Jolie found herself on a slope—but the mountain had changed. It was now alien. No—it was a mountain-sized depression! They were standing on the slope of a roughly conical pit. Yet, oddly, it wasn't dark in its depths; it was lightest at the base and darkening at its rim.
Rim? Jolie looked upslope—and spied a giant dome. This was not a pit, it was a closed cave!
Beside her, Orlene was gazing around with equal wonder. "Like the inside of a tremendous diamond!" she said.
Jolie had to agree. The walls of their prison were faceted, and the whole was like an elegant cut. How had they come here?
Again Orlene fathomed it first: "The dark cloud—it phased us into the mountain!" she exclaimed. "We are inside the mountain!"
"But then it's upside down!" Jolie said. "Narrow at the base and broad at the—"
"It isn't, we are!" Orlene said. "We were climbing toward the point; now we are descending toward the point. We're inverted—inside and upside down."
Indeed, it seemed to be so. "That was one impressive bit of magic," Jolie said. "The wand got us away from the locusts by phasing us into the mountain, where they couldn't go."
"Well, you did tell me to use it at need!"
They contemplated each other. Their clothing was tattered but still serviceable. Their skins were abraded, but not seriously damaged. The locusts had not been able to do a lot of damage in the few seconds they had had.
"Do you suppose the wand can conjure us back outside?" Orlene asked.
"That seems likely. But maybe we should descend to the peak of the mountain first, then go out. That will save energy and danger."
Orlene nodded agreement. They resumed their travel, following the same path they had, but from the other side: a slightly raised surface. Indeed, all of the local contours seemed to be the same as those of the outside of the mountain, with the exception of the living portion: the grass, brush and trees. The outcroppings of rock were pits here, and the depressions were mounds. On the larger scale this was an evenly faceted surface, but on the immediate level it was highly varied.
In fact, it seemed to be such a perfect inversion of the outer surface of the mountain that increasingly Jolie wondered about it. She had thought the mountain was a shell, with an inside and an outside, and that the wand had phased them through that shell and put them on the inner surface. But such a mold had no need to be identical on inside and outside, and indeed was unlikely to be. In fact, it might be close to impossible on a scale like this; such a thin film, following the exact surface of a mountain, should quickly collapse unless soundly buttressed on one side or the other. This one wasn't buttressed outside or inside.
"Something funny about this," Orlene said. "I'm not sure we're inside a hollow mountain; I think we're part of it!"
"We'd be embedded in it!" Jolie said, laughing.
"No, somehow we're reacting to the rock and earth the solid inanimate parts—as if they are air, while the air is like rock to us now. Gravity is reversed too; we're trying to fall away from the planet, but the air is stopping us. Normally we're trying to fall into the center of the planet, but the ground stops us."
"But we're not on the planet," Jolie pointed out. "We're at the verge of Purgatory, which is nowhere in relation to the planet, but might be pictured as a two-dimensional plane somewhere between Earth and infinity. We seem solid here because our ghostly state has better definition; it's an illusion, for we have no three-dimensional solidity."
"Oh, I forgot about that! I'm still thinking in mortal terms. Sometimes it's hard to believe I'm really dead."
"Your body is dead; your soul lives on. But I think you have helped me answer a confusion I was having. I thought this big diamond structure should collapse because it isn't supported on either side, but of course I was thinking in mortal terms. The rules here are those of Purgatory and illusion; this structure is as Nox made it, and there is no point questioning it."
"So it really can be us assuming a solid semblance, because if Nox defines the rules of interaction, that's how it is. A dream world."
"Yes, it really can be." Jolie glanced at her, bothered by something else, but not sure what. Orlene didn't seem quite the same, but Jolie wasn't certain that she had changed. Maybe it was just this altered perspective again.
They resumed their descent, but were shortly interrupted by something new. The ground, such as it might be, was shuddering.
They looked around, alarmed, and spied motion across the pit. Something was moving, sliding across the surface like flowing water. The effect spread around the pit, toward them.
"Avalanche!" Jolie exclaimed. "Or a snow slide, or something."
"Maybe water?" Orlene asked, peering at the stuff. It seemed to sparkle.
"We've seen no water here before," Jolie said. "But it does seem to move like it."
Then the effect reached them. Fine powder sifted down by their feet, and by the sound of it, more was on the way from above.
"That's not water," Orlene said, bending to scoop some with a hand. "It's dust, or—ouch! It prickles!"
"That's glass!" Jolie exclaimed. "Ground glass! Or diamond dust! Don't breathe it!"
Orlene dropped her handful with alacrity. "But in a moment it will bury us!"
"Use your wand! We have to get out of here!"
Orlene whipped out the wand and waved it. "I invoke you!"
The darkness formed, expanding as it had before. In a moment it encompassed them. The vertigo returned.
It passed. As the cloud dissipated, Jolie saw that they were back on the outer mountain, amid the bushes, but higher than they had been. Their progress inside translated into progress here.
Orlene rubbed her fingers cautiously together. "No more glass," she said gruffly. "Or diamond dust. Wish I'd had a bag to save some of it!"
"That's a relief! Apparently the things of the inside can't follow us out, any more than the things of the outside can follow us in. The wand is attuned to us alone, by Nox's order."
"Must be," Orlene agreed in that same gruff voice.
Jolie looked at her. Now she was sure: the woman had changed. She was using a lower tone, and she seemed a little larger than before. Indeed, her body was more robust. What was happening to her? Jolie decided not to comment until she had a better notion. It might be part of the strangeness of this mountain.
They proceeded up, following the path. But before long there was another threat. A giant bird was coming down the slope, standing taller than either of them, with muscular legs and a thick, ferocious beak.
"What is that?" Orlene asked, taken aback.
Jolie was amazed. "I've had opportunity to do some research into this and that, over the years. That looks like one of the big flightless predator birds of prehistoric times—Diatryma, maybe."
"Is it friendly?"
"Unlikely. They were fearsome hunters."
Orlene glanced to the side. "Maybe I can fight it off with a stick."
"Don't try it!" Jolie cried, aghast. "They strike forward with their legs, to disembowel! Use your wand!"
Orlene hesitated, then brought out the wand. As the bird charged, she invoked it.
There was a harsh, angry squawk. The bird plunged at the expanding darkness. For a moment the malevolent head projected next to Jolie's own. The great beak turned to orient on her face, but Jolie was already ducking down into the cloud. She felt the vertigo.
In a moment they were back inside the mountain and the big bird was gone. Now it was certain: only those for whom the wand was intended could use it. Orlene was the only one who could touch it or invoke it, and Jolie was the only other one it transported. Otherwise the bird would have come with them, for most of its body had been within the cloud.
"I'm going to find a weapon," Orlene said. "I don't want to be caught short again."
Jolie looked at her, dismayed. Now her face was changing, losing its beauty. The jaw line was stronger, and there was a shadow at the chin. Was she reverting to some primitive form? Still, it seemed best not to comm
ent, for there was nothing positive Jolie could say.
Fortunately there was nothing suitable as a weapon. "Damn!" Orlene grunted. "Well, when we go back outside, sure as hell I'll get something."
She was swearing now. She never had before, being indelibly feminine. That suggested a personality change keeping pace with the body change. Was something similar happening to Jolie herself? She didn't feel different, but then Orlene didn't seem to feel different either. It was surely Nox's doing—but why?
As they descended, with Orlene setting a brisk pace, Jolie continued to ponder the matter, ill at ease. Nox was the Incarnation of Night, really an ancient goddess, mistress of secrets and dreams and all things hidden. This was surely a type of dream, crafted for the two of them. But why should Nox bother? It would have been easy for her to make herself entirely unapproachable, or to manifest before the visitors at the outset. Why set this strange mountainous challenge for them? What was the point?
Maybe it was a mischievous game. Parry, now Satan, had mentioned her with a certain awe; it seemed that Nox had a way with men that was not to be denied. Maybe the Incarnation was having idle sport with the two women, seeing fit neither to tempt them nor to banish them. If so, it was getting cruel.
Something was happening, again. There was no sign of the ground glass they had fled before, but as they got farther down, the air was becoming warmer. Jolie saw Orlene sweating, but her pace did not diminish. The woman now had more muscle, and it seemed functional; she was braving the discomfort of the heat as she might a private challenge, showing that it could not daunt her. Jolie would have preferred to avoid any such challenge, but saw no alternative.
"Sheesh, it's hot!" Orlene remarked, wiping her brow with a handful of her tattered blouse, which she carelessly yanked out of her waistband. That exposed her chest.
Jolie was appalled. Orlene had been full-busted, her endowment masked only by her demure manner and conservative mode of dress. Jolie had helped get her dressed after her recovery from her predeath emaciation. Niobe had been the most beautiful woman of her generation; her daughter Orb had fallen not far short of that, and her granddaughter Orlene was close enough. Now Orlene's bra was oddly shrunken. At the same time the muscles of her aims were larger. There was no longer any question: she was changing.
There was a swirl in the air ahead. Dust was being sucked into a whirlwind. Jolie recognized the phenomenon, because of her association with Gaea: it was a heat vortex, part of the mechanism for generating a quick storm. Gaea controlled the elements, and could bring wind or rain or draught to any region she chose. Uncontrolled use of the tools of weather could be hazardous, especially to those in the immediate vicinity.
"We'd better get out of here!" Jolie said. "We don't want to get burned."
"What's with this place?" Orlene demanded rhetorically. "It's one damn thing after another! Let's just see about this twister!" She forged ahead, right toward the vortex.
"Wait!" Jolie cried, alarmed. "That thing's dangerous!"
Indeed, the vortex wasn't waiting to be approached; it was moving right toward them, its winds screaming. Orlene's hair whipped about, and she almost fell as the blast caught her. The wand fell from her pocket and bounced on the ground.
"The wand!" Jolie screamed. "Get the wand!" Orlene saw it. "Christ!" she grunted, diving for it. She caught it. "Invoke!"
The dark cloud formed. The raging wind had no effect on it. Soon they were both within it and wrenching back to the exterior realm.
They were closer to the summit, but Jolie was no longer concerned about that. She was in serious doubt whether this mission should proceed. Not only were the dangers getting worse, Orlene was still changing. Now she was not at all feminine. In fact "Orlene!" Jolie exclaimed. "Have you looked at yourself?"
Orlene glanced at her with irritation. "What are you talking about?"
"You've been changing! The farther we go—no, it must be the wand! Every time you use it, it—"
"Quit stuttering, woman! What's the matter with the wand?"
"It makes you more like a man," Jolie finished, horrified as she realized the direction it was going.
"For chrissake, girl, stop talking nonsense! We've got to get on with this before something else happens."
"Didn't you hear me? That wand is changing you into a man!"
"And you into a monkey!" Orlene retorted, laughing. She started up the path, striding strongly. Her hips had narrowed and her feet grown, making her better at this. Apparently her shoes did not bind.
Jolie stood for a moment, appalled. Orlene refused to recognize how she was changing!
They were looking for Nox, Mistress of Night. This must be a dream sequence, where the most outrageous situations were accepted as given. It was Orlene's dream: Jolie was merely an observer. Thus it seemed that only Jolie could see what was happening.
Should she urge a retreat from this mission? That would probably be wasted effort; if Orlene couldn't see the problem, she wouldn't act to abate it.
Jolie hurried after, soon panting; she certainly wasn't changing! She lacked the muscles and imperative to stride boldly onward. But she was afraid of letting Orlene walk into Nox's den alone.
Another menace appeared. It looked like a mountain goat, but it had three horns—and three legs. Two in front, one in the rear, in each case. Others of its breed followed: there was a flock of them. There was no way to avoid them on this narrowing mountain.
"I've had just about enough of this crap!" Orlene snapped. She stepped off the path, took hold of a struggling sapling, and wrenched it down. Its roots twisted out of the ground, spraying dirt. Orlene gave it another jerk and the remaining roots snapped. She had a serviceable staff.
She turned to face the tri-bucks. "Now charge me, dogmeat!" she cried. "You'll get roots up your nose!"
Jolie, breathless from running, was unable to speak. She was amazed at the strength Orlene had shown in ripping out the tree, and at the sheer aggression she was showing. But there were too many of the odd creatures to fight!
The first creature charged. True to her word, Orlene countered it with the rooty end of her pole. The front pair of horns rammed into the roots and shoved the pole back. Orlene, at the other end, was pushed down the path, cursing. The creature tossed its head, throwing the staff clear, and resumed its advance, the others close behind.
"The wand!" Jolie gasped.
Orlene's lip curled into a snarl, echoed in her throat, but she did bring out the wand. She evidently wanted to fight, but appreciated the odds against victory, so gave way grudgingly. That was, of course, the man's way.
The cloud appeared. In due course they were back inside the mountain, on the descending slope.
Jolie didn't want to look, but had to. Her fear was confirmed: Orlene was another stage more masculine than before, being larger, hairier, and now proportioned like a man. The exposed bra hung pointlessly; there was muscle rather than mammary flesh there now. Was her genital anatomy changing similarly? Jolie was sickly certain that it was.
"Well, come on, cutie, we're almost there," Orlene barked. She forged on down.
Cutie? Jolie liked this least of all. What was Nox trying to do here? What was the point in turning a nice young woman into a brutish man? Was it a joke? It certainly wasn't funny!
Near the bottom of the pit they encountered another hazard. It was cold here, the heat of the prior session gone as if it had never existed. Ice appeared—but it did not stay in place, it moved. Glaciers were developing in the angles between facets, flowing as if liquid, but they were solid. Ice was coming down behind them and wedging together ahead of them. They tried to climb over it, but it was slippery and numbingly cold.
"Damn it!" Orlene exclaimed, slamming a fist into it. A slight patina of cracks appeared at the point of contact, signaling the power of the blow, but that was all. "What is the point of this interference?"
She perceived the external threats but not the internal one! "Nox is playing with us," Jolie said. "Incarn
ations can be cruel."
"Well, I want to tackle her face to face!" Angrily, Orlene invoked the wand.
When the cloud cleared, they were almost at the peak. The bushes surrounded a small bare region. That was all.
Orlene was now completely male; no vestige of femininity remained, except for the tattered and incongruous clothing. She even had a light beard. But she—Jolie found that designation anomalous, but refused to concede the inner reality of the change—still refused to acknowledge her situation.
Orlene tramped on up to the top. "Well, at least there're no monsters this time," she muttered with rough satisfaction. "But where's Nox?"
Jolie followed. "She may not be here at all. This may merely be her diversion for us, a dream sequence that expends our energies but leads only to futility. The Incarnations can have unusual ways to—"
"Don't give me that noise! I came here to see the bitch, and I'm going to see her! Where is she?"
What an ass her companion had become! But it was pointless, and quite possibly dangerous, to dally here longer. They were in Nox's power, and if they affronted the Incarnation, things could get much worse.
"Nox won't see us unless she chooses to," Jolie said carefully. "I think we should accept the fact that she's not interested, and get off this mountain before we annoy her."
"Listen, doll, whose side are you on?" Orlene demanded. "I didn't come here just to quit! Where the hell is Nox?"
"This isn't wise!" Jolie said pleadingly. But Orlene turned with masculine arrogance and gestured at the sky with a fist. "A pox on Nox!" she bellowed. "Get your ass down here. Incarnation!"
Horrified, Jolie grabbed at Orlene's arm. "You mustn't!"
Orlene turned, trying to shake her off, but Jolie clung.
She had to get them away from here before something terrible happened!
Then Orlene's eye fell directly on Jolie. Her mouth pursed appraisingly. "Say, I never realized what a piece you are. C'mere, girl." Her muscular arm came around to catch at Jolie's free arm.
Suddenly Jolie was being hauled in and lifted by a body much stronger than hers. "What—?"
"Gimme a kiss!" And their faces were together.