DO NOT FORGET, GOOD CHILD, her parting thought came back to Dolph. He knew he would not forget; he only hoped some day to understand.
Then Cheiron and Chex backed off together, and a harpy flew up. Dolph saw with surprise that it was a male; he had never seen one of those before. "Let me snatch your attention before the festivities begin," the harpy cried. "I am Hardy Harpy, and I am here to introduce my daughter Gloha, who will announce the gifts."
Now the child flew up. She was a beautiful little goblin girl, with the wings of a bird, obviously not of the faerie folk, whose wings were like gauze. A flying crossbreed, therefore a winged monster, though she was as unlike a monster as could be imagined. Gloha—Dolph searched his memory, and remembered that there had been a harpy-goblin romance that had almost provoked war, Ivy had been involved with that, and naturally had not told him much. The goblin had been Glory, so the mergence of Glory and Hardy would be Gloha. He had it now. Probably this was a way of allowing the goblins, who were monsters but not winged, to participate nominally.
"First," piped Gloha nervously, "from the Simurgh: three seeds." She took a breath, and seemed to lose her place, because Hardy had to whisper in her ear. "Oh, yes: the envelope, please."
A winged human skeleton stepped forward, carrying a seed packet. He handed it to Gloha, who opened it and peeked in. "The seeds of Life, Love, and Learning," she said, passing the envelope along to Chex. There was a growl of applause from the throng of monsters. This was certainly a remarkable gift! Dolph wondered whether Chex would bring those seeds to his mother Irene, for help in making them grow well. Irene's talent was the Green Thumb; she could make anything grow, instantly.
"And, and—" Gloha announced after another prompting, reading from the second envelope brought by the skeleton, "from the guest monsters here ass—ass—" Another prompt from her father. "Assembled, a vacation on the honey side of the moon. A honeymoon!"
There was a louder roar of approval. Everyone knew mthat the moon was made of green cheese, at least the side that faced Xanth, and sometimes it reeked pretty strong, sickened by what it saw below. But the far side was not exposed to such a sight, and remained sweet honey, as the whole thing had been originally. It was reputed to be the most delightful of all places to be, but it required so much magic to get there that hardly anyone did it. The monsters must have pooled all their available extra magic for this gift!
The skeleton brought the third envelope. "And, from the monsters of the gourd, to be delivered by Mare Imbri, a full year of sweet dreams." And as the monsters roared their approval, there was a passing flicker in the shape of an invisible horse. Mare Imbri was not technically a winged monster, but everyone knew her and liked her because of the pleasant daydreams she brought, and no regular monster could carry these, so no one protested her intrusion here.
"Now," Hardy Harpy cried, "do we want to bother with the tedium of a receiving line, or shall we let them get on with the breeding?"
There was a deafening roar: the monsters were not here for tedium. Dolph listened, excited; he strongly suspected that this had something to do with the stork. Was he going to get to see how adults summoned it?
No such luck. Cheiron and Chex thanked the assemblage, then spread their wings and took off for the moon, which was now making a special appearance by day in all its fullness, so that the happy couple could conveniently reach it. Even so, it would be a long flight, so it was indeed best that they get started.
As the centaurs flew above the throng, Chex glanced down. Her gaze fell on Dolph. Her mouth fell open in surprise. She recognized him! But then she looked away, and soon the couple was silhouetted by the great bright globe of the moon. Chex, sweet creature that she was, had decided not to tell on him.
The manticore returned to the center stage. "Now we celebrate!" he fluted. "Refreshments are served on the north side; plenty of carrion available! Gaming on the south side; form your groups for Dungeons and Dragons!"
The monsters dissolved into chaos as each sought its desire. Dolph saw two griffins getting together, male and female, and suddenly he knew they were going to celebrate by summoning the stork. He started to make his way over there so he could watch and finally learn the secret that had so long been denied him.
"Hey, you're underage!" Draco said, catching him in a paw. "Time to go to the games!"
Dolph stifled a bad word. Even the monsters were part of the fiendish Adult Conspiracy! What was so awful about the mechanism that no child could be allowed to see it?
They forged toward the games. But now a new problem manifested. A thundercloud was trying to crash the party! King Cumulo Fracto Nimbus had spotted the activity, and was coming to drench it to awful sogginess.
There was consternation among the monsters, who were far too crowded to take off before the storm scored and soiled their feathers and splashed mud on their clean fur. Besides that, they didn't want their celebration washed out. What to do?
"You know," Dolph said to Draco, "everyone here has wings. I bet if every monster tied down and flapped its wings, they could blow off Fracto."
"Now that's a notion!" Draco said. "I'd better relay it, because if you tell it—"
"Right," Dolph agreed. He did not want any attention focused on him!
Draco lifted his snout and sounded a fiery honk for attention. "Let's line up, tie down, and blow that fog face out of the air!" he growled. "It's time he had a lesson in manners!"
The idea appealed. Quickly the monsters organized. The biggest and strongest formed a line at the edge of the plateau, while the smaller ones got back out of the way. Three rocs were at the center of the line. Each monster dug its talons into the ground, grasping sod, roots, and rock so that it would not take off. Then the trumpet swans sounded a cadence, honking in unison. The three rocks began moving their wings, in time with the honks, and the wind gathered. Chex Centaur was able to fly by making her body light, but the rocs and others flew by the sheer power of their wings, so these generated a lot of wind.
That wind increased as they got into it. The effect was like that of a huge fan, that magic instrument that made a breeze when waved, and the anchored monsters were like a whole convention of fans, blowing hot air. That stream of wind reached out and shoved at the oncoming cloud, pushing it back.
King Fracto's foggy face clouded up as he encountered this opposition. He roared thunderously, and lightning jags shot out of his bottom. But he was a demon of the air, and the air was moving the wrong way. He could not advance against the massed draft of the monsters.
Slowly Fracto was shoved away. His visage was a fright to behold as he realized he was being bested; Dolph had never before seen a cloud as grim and dark as this. Fracto's sport had been spoiled; he could not wash out this celebration.
At last the evil cloud gave up, and drifted away to other mischief. The monsters growled a cheer. Then they dismantled their wind machine and returned to the festivities.
Dolph was pleased. He had in his small way exerted the quality of leadership that was expected of a future king, even if he couldn't take credit for it. Now that he had come to know these monsters, he liked them, and he was glad he had been able to share in this event. In addition, he had managed to settle the matter of the firewater opal, because Draco was going to give it back.
Dolph could not think of anything that could spoil his satisfaction. This had become a wholly good event.
Had he but known . . .
Chapter 9
Goblins
Disgruntled, Marrow Bones settled himself into the dragon's nest. He did not like this at all. He should not have let Dolph go to the ceremony; the boy was only nine years old, which was young by human standards, and could get into all sorts of mischief without adult supervision. Draco seemed to be an honorable dragon, so probably would not break the truce, but there would be many monsters there who were hungry and not pledged to pass up such a morsel. Even if Dolph remained undiscovered, mere could be trouble. This was to be a wedding ceremony, and
centaurs were notoriously open about natural functions; suppose someone let slip the secret of stork summoning in the boy's presence? Dolph's body might not be hurt, but his mind could be irreparably changed.
Even if Dolph made it back safely in body and mind, there would still be the matter of the firewater opal. The truce was only that; when it ended, there would be battle again, and the sides seemed evenly matched. Marrow had believed that the boy could assume a form that would thwart the dragon; otherwise he would have been more cautious about this encounter. But Draco was an uncommonly savvy dragon, and this was Draco's home territory. Suppose Dolph made a mistake and got severely chomped? That would be Marrow's responsibility too. Queen Irene might be watching from Castle Roogna via the Tapestry, but her avenues of rescue would be sharply limited. She would have to send help, perhaps a man with a dragon net, but could this arrive in time? Marrow seriously doubted it. This Quest had gotten seriously out of hand!
But things had happened too quickly for his hollow head to assimilate, and the boy had gone off to the ceremony. For all the likely folly of it, Marrow could understand Dolph's interest. Chex was a fine mare, and this was likely to be a fine wedding. Obviously the stubborn centaur community would not sanction such an event, so it was up to the monsters. Marrow could not understand why the centaurs, an obvious crossbreed between the human and the equine folk, were so insistent on the purity of the species. They were similarly conservative about magic, exiling any centaur who evinced a magic talent. Yet without crossbreeding and magic, where would Xanth be? As dull as Mundania, almost by definition! Not only did the Mundanes practice neither, they believed that neither was possible. It simply was not feasible to relate to the Mundane attitude; the Mundanes just had to be left to their own drear existence.
Well, at least he could locate the firewater opal while he waited. He would not take it, of course; he had agreed to protect the nest during the dragon's absence, however sloppily the agreement had been foisted on him, and he would do that to the best of his limited ability. But when they returned, and resumed the battle, the gem would be needed. Assuming that Dolph won—and of course he had to win, because otherwise they would be unable to redeem Grace’l from the merwoman.
Grace’l. Now there was a pretty thought! Marrow realized that he had been long away from the gourd, and from his own kind; the notion of a companion skeleton was quite appealing. Grace’l had the most shapely bones he could remember. Of course she would be returning to the gourd in due course—yet she had declined when given the opportunity. Dolph had demonstrated his ability to assume the form of a gourd, so that meant that Grace’l could return home at any time. Why had she not done so?
It was most tempting to believe that she found Marrow's company as intriguing as he found hers. Marrow had been lost for a long time before being found and brought to Xanth; he had forgotten what romantic experience he might have had. His recent experiences outside the gourd had deepened and broadened and lengthened his awareness of many things, and changed his perspective, so that he was no longer truly a creature of the gourd. He knew that he would now be a poor hand at the construction of bad dreams; no self-respecting night mare would accept one of his efforts. He didn't even scare people anymore! So it was possible that he did not impress Grace’l. But she impressed him, and if she elected to remain longer in Xanth…
His thoughts were brought to a rude halt by a sinister sound. The fading thoughts rattled around in his skull for a moment before settling into a formless mass and sinking out of sight. He focused his attention on the sound.
It was a quiet tapping elsewhere in the cave. He knew it was not normal, because the bats stirred. "Did you do that, you airhead?" Brick Bat chittered.
"No, guano-face," he replied.
"Listen, bone-brain, if you weren't on that nest, I'd show you some guano! Why Lord Draco tolerates you there I'll never understand!" The other bats echoed the sentiment.
"That's because you're bats," Marrow said with satisfaction. "Are you going to investigate that suspicious sound or aren't you?"
The bat chittered something indecipherable and flew off to investigate. Marrow, abruptly nervous about prospects, resumed his quest for the firewater opal. Could something be coming to raid the nest during the dragon's absence? He had hoped that all would be quiet; he had problems enough worrying about Dolph.
The tapping continued. After a moment a bat flew to perch at the edge of the nest. "Hey, emaciated, I don't like this," Brick confided. "Sounds as if something is tunneling through the wall.''
"I don't like it either, skin-wing. Do you think something caught on to Draco's absence? I could blow my whistle and summon him back."
"Don't blow the whistle!" the bat cried. "If we bring him back, and it's nothing, and he misses the ceremony because of us, he'll toast us all to ashes!"
Marrow was inclined to respect Brick's judgment in this matter. They certainly didn't want a false alarm. They were now allies in their desire to avoid trouble. "Could it be a rockworm who lost its way?"
"Rockworms don't tap, they grind."
"Better keep a good ear on it, then," Marrow decided. "Just remember, if there's trouble, we're on the same side until the dragon returns."
"More's the pity, bare-skull," Brick said, taking off.
Marrow kept searching. Suddenly he spied it: a beautiful stone that glinted with liquid fire. The firewater opal!
Then he stared. There were two of them! He rubbed his eye sockets with a bone finger, but the stones remained. He picked them up. It was true: twin opals. Which one was the merwoman's?
Brick flew back. "We heard voices. Now we know: it's goblins!"
"Goblins! Here?"
"They live deeper in the mountain, under the naga. Usually they don't come near here."
"The naga?"
"Snakes. They don't bother us, and the goblins don't bother them. Much. But if the goblins are coming here, there's only one reason."
"The gems of this nest."
"How did you guess, hollow-noggin?"
"I was fortunate, fly-by-night. Should I blow my whistle?"
The bat considered. "Maybe there's only a few of them. We could handle that ourselves. If we called Lord Draco over a minor matter, he would strip our wings and make us do forced marches over the stalagmites."
"Let's wait and see, then." It was evident that the dragon did not like to be bothered about trifles, and had ways of discouraging this.
Brick flew off. Marrow set the two opals down, and pondered the situation. If the goblins were coming, it had to be because they had seen the dragon departing or because they knew of the ceremony and had timed their raid to coincide. That probably meant they were equipped to handle the bats, who really weren't such a bad threat. Probably they did not know about Marrow, though. Could he defend the nest adequately alone?
He wasn't sure, but decided that he could always blow the whistle if it appeared that the presence of the dragon was needed. He did not want to cause Draco and Dolph to miss the ceremony; both would be angry about that.
The tapping became loud. In due course the chisels broke through the wall, down at cave floor level. Light flared out. There was no further question: goblins were raiding.
The first goblin stepped into the cave, carrying a guttering torch. The bats swarmed down to attack. The goblin cursed and batted at them, waving his flaming stick. "Bring out the hoods!" he shouted back into the hole from which he had stepped. "The vermin are making a flap."
"Vermin!" Brick retorted, outraged. "Listen, clunk-head—"
The goblins ignored him. More stepped through, wearing helmets with heavy descending flaps. They had cloaks and gloves too. Every third one had a torch, which served as a weapon as well as for light. The bats attacked, but could make no progress; the outfits were impervious to their efforts, and the fire the goblins carried was devastating to wings.
There seemed to be half a dozen goblins. They were on the floor of the cave. Marrow concluded that they were not a
serious threat because they would not be able to scale the wall to the dragon's nest.
Then more goblins came, carrying long ladders. They hauled these to the region under the nest, and leaned them up against the wall. They were just long enough to touch it. The raiders had come prepared; this was an organized party.
Brick flew in to consult with Marrow. "The ruffians came prepared. May be you better blow your whistle now."
But Marrow had more confidence. "They don't know I'm here. Attack them as they climb; they won't be able to swat at you without letting go of the rungs. Go for their big tender feet; those aren't shielded. If any get near the top, I'll push the ladders away."
Brick gazed at him. "I am getting to dislike you less, bone-face."
"Same here, skin-snoot."
The bat departed. Soon the curses below redoubled. The goblins on the two ladders were trying to swat at their feet, and losing their balance and falling off. Those not on the ladders laughed. Fights broke out, until the goblin chief established order.
They started up the ladders again, in lines, the second goblin on each protecting the toes of the first. The bats were unable to penetrate.
"What now, bare-teeth?" Brick inquired.
"Just keep harassing them, so they have to climb slowly. Let me know when they're near the top. I want to dump as many as possible, and maybe break the ladders too."
"Beautiful! Almost worthy of a bat, that notion."
"Almost," Marrow agreed wryly, keeping his head down. He wanted this to be a complete surprise.
"Now!" Brick announced shortly.
Marrow rose up. He put his skull up against the face of the top goblin on the left ladder. "Boo!" he yelled.
"Ay-yi-yii!" the goblin screamed, appalled. He jumped backwards, and lost his grip. He fell, crashing into the one below. The entire column bumped down the rungs of the ladder, each cursing more villainously than the last.
Marrow quickly moved over to the right ladder and did the same. But this top goblin was more nervy; he yelled "Boo!" back and started to climb onto the nest. So Marrow put a hand on the top rung and shoved the ladder to the side. It fell, slowly at first, then with greater conviction, while the goblins aboard screamed in unison.