Part 17 (2/2)
Still no answer. ”They must be out,” Cube called back to the centaur.
”That must be the case. We did not have an appointment.”
”I suppose we'll just have to wait for them to return.”
Karia looked thoughtful. ”I wonder. There was a complication before you enlisted the Princesses, and the search for the dragon was remarkable. It occurs to me that we are encountering more complications than might be routine. Do you think there might be interference?”
”I haven't been on a Quest before. I don't know what is routine. Do you think something has happened to the person who lives here?”
”Perhaps it is my imagination, but it does seem possible. If so, we should consult.”
”That wouldn't hurt.” Cube brought out the others and explained the situation.
”We can find out,” Melody said eagerly.
”We'll do a magic tracer,” Harmony agreed.
”That will tell us,” Rhythm concluded.
The three put their heads together, then made their music. Magic intensified. The air above them turned dark.
”There's bad magic here,” Melody announced.
”Very strong magic,” Harmony agreed.
”Too strong for us,” Rhythm concluded.
”Too strong!” Karia said, startled. ”But together you are the strongest Sorceresses in Xanth.”
”Sure,” Melody agreed.
”But this is stronger,” Harmony added.
”Which means it must be Demon magic,” Rhythm concluded.
”We have a demon with us,” Cube said.
”Didn't you hear the capital D?” Metria asked. ”The difference between a Demon and a demon is like that between the king of Xanth and a squashed ant.”
”I don't understand.”
Ryver and Drek looked at Cube, puzzled.
”She's from the back woods,” Karia explained. ”So I will explain. Metria is an ordinary demon, but there is another cla.s.s. The capital Demons have the power of whole worlds. All of the magic of Xanth derives from the incidental leakage from the body of the Demon Xanth. The magic of gravity that suffuses Mundania and Xanth is from similar leakage from the body of the Demon Earth. There are more distant Demons of equivalent power. They seldom meddle in the affairs of mortal creatures; in fact they are rarely even aware of them. That is surely just as well, for they have the power to obliterate all of us on a whim.”
”Half a whim,” Metria said. ”Or less.”
Cube was amazed. ”I never knew! But why would one of these--Demons--want to interfere with our quest? If we are so insignificant--wouldn't he either ignore us or squash us flat, like that ant?”
”That is a fair question,” the centaur agreed. ”I conjecture that a Demon contest may be occurring.”
”Contest?”
”The Demons, being omniscient and omnipotent, are at times bored,” Karia said. ”So they engage in contests between themselves. An essential element of any contest is randomness; a game is no fun when one knows how it will turn out. One of the random factors--and I am not referring to the monster in Castle MaiDragon--is the activity of mortal beings. We are, as Metria pointed out, like ants to them, and rather silly in our minuscule mortal concerns. They may place a wager on our quirky actions, and watch without interfering. The winner is the one who correctly predicts the outcome of a particular situation. But sometimes, perhaps, they cheat.”
”How could someone cheat, when everyone knows everything?”
”I gather that most Demons are not paying much attention. Or there might not be a contest at the moment. I understand that one Demon is not supposed to interfere in the business of another. That is, Demon Earth keeps his magic finger out of the affairs of Xanth, and Demon Xanth leaves Mundania alone. But if one does decide to interfere, he may do it surrept.i.tiously, so as not to be caught.”
”Now it's starting to make sense,” Cube said. ”If there is something about this Quest that a Demon doesn't like, but he's not supposed to mess in, then he might do something sneaky.”
”This is my thought,” the centaur agreed.
”I think you're on to something, Karia,” Metria said. Then she paused as the centaur's eyes misted and she started drifting away. ”Oops.”
Cube snapped her fingers. ”Centaur! Attend to us.”
Karia's body dropped to the ground. ”Did I do it again?”
”Metria spoke your name.”
”I forgot,” the demoness said, blus.h.i.+ng. The blush spread across her face, then drifted off to the side, collided with a wall, and stained it dull red. ”I said you're on to something. One year ago a Demon contest won Counter Xanth from the foreign Demoness Fornax. That is the land we're trying to make a safe route to, so it can be colonized. It figures that Fornax would like to leave it empty, so it's pristine in case she should win it back in some other contest. So she could try to stop us from making that route--but not openly.”
”That makes sense to me,” Cube agreed. ”But it's a pretty big a.s.sumption, just because a prospective Companion is out of the house at the moment.”
”Not so big,” Karia said, ”considering the trace of magic stronger than the Princesses can fathom. It may be that the Demoness reckoned without the presence of the Princesses, or our insight into the problem, so thought we would not detect her mischief.”
”Not paying attention,” Ryver agreed. ”But if this is the case, do we want to continue? The next ploy may be deadly. We can't fight Demon magic.”
That drew Cube up short. ”Of course you others don't have to take such a risk. I'll carry on alone.”
Ryver looked at her. ”Despite the risk?”
”It's my job. I don't know whether I can do it without Companions, but at least I can try.”
”I doubt there would be much risk to us,” Karia said. ”The Demoness would not want to be obvious, and a death on this Quest would be obvious. That might attract the attention of the local Demon, Xanth, and cost her a point. She wouldn't like that. I'll stay. But perhaps the Princesses should return home.”
”Oh no you don't!” Melody cried.
”We want a dangerous adventure,” Harmony agreed.
”And if this is it, so much the better,” Rhythm concluded.
”If you idiots are staying, count me in too,” Metria said. ”I can't let you be crazier than I am.”
<script>