Unicorn Point

  And he would return when he could; they all knew that. By ancestry Barel was man and unicorn, but by association he was wolf, and that would never change.

  The realm steadied. Forel gazed out into a white chamber, irregularly globular, resembling the shell of a hollowed-out gourd. The floor was spongy but firm enough for good purchase.

  “Turn manform,” the rovot said. “We must talk quickly.”

  Obligingly, Forel assumed his human form, complete with his fur jacket and breeches, and the fur slippers needed to protect his frail human feet. In so doing he sacrificed advantages of nose and tooth, but gained that of human speech, which was more versatile than growl-talk. “Thou claimest to be on our side now, rovot?” he demanded as challengingly as he could manage. It was obvious that he was in the power of the Adept, but appearances were important.

  “So I claim,” the rovot agreed, taking no offense. “This is the situation: Bane and I served the Adverse Adepts not because we had any liking for their policies or ambitions, but because they supported my liaison with Fleta. Once that commitment was made, it continued and increased, as a matter of honor rather than preference. But after we recovered Flach, the Adepts violated the covenant between us by threatening to kill his mother if Flach communicated again with Nepe in Proton. This was false in two ways. It prevented the Adept Stile from using Flach’s power to his advantage while the Adverse Adepts were using mine to their advantage. And it undercut my union with Fleta, upon which the covenant is based; I could not remain married to her if they killed her.”

  He looked directly at Forel. “Suppose, wolf, that you achieved your first Kill, and Promised to the bitch who—” He paused.

  “Terel,” Forel supplied grudgingly.

  “To Terel. But instead of granting you adult status, Kurrelgyre killed her. Where would you stand?”

  “The Pack Leader would ne’er do that!”

  “Agreed. But what of an Adverse Adept?”

  Forel nodded. “Methinks I take thy point.”

  “I mean to conjure you to my son, where you can quickly verify what I have told you. I want you to enable Flach and Fleta to escape the power of the Adepts. If you discover that what I have told you is not true, no one will be able to make you do anything more, for I dare not go into the Adept stronghold now. Of course you will be trapped there yourself. You will be taking a serious risk no matter how it turns out.”

  The rovot seemed sincere. But how could he be sure? The Adepts were notorious for the manner they dealt with animals, as more than one grown bitch had discovered to her cost. He had to ponder.

  “Where be we?” he asked, hoping to elicit further proof of the rovot’s intentions.

  Mach smiled. “In a cloud, floating above the forest of the Animal Heads. It changes its location with the wind, but will not move far in the next hour. You must tell Fleta that, or Tania, so they can find it. You can guide Flach here yourself.”

  “A cloud,” Forel repeated, unbelieving. True, it did look like the interior of a cloud, but he knew that clouds were not always the way they looked.

  Mach made a gesture. Suddenly the walls became transparent. There was blue sky beyond, interspersed by the white masses of other clouds at this level.

  Forel looked down. There below was spread the panorama of the land, its forests and rivers and fields. He had ranged across it enough to recognize its nature, though he had never viewed it from such a height before. This really was a cloud!

  With that simple confirmation came his acceptance of the rest. “Tell me how,” he said.

  The rovot seemed unsurprised at his process of decision. “Here are two amulets. Each will enable its invoker to assume the likeness of his companion. One is for Tania, one is for you. When I conjure you to the prison isle, give one to Tania and keep the other, and then the four of you must change forms and flee the isle and make your way here as swiftly and quietly as you can.”

  “But the Adepts!” Forel protested. “They will let us go not! And Tania—she be worst o’ the Adepts; canst trust her?”

  “Tania too has changed sides; she can be trusted now,” the rovot said. “Here is one more amulet. Invoke this after Flach and Fleta change forms, and before you do. Do you understand?”

  “Aye. I invoke my amulet last, and the other next to last. But what does it do?”

  “It generates decoys.”

  Forel did not see how that related, but did not care to show his ignorance, so did not question it. The rovot gave him the three amulets and made sure he knew them apart. “Remember,” the rovot concluded, “act immediately. The Adepts will realize that something is happening the moment you appear; you must act before they do, or all is lost.”

  “Aye.” He certainly knew the importance of fleeing enemy territory quickly!

  “Take a moment to rehearse in your mind what you will say and do,” Mach told him. “I do not know precisely where you will land, but it must be in your human form, and you must waste no time deciding. Let me know when you are ready.”

  “Wait, rovot!” Forel cried. “I can not guide Barel out if I know not where we be! Where be this isle?”

  “Near the West Pole, under the sea.”

  “But Barel’s dam—he said she has but one foreign form, and that be a little bird. How can she run or fly under the sea?”

  “Excellent question. The Adepts will not expect her to flee without using their spell to make the water like air. But these amulets provide for that; the vicinity of those invoking them will be all right. This is one reason why Tania and Fleta must travel together, and you and Flach. Together you can make it; apart you will be in trouble.”

  “This be great magic!” he exclaimed.

  “Thank you.”

  He realized that the rovot was mocking him, lightly. Of course this was the greatest of the Adepts, able to do such things as others could only dream of.

  “I be ready,” he said.

  The rovot gestured—and there was the wrench.

  Forel was standing on a strange isle girt about by shimmering light, and beyond it the dark water in which strange creatures crawled or swam.

  But he had no time to gawk. The wicked Adept Tania was sitting against a tree, nearest to him, her eyes widening in surprise. “Eye me not. Tan!” he cried. “I bring this amulet from the rovot! Use it to change forms with the mare, and stay with her that ye two may breathe. Flee to the cloud above the Animal-Head Demesnes!” He almost hurled the amulet at her, and ran on past her to find Barel.

  The boy was playing with a wickerwork basket on the little beach. “Forel!” he exclaimed.

  “I come from thy sire. Wait for the others to change, then assume a form for escape, and I will match thee; I have magic. Fast, fast; needs must we go before the Adepts act!”

  Meanwhile Tania was running to Fleta, who turned toward the boys in surprise. She was in her natural form, grazing on the verdant patch of grass nearby; a forgotten mouthful of grass hung unchewed.

  “Aye, dam!” Barel cried. “Do it! There be danger thou knowest not of!”

  Fleta did not question her son. She became a hummingbird. Right after her, so did Tania.

  “I shall be a fish,” Flach cried, running toward the shimmering margin of the isle. “Follow me!” He dived through the curtain, and on the other side a catfish appeared.

  Forel paused only to use the decoy spell. “Amulet, I invoke thee!” he cried, holding it up.

  The amulet exploded. From it flew perhaps a thousand specks of dust, but each expanded as it moved, becoming larger. Those that went up formed into tiny birds that quickly grew into hummingbirds just like the two on the isle. Those that went down formed into tiny fish that grew into catfish. Some passed through the curtain and swam in the water; others landed on the sand and flopped their way toward the water, still growing.

  Forel gaped. He had never seen such magic! This amulet had somehow tuned in to the forms the others assumed, and reproduced them by the hundreds, and every one of them seeme
d alive! Decoys indeed! How would the Adepts ever tell them from the originals?

  Then a shadow loomed over the isle. Something awful was coming! Forel leaped for the water. “And thee!” he cried to the remaining amulet.

  He passed through the curtain—and felt the water against his whiskers. He flexed his tail, and moved forward. He was a catfish!

  He looked for Barel—but saw a dozen similar catfish, and more crawling on their fins from the beach. Which one was his friend?

  Then one swam close. “Come, wolf,” it said in fish-talk. “We must away!”

  All too true! The shadow over the isle was intensifying, and he felt the tingle of terrible magic. He flexed his tail and used his fins vigorously, zooming away from the curtain. Barel-fish paced him. Swimming was easy, once he caught on to its mechanism. Maybe the amulet was helping, because he had no prior experience.

  “Where be we going?” Barel asked as they plunged through seaweed. The other catfish were plunging similarly.

  “A cloud o’er Animal Demesnes!” Forel replied. His expression in fish-talk was not apt, but Barel seemed to understand. Evidently Barel had had more practice in the form, though Forel had never seen him assume it before, and indeed, had not known that he knew any forms beyond man, ‘corn, bat and wolf. Maybe he had worked it out after being captured.

  As they progressed south, away from the isle, the decoy catfish thinned. Some had probably been caught by the strange predators, such as the tentacled creatures with great long pointed shells. But most of the thinning was merely because they were getting farther from the isle; the catfish were spreading out into wider territory.

  Then there came a predator Forel recognized by description: a shark! Wolves stayed clear of deep water when they could, but they did know how to swim, so were versed in the dangers of the sea. The rule for sharks was simple: get out of the water!

  But as fish, they could not get out. Could they hide from this monster?

  Barel swam close. “Fear naught. We be electric catfish. An the shark be fool enough to bite, he’ll get a shock.”

  The shark loomed near, then evidently recognized them and veered away. So it was true; Barel had chosen a form that could defend itself by the magic of electricity!

  They swam on, until no other catfish were in sight. They had made it safely away! Barel angled upward, approaching the surface. Then he accelerated and leaped from the water, becoming a bat.

  Forel followed, but feared this would not work for him. He would have to swim to shore instead, and resume wolf form, and pace Barel on the ground. But as he leaped, he changed—and suddenly he had wings! He too was a bat!

  Flying was another new experience, and he hardly had time to wonder at the continuing potency of the amulet he had invoked; he had to concentrate on keeping his balance in the air. He wobbled, pumping his leathery wings as hard as he could, and barely managed to stay clear of the waves. Then he got a better grasp of the mechanism, and began to rise.

  There was a globe above him. It looked like a ball of water, but there was a man inside it, looking out. Forel tried to veer away, but something held him; he could no longer move.

  “So we have caught the errant fish,” the man said. “And which of ye be ‘corn?”

  Then something hauled Forel into the floating ball. His magic was canceled, and he reverted to the form he had assumed before invoking the amulet. As a boy he stood within the globe, realizing that he faced the Translucent Adept.

  Barel was beside him, also in boy form. “Damn thee!” Barel cried angrily at the Adept. “Methought us free!”

  “Almost, you were,” the Adept agreed. “But I had the wit to search out pairs o’ fish, for they travel not normally that way, and when this pair turned bat, I knew. Now tell me: why and how didst thou make this break? I know there be more to it than simply pique.”

  “I have to answer not!” Barel said defiantly.

  “I have treated thee well, and mean to continue so,” the Adept said. “But I will have mine answer.” He turned to Forel. “I ask it thee: answer!”

  Forel felt magic impinging on him. He tried to resist, but could not. His mouth opened, and he spewed out all that he knew of this event.

  The Adept sighed. “It be as I feared. I sponsored this aspect not, but the seeming failure to recover the lad for so long vitiated mine authority, and the others acceded to Purple’s urgings and used the ploy o’ threatening the mare. Now has that ploy borne its bitter fruit by alienating the rovot and setting us back. At least have I salvaged this bit o’ it.”

  The magic compulsion eased, and Forel was able to control his speech again. “Thou dost sound as if thou dost not like this business,” he said boldly.

  “Aye, wolf-boy. I second my side, of course, but it was in my mind to forward our cause by dealing fairly. I blame the rovot not for changing sides; he had cause. It be an irony, for we were close to winning, legitimately; we needed only a fraction what Blue needed. Had the lad just been allowed to work for Blue, we had been fair and with the victory anyway. Now we be foul, and victory be problematical.”

  Forel looked at Barel. “Aye,” Barel said. “Translucent be e’er fair; it were Purple put the geas on me.”

  “We gain one smidgeon o’ this mess,” Translucent said. “I be the one to salvage some, and the bad ploy failed, so my word regains its power. Be thankful it were not Purple caught ye two.”

  Forel realized that they were indeed relatively well off. It would have been better to escape, but evidently they would not be mistreated.

  “So my dam escaped?” Barel inquired.

  “Aye, lad. She and Tania. The water be my domain. The search o’ air was done by others, who mayhap lacked the wit to trace the pairs.”

  The globe was now traveling briskly north, returning to the Translucent Demesnes. Forel saw the sea and shore passing below, much as he had seen the land from the rovot’s cloud. He realized that the cloud would not be there any longer; now that Translucent had wrested its secret from him, the rovot would have to make his camp elsewhere. At least part of the mission had been accomplished!

  They returned to the isle. “This be secure now,” the Adept said. “All effort to escape be futile.”

  “Aye,” Barel said with resignation.

  The Adept deposited them, then floated away in his watery globe. The two boys hugged each other, glad for this reunion despite the circumstances. “I thank thee for coming, oath-friend,” Barel said. “At least it freed my dam.”

  “What happens now?” Forel asked.

  “Much depends on how it turns out in Proton. An all escape there, they will have no use for me, and mayhap we will be freed. But I fear it be not so.”

  “Why?”

  “Because o’ the parallel o’ the frames. What happens in the one, happens in the other, by seeming coincidence. Mayhap our failure to escape will lead to Nepe being captive, or mayhap her failure led to ours. I know not exactly the means o’ it, but it be nigh impossible to do a thing in one frame that be not parallel in the other.”

  “Nepe has a wolf-friend?”

  Barel laughed. “Nay, but she has a rovot-friend. Same thing, mayhap. Not to diminish thee, but the parallels be strongest among the strongest; the Adepts have more impact than the little folk.”

  “I be little enough,” Forel agreed ruefully.

  “But now we can do naught. Let’s revert to wolves and see what we can hunt.”

  “There be hunting here on this small isle?” Forel asked, surprised.

  “Aye. It be a nice isle. Translucent be a kind captor.” Barel changed, and Forel followed. Sure enough, there were rabbits, and before long Forel had caught and killed one.

  “First Kill!” he growled, delighted. “My first Kill!”

  “Aye,” Barel agreed, seeming unsurprised. “Now canst watch for what Terel does!”

  “But she be free, and I be captive!”

  “Mayhap not fore’er,” Barel said optimistically.

  They shared
the rabbit, as there was no chance to drag it back to the Pack from here. Forel knew that Barel would give witness to the kill, at such time as this was possible. He was right: this was a nice isle.

  Three days later the water globe returned. “It be like this,” Translucent said. “Thy girl-self in Proton be captive too, but not the alien female. Bane changed sides, same’s Mach did here. Dost know this?”

  “Aye,” Barel said. “Nepe told me.”

  Forel was surprised; he hadn’t realized that the situation had been confirmed. But of course Barel could commune with his other self without showing it to others.

  “It be in our minds to use thee and the girl-child in lieu o’ thy sires, as thy powers be similar—or, methinks, moreso.”

  “We will work not for thy side!” Barel protested.

  “That be not the question; an it come to that. Tan will make thee perform. Nay, the question be how to do it when the other side still controls Book and Oracle. We can send thee no longer to visit thy grandsire in return for that access.”

  Barel nodded. “So it be impasse, again.”

  “Impasse,” the Adept agreed. “Yet we wish still to gain power, and thy sire and grandsire wish to be united with thee. So we be dealing: double or nothing, here and in Proton-frame. An my side win, we gain Book and Oracle and the service o’ your sires to exploit them. An the other side win, we turn over our hostages and our drive for power be finished.”

  Forel, listening, was amazed at the scale of the dealings. The ultimate power in the frames was about to be decided, all because he had not quite succeeded in freeing Barel!

  “Why be ye telling us?” Barel asked.

  “Commune with thine other self, and tell me what thou dost learn.”

  Barel was silent, evidently concentrating. After a bit he said: “Nepe says thou dost mean to set up six big contests, three in each frame, to determine who wins. Dost need us to verify the decisions o’ the other frame.”