Part 16 (1/2)
In the morning Ryver and Metria returned, having taken their measures of the world. They and the Princesses got in the pouch, and the journey resumed. ”Thy friends are interesting,” Forili remarked. ”What manner of land is this Xanth?”
Cube explained as well as she could, but it was clear that Xanth was impossibly strange to the vampire. Puns hardly existed in Phaze, and its social structure was odd.
The Purple Mountains loomed, seeming to grow out of the ground as the unicorn and centaur approached. They were literally purple overall, but closer inspection revealed them to be otherwise normal.
Then the unicorn halted, playing a warning note on her horn. ”We be entering troll demesnes,” Forili explained. ”Needs must we consult on direction, and prepare for attack.”
”Attack,” Cube said, not liking this.
”Trolls be not generally nice creatures. They kill, cook, and eat the flesh of other creatures. There be few ways to pa.s.s by them safely.”
”What ways?” Cube asked tightly.
”Safest is to kill them. But they be doughty fighters, and there be many of them, and they become more aggressive when attacked. So we have avoided that. But the other way be not comfortable.”
”We don't like killing,” Cube said. ”What other way?”
”They be vulnerable to prettiness. They understand it not, and try to fend it off or destroy it. Could a pretty girl get close enough to kiss a troll male, she will stun him for an hour and pacify him for a day. A handsome man can do the same to a troll female.”
”You get past them by kissing them!” Cube said.
”It be finely timed,” Forili agreed. ”I will fly to one, a.s.sume human form, and kiss before he can wring my neck. But this would be not effective for thee.”
”I'm not pretty,” Cube said.
”For a troll, thou beist pretty enough. But thou couldst not get close enough, being confined to human form.”
Oh. ”Our demon companion could do it,” Karia said.
”Aye. But if several come, more be needed.”
”Let me consult.” Cube drew out the others and explained the situation.
”No problem,” Metria said. ”I'll be smoke until I kiss.”
”I can turn water until close enough,” Ryver said.
”We can do it too,” Melody said.
”With an invisible magic s.h.i.+eld,” Harmony agreed.
”Until we're in their faces,” Rhythm concluded.
Cube remained wary. ”I'm not sure about this. You three would be nice morsels for them. What would your mother say if they caught you?”
Melody looked serious. ”If they cooked and ate us, she would be most annoyed,” Melody said.
”Especially with you,” Harmony added.
”She wouldn't speak to you for a week,” Rhythm concluded. Then the three of them overflowed with t.i.tters.
”Girls, this is serious. We can't afford the risk.”
Melody gave her a brief serious look. ”We can take care of ourselves.”
Harmony nodded agreement. ”And we mean to do it.”
Rhythm tapped her little drum. ”Mother would not have let us go, otherwise.”
”They seem very sure, for children,” Forili remarked.
Cube hesitated a moment more, then decided. ”We'll try it. I hope this isn't disaster.”
”Where be thy dragon?” Forili asked. ”Needs we must select the closest trail.”
Wordlessly, Rhythm pointed southwest.
Forili a.s.sumed her bat form and hovered just above the group. The three Princesses mounted Viola. Ryver walked behind them, followed by Karia and Cube. Metria brought up the rear in the form of a small black cloud. Stu, in wolf form, led the way.
The trail climbed steeply through the crevice between mountain slopes, confined by closely growing foliage. There was no way to see danger ahead; there was no visibility. But the wolf was sniffing the air, tracking the trolls that way, and Viola's ears were twitching nervously. Scent and sound--these were effective senses in this situation.
Abruptly Stu turned back, the fur on his neck rising. That was warning enough. The Princesses slid off the unicorn and readied their instruments. Then the party resumed forward motion.
The attack was sudden and surprising. It came from the rear. Three grotesque manlike figures charged in, waving crude clubs. There was hardly time to turn around.
Metria's cloud floated into the face of the first troll. She materialized in her lovely form, her face in his face. There was a resounding smack, and he fell back like a chopped tree. That interfered with the progress of the second. A bat flitted over his head and struck the second, becoming Forili's human form. She kissed him, and he too fell as if clubbed.
The third was grossly female. ”My turn,” Ryver said. He dissolved into water, flowed down the slope to the troll's feet, and rose up again in human form. He kissed her, and she sank to the ground, duly stunned. Cube hadn't realized he could turn to water in the absence of a pond or river.
Something jostled Cube. She turned to discover a fourth troll emerging from the brush on the side. She screamed. Then his gnarly arms wrapped around her and lifted her off her feet. He hauled her into the foliage and started running heavily through the forest, heedless of the slope.
”Let me go!” Cube cried, sounding stupid even to herself.
”Marry pretty maiden,” he rasped.
That amazed her into non-resistance. He thought she was pretty? But compared to the female troll, maybe she was. But that didn't mean she wanted to marry a troll!
However, it gave her an idea. She twisted around within his grasp, found his ugly face, and kissed it.
He stopped running, his grip on her loosening. He wasn't stunned enough to fall, but he did stand there halfway dazed. She got free of his grasp and backed away, and he did not protest. Then she turned to plunge back to the path and her group.
The wolf surged out of the brush, almost colliding with her. He a.s.sumed manform. ”Be thou whole?”
”Yes,” she gasped. ”I--I kissed him. He wanted to marry me.”
”Thou wouldst not much enjoy life as a troll. Follow.” He reverted to wolf form and led her up the slope. She struggled after, using her hands to beat away the restraining saplings and branches.
Soon they came to the trail. There were the others, on guard against further attack, but no trolls. She rejoined them gladly. ”A troll carried me away,” she explained. ”He wanted to marry me.”