Part 18 (1/2)
”Then I'm in too,” Ryver said, glancing at her decolletage, which in her supposed distraction had drooped to the very verge of Too Low.
They looked at Drek. The dragon's right ear wiggled. He was in too.
Cube found herself halfway choked up. ”Thanks, folks,” she said. ”I hope it all turns out well.”
”Now we need to track our prospect,” Karia said. ”Girls?”
Rhythm pointed into the cave-house.
Cube considered. ”I think, in the circ.u.mstances, we had better go in. We'll apologize if we need to.”
They entered cautiously. There was a smaller cave behind the front chamber. Karia was too large for this, so reluctantly went into the pouch. ”But summon me if there is room, if I can help,” she said as she slid out of sight.
The cave led back into the mountain. It soon lost the trappings of residence and became a winding tunnel. It became too tight for Ryver, so he too entered the pouch. Drek, however, had no trouble, though he was far more ma.s.sive than the others, because his body was serpentine. He understood caves. Now he led the way, confident even in the looming darkness, with Metria following close after in the form of a small scudding cloud.
The Princesses made an incidental tune, and light formed around them, illuminating the pa.s.sage so that Cube could see. That helped, though she remained not entirely easy about caves. She understood that they could be infested with goblins. Of course her nickelpedes could handle goblins, but might also gouge one of her Companions in the confusion.
At length the pa.s.sage opened into a sizable nether cavern. The ceiling was a great dome, and there was a dark lake in the center. The air over the lake glowed, almost as if there were daylight, but the glow was from itself. ”Who lives here?” Cube asked in a whisper, awed by the scene.
”It could be an old kraken retreat,” Metria said, a.s.suming human form. ”There is probably access to the sea, down where we can't see.”
”She can't see the sea,” Melody said.
”Neither can we,” Harmony agreed.
”So we'll let it be,” Rhythm concluded. They giggled.
”A kraken?” Cube asked.
”A giant sea weed,” the demoness clarified. ”Carnivorous. I see no sign of one now, but if I were mortal I would not be inclined to enter this water.” She dissolved back into her cloud, shuddering.
The Princesses went to the edge of the lake. They put their fingers in, and tasted them. ”Boot rear!” Melody exclaimed, delighted.
”A whole lake of it,” Harmony agreed.
”More than we can drink,” Rhythm finished.
”Boot rear?” Cube asked.
The girls exchanged a look. Then a cup appeared in Melody's hand. She dipped it into the lake, filling it. ”For you,” she said. Harmony took it and brought it to Cube. ”Try it,” she continued. ”You'll get a kick out of it,” Rhythm concluded, without ever leaving the paragraph. That suggested they were up to something.
Cube took a careful sip--and got nudged in the back. Startled, she accidentally gulped a big mouthful--and got booted much harder. The three Princesses laughed merrily.
”You asked for it,” Metria said from her cloud. ”Boot rear.”
”Boot rear,” Cube agreed somewhat sourly. Too bad Karia had not been there to warn her with a groan for the pun.
There was a bleat from the side, and in a moment a hoofed animal came toward them. Cube's nervousness dissipated as she got a clear view if it. ”It's only a goat.”
The goat was tangled in vines that surrounded it and dragged behind. It must have been eating, and gotten caught, and now couldn't free itself. ”Let me help you,” Cube said compa.s.sionately. She reached for it.
”Nuh-uh,” Metria's cloud murmured.
”But this poor animal needs help,” Cube protested.
”Poor animal, my smoky fundament!”
”Your smoky what?”
”Posterior, behind, bottom, rump, seat--”
”Donkey?”
”Whatever,” the demoness agreed crossly. ”That's a scapegoat!”
”A what?”
”If you touch it, it will be fine and you'll be the one in trouble.”
Oh. Cube withdrew her hand. The goat, disgusted that its ploy had not worked, walked away, dragging its vines.
Meanwhile the Princesses had done another Find, and pointed across the lake. The person they were looking for was that way.
”But how can we get across?” Cube asked. ”If a sip of that stuff brings a kick in the, uh, donkey, how much worse would it be to try to swim in it?”
”Fortunately we can fly,” Metria said.
That was right; she had forgotten the winged centaur. There was now plenty of s.p.a.ce. She put her hand in the pouch. ”Centaur.”
A hand caught hers, and Karia slid out. ”What a lovely subterranean lake!”
”It's boot rear,” Cube told her.
”Ugh!”
”I'll check out beyond the lake,” Metria said, vanis.h.i.+ng.
Soon they were on the way, with Drek and the Princesses back in the pouch. Karia flew across the lake in the direction indicated. They came to a tiny island. Two women and a dog stood on it. There was barely room for them. One woman was remarkably tall, the other quite short.
Karia circled the island, as there was not room for her to land. ”Are you the residents of the cave?” she called.
”Yes,” the shorter woman answered. ”We heard a bleat, so came back to check--”
”The scapegoat!” Cube said. ”Now you're the ones in trouble.”
”Yes. It was caught on a sort of raft. We threw a cord and drew it in, but the moment we touched it, we were on the raft instead, and it was kicking itself out across the lake.”
”It was a boot rear float,” the tall woman said.
”Ugh!”