business to accomplish. ”Before we plan our strategy of attack, are we allowed to inform each other of our emotions, so that we can better coordinate?”
She felt the answer from Saturn as she phrased the question: affirmative.
”However,” Sim squawked, ”we should not voice them, for a guard may be snooping, and what any guard sees or hears will be relayed immediately to Fornax.”
Cynthia realized not only that his point was valid, but that his Demon was allowing him to say it aloud so that all the mortals would understand. They would have to plan their strategy in silence too, and without obvious gestures, lest they be correctly interpreted by the enemy forces. The extra powers of the Demons were now limited, by the rules of the game, so they could not communicate with each other telepathically.
Sim extended his wings. Che touched one wing, and Breanna touched the other, each of them reaching out in turn with their free hands. Cynthia took both of them with hers, completing the circle of four. Information and emotion flowed.
Suddenly she knew that Sim/Jupiter was afraid; his a.s.signed emotion was fear, inspired by his concern that they would lose this game and put all of the local System in jeopardy of takeover. For if they lost, both Nemesis and Neptune would join the enemy, giving Fornax a substantial portion of the system, together with their formidable attributes of Dark Matter and Ma.s.s. Dark Matter was the major substance of the universe, for all that it was invisible, like Nemesis himself. And none of the rest of them would have any substance at all without Ma.s.s. Che/Mars was angry about the same prospect. Breanna, in contrast, was in love, not only with Justin, but carrying Demoness Venus along with her into love of Demon Earth. And of course now the others knew that Saturn was suffused with joy. Fear, anger, love, and joy-these were the emotions that complicated their organization as a rescue party or an attacking force.
But what emotions did Fornax and Earth have? These were critical to the rescue, but there seemed to be no way to know them in advance. However, they knew that each Demon had been given a different emotion, so the four emotions here could be excluded from that consideration.
Meanwhile their plan of attack: The demons were unfamiliar with mortal castles, so left it to the mortals. The keys would be in the highest turret, the only one that wasn't locked closed, because it had been a.s.sumed by the castle builders that no attack would come by air. So they would have to fly to it, starting their penetration of the castle there. This was part of the detail of the game agreement somehow worked out in the course of the negotiations. Cynthia wasn't sure how it had been accomplished, but of course she wasn't an omniscient omnipotent Demon.
But the guards would surely be lurking in that vicinity, to catch and nullify the attackers when they came. How could that be handled?
The joyful, loving girls would go first, to provide a distraction, while the fearful, angry men got the keys. Could the guards be distracted? They were in male human form: obviously they could.
The four separated, their conference done. Breanna mounted Cynthia. Cynthia flicked them both, glad (overjoyed) to verify that she still had her magic, spread her wings, and launched into the air. Oh it was good to fly again, in fact, it was wonderful; she felt such joy of the occasion. And realized that it was her emotion coloring everything; she had to keep that bottled lest it interfere with their mission.
”Distraction?” It was the thought of Saturn, who was not properly familiar with mortal ways.
”Male humans exist to stare at the bodies of mortal females,” Cynthia replied, simplifying somewhat. ”The sight of bare b.r.e.a.s.t.s, for example, can cause them to pause in whatever else they are doing, and the sight of partly exposed human b.u.t.tocks can distract them entirely.”
”Curious.” Obviously such things did not distract Demons.
They reached the highest parapet below the turret. Two guards were on it. They carried no weapons, for that was not the way of this contest. Their eyes and hands were sufficient.
”Now for the distraction,” Cynthia said. She hovered just beyond the reach of the guards, pumping her wings vigorously but with deliberate inefficiency, causing her b.r.e.a.s.t.s to bounce. This was one of those rare times when she wanted men to stare at her body.
The mouths of the guards went slack as their eyes went round. They were drinking it in.
Cynthia slid slowly sideways until she touched the rampart. Breanna jumped off. Then Cynthia hovered longer as the girl scrambled over the parapet and circled around behind the guards. They could have seen her had they glanced around, but they were too busy staring at bounces. Breanna slapped her hand on the back of one, then jumped to do the same to the other. Both men sagged; they had been nulled.
Cynthia flew over the parapet and landed on the rampart. There was just room for her equine body. ”We took them out!” she exclaimed joyfully.
”For sure!”
Then they heard something. Cynthia turned. One more guard was charging along the rampart. She couldn't turn; the section was too narrow. She spread her wings and flicked herself, so as to take off and get clear. But he was already too close. He slapped her on the rump, and she lost volition. She had been nulled.