Key to Destiny

  “This is not no fault, then."

  “For the supplies, the gems,” she agreed. “For your silence, this."

  “Agreement,” he said.

  They got up, and he dressed and departed. Ennui rejoined the others. “Deal made."

  “We know,” Aspect said. Ennui had not closed her mind during the sex or dialogue. The dragon seeds had not buzzed. This had to be the correct course.

  Meanwhile, Aspect and Nonce had examined the altar. “The eighteen pockets are filled with seeds!” Aspect said.

  “Seeds!"

  “Flax seeds, by their look."

  “Flax—the source of linen yarn."

  “So it seems."

  They looked at each other, temporarily baffled. “We can't weave the seeds,” Ennui said. “We need the yarn. Are we expected to grow it ourselves?"

  “Seeds do grow, if planted and watered,” Aspect said.

  “But we need magic yarn,” Nonce protested.

  “There are multiple small Chroma zones outside,” Ennui reminded her. “Plants will grow to match whatever Chroma they are in."

  And there it was. “I think we are about to become farmers,” Aspect said.

  * * * *

  They surveyed the land beyond the cave. There turned out to be vents with all the different Chroma. So they had seeds, Chroma, and water. It would be work and take time, but they could do it.

  Aspect nodded. “I never anticipated this, but in retrospect it makes sense. No animal or ignorant person would go to such trouble. Only one who knows what she is doing."

  They reconsidered the caves as a temporary home. They would need bedding and better lighting.

  “We can forage outside,” Ennui said. “We may be immune to Chroma threats as well as nonChroma ones."

  “We are not helpless women,” Aspect agreed. She looked at the crystal wall. “I wonder if there is any moss here?"

  “Glamor of Moss!” Nonce said.

  “The Tree ikon did heal tree damage,” Ennui said. “But we aren't threatened by moss."

  “Some moss glows,” Aspect said. She focused her attention on moss, willing it to glow. Would this work?

  Slowly dim light appeared on the cave walls. The moss was responding. She walked closer to a wall, and the brightening intensified until the light was significant. The whole wall was covered with moss that had been invisible before, but now made its presence known.

  “I think we have learned more than how to make light,” Ennui said.

  “And I think I will do whatever I can for any moss I encounter,” Aspect said, amazed and gratified.

  “And I for trees,” Ennui said. “We have become committed, and they have accepted us."

  “I don't think my ikon has a constituency,” Nonce said.

  “Unless it is those seeds,” Aspect said. “Certainly the loom."

  “Maybe this cave,” Nonce said. “I wonder—could my ikon affect local Chroma?"

  “Question?” Ennui asked.

  Nonce walked to the passage between caves, where the Yellow Chroma vent was. She squatted beside it. Suddenly the seeming fire brightened, becoming fierce. Then it faded, and the passage behind it disappeared. There was only the blank cave wall.

  “Alarm!” Aspect said.

  “Illusion,” Nonce replied. The passage reappeared. “The Chroma responded to my will."

  “Explanation,” Aspect said. “You found these caves, when Crow had never seen the entrance. Your ikon showed you reality."

  “You saw it too,” Nonce said.

  “Once you did,” Ennui said. “We can penetrate illusion when we know it is there, but you were the one who saw it first. The loom ikon gives you that power over its demesnes."

  “Agreement,” the girl said, gratified.

  “Illusion is a good protection,” Aspect said. “But fear is better. Can you make the main entrance seem threatening?"

  “Discovery,” Nonce said. They went out of the caves and stood by the entrance. She addressed the vent.

  First the passage disappeared, showing merely the slope of the mound. That was what Crow and any others had seen. Then the fire became intense, and they felt its heat. Aspect put her hand toward it, and the heat became pain. It might be illusion, but it was burning hot. “This will be effective."

  They explored the region around the mound. Now that they were cataloguing spot Chroma zones instead of avoiding them, they realized that this section of the valley was quite well endowed. All the Chroma were represented.

  Then they gathered dry brush. Very little grew in Death Valley, but there must have been more water at some time in the past, so that shrubs and low-lying plants could grow. This brush could be centuries old. Even the dry grass might be ancient, preserved by desiccation.

  They carried armfuls into the cave and made three beds in the first section. By this time it was evening. They broke out their food packages and ate conservatively, knowing the supply had to last three days.

  “We have our home for the duration,” Aspect said. “It does not seem quite up to the standard of the palace, but neither is it out in the dangerous wilderness. Surely we shall make do."

  “Tomorrow we must start planting,” Nonce said. “The seeds all look the same. Will they differentiate as necessary?"

  “Surely they will,” Aspect said. “Each Chroma zone will make its plants magical in its own manner, and those will make magical threads equivalent to the ones we have already used. The magic of the loom is to integrate all the different Chroma into a single magical tapestry. We have but to enable it."

  “And when we finally have the complete tapestry,” Ennui said, “we will try to integrate that into a single important quest for the ultimate riddle of Planet Charm. Who made the loom? Who hid the altars? How did the system of Glamors and ikons come about? There is so much to know!"

  Indeed there was. Not least, the effect the ikons were having on the people who carried them. Nonce was young and pretty, and hadn't changed, but she was now invulnerable to attack and smarter than she had been. Aspect herself had returned to her physical and mental prime. And Ennui had gained most, becoming a strikingly lovely woman. They all had developed an ability and passion for sex, and had become excellent singers. They could penetrate illusion, and heal, and were indefatigable. The ikons were remaking them, and so far that was delightful. But where was it leading? At what point would they cease to be themselves and become something else?

  Should she share that concern with the others? What good would it do? They were locked into their mission, and had to complete it, regardless of personal cost. They had to keep the ikons, to safeguard the Glamors they related to. And perhaps the icons were merely enabling them to be all that they could be.

  She decided to let it be. She put it from her mind—and it was gone.

  In the morning they got to work. The first problem was water: they had the spring, but little way to carry water to their Chroma garden patches. They had their water bags for drinking, but were loath to expend that water.

  “Consideration,” Ennui said. “We have water here. If it is sufficient for our flax gardens, it should be sufficient for us. We can use the water bags and refill them."

  Aspect had to agree. “If we believe in this mission, and in this site, agreement. But those bags will be tedious to fill here. Buckets would be better."

  “We will have a number of patches, some distant,” Nonce said. “We will spend a lot of time carrying water regardless. This is a desert; they will need a lot."

  Then Aspect had a wicked idea. “We could carry more, if we care to."

  “Not without more containers,” Ennui said.

  “We have containers. We merely don't think of them as such."

  Both looked at her blankly.

  “Our bladders,” Aspect said. “We can drink hugely, and urinate. The plants will not object; they might even prefer it."

  “Pee on them!” Nonce said, laughing.

  “Havoc makes offerings to plants,”
Ennui said. “Not just piss. When he and I needed the good graces of a plant, he made me do it. I was not pleased at the time, but soon I understood the necessity."

  Aspect nodded. “We'll have to defecate somewhere. This settles that."

  “If we drink now, we'll have some ready when we plant the first ones,” Ennui said.

  They took turns drinking copiously from the spring, then fetched seeds from the altar and headed out. They approached the nearest Chroma zonelet, a green one. “Should one person service the same zones?” Aspect asked.

  “Negation,” Ennui answered. “I will have to visit the village, and will not be able to tend my zones then. They should get used to all three of us, assuming they care."

  That made sense. Aspect kneeled at the edge of the green zone and reached into it. There was no problem; it was like a regular zone, magic but not hostile. Crow could be correct about pollen and insects, but she rather thought not, because these isolated little zones would need to interact with others if any life were to survive in them. In fact they would want animals to visit, and leave offerings of urine and manure.

  “We could use trowels,” Aspect said as she dug her fingers into the hot green sand.

  “We can ask Crow,” Ennui said.

  Aspect made several small holes in the ground, then carefully pressed the seeds into them, one to a hole, and covered them over. She did not know the proper procedure for flax, and hoped this would do. Then she tilted her water bag over the region and let some water dribble onto it.

  “What, no piss?” Nonce asked.

  Thus challenged, Aspect responded. She stepped into the zone, hoisted her skirt, squatted, pulled aside her panty, and let go with a small amount of urine. She didn't want to waste it, but it was an effort to cut it off in mid flow. She let go rather more than she had intended.

  They went to the next, which was blue. Ennui tried this one, carefully placing her seeds, then squatting and letting a limited flow out. She was better at it than Aspect had been.

  Nonce took the third zone, a brown one. When she squatted, she let go too freely, and squirted with too much power, overshooting the garden area. “Obscenity!” she swore.

  “Piss on it,” Ennui said, smiling.

  They continued to other patches. Long before their supply of seeds or zones was gone, they ran out of water, both internal and external. They had to return for more. But they had watered perhaps twice as much as they might have done with just the water bags. It was a good start.

  By day's end they had processed a lot of water, two ways, and managed to plant seeds in all their designated Chroma zones. They were not physically fatigued, thanks to the ikons, but were emotionally tired. They ate and slept quickly.

  The following day they checked their gardens and watered again. All the patches were dry, which suggested that they needed more water. But even with voluminous imbibing and full use of the water bags, it was hard to give enough. They were spending all their time going back and forth, and as yet had nothing to show for it. No shoot had shown, and they couldn't even be sure the seeds were fertile. They might have remained in the altar in the cave for centuries, and died. But probably, they reassured each other, the seeds were just taking their time.

  On the third day Crow returned. As it happened, Aspect was just then squatting over a brown Chroma patch, squeezing out her last available drops of urine, and didn't see him until she was done.

  He was standing there, blushing furiously; his gray face was almost black. He must have seen her squat, and not realized what she was doing until too late. He obviously did not know what to say or do.

  Poise was best. Aspect stood, turned to him, and smiled. “We have planted seeds. We have no water buckets, so we use what we have. Apology for embarrassing you."

  His mouth worked. “I would have—have turned away, had I known. Abject apology."

  “Needless. You have not seen anything I was not about to show you anyway. This day you are mine. Come to the cave with me."

  She led him to the cave. Ennui was returning from her own watering mission to another patch, saw her, and halted. Do him first, she thought. I will tell Nonce.

  Aspect nodded, and led Crow on into the cave. They had turned down the Yellow Chroma pain fire for the day, knowing the man was scheduled. Inside she gave him time to remove his heavy pack, then led him to her bed and stripped.

  There followed a very fast clasping and penetration. Ennui had warned her, but still it was surprising. The man was practically jetting before he made it into her. He must have been eager for this event, and unable to hold back. She was not able to climax herself, so swiftly, and that annoyed her, but she said nothing to him about it.

  Instead she engaged him in dialogue. “What did you bring us?"

  “Everything I could think of,” he said happily. “That gem stone—It was Chroma! Valuable. It paid for all of it and more. They wanted to know where I got it, but I just told them I found it in Death Valley. They wanted to know where you three women were, and I told them you had found a cave to rest in, and that I would go back for you. Only to my wife, I told the truth, I mean about that, no fault, you know."

  “We know,” Aspect agreed amicably.

  “And she—she cried. I did not know why. She wasn't jealous, she knows about no fault, she expected that, but she cried. I didn't know what to do."

  “She cried for what she could no longer give you,” Aspect said. “But soon she will be able, again."

  “Hope!” He got up, went to his pack, and started unpacking it. He was right: there was everything. It was a large pack, and well filled. They would eat better than they had, because now there was enough. “My wife told me what you would need. She was very helpful. I told her how the Lady On had healed me, and she cried again."

  Sure enough, there was more than food there. There was fresh gray underwear, and washcloths, and a small mirror. There were little candles, and inflatable pillows. These would be a blessing.

  “Your wife is thoughtful,” Aspect said. “Appreciation. We will thank her more properly when we are able, soon."

  “It has been awful, half without her,” he said soberly. “Not just because of—you know. I hate having her in pain.” He paused, turning his face away.

  Aspect put her arms around him, and he cried into her shoulder. Then she drew him back down onto the mat and slowly stroked him. This time there was no urgency; she led him in leisurely manner into sex, lying on top of him, kissing him, setting his hands on her body where she chose, building him up to a culmination she could share. The climax was long and slow, but nonetheless potent. His gray Chroma mind was closed, but she had come to know him enough to pick up some of the surge of feeling, and so she shared it.

  “Oh Lady, I never had it like that before!"

  “This is how it will be with your wife, when she can do it again. It must be slow, so as not to strain her."

  “Agreement!"

  She held him for a time, schooling him in gentle sex, and he marveled at it. He had not realized there was any other way but instant. Now he knew.

  They finished, and dressed. The others returned, seemingly by coincidence. There had never been any secret what he had been doing with Aspect, but they pretended innocence.

  “We need buckets,” Ennui said briskly. “We shall be staying here after all, and we have water to haul."

  “Buckets,” Crow agreed.

  “We are gardening,” Nonce said. They had agreed that they would have to explain this much to him. “We have found that the little Chroma zones are just right for our flax."

  “Flax?"

  “Special flax, for weaving,” Ennui said. “Pretty colors, hard to get in nonChroma zones. We will grow it, then depart."

  His face lit with comprehension. That was why the “Lady Speck was in the Chroma!” But the recollection of the scene embarrassed him again, despite their recent intimacy.

  “Why we need buckets,” Aspect said. “So we have a better way to carry water."
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  He nodded. “You shall have them.” He glanced around the cave. “I feared you would be in bad straits here, but you seem to have done well."

  “We are tougher women than we look,” Aspect said, smiling.

  “You look beautiful."

  “Appreciation."

  Aspect gave him another gem, this one red. “Do not spend it all on our supplies,” she said. “These are worth far more, and you should have things for your wife."

  “For her,” he breathed. “Agreement. Appreciation."

  It was time for him to go. Aspect saw him out, and walked with him to the edge of the valley. “We will see you in three days,” she said.

  “Agreement.” He was ready to go, but lingered. There was something he wasn't quite able to say.

  Men were so easy! “Pause,” she murmured.

  She embraced him, kissed him, then led him to the vertical face of a boulder and leaned back against it. She opened his trousers and brought out his member. It was throbbing. Youth was so resilient! She guided it up under her skirt and into her cleft, then closed her legs about it and pushed forward as her hands drew his groin in to hers. This tight penetration set him off, and he pumped and jetted into her. This time she matched his climax despite its speed. It was partly the naughty novelty of doing it vertically, outside, in daylight. She had never done that before, and it was a private thrill. He didn't realize that she had controlled this liaison throughout; that, too, stimulated her.

  “Oh Lady!” he exclaimed. It seemed to be his only way to acknowledge such interaction.

  “Welcome,” she said. “Next time, it will be On."

  “You are so—so understanding."

  “We are women.” She disengaged as his member slackened. She put it back into his trousers and closed them. Then she kissed him. “Take good care of yourself, Crow. We depend on you."

  “Death Valley no longer repels me."

  She laughed, and patted his behind as he started off. “Fortunate."

  He climbed the slope, and she waited, reaching under her skirt and wiping her crotch with a tissue. He hadn't even thought to question why she had not worn underwear when leaving the cave. As he crested the ridge, he turned back to look at her, and she waved, smiling. Only when he was out of sight did she turn and make her way back to the cave.