"Uh, there's a nymph waiting outside--" Bink said. Beauregard shook his head. "You do seem to be jinxed, Bink. First you lose the bottle, then your heart But never fear, well include the nymph in the party. We shall entertain the diggle at our motor pool; he will enjoy the swim. We know Jewel well; in fact, you could hardly have been more fortunate in your misfortune." In due course Jewel joined them for supper. It was hard to believe that dawn had been at the fringe of the Region of Madness, in a tree, and breakfast had been at the lake castle of the fiends, lunch with the nymph, and supper here--all in the same day. Down here under the ground day had less meaning; still, it had been an eventful period.
The demon's meal was similar to the nymph's, only it was fashioned from minute magic creatures called yeast and bacteria. Bink wondered whether there were front-teria too, but didn't ask. Some of the food was like squash, which had been squashed only minutes before; some resembled roast haunch of medium-long pig. Dessert was the frozen eye of a scream bird. Genuine eye scream was a rare delicacy, and so was this yellow flavored imitation.
"I sampled the eye of a smilk once," Chester said. "But it was not as good as this."
"You have good taste," Beauregard said.
"On, no! Centaur eyes have inferior flavor," Chester said quickly.
"You are too modest" But the demon smiled reassuringly. "Screams have more fat than smilks, so their eyes provide more flavor, as you recognized."
After the repast they retired to Beauregard's den, where a tame firedrake blazed merrily. "Now we shall provide you excellent accommodations for the night," the demon said. "We shall not interfere in any way with your quest. However--"
"What is it you know, that we don't?" Bink asked anxiously.
"I know the nature of demons," Beauregard said.
"Oh, we don't plan to bother you here! We're going on to--"
"Bear with me, Bink." Beauregard brought out a fancy little bottle, uttered an obscure word, and made a mystic gesture. The cork popped out, vapor issued forth, and formed into--Good Magician Humfrey.
Amazed, Bink could only ask: "But where is Crombie?"
"Back in the bottle," Humfrey said shortly. "It would help if you recovered your fumble promptly."
"But if Beauregard can rescue you--"
"I have not rescued him," the demon said. "I have conjured him. He must now do my bidding."
"Just as you once did his bidding!" Bink said.
"Correct. It all depends on who is confined, and who possesses the controlling magic. The Magician has dabbled in demonology; he is now subject to our humanology."
"But does that mean--"
"No, I shall not abuse the situation. My interest is in research, not ironies. I merely make this demonstration to convince you that there is more to magic than you may have supposed, and that the possible consequences of your quest may be more extensive than you would care to risk."
"I already know something is trying to stop me," Bink said.
"Yes. It is some kind of demon--and that is the problem. Most demons have no more magic than most humans do, but the demons of the depths are something else. They are to ordinary demons like me as Magicians are to ordinary people like you. It is not wise to venture into their demesnes."
"You're a demon," Chester said suspiciously. "Why are you telling us this?"
"Because he's a good demon," Jewel said. "He helps people."
"Because I care about the welfare of Xanth," Beauregard said. "If I were convinced Xanth would be better off without people, I would work toward that end. But though I have had doubt on occasion, so far I believe the species of man is a net benefit." He looked at the Magician. "Even gnomes like him."
Humfrey merely stood there. "Why don't you set him free, then?" Bink asked, not wholly trusting the demon.
"I can not free him. Only the holder of his container can do that."
"But here he is! You summoned him from your bottle!"
"My magic has granted me a temporary lease on his service. I can only evoke him briefly, and can not keep him. If I had his bottle, then I could control him, since he was so foolish as to confine himself in that manner. That is why you must recover that bottle, before--"
"Before it breaks!" Bink said.
"It will never break. It is an enchanted bottle; I know, for I occupied it, and made sure it was secure. No, the danger is that your enemy will recover it first." Bink was appalled. "The enemy!"
"For then that enemy would control the Magician, and all Humfrey's power would be at the enemy's service. In that event, Humfrey's chances of surviving would be poor--almost as poor as yours."
"I must get that bottle!" Bink cried. "If only I knew where it is!"
"That is the service I require," Beauregard said. "Magician, inform Bink of your precise location, so he can rescue you."
"Latitude twenty-eight degrees northwest, longitude one hundred and--"
"Not that way, simpleton!" Beauregard interrupted. "Tell it so he can use it!"
"Er, yes," Humfrey agreed. "Perhaps we'd better put Crombie on."
"Do it," the demon snapped.
The griffin appeared beside the Magician. "Say, yes," Bink said eagerly. "If we have him point out your direction from here, I mean our direction from there, we can reverse it to reach you."
"Won't work," Beauregard said. But Crombie was already whirling. His wing came to rest pointing directly at Bink.
"Fine," Bink said. "We'll go that way."
"Try walking across the den." Beauregard said. "Griffin, hold that point."
Perplexed, Bink walked. Crombie didn't move, but his pointing wing continued aiming at Bink. "It's just a picture!" Bink explained. "No matter how you look at it, it looks right at you."
"Precisely," the demon agreed. 'This conjuration is in a certain respect an image. The same aspect appears regardless of the orientation of the viewer. To orient on the conjuration is useless; it is the original we require."
"Easily solved, demon," Humfrey snapped. "Crombie, point out the direction of our bottle as viewed from the locale of the conjuration."
How simple! The conjuration was here, so this would give the proper direction to there. But would it work?
The griffin whirled and pointed again. This time the wing aimed away from Bink, and downward.
"That is the way you must go," Beauregard said gravely. "Now before I banish the image, have you any other questions?"
"I do," Chester said, "About my talent--"
Beauregard smiled. "Very clever, centaur. I think you have the mind of a demon! It is indeed possible, in this situation, for you to obtain the information you seek without incurring the Magician's normal fee, if your ethics permit such exploitation."
"No," Chester said. "I'm not trying to cheat! Magician, I know my talent now. But I've already served part of the fee, and am stuck for the rest."
Humfrey smiled. "I never specified the Question I would Answer. Pick another Question for the fee. That was part of the agreement."
"Say, good," Chester said, like a colt with sudden access to the farthest and greenest pasture. He pondered briefly. "Cherie--I'd sure like to know her talent, if she has one. A magical one, I mean. Her and her less-magical-than-thou attitude--"
"She has a talent," Humfrey said. "Do you wish the Answer now?"
"No. I might figure it out myself, again."
The Magician spread his hands. "As you prefer. However, we are not insured against accidents of fate. If you don't solve it, and Bink doesn't find my bottle before the enemy does, I may be forced to renege. Do you care to take that risk?"
"What do you mean, before the enemy does?" Bink demanded. "How close is the enemy to--"
"That is what we were discussing before," Beauregard said. "It seems the Magician can not be protected from his own information-talent. He is correct: that bottle has been carried very close to the region your enemy inhabits, and it is very likely that the enemy is aware of that. Thus this is not a routine search for the bottle, but a
race against active opposition."
"But what is the nature of the enemy?" Bink demanded.
"Begone, Magician," Beauregard said. Humfrey and Crombie converted into smoke and swirled into the bottle. "I can not answer that Question directly, other than to remind you that the enemy must be some sort of demon. Therefore I spare myself the embarrassment of confessing my ignorance in the presence of my human counterpart in research. Professional rivalry, you might say."
"I don't care about professional rivalry!" Bink retorted. "The Good Magician and Crombie are my friends. I've got to save them!"
"You're loyal," Jewel said admiringly.
"The thing you must understand," Beauregard continued, "is that as you approach the source of magic, the magic of the immediate environment becomes stronger, in a function resembling a logarithmic progression. Therefore--"
"I don't understand that," Bink said. "What have logs to do with it? Is the enemy a tree?"
"He means the magic gets stronger faster as you get closer," Chester explained. Centaurs had excellent mathematical comprehension.
"Precisely," the demon agreed. "Thus we demons, being more proximate to the source, tend to be more magical than you creatures at the fringe. But in the immediate vicinity of the source, the magic is far stronger than we can fathom. Therefore I can not identify your specific enemy or describe his magic--but it is likely that it is stronger magic than you have encountered before."
"I've met pretty strong magic," Bink said dubiously.
"Yes, I know. And you have extremely strong magic yourself. But this--well, though I have never been able to fathom the precise nature of your talent, therefore my prior remark about you being an ordinary individual, empirical data suggest that it relates to your personal welfare. But at the source--"
"Suddenly I understand," Bink said. "Where I'm going, the magic is stronger than mine."
"Just so. Thus you will be vulnerable in a manner you have not been before. Your own magic suffers enhancement as you proceed, but only in a geometric ratio. Therefore it can not--"
"He means the enemy magic gets stronger faster than our magic," Chester said. "So we're losing power proportionately."
"Precisely," the demon agreed. "The nature of the curves suggests that the differential will not become gross until you are extremely close to the source, so you may not be much inconvenienced by it, or even aware of it. Still--"
"So if I continue," Bink said slowly, "I come up against an enemy who is stronger than I am."
"Correct. Because the strength of the magic field of Xanth varies inversely with distance, on both an individual and environmental basis--"
"What about the magic dust?" Chester demanded.
"That does indeed enhance magic in its vicinity," Beauregard agreed. "But it is not the major avenue for the distribution of magic. The dust is basically convective, while most magic is conductive. Were that village to close down its operations, the magic of Xanth would continue only slightly abated."
"So they might as well relax," Bink said.
"To continue: because of the inverse ratio, the enemy was not able to harm you on the surface, though he tried with demonic persistence and cunning. (I distinguish between the terms 'demonic' and 'demoniac'; the latter has a pejorative connotation that is unwarranted.) Which is why I am convinced it is in fact a demon you face. But here in the nether region, the enemy can and will bring to bear overwhelming magic. Therefore it is foolish to pursue your quest further."
"I'm human," Bink said.
"Yes, unfortunately. A demon would be more rational. Since you are a foolish human of exactly the type my research paper describes, you will continue inevitably to your doom--for the sake of your ideals and friendships."
"I must be more human than demon," Jewel said. "I think he's noble."
"Don't flatter me," Bink warned her. "It only exaggerates the effect of the potion."
She looked startled, then prettily resolute. "I'm sorry the potion had to--I mean, you're such a nice, handsome, courageous, decent man, I--I can't say I'm sorry it happened. When we get back maybe I will take a drink myself."
"But one reason I need the Magician is to find the antidote," Bink pointed out. "Apart from my friendship for him, I mean. In fact, we should have asked Crombie to point out the locale of the antidote, so--"
"I could summon them again," Beauregard said. "But I would not advise it."
"Why not?" Bink asked.
"Because in the event the enemy is not yet aware of the precise location of their bottle, we do not wish to call further attention to it. We do not know what mechanisms the enemy has to observe you, now that its squiggle is gone, but we can not afford to assume they are negligible. It would be better to rescue your friends first, then attend to your more personal business."
"Yes, that is true," Bink said. He turned to the nymph. "Jewel, I regret having to inconvenience you further, but my loyalty to my friends comes first. I promise, as soon as we rescue them--"
"That's all right," she said, seeming not at all displeased.
"She could wait here," Chester said. "Or go about her normal business. Once we obtain the antidote, we can bring it back and--"
"No, only the diggle can take you there fast enough," Jewel said. "And only I can guide the diggle. There's lots of bad magic in the river channel, and very little in the solid rock. I'm coming along."
"I hoped you would say that," Bink said. "Of course my feeling doesn't count, since--"
Jewel stepped up and kissed him on the mouth. "I like your honesty, too," she said. "Let's get going."
Bink, momentarily stunned by the potency of this first voluntary kiss, forced his mind to focus on the mission. "Yes--we must hurry."
"The goblins are very bad in the deeper reaches," Beauregard said. "In recent years they have lost their savagery on the surface, but below they retain it. You have not encountered goblins like these."
"It is not a matter of choice," Bink said. "We have to go there."
"Then stay on well-lighted routes, when you're not phasing through actual rock. Like nickelpedes, they don't like light. They will face it if they have to, but generally they avoid it."
Bink turned to the nymph. "Is that why you're afraid of the dark? Can you keep us in the light?"
She nodded. "Yes...yes," she agreed to each question. Bink somehow had the impression that he could have asked somewhat more personal questions and had the same response. Or was that a flight of romantic fancy spawned by the potion?
"At least get a good night's rest," Beauregard urged. "We demons don't need sleep, as such, but you humans can get very irritable if--"
"No, we'd better move right along," Bink said. "A few hours could make the difference."
"So could fatigue," Beauregard pointed out "You will need all your faculties about you, when you face the big magic."
"Seems to me one demon's stalling," Chester said.
Beauregard spread his hands. "Perhaps I am, centaur. There is one thing I have not told you."
"If you plan to tell it, tell it now," Bink said. "Because we're leaving now."
"It is this," the demon said reluctantly. "I am not at all certain that your quest is proper."
"Not proper!" Bink exploded. "To rescue my friends?"
"To seek the source of the magic of Xanth."
"All I want is information! You, of all demons, should understand that!"
'Too well," Beauregard said. "Information can be the most dangerous thing there is. Consider the power of your Magician, who specializes in information. Suppose he were armed with full knowledge about the ultimate nature of magic? Where would be the limits of his power then?"
"Humfrey wouldn't hurt Xanth," Bink protested. "He's a good Magician!"
"But once knowledge of the nature of the source of magic were known, what would stop an evil Magician from obtaining it? With the strongest magic of all, he could rule Xanth--or destroy it"
Bink considered. He remembered how an Evil Magician
had taken over the crown of Xanth--and had turned out not to be evil at all. But that had been a special situation. Suppose a truly evil man--or woman--obtained unconscionable power? "I see your point. I'll think about it. Maybe I won't go all the way to the source. But I must rescue the Magician, regardless."
"Yes of course," Beauregard agreed, seeming ill at ease for a demon.
They boarded the diggle and moved out, following the direction Crombie had indicated. "I don't know the deeper depths so well," Jewel said, "But there's a whole lot of solid rock here, since we're not following so close to the river. I'll tell the diggle to stay within the rock until we get there, and only to come out where there is light. I think you could sleep some while we travel, while I sing the worm along."
"You are beautiful," Bink said gratefully. He leaned his head against her back and was lulled to sleep by her singing, amplified and sweetened by his contact with her. And the worm ground on.
Chapter 11
Brain Coral
Bink woke with a start as the diggle halted. "I think we're here," Jewel murmured. Her voice was hoarse from hours of singing.
"You should have waked me before!" Bink said. "To take my turn singing the worm along. You've sung yourself out."
"Your head was so nice on my shoulder, I couldn't disturb you," she rasped. "Besides, you'll need all your strength. I can feel the magic intensifying as we move along."
Bink felt it too: a subtle prickle on his skin like that of the magic dust. For all he knew, the rock through which they traveled might be the magic-dust rock, before it welled to the surface. But the mystery remained: what was it that imbued that rock with magic? "Uh, thanks," he said awkwardly. "You're a sweet nymph."
"Well--" She turned her head, making it easy to kiss. She smelled of especially fine roses: this magic, too, was enhanced by the environment. Bink leaned forward, inhaling the delicious fragrance, bringing his lips close to--
They were interrupted by the sight of the bottle. It bobbled on the glowing surface of another lake. Something was attached to it, a bit of string or tar--
"Grundy!" Bink cried.
The golem looked up. "About time you got here! Fetch in this bottle, before--"