“It can not be,” Harmony agreed, appalled.
“You were always true to me,” Rhythm concluded, distressed.
Squawk. “If Cyrus joins Ragna, Rhythm will not oppose the Roc,” Em translated. “He will win by default.”
“I’m not joining Ragna!” Cyrus exclaimed. “I just am not sure about that prophecy”
Squawk. “We had better fathom it,” Em said. “I think we are agreed that it signals the victor in this war.”
“War?” Cyrus asked.
“The war between the god and the mortals. Whose final climactic battle will settle the issue for all time. The battle between Ragna and the combined magic might of the three most potent Sorceresses Xanth has to offer”
Oh. That war. “And it seems that the first to fathom the real meaning of the prophecy will win that battle,” Cyrus said.
Squawk. “Again we are agreed. But as we know, it can be avoided if you will join me. There need be no ugliness at all.”
“Why are you talking with us, instead of blasting away at the Princesses?”
Squawk. “That is not the way such things are done. There is a protocol. Also, I would much rather have the Princesses serving me, than deleted. Their merged power is surely second only to my own. And we have not yet enjoyed your plays”
Cyrus shook his head, bemused. “You would delay the final battle so as to watch a play?”
Squawk. “Indubitably. It won’t be possible to watch them after the battle. Either I will be gone, or all of you will be gone”
That put it in chill perspective. “How do any of us know someone won’t cheat? A sneak attack, or something?”
Squawk. “Surprise is impossible. We have been feeling each other out throughout”
Cyrus looked at the Princesses. They slowly nodded, together. Now he felt the tingling atmosphere of powerful magic. They were already in the battle, or at least the preliminaries of it. It hardly seemed to matter that it was a bird against children; it was sheer brutal magic force.
“Then suppose we schedule this final confrontation for the day after the last play,” Cyrus said. “That is, the fourth day hence?” And realized as he spoke that this made it a five day event. The battle on the Fifth?
Squawk. “And ponder the prophecy in the interim,” Ragna agreed.
The three Princesses nodded again, in concert. They seemed slightly distracted, and he realized it was because of the stress of opposing magic.
“Agreed,” Cyrus said.
Squawk. “And if the prophecy turns out to favor me, the offer remains open, for you and the Princesses. Meanwhile, you have the freedom of Castle Rock Candy. Enjoy yourselves.”
“Thank you”
Ragna closed his eyes, dismissing them. Em Pathy smiled. “That went well. Ragna likes you.” She walked along the ledge to the exit.
Their guides appeared. It was time to return to the camp.
Now the girls relaxed. “That was interesting,” Melody said.
“He’s very strong,” Harmony agreed.
“Maybe too strong,” Rhythm concluded.
“How can you say that?” Cyrus demanded. All of them were ignoring their guides, as there was nothing secret remaining.
They turned a triply serious gaze on him. At this moment, none of them seemed childish. “We have to assess the matter accurately,” Melody said.
“Because to do otherwise would be to invite disaster,” Harmony agreed.
“And his power is equivalent to ours,” Rhythm concluded.
Cyrus was taken aback. “To your cubed power?”
They nodded in concert again.
“And if he can defeat the three of you, there is no other magic in Xanth that could oppose him?”
“Only one,” Melody said.
“The Demon Xanth,” Harmony agreed.
“And he won’t interfere,” Rhythm concluded.
“And the prophecy Two to the Fifth is the key to victory,” Cyrus said.
“You had better figure it out soon,” Melody said.
“Within three days,” Harmony agreed.
“Before the final battle,” Rhythm concluded. “Now, if we are through being triplets, why don’t the two of you go tour the castle?”
“Nuh- uh,” Melody said.
“He’ll never figure out anything if you have at him,” Harmony agreed. “Those decade- aged pan ties are deadly.”
“Bleep,” Rhythm concluded. This time the other two laughed, together. They definitely knew more about pan ties than girls their age were supposed to. The Adult Conspiracy was surely struggling to keep some sort of restraint on them.
Thus it was that Cyrus returned to his cottage, alone. Rhythm would not be visiting him to night. “Bleep,” he echoed.
“She’s right,” Melete said. “You have to focus on the prophecy. That’s the key.”
“But there are so many ways it can be interpreted! I’m at a loss.” Actually they were talking silently, so as not to alert listening spies about either his thoughts or Melete’s existence as more than an inert block.
“Cyrus, you are the creative one in this troupe. You write the plays. You have to work this out. No one else can do it. Not even the Roc, it seems.” She was nagging him, as was her wont. He had long since ceased resenting it, as her constant prodding was largely responsible for his success as a playwright. He might be creative, but she was the one who kept him at it. Without that writer’s block he would never have made it.
“The Princesses say that his power matches theirs. How can an obscure prophecy have any effect?”
“That is for you to discover,” she said firmly. “The fate of Xanth may depend on it”
He tried to focus. “I suppose if the sides were evenly matched, any slight tilt could decide it.”
“Keep working it out,” she agreed.
“Two to the Fifth. If Two’s not Rhythm and me, who is it?” “Does it matter? You’re both here regardless. It’s the Fifth that’s the real mystery”
So it seemed. “It has to be the fifth of some series.”
“Why?”
“That stopped him. “Why not?”
“It could be anything”
Cyrus groaned. “Like a fifth of whiskey? The Mundane Fifth amendment about not incriminating yourself?” He paused. “That’s tempting. Could it get me out of trouble associating with a child? What about the Fifth Commandment, to honor your father and your mother? Only I’m a father now, and Rhythm is a mother. How can that relate to defeating the Roc?”
“Don’t dismiss anything,” Melete warned. “It may relate in a way we haven’t yet thought of.”
“Then there’s math: two to the fifth power. That’s thirty-two. That has nothing to do with anything.”
“Oh, I’m sure the Muse of History could think of something.”
“What about the fifth dimension?”
“What is that?”
“I’m not sure. My data bank says a dimension is any mea-surable extent or quality, and specifies four: length, breadth, depth, and duration.”
“Space and time,” Melete agreed. “You need one more.”
“Well, there’s mass. You can measure it in the form of weight or inertia. A rock and a puffball may be the same size, but the rock has a lot more mass, so has more impact. Without at least some mass, a thing would not exist, any more than if it were missing one of the other dimensions. It might look the same, but it wouldn’t be real.”
“What would it be?”
“Illusion”
Then he paused, a revelation spreading through him. “Illu-sion! That’s what Ragna Roc makes of real people. He deletes their mass!”
“He uses the fifth dimension,” Melete agreed.
“We have figured out the Fifth! The fifth dimension! It is the Roc’s power!”
“I believe we have,” Melete agreed. “So maybe you and Rhythm have to find a way to nullify that power.”
“But the Princesses can’t just block it; they say Ragna is as str
ong as they are.”
“In a straight contest of magical power,” Melete agreed. “That is surely where the prophecy comes in: to point out a way to nullify the Roc’s power.”
“But if Rhythm and I are the Two, and even all three Princesses can’t nullify the Fifth, what is left?”
“ You are left. The Princesses can oppose the Roc without any clear decision. You must be the missing factor.”
“And what can I do? All I’ve done so far is mess up Rhythm’s life by providing her with a daughter. And Ka-dence is a fluke, not supposed to exist at her age for another sixteen or seventeen years.”
“She’s like another illusion,” Melete agreed.
“Yes. She should exist only in our imagination, but instead she’s solid. As though she has been undeleted. A gift of the fifth dimension” hen Cyrus and Melete exchanged a glance of sheer wonder. “Could she be the key?” Melete asked.
“But her talent doesn’t relate. She makes folk march in step. That won’t stop the Roc”
Melete nodded. “There must be something else”
May I say something?
It was Anona, the Pique Ant. Cyrus had put her in his pocket and completely forgotten her.
“Of course, Anona,” Melete said.
“You two know each other?” Cyrus asked.
““We communed when you brought her home,” Melete said. “We’re both telepathic. It helps. She’s a nice person”
Cyrus felt guilty for forgetting her. “What do you wish to say?”
I have picked up on your discussions, and pondered the matter of Ragna’s weakness. It seems to me that maybe he can’t delete something twice. He’s never done it, as far as you have heard.
Cyrus considered. “That’s right. That Minion he deleted, then undeleted, he didn’t delete again, but banished him instead. I thought he just didn’t want to hurt someone unnecessarily.”
“Yet he had no compunctions deleting an entire innocent village,” Melete said.
So maybe he didn’t do it out of compassion, which he seems to lack, but because he couldn’t, Anona thought. If so, that’s a weakness, isn’t it?
“A huge one,” Cyrus agreed. “If we could just figure out a way to use it against him”
Well, I thought that maybe if you build a big cage out of undeleted material and put him in it, he couldn’t escape. That would defeat him, wouldn’t it?
“Build a cage of undeleted material,” Cyrus echoed. “Confining him. Maybe a big egg shell so he couldn’t see out of it. That just might do it. But how could that be done? He’s not going to just sit around while we collect all that loose material and assemble it. He’ll delete anyone who tries”
I thought maybe we ants could do that. He wouldn’t even notice us, and we’re very good at collecting and assembling. Except we’re somewhat disorganized, so it would take a long time.
“We don’t have a long time.”
“But we do have Kadence,” Melete reminded him.
“Whose talent is organization!” he agreed. “She could direct a mound of ants to do it in hours instead of months”
“And Ragna would never suspect, because he wouldn’t see the ants and Kadence is just a child who shouldn’t exist,” Melete said.
“I think we’ve got it,” Cyrus agreed. “Our secret weapon is a person from the fifth dimension. Except that all we have is one ant”
The Princesses could summon the rest of my hill, conjuring all the ants here. If they wanted to.
“I’ll ask them!”
“No,” Melete said. “I’ll ask Rhythm, so there’s nothing spoken aloud. You go about your business of putting on the plays.”
“Talk to Kadence too,” he said. “But assuming we get the cage made, how can we get Ragna in it?”
“That will be your challenge,” Melete said.
He had been afraid of that.
There is something else, Anona thought.
Cyrus had learned respect for the ant’s thoughts. “What is it?”
Won’t they read your mind, and know your plan?
Cyrus shared a devastated glance with Melete. Of course the Roc’s tame telepaths would do that! “What can I do?”
What about the lethe elixir?
“The what?”
When you put me in your pocket, there was a vial there. I recognized it as containing three drops of lethe. We Pique Ants have had some experience with that sort of thing, and are largely immune. That’s why you forgot about me; it has an ambiance. That dose would be enough to make you forget this matter for at least three days. Four at the most; it hasn’t been tested on cyborgs.
“The lethe Algebra Nymph gave me!” he exclaimed, remembering. That ambiance, as she put it, must have made him forget the vial as well as the ant. “She said I would need it at some point”
“This is that point,” Melete agreed. “Take it. We can’t let you carry that plan in your head these next three days. Not with those anonymous telepaths lurking. We have to clear it out immediately.”
“But then how can I plan to lead the roc to the shell?” “You will have to think fast then. Take the lethe.” Cyrus sighed. It did seem necessary. Still, he hesitated. “Suppose it wears off too soon—or too late? They could read my mind before the battle, or I wouldn’t be able to invoke the plan. Either way is dangerous.”
“Stop temporizing,” Melete said severely. “Anona and I will know what’s going on, and we’ll direct Kadence without explaining, so she can’t give away the plan either. We’ll divert you or prod you as necessary”
He reluctantly fished the vial out of his pocket. It was so small he couldn’t uncap it. “How do I open it?” “Just chew it up,” Melete said. “It’s not glass.” He put the vial in his mouth. “Let me forget about the plan to stop Ragna Roc,” he said. “And that I even have a plan.” Then he chewed down hard.
“Now it’s our turn,” Melete said. Cyrus wondered what she meant by that, because he couldn’t remember anything relevant.
19 BATTLE
The troupe members enjoyed being feted, each attended by an attentive guide, and they loved the luxury and beauty of Castle Rock Candy. They didn’t like the constant solicitations to enlist with the Roc, but were cautious in their demurrals lest it end their royal treatment.
Cyrus stayed away from the Princesses and focused on the presentation of the three plays. They were well received, especially the second one, “The Dream,” because of the prominence of the Dragon Lady. It seemed they related very well to the association with a nonhuman creature.
“We have let it be known,” the Witch said to him, “that you are the troupe leader and we will stay with you. So if you join the Roc, so will we.”
“I’ll never do that!”
She cautioned him with a finger. “Be not so emphatic. We want to give them serious hope, at least until the showdown. It keeps them helpful.”
“Less emphasis,” he agreed. “But you know, if we lose the showdown—”
“Then we will join rather than be deleted. It is the sensible course. But we hope not to lose. We trust that you have some secret strategy for a surprising victory.”
“I appreciate your trust,” he said wryly. How could he tell her that he had never figured out any plan? The members of the troupe were trusting him, and he wished he were more deserving of their trust.
The last play concluded. The battle would be the following day.
Em Pathy approached Cyrus. She was attractively dressed, and quite pretty. “As you know, I speak for Ragna,” she murmured.
“Yes.”
“He would really like you to enlist, and not merely to avoid what is bound to be a bruising battle. He respects you, and would like to have your creative imagination supporting his realm.”
“If he defeats the Princesses, who can say what I will do? I love Princess Rhythm.”
“If he defeats the Princesses, there will be a separate negotiation. But the chances are that Princess Rhythm will be gone, and you will be
intent on vengeance. It might be dangerous to bring you in then. He prefers to bring you in voluntarily, before the battle.”
“I can’t do that,” Cyrus said uncomfortably. “I am loyal to the old order.”
“It is that loyalty he appreciates, in part. For your sake, he will try to spare Princess Rhythm. But this may not be possible. Should the worst happen, he wants you to know that he will try to make it up to you.”
“Oh?”
“By providing you with another compatible woman. He now knows you are not a pedophile”
So their telepaths had been reading his mind, and knew the real nature of that romance. Cyrus repressed an angry retort. “I don’t want any other woman.”
“For example, me,” she said. “I can be extremely understanding.” She inhaled, smiling.
Suddenly she was more than attractive; she was compelling. He found himself overflowing with desire for her. He wanted to take her in his arms, kiss her, and go oh so much farther, reveling in the sheer awareness of her closeness.
Then he caught on. “You’re altering my emotion!”
The effect faded. “Merely a demonstration. If you should lose the Princess, I could ease your pain and make you happy. Do not close off that option carelessly”
He realized that what she said was true. She could change his feelings. In order to avoid that, he answered very cautiously. “I will keep that in mind. But I do not want to stop loving the Princess.”
“You are loyal. I value that. I am loyal to Ragna. But if by some foul chance he loses the battle, you may recruit me if you choose.” She gave him a last tender tinge of desire, then walked away.
“That woman is dangerous,” he said later to Melete. “And not just because of whom she serves.”
“True. Do not make an enemy of her. She could be extremely useful if we win.”
“Oh, I see. But if he wins—”
“Rhythm may be gone”
He had to see that they beat the Roc! But how? It was almost as if he had lost interest in formulating a plan of action. What was wrong with him?
“I’m sure you’ll think of something,” Melete said.
“But I haven’t! I have no idea what to do!” With her, at least, he could be honest.
“Maybe the Princesses will defeat the Roc tomorrow,” she said. “Then it won’t matter any more”