Xone of Contention

  She whirled and bounced and lifted a leg fetchingly, giving it her all. Where was Willow?

  "You're pretty good." CoTwo said. "In fact I think I'll keep you."

  "Keep me?" She didn't like the sound of that.

  "You came back when I sent you away. You are trying to stall me so your friends can escape. But you do have an interesting shape. So I will subject you to a fate worse than death."

  She had been too successful in diverting him. Now he wanted her for storkish purposes. Pia tried to run. but the demon's arm stretched out impossibly long, and his hand became huge. It caught her around the torso, not hard but very firm. It lifted her into the air, so that her bare legs dangled.

  As with the Guilt monster, she could not escape. She had to tackle it directly. But she knew that vowing to be a better person would not have much effect this time. So she pretended confusion. "Worse than—?"

  "Are you a masochist?"

  "No way!"

  "Excellent. Because I am a sadist. I am going to bind you in chains, and whip you. and force you unwillingly to serve my pleasure at your great discomfort dozens ol times a day until I tire of you. Then I'll break you and throw you away."

  If he had intended to frighten her, he had succeeded. Pia screamed. She couldn't help it, though she knew that was what the demon wanted.

  CoTwo smiled. There was nothing nice about it "Yes. Scream, my fair little toy. Scream in anticipation, because the reality will be much worse." The arm contracted, bringing her closer.

  As she tried dizzily to free herself, her eye caught a glimpse of something in the sky. It looked like a bird, a plane—no, a winged elf Willow was arriving!

  All she had to do was stall a little more. Pia forced a sexy smile. "No, I'm sure the reality will be much better. You're quite a figure of a creature "

  "Don't try to fool me, precious. I will make you scream in physical and emotional pain." The huge fingers contracted cruelly, showing that this was no bluff. She was already hurting.

  "But—but don't you want me smiling?" she gasped. "Obliging your every foolish whim?"

  "Obliging, yes. Smiling, no. I like my toys to suffer."

  "Not so fast, hot stuff!" It was Edsel.

  CoTwo looked. So did Pia. Edsel was advancing on the demon, holding the magic locket before him. She remembered that the locket had to be close to the object before it could be invoked. Could Edsel get close enough?

  The demon dropped Pia like a squeezed sponge and focused on the man. "What do you propose to do about it?" CoTwo demanded.

  "I am going to put you inside this magic locket," Edsel said evenly. "Just as soon as I get you into its range "

  "Ed. don't tell him that!" Pia cried from the ground. But she was being foolish, because he already had told, giving away the element of surprise.

  "Fascinating," the demon said. "That really is the magic locket. I thought it was lost centuries ago along with the other Hinge artifacts. Where did you find it?"

  "Demon Ted and DeMonica found it," Edsel said, carefully aiming the front of the locket at CoTwo. "We recovered it from the Fanta Sea. It's the one thing that will stop you, because when invoked, it puts whatever it is aimed at within, and even a demon can't escape. Once you are safely inside, you will stay there, and only a little of your substance will remain outsid.e Not enough to warm Xanth much. The mountains will cool, and the glaciers will grow again, and the valley below will no longer flood, and the trees will prosper."

  "What arc you—an environmentalist nut or something like that?" CoTwo asked derisively.

  "Something like that," Edsel agreed. He was close to the demon now.

  "Don't dally, Ed." Pia cried. "Just do it!" Needless delay was sheer folly, when dealing with a brute like CoTwo. "It won't work," CoTwo said. "Oh? Why not?" Edsel held the locket up and opened his mouth, about to invoke it.

  The demon's hand swept through the air so fast it left a glowing blur-streak. It snatched the locket from Edsel's hand. "Because now I have the magic locket," CoTwo said triumphantly.

  Pia screamed. She hated seeming like a helpless damsel, but that was what she had become

  "No." Edsel said, looking horrified. "What are you going to do?"

  "What do you think, foolish mortal? The same thing you were going to do to me. I'll conjure you into the locket. Then I'll make your girlfriend scream and scream as I ravish her. When she has suffered so much that she can't scream any more. I will break her in half and put her into the locket for you to enjoy. What do you think of that?"

  "I can't stand it!" Edsel cried, turning to run away.

  CoTwo leaped forward, bearing the locket. He aimed it at Edsel at close range. "In!" he said as Pia screamed again in sheer despair.

  There was an implosion as the locket took in substance. A cloud of smoke puffed around, obscuring the scene.

  Pia burst into tears. Not for herself, but for her lost husband "Oh, Ed—you were so brave, and I'm so undeserving. I'll never forget you or stop loving you."

  The smoke dissipated. There stood Edsel. "That's great," he said.

  "Ed! You're free!" She wasn't sure she could believe it. She run to hug him. "What happened? How did you—?"

  "Well, I outsmarted him I—"

  But as he spoke, a horrible suspicion suffused her. Could this be the demon, emulating Edsel, to torment her further? She had to know.

  "Ed. who was I with, before I was with you?"

  He looked at her, surprised. "What has that got to do with the price of beans in Mundania?"

  "Just answer. Please."

  "Dug. of course "

  But the demon might have eavesdropped on prior conversations, and picked that up "How did you get me?"

  "We made a bet. My motorcycle against his girlfnend. I won. So—"

  "It really is you!" She hugged him again, and kissed him ardently. She couldn't remember ever before being so relieved.

  Willow Elf flew down. "I hate to interrupt, but I need the locket."

  "For sure," Edsel said. "But I'd better adjust it first.” He bent and lifted the locket from where it had fallen, and used his fingernail to pry off the front panel.

  "What are you doing?" Pia asked, amazed.

  "Well, I figured I couldn't get close enough to CoTwo to conjure him in, so I faked him out. I used Monica's slug to put this fake front on the back, so it was actually facing the opposite way it seemed to. Then—"

  "So he conjured himself inside!" Pia said. "Instead of you. That was brilliant, Ed. When he grabbed it, I thought—"

  "That was the idea. You really helped, Pia, because you believed " He handed the locket to Willow. “Now it's right. Remember to point it the right way when you invoke it."

  "For sure." Willow agreed, smiling. Then she spread her wings and ascended.

  Para Boat waddled up. carrying Justin and Breanna. "We need to get back to Com-Passion's cave, and let Para go," the Black Wave girl said. "He's done more than enough for us "

  Ed looked at Pia. "You know, I just love holding a bare damsel like this. But maybe you'd be warmer in the blanket."

  "For sure." she agreed, kissing him again. "Oh. Ed, I love you. I really do. now."

  "Ugh." DeMonica said. "Are you two going to get mushy?"

  "For sure," they said together, laughing.

  Chapter 12

  WEATHER

  The storm seemed to have cleared the air. They packed their gear and rolled up their sleeping bags and started hack along the trail. Their camping excursion would have to be cut short; they needed to get to a computer terminal and to the O-Xone before Dearth struck again.

  "Let me make sure I have this straight," Kim said. "All you need is to connect with Ed and Pia via the Modemode. and switch back, and then it will all be over?"

  "Yes,” Chlorine said. "Once Nimby is back in his own body, in Xanth, Dearth can't touch him."

  "But couldn't Dearth do something awful to Ed, for vengeance? Like stepping on a nuisance ant?"

  "Dearth wouldn't
bother. Nimby is all that matters. Once he escapes, the game is done, and Dearth will pay no further attention."

  "Are you sure? That's not the way a human person would react."

  "Demons aren't human. It took Nimby time and concentration to learn any human things, like dreaming. It doesn't come naturally. He wouldn't have done that, if he hadn't gotten so closely involved with human folk, because of his wager. No other Demon has done that. They remain indifferent to antly affairs. It's just not in a Demon to care what happens to Ed or Pia, one way or the other, when their bodies are no longer host to our spirits. They will be perfectly safe."

  "That's a relief." Kim said.

  "But while Nimby and I remain here, Edsel and Pia's bodies are definitely at risk," Chlorine continued grimly. "Nimby would lose considerable status if his host body were killed while he was in it."

  "Killed!"

  "As you said: stepping on an ant. Actually the body wouldn't die as long as Nimby remained confined in it. but—"

  "But can that happen?" Kim asked with a shudder. "I mean, if it's only weather that Dearth controls?"

  "Weather can become ugly."

  "The weather is beautiful right now."

  "But consider last night," Dug said. "The way that storm came up, and washed out the one peg to collapse our tent and waterlog our computer. That impresses me."

  "It should," Chlorine said. "Demons have enormous power, when they choose to exercise it. So we need to reach the O-Xone and revert identities as soon as possible."

  "Before Dearth realizes," Dug agreed. "Like an ant avoiding a trap, unnoticed."

  "Yes." But Chlorine, alerted by Nimby, doubted that it would be that easy.

  They hiked to the base camp, where their car and motorcycle waited. They loaded the gear. Then Dug and Kim got into the car, and Nimby and Chlorine got on the motorcycle.

  The cycle's motor started right up, but the car didn't follow. They looped back to check.

  "Dead," Kim called. "Storm must have shorted out the battery."

  The folk of a neighbor car approached. "Need a jump?" the man asked.

  "’Fraid so," Dug said. "Thanks."

  The man had jumper cables. Kim explained the process to Chlorine as the men did it. "The cables connect the good battery to the dead one, and provide current to start the motor. Then it recharges its own battery as it runs."

  But it didn't work. Dug's car remained dead.

  "I think you have a worse problem," the man said. "Better call Triple B."

  "I guess we'll have to," Dug agreed. "But thanks for the jump." To the others, he said "They'll come fairly promptly, but we'll still have to get the car towed and fixed, and that could take longer."

  They consulted. "Maybe you two should get on back to town." Kim said. "We're going to be delayed several hours, by the look of it. You can go to a library and use their connection, and switch back before we get out of here."

  Chlorine looked at Nimby. He shook his head no. Then he touched her hand.

  Oh. "Nimby thinks Dearth is trying to separate us. We will be relatively vulnerable without our knowledgeable Companions. It is better to remain together.

  Dug and Kim exchanged a look. "That could be," Dug said. "And we don't want to put you into any unnecessary risk."

  "We must advise you that there is risk to you, as long as you remain with us," Chlorine said.

  "But maybe less than there is to you if you are alone." Kim said "So we'd better stick together."

  Dug considered. "I wonder I think there is risk in delay, and risk in separating Maybe we should call a taxi, just to get this done in a hurry."

  "But maybe Dearth has anticipated that," Kim said. "In which case we would be playing into his hands. I wonder—can Nimby sense the larger situation? So as to know what course is best?"

  Chlorine checked. "He can't fathom the intention of Dearth, but can focus on the likely route that help will come to us from Xanth, if we can't reach the O-Xone on our own."

  "Maybe try that, while we wait." Dug said "I think this is a bit like a chess game. We need to see more of the board before making our next move "

  Nimby agreed. So Dug went to call Triple B, while Nimby sat in the dead car and focused his ambient Awareness on NoName Key, where a person from Xanth would most likely pass through to Mundania with magic dust. If any of the Modemode folk got through to the real folk in Xanth.

  And the news was good. "Willow Elf has passed through," Chlorine said. "Carrying a locket of magic dust. She has joined the Baldwin family. They are setting out to bring it here "

  "But how will they find us?" Kim asked.

  "They have the address of Ed and Pia's home," Chlorine said. "They will go there."

  "So that's where we should be going, as soon as we can." Kim said.

  Chlorine looked at Nimby. "Yes." But she wasn't speaking the truth, because Nimby indicated no. Because Dearth was now listening, and would block whatever they tried to do.

  The BBB help arrived. The car had to be towed; it refused to respond to the mechanic. This was an interesting process whereby the truck connected to the cat and hauled it along by its nose.

  They waited while the repairs were made at the garage. There was a place to eat nearby, called a diner, so they went there. "This has delayed things several hours," Dug said. "But with the car going again, what's to stop us from just driving home?"

  "And waiting for the Baldwins to arrive?" Kim added.

  Nimby merely smiled.

  "Then what about going to a local library and lumbering on, going to the O-Xone, and exchanging back from here?" Dug said.

  Chlorine knew the answer to that "The others have to be there to make the exchange. If we go there, and Edsel and Pia aren't there, it will be for nothing, and Dearth will make sure we can't go there again later. We have to go at an appointed check-in time."

  "But we've been checking in different times," Kim said. "So have they, evidently So—"

  "Breanna had an Ear," Chlorine said. "That's what you would call a field unit, for spot communication only. They could have been any-where in Xanth. But now they must report physically to ComPassion's cave, to enter the ambiance of the O-Xone. Xanth is more limited in this respect than in Mundania. We trust they are on their way, and will remain there until we connect "

  "So it's better late than early." Kim said, comprehending. "Because chances are there will be only one chance; after that Dearth will catch on and interfere."

  "Exactly."

  Dug nodded "So between times, we might as well travel, so as to get more convenient access."

  "And get the magic." Kim said.

  As they left the diner, it was as if night were falling, though it was only mid afternoon. Clouds loomed high and broad, moving to cut off what remained of the sky. A considerable storm was forming.

  "And we couldn't get moving to escape it before it formed, because of the time it takes to fix a washed out car," Dug said, understanding. "Dearth knows what he's doing."

  "I've never seen such a dangerous looking storm-cloud," Kim said, awed.

  Nimby touched Chlorine's arm. "Nimby wants you to know that if you leave now, while we remain here, the storm will not follow you. You can escape what is apt to be exceedingly ugly weather."

  Dug and Kim spoke together: "No."

  "Spoken like true Companions," Chlorine said "But you will pay a price."

  "Let's get moving now." Dug said "But maybe you'd better park the Lemon and ride in the car with us. It'll be safer."

  Nimby shook his head. "We'll ride it back," Chlorine said. "You told us how Edsel values it. We must return it to him in good condition.”

  Dug looked again at the brooding cloud. "You do have a point, but this could be dangerous. We could have it garaged here, to keep it safe. Cars are safer in storms."

  But Nimby would not yield. Chlorine knew that he had his own reasons, perhaps beyond her understanding, but surely valid.

  The Neptune was ready. "It's amazing how much da
mage a single storm can do, sometimes," the mechanic said.

  "Well, it's not a new car," Dug said.

  "This was independent of age. This car has been well cared for, but somehow the wiring—I've never seen this particular failure before. It's a fluke."

  "Just so long as it won't happen again."

  "Guaranteed. It's better than new now."

  Dug and Kim did what they had to, to settle the cost of the repair: they had something called insurance that made it easier. Then they drove the car out of the repair shop.

  Nimby and Chlorine climbed on the motorcycle and joined them. "Maybe Pia should ride in the car," Kim called. "It's going to be wet on the Lemon "

  "No, I'll stay with Ed," Chlorine called back.

  The storm looked worse than ever. It frightened Chlorine, but she clung to Nimby. She was not going to let him face it alone.

  The Neptune turned south and followed the highway out of town. Most of the traffic was streaming the other way, into town, as Mundanes caught on that the weather was truly threatening. They were doing the sensible thing and heading for cover.

  A gust of wind caught them. The cycle veered, then corrected course. Nimby had progressed from beginner to full competence at a rapid rate, and now could handle it very well. But she wondered why he had chosen to ride the Lemon, when he could have ridden in the safer car. Was it to spare the Companions some risk? She suspected not; there must be some way in which the motorcycle enhanced his own chances.

  Lightning cracked close by, and thunder boomed out from it. Chlorine remembered Cumulo Fracto Nimbus, once the worst of clouds, and the show he could put on. But this was in drear Mundania, and that made it more frightening.

  Rain came down, first a few big drops, then a pelting of medium drops, then an almost solid sheet of small ones. In one and a half moments they were soaked. The road looked slick and slippery. But Nimby pressed on. following the car. Chlorine shivered, and hated what it was doing to her hair. But what had she expected?

  Lightning struck a tree ahead of the car, and a large branch crashed onto the road, blocking it. The Neptune's wheels skidded as it braked, and it almost didn't stop in time. The Lemon stopped beside it.