“I'm an idiot again,” Ini said. “The heat of a plains fire hardly penetrates the ground. Even a shallow covering of sand will shield against it.” She got down and started scratching at the ground with her gloved hands.
The woman called herself idiot, but she wasn't much of one. Twice she had come to understandings the Glamors had missed. Gale and Red got down and helped her excavate dirt, Gale using her staff to pry out rocks.
They moved readily, and a hole formed. This was illusion responding to input; such motion caused the ground to give way. In moments they were down to sand, and it was mounding up to the sides. Then, as the fire caught up to them, they threw themselves into the hole and swept dirt and sand over themselves, including over their shirts, used to make air pockets over their faces.
The fire passed across. They felt its heat, but two things mitigated it: the layer of dirt, and the fact that there was no grass to burn immediately over them, so the fires passed around more than over. It was uncomfortable but bearable. There wasn't even any smoke; that was rising, not sinking.
They waited until the heat faded, then climbed out of their shallow grave. “Why do I think this is not the end?” Gale inquired.
Because it isn't, Red thought. See that heavy rain.
The fire had burned itself out, but another cloud was coming, and this one was raining rather than blowing or setting fires. They could see sheets of water descending, like rivers pouring over dams, and the plain was flooding. Soon it was washing around their feet, and rising.
Havoc found it hard to breathe under water, Red thought. We will too.
“We'll just have to swim,” Gale said.
“Concern,” Ini said. “Floating and swimming does not seem like a sufficient challenge."
Then Gale saw a fin projecting above the surface of the muddy water. “It's not,” she agreed grimly. “Sharks."
Where could sharks come from, on a rainy plain?
“This is illusion,” Ini said. “It has its own rules."
This time Gale came up with the answer. “It draws from our knowledge of creatures. That means they must follow the rules we remember. Sharks are not as aggressive as some think; they are cautious about unfamiliar things. They seldom encounter helpless humans in the water; most are fishermen with nets and fish spears, who will also spear a shark if they get the chance."
“Too bad we lack a spear,” Ini said nervously. The water was surging around their waists, and the fins were circling closer.
“We have what will pass for one,” Gale said, lifting the staff. “The end is blunt, but they don't know that. Also, you have material that may resemble netting. A smart shark won't risk it."
Ini nodded and stripped her swathing, becoming invisible. The wrappings formed into an extremely crude semblance of a net.
As the water rose higher, they gave up their footing and started swimming. Gale held her staff in one hand, like a spear, and Ini played out her netting.
A large shark decided to risk it. It swam in close, jaws gaping. Gale hefted her mock spear and made as if to hurl it. The shark sheered off. Then, reconsidering, it returned. This time Gale poked it in the snout. Surprised, it retreated.
One came at Ini. She spread her net toward it, and it too retreated. The sharks did not know what to make of this group, but evidently didn't care to chance getting within kill or capture range.
The waters sank. The illusion was not lasting long, and they had survived it within its rules. Soon they stood on the dry plain again—as they had been throughout, could they just have sensed it. Ini put her swathing back on, but Gale wouldn't have known it if she had not mentioned it as she did so; it had been visible when used as a net but faded out otherwise. Gale's staff had similarly shown up in the illusion when it emulated a spear. It seemed the illusion fields did play fair.
“Direction,” Gale repeated.
“Toward that mountain."
Gale saw a mountain that she suspected had not been there before the flood. She headed for it, tapping the ground with her staff, and the others followed. Soon they reached it, and Gale ascertained that there was a real slope underlying the illusion slope. Was that meaningful?
The route was across the slope, which extended up on the right side and below on the left side. As they traversed it, snow began to fall. It increased rapidly, becoming a blizzard. Snow piled up on the ground, forcing them to tramp through it, because they could feel its cold resistance against their feet. Gale didn't bother to null it; she wanted to feel what the others felt.
“Odd that it's not colder,” Ini remarked.
She was right; the snow was firm against their feet, but the air wasn't cold. Was there a glitch in the illusion? She didn't trust that. Why should snow not be cold?
She looked around. The downside continued to a drop-off that looked unsafe. The upside extended past a boulder and on to a distant mountain peak that was now clothed in snow. Above it the bright light of Vivid shone, reflecting off the white surface. The storm had faded.
“This makes me nervous,” Gale said.
“Agreement,” Ini said. “This setting has something in mind."
Yet the snowstorm had passed and the day had turned bright. What could it be?
There was a rumble. The three of them paused in place, trying to locate the source.
Red was first to catch on. Avalanche!
The rumble increased. Now Gale saw the snow starting to slide. It started far up the mountain, but was gathering force. They were in its path.
“It will sweep us down and over the drop-off,” Ini said.
Gale looked desperately around. Could they run forward or back to escape it before the sliding snow swept across the path? No, the snow was moving all across the slope, and would catch them before they could stumble far enough to escape it. Already snow was nudging across the path, shaken by the reverberations of the avalanche; soon it would be caught up in the onrushing main mass of it.
Then she remembered something. “The boulder!” she cried. “Go!” She plunged uphill toward it, knee-deep in snow.
Toward the avalanche? But Red followed.
“She's right,” Ini said, doing the same.
They struggled upward as the snow gathered momentum downward. They did not have enough time. As they neared the boulder, the vanguard of rushing snow crashed through.
But they were in the lee of the boulder. The snow divided to pass around it, leaving a temporary gap. They scrambled into that gap, escaping the rushing snow on either side. The clear section closed by the time the snow crossed the path; they would not have saved themselves had they not hurried closer to the boulder.
The rushing snow passed, coursing on into the void below. The slope was clear.
“Nice weather makes snow melt,” Ini said. “When the slope is steep, it slides. I should have seen that coming."
Recrimination was pointless. They had survived by the rules of the setting. “Direction."
“Up the mountain."
They walked on past the boulder and up the increasing slope. There was no sudden shift to a new setting; the mountain was exactly as it appeared from the path. But Gale had a notion, and paused. “Bear with me.” She returned to the boulder and carefully climbed up its rough surface. There was a real boulder here, so the climb was real. She reached the top, stood up, and looked around.
From this vantage she could see farther to the sides and down. There was something odd about the fantasy layout.
Then she had it. “This mountain has no base."
Both Red and Ini reacted. Humor? Red thought.
“The illusion mountain is floating. Observe for yourselves."
They joined her on the boulder, verifying that the path they had walked before crossed the base of a mountain that had no anchor. The drop-off they had seen before was not a mere steepening slope, it was the curvature to the base of the mountain, which hung over the waves of a broad sea.
“We are in a new setting,” Ini said. “I feel di
zzy."
Our sense of balance is being affected, Red thought. I am no longer certain which way is up.
Neither was Gale. She was starting to feel as if she were about to fall off the boulder. “I think we had better readjust."
They did so, climbing off the boulder and making their way down the slope to the path. As they did so, the scene seemed slowly to reorient, so that they were actually climbing. When they reached the path, it was near the top of the slope rather than the bottom. They went to what had been the drop-off, and it led to a rounded field sloping up toward a copse of trees. A rickety wooden rail fence crossed it. A rather normal pasture scene.
Except that the sea was now above them. It was the sky, a solid cloudbank level below, dark in the center, without upper limit. Other floating mountains hovered just below it, their broad bases facing up, their sharply pointed peaks angling downward. The view was dizzying.
“We seem to have turned over,” Ini remarked.
Gale concentrated, nulling touch. It didn't help; the ground felt just as solid. It was balance or sight she needed to null, and she wasn't in a position to do that. “We are captive of the illusion,” she said. “We shall have to play it through and see where it leads. Direction?"
“We are going the right way,” Ini said, sounding surprised.
The illusion fields control direction, Red reminded them. We don't know what way we are headed; our directional sense can't be trusted. Presumably the altar's orientation can be trusted.
“Impressive illusion,” Ini said. “I would not have believed it, without experiencing it."
“The ifrits wrought well,” Gale agreed. “Now they can't enter these settings at all, and we find them challenging in the extreme."
They came to the fence. There was no gate. The path led to a crude wood stile so that they could climb over without disturbing anything. Beyond, the trees crowded in on one side, and the drop-off on the other side, making the way narrow but firm.
They followed the path as it twisted up a rocky slope to a higher level. Gale felt the heat of her exertion as she climbed. That was more illusion, since she was sure the underlying geography was closer to level, and in any event her Glamor power enabled her to exert herself without heating or tiring. Still, it was a nice country scene.
They crested the hill and followed the path as it wound down through yellow bushes to another fenced pasture. Another stile, then on to a river coursing through its deep channel. There was a wood bridge across it, with handrails.
“Negation,” Ini said as Gale was about to step on the bridge. “Direction is down along the stream."
They followed the stream as it meandered though the small valley it had carved. It grew larger as it was joined by streamlets from either side.
Then it flowed over a ridge, forming a waterfall. And beyond the waterfall was—nothing.
They stood at the brink and stared. The water fell in a clear sheet past the edge of the mountain, and evaporated before it struck the boiling clouds below.
“Let's check the direction again,” Gale said. “We might not actually get hurt if we jumped off, but I doubt the illusion considers attempted suicide a victory."
Ini tried again. “Ahead and down. In the river."
“So be it.” Gale nerved herself and walked over the ridge, following the water. Her body tilted, and she found herself entering the water face first, but not falling. The liquid sheet parted around her and she entered a canyon girt about by stone structures and rushing waters. She was under the mountain, again, and yet upright.
In a moment the others joined her. “I think if I were not here on business, as it were, I should like to visit for pleasure,” Ini said. “This impresses me, both as illusion and as scenery."
But where is it leading?
That was the question. They had encountered no further challenge or threat, unless rounding the mountain counted. Perhaps that was it; the average person might not be able to countenance the shifting orientations. So maybe they had navigated another setting after all.
Gale shared her notion with the others. “Agreement,” Ini said. “We handled the attacking elements—wind, fire, water, snow—and then the vertigo orientations of the mountain. Different settings, different challenges. The next is bound to be dissimilar."
“Then let's get to it,” Gale said, and marched on.
The canyon widened. The water moved to the left; their path to the right. Soon they were at the edge of a huge valley, with trees and houses below, clouds and houses above, their path cut into a slope so steep it was not far from vertical. A few cactuses and flowers clung to the grooves in the slope; otherwise it was barren.
The path led to a house or castle perched on the slope, and they entered a doorway. Steps led upward and downward.
“Direction?” Gale inquired.
“Up."
They stepped up. The stairway come to a landing, turned a right angle corner, and resumed ascending.
So it continued, for an interminable climb. They tramped up one floor, two, five, ten. “Surely there is a top to this tower, somewhere,” Ini said.
“Somewhere,” Gale agreed.
They continued, but so did the square stair. How high was it possible to go? This truly seemed endless.
Then Gale got a suspicion. The illusion wasn't interfering with their views of each other; Gale could see her own clothing and body, Red was garbed in red and was red herself; Ini was completely swathed. Why was it letting them be? Unless it wanted not to distract them from what they were doing. “Verify my reasoning,” she said. “The purpose of the illusion fields is to prevent us from reaching its center where the object is. Therefore it distracts us in any way that avails. Could this be such a way—an endless loop?"
“Sense!” Ini agreed.
“In which case we are merely going around and around. It will never end, as this is accomplishing its purpose of diversion."
Obvious—in retrospect, Red agreed.
“So how do we make sure of it—just in case my notion is wrong?"
“Elementary,” Ini said. “One of us goes the opposite way."
“Wouldn't that just separate us?"
“No if it's a loop. I'll do it.” Ini turned and started down.
Gale wasn't sure of this. They did not want to get too far apart from each other. “If you don't find a way out in five floors, stop and return,” she called.
“One floor should do it. You go on up."
Gale and Red resumed their climb. They turned a corner, then another—and encountered Ini, coming down.
“How did you get up there?” Gale demanded.
“Going the other way on the loop. This confirms it. We'll never get anywhere here."
Obviously so. Gale verified it by going down herself, and finding the others one floor below. They were repeating a single floor. “Curiosity: how is this possible, even in illusion?"
“Perspective,” Ini said. “We aren't actually going up or down, just around, deluded by illusion."
Doubt Red thought. “We could be seeing mere images of each other, as we separate."
“We had better get this straight,” Gale said. “If the illusion tricks us into separating, we won't be able to continue far."
“There is a central stairwell,” Ini said. “We can see several floors up and down. Let's look."
Gale tried it. She went to the inner rail and peered down. One floor below, there was the back of the head of a woman who looked a lot like herself. Then she put a leg over the rail, caught her other leg against a rail post, and swung out so she could peer upward.
And found herself looking right up under her own flared skirt. She had nice legs.
Red came beside her and looked down. Gale saw Red's head appear above, beside the Gale figure. Their glances met. Gale stuck out her tongue. Red put her spread hands to her ears. They were definitely themselves.
“And how do we get off?” Gale asked.
“We use the landing exit,” Ini sai
d. “Having fathomed the trap."
Duh. Gale felt foolish.
Did the altar point us into this trap?
“I never thought to check, after the first indication for up,” Ini said, chagrined. “The path led nowhere else. I just assumed—I'm an idiot again."
“Join the throng,” Gale said, laughing. “You couldn't check while inside a setting anyway. Where does it point now?"
“Out."
They went to the nearest landing, which looked exactly like the one they had entered at, by no coincidence, and exited the tower.
The scene had changed. The steep valley slope was gone. Now it was a forest glade. Sweet music was playing, and four buxom nude young women were dancing in a circle.
“I think it's time to give Havoc his turn,” Gale said, laughing.
Tomorrow, Red said. We have had enough experience for the day. We need to digest it, so we won't make further mistakes.
Gale and Ini were glad to agree.
“Announcement,” Gale said. “We are leaving off now, for the day, at a setting of interest to Havoc."
They set about making their way carefully back.
* * * *
Havoc hugged Gale as she emerged from the illusion fields. “Appreciation for leaving those bare nymphs for me."
“You will have a better notion what to do with them than I would,” she said, kissing him.
“I go too,” Weft said.
“So you'll have a chaperone,” Gale said.
“Awww.” He picked up the child and they returned to the main camp. The fact was Weft would have her way; no one said no to a Glamor, not even a Glamor parent. She had taught him that. In due course he would impress upon the child the need for discipline, but not just yet. Gale was right about that: he was a soft touch for Weft, as she was for Warp, and Symbol for Flame. Parenting required certain weaknesses.
“I think we made progress,” Havoc said as they settled for the night.
“We handled a number of settings,” Gale agreed. “But we don't know how many more there are. There could be a perpetual loop of settings, just like those stairs."
“Negation. The ifrits made it, and they tell us there is a way through."