That was something to be sorted out at another time. Gale welcomed her daughter to her company. She couldn't pick her up and hold her, but she could touch her with a tendril and reassure her. Welcome.
But it wasn't comfort the baby sought. Others, she thought, forming the concept with difficulty in the absence of language. All. Gale was translating somewhat vague feelings, orienting on their closest meanings. Voila was trying to tell her something important.
Could it wait? With any other child, perhaps. With this one, less likely. What future did the baby see, that urged her after her mother and required her to communicate? For it had to be that talent driving her, focused by her ability to see the alternate futures, the immediate consequences of any action. She was doing what she had to do.
Gale trusted the instinct of her daughter. Voila was too young to speak or even to understand much of what went on around her, but her ability to see the recent future was a potent tool. Gale extended a tendril and joined her mind to that of the baby as well as she could. The clouds did not have telepathy, but this was close.
And now she saw it. Voila knew that Augur was about to die in most of the future paths, but there were some where he didn't. Voila knew there would be pain if he died, and no pain if he didn't. So she was searching out the path of least pain. That meant enlisting Gale's help, as she was doing.
Voila was better at futures than Gale was, having practiced it longer. She could orient on one and ferret it out from the complex interlocking tangle of all the rest. She did not know the meanings or larger significance of any of the paths, but she could locate the ones that brought most comfort. Gale added her adult perspective to the seeking ability of her daughter, and suddenly saw the answer.
“Ilka!” she thought/shouted.
“Responding,” the ifrit replied.
“Tell the Glamors!” Gale sent a plan/strategy that the ifrits would not understand, but that Glamors would.
The ifrit relayed it to a coalesced ifrit, and in a moment the Glamors had the word. They acted immediately, gathering where Augur was stranded and projecting magic into the region, sending it somewhat the way the ikons sent magic to Glamors. That strengthened the Red Chroma ambiance and enabled him, with Ilka's guidance, to coalesce to human form.
Gale and Voila arrived at the site and did the same. Aura was especially grateful; she picked up the baby and cuddled and kissed her repeatedly. That, Gale realized, was part of the positive future Voila had sought; she liked being cuddled.
In due course Havoc, Iva, and the children returned. They discussed the crisis, and concluded that the Chroma mortals should venture to cloud state only at particular Chroma sites, and with a Glamor watching. The Glamors were in no danger, because they were independent of zones, despite associating with particular Chroma, but the mortals were more limited. Still, it was worthwhile for them to learn the art of cloud formation too.
Aura tried it in a Blue Chroma zone, successfully clouding and returning to solid human form. Ini tried it in an Air Chroma zone, becoming an invisible cloud. Then she expanded on the form, using illusion to make herself a complete painted scene: lovely trees, mountains, a river, and assorted animal life, quite realistic. What gave it away was the fact that several of the animals were not native to this planet; they were the ones she knew on Charm.
That impressed Gale. Ini was an Air Chroma native; naturally she was conversant with illusion. She had utilized it readily in cloud form, entirely concealing herself by it. That was another potentially useful technique. In fact, it might be the key they needed to fathom the riddle of the formidable illusion hiding the thing they had come to Counter Charm to fetch.
It was another day before they were satisfied that they understood the process of cloud formation well enough for now, and that it was safe for supervised children to do it. It was past time to return to the problem of the illusion masking the object for which they had come to this planet.
The Air Glamor made a private report. Gale had known him as Dour, a Cartographer, completely fooled by his disguise. His constituency was the hundred leg millipedes, but at the moment it was his expertise in illusion that concerned them.
“Failure,” he said.
“Amazement!” Havoc said. “How can any question of illusion be beyond your powers?"
“Frustration. I have tried repeatedly to penetrate it, but can null only one sense illusion at a time, as before, so am limited. This is a higher class illusion than any we know on Charm."
Gale, too, was amazed. “You can't plow through, ignoring it, to reach the center?"
“This, too, I tried. Each time I got beyond the boundary of a setting such as the ones we sampled before, I found myself not farther into the illusion fields, but at the fringe, exiting. It affects my sense of direction, not merely by image and sound, but directly, so that my certainty of maintaining progress in a straight line is deluded. If I null that illusion, the others such as balance and body position overwhelm me and I am unable to function. This complex illusion has defeated me."
“This explains why we need the altar to point direction,” Havoc said. “And a map to mark progress."
“But these are held by mortals,” Gale said. “We don't want to put them at risk."
“We may have to,” Havoc said.
“I will keep trying,” Air said. “Perhaps there is something I have overlooked.” He departed.
“I doubt it,” Havoc said. “He knows illusion better than any of us."
“There has to be a way,” Gale said. “The mere existence of the tapestry and altar suggest that there is."
“We'll see.” He disappeared.
Iva joined Gale in solid form as the children played. “Observation and request,” she said.
“Interest and acquiescence,” Gale replied. Her experience in cloud form had satisfied her that the ifrits were honest and friendly; indeed they lacked the ability to deceive. Whatever Iva wanted was surely justified.
“We have tried to understand you humans, by assuming your forms and practicing your ways. We have discovered much. But we have need to understand more. We know that you come from our sister planet which you call Charm."
“Accuracy.” That was the observation; what was the request?
“Why?"
There it was. Gale had consulted with Havoc and the other Glamors when they realized that the ifrits were achieving sapience of the human style, and they had agreed that when this question came, it should be answered. It was time.
“Complicated,” Gale said. “Suggestion: link with Ilka for better understanding as I explain."
The red mist in their vicinity thickened: Ilka, summoned, was establishing a more direct connection with her daughter ifrit. That would enable them to assimilate a situation they might not otherwise have been capable of grasping. “Done,” Iva said.
Gale spoke for some time, summarizing the Glamor quest for answers to the riddles of their own existence. She told of the changelings like Aura and Augur, who came as incipient babies from an unknown source and grew to be superior human adults. Of the transitions of some humans and animals to Glamor status, with ikons that transmitted magic power to them so that they could do magic anywhere, even here on Counter Charm. Of the altars where most ikons were kept. Of the loom and the tapestry that showed a scene on Counter Charm.
“And so we at last came here,” she concluded. “Because there is evidently something here that we need, in the region that turns out to be thoroughly masked by layered illusion. Once we locate it we will take it back to Charm and use it to gain the answers we seek. We did not know of you ifrits, but are glad to have made your acquaintance. We believe that humans and ifrits can do each other much good, because each has abilities the other can learn and use. When our mission here is done, and we return to our home world, I hope we can maintain contact."
“Amazement,” Iva said. “We have our own history and mystery, which it seems relates to yours."
This was something new. The ifrit
s had history? And their own mystery? “Curiosity."
“Suggestion: use your telepathy to link with your other Glamors, who may be interested in this."
The ifrit was not fooling, any more than Gale had been. This had the scent of something important. Havoc! Linking to his mind, she relayed the context of Iva/Ilka's request.
I hear and obey. And in a moment she felt the presence of the other Glamors. They were all listening.
“Done,” Gale said.
“Our planet was colonized in similar manner to yours. Some of our forms are parallel, while some differ, as you know. We had no human arrival, and you had no ifrit arrival, but the general nature of the two planets is the same. Only the details differ. We generally lack sapience, but can achieve it at need. We have achieved it in order to relate to you humans. There was another time when we achieved it or something similar, then lost it."
“You were sapient before—and let it go?” Gale said, surprised.
“Agreement. We do not need it for ordinary existence, as you have seen. But some time ago we did. We retained only a summary, so that we would know what needed to be undisturbed. Now you have come to disturb it."
“The object!” Gale said, prompted by one of the other Glamors.
“The object,” Iva agreed. “I did not know of this until you spoke of it, and the information prompted Ilka to consult with other ifrit memory. We do not understand all of it, but believe the information will be useful to you."
“Speak,” Gale murmured, fascinated.
“Long ago the object came from space. It resembled a metallic meteor, but it did not crash; it slowed and landed on your world. Our worlds have accepted what came from space, but in this case they did not. The object was dangerous and needed to be eliminated, but it was not capable of being touched. It seems to have repelled magic; only purely physical forces could act on it. We do not know how this could be, only that it was so."
“A spaceship,” Gale said. “With means to repulse magic. It landed on Charm.” She paused, assimilating the input of the Glamors. “Maybe it was a bomb—a thing set to explode with horrible force, to destroy the planet. But why would such a thing be sent?"
“We do not know. Only that it had to be stopped. Somehow something on your planet shaped physical things around it, using magic beyond the object's range, and rolled it into a volcano. Then the volcano erupted with such force as to hurl the object free of the planet. It seems the object could not prevent this; it had been physically sealed and rendered helpless for a time, and was ejected before that time expired."
“What a story!” Gale said. “How did anything on Planet Charm know why or how to do that, before there were sapient creatures on it?"
“We do not know. Perhaps it resembled your child's ability to see the futures, so that what needed to be done was done. The object was sent away. But in space it recovered its mobility, and returned to land again—this time on our planet. We ifrits recognized it as too dangerous to touch or ignore. But we lacked the ability to shape physical things around it to nullify it, so we used nonphysical means."
“Illusion!” Gale exclaimed. “You made the illusion!"
“We made it,” Iva agreed. “We bound the object with confusion so that it could not move or act, and covered it with illusion so that no animals or demons could approach it. We left it there, for no magic can touch it directly, buried and hidden. We want to be further rid of it, but lack the means."
“And this is what we have come for,” Gale said. “This supremely dangerous thing from space."
“Agreement. If you wish to remove it from our planet, we will help you accomplish that. But there is a complication."
Gale smiled grimly. “There often is. Explain."
“We no longer have the ability to remove the illusion we crafted. That ability was deliberately sacrificed so that no entity, including ifrits, could ever approach the object casually. Our forebears did not anticipate the appearance of humans or Glamors. So we are unable to help you in this respect."
Gale nodded. “That is a complication, agreed. But we Glamors bring other means to accomplish things. Maybe we can do what you can't."
“That is possible."
“You said no one can approach the object casually. That suggests that there is a way."
“Agreement.” Iva was surprised. “I have just learned of this, too."
Gale suppressed impatience. “What is the way?"
“The illusion is not random. It is structured in rings and layers, drawing on the nature of those who seek to pass it. It is dynamic, using their own qualities to confuse them. But because it was recognized that at some point there might be reason to reach the object, an avenue exists."
“An avenue!"
“It is a challenge, a—game. You must fathom its rules and follow them. If you do, you can proceed safely through. If you do not, you will be led into treachery. Even if you are immune from physical damage, you will not discover the object unless you prevail in the game. This is intended to ensure that whoever reaches the object has sufficient understanding to handle it. The object is deadly."
“So we gather,” Gale said dryly. “But it seems that this is a risk we are obliged to take. Havoc will love it.” Because Havoc was a creature of crisis, bored with routine.
“We will assist to the extent we are able."
She knew they would. This was a phenomenal breakthrough. Now they knew a great deal more about the object they sought. Could this be a reason the way had been prepared for the existence of Glamors? To finally deal with this lurking threat? But that implied that there was some intelligent design behind this effort of theirs. In that case, what was the need of Glamors? Why hadn't the originator of that design simply handled the threat itself?
There was still more here than they had fathomed.
A presence come. Swale! she thought. You took your time returning.
The succubus made a mental nod. I got involved in something back on Charm. There's a problem.
There was always another problem. We are busy here at the moment.
With the ikons.
Oops.
* * *
Chapter 8—Ikons
Chief had been away on business for several days. It drove Aspect crazy. “Eagerness!” she exclaimed as she embraced him, pressing her body to his.
He laughed, as she had known he would, but without the normal force. His trip must have been wearing. She couldn't tell, because his mind was locked closed. Well, she would take his mind off that soon enough.
It seemed forever before she got him alone in the evening. She wore her slinkiest gown, determined to make the most of the occasion. He liked it, of course; he had no choice. But she didn't dally long on admiration; she virtually hauled him to the bed and had at him, kissing and stroking where it counted. All too soon she had him inside her with a mutual climax.
But still his mind was shut. That bothered her. “Question."
He gazed at her. “Reluctance."
“I am here for you, lover. I want to share and ameliorate."
“Postponement?"
This was serious. “Preference: tackle it now, then more sex. We have catching up to do."
He sighed. “As you wish. You have changed. That is my concern."
“I have become more passionate.” She took his hand and playfully stroked herself with it.
“You were away for a year. That provided perspective. You are not the woman I came to love."
She was taken aback. “I am a better woman now. My health, my form, my desire. I owe it to the ikon."
“I have known you for some time. Loved you that time."
“You sired my fourth,” she agreed. The she glanced askance at him. “Love—then?"
“You were such a remarkable woman, my ideal. I could not help it."
“I didn't know."
He smiled. “You were my friend's wife. I had my own wife and family. No one could know. Especially when you became queen, and I the kin
g's chief of staff."
This was perplexing news. “But when you were free, and I was free, it was Ennui you approached."
“I did not know your sentiment, and feared rejection."
She shook her head. “I never suspected. I thought you wouldn't mind getting me into bed again, but of course I had lost the figure of youth, so believed that was past."
“Negation. But the memory of my friend remained; I did not wish to dishonor it. Yet when it didn't work out with Ennui, I tried cautiously to approach you."
“And I welcomed it,” Aspect agreed. “I had of course been aware of you, but assumed there was nothing there. I found I was mistaken."
“Agreement. Then you took Queen Gale's ikon."
“And it transformed me."
“Agreement,” he repeated. “At first I liked this, because it changed you to be more like the vibrant young woman I first loved."
“I was pleased to be so, for you."
“But the change has progressed to the point where you no longer seem like that woman. You are beautiful, as you were before, and healthy in the manner of youth. But I am no longer youthful."
“Disregard! I love you as you are."
“And I love you as you were. My age."
She was taken aback again. “You do not wish me young?"
He frowned. “Difficulty. You are man's desire. But it is like embracing a bath girl of my daughter's generation. How long will you be patient with me?"
Aspect had not thought of this. She had assumed that men of all ages liked young women. “I remain my real age, in outlook and experience. I want my body to please you."
“It does. But I can not keep up with you. Your sex drive is now like that of a young man."
She nodded. “Acquiescence. I thought you liked that."
“I do. But you need more sex that I can provide."
He was right. She was already hot for more of it. “I don't know what to say."
“I believe I should free you to find your own level."
She was appalled. “Shock! I love you."