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"No, I didn't. The fauns and nymphs didn't."
"They aren't quite human enough, I think," Mela said.
"Some of us part humans have built-in magic, such as being able to breathe water."
"I never thought of it as magic. I just spoke to anyone who spoke to me."
"Well, we can check it the next time we meet a dragon or other monster," Mela said. She went off to
find some ripe pies for supper. Ida hurried to help her, for she had always been used to finding her own
pies.
After supper they discussed their plan of travel. Mela had a map, which indicated that the Good
Magician's castle was to the west. It had shown a path that went that way, but that was the one now
blocked off, so they had to find another.
They pored over the map, and discovered what Mela had not seen before: there was an invisible river
flowing from Iron Mountain through Poke country to Lake Kiss-Mee. The only way to find the river
was to spot the faint reddish flecks of rust in it, from the mountain.
Heartened, they decided to try that in the morning. Then they settled down for the night.
But Ida had one question. "Do you happen to know why this is called Lake Kiss-Mee?"
"It was once a very friendly lake," Mela explained.
"So was the Kiss-Mee River which flows from it. But then the Demon Corps of Engineers pulled the
river straight, and it lost all its charm and became the Kill-Mee River.
They finally had to put it back the way it was, but neither the river nor the lake has yet fully recovered
from the shock. That may be just as well, because we don't want to be compelled by their magic to be
forever kissing them and each other."
Ida had to agree with that. She had never kissed anyone herself, but had seen the fauns and nymphs
doing it all the time. They had never stopped at kissing. So if kissing was one step in an ongoing
process, Ida was not yet ready for it.
In the morning Okra rowed them back across the lake.
Ida wore her dull ordinary dress, for she was no longer on display. This time they explored the shore,
looking for the invisible river. It occurred to Ida that she might be able to spy it if she squinted, because
that changed the way things looked. Sure enough, soon she spied a faint wave pattern of air with flecks
of reddish brown. Only if it was what she hoped it was, it wasn't air, but invisible water. The water was
invisible, but not the sediment it carried along.
"I think I see it," she announced pointing.
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Okra was facing back so she could row, but since Ida was in the rear end of the boat, the ogress could
see her.
So Okra guided the craft in that direction, and soon Mela also spied the specks of rust. "It looks just like
wind," Mela said doubtfully.
But Okra's oars made splashes as they encountered the invisible water. So she rowed right into the river,
leaving the lake behind. The current was slow, so there was no trouble going against it; still, Ida was
impressed with Okra's strength and endurance. This river flowed not in a regular riverbed, but across the
varied landscape. Apparently (despite invisibly) it did not disturb the land it passed over, and kept to
itself until it reached the lake. It maintained its elevation, winding back and forth to avoid hills and
holes, so they got a fair tour of the surrounding land.
It was mixed countryside, with trees of many kinds and bushes of a few kinds and herbs of one kind.
A swirl of vapor appeared above the boat. Curious, Ida stared at it. Was it another branch of the invisible
river?
But it didn't seem to be flowing, just hovering.
Th-In a mouth formed. "What are you staring it?" it demanded.
"It talks!" Ida cried, affrighted.
"Of course it talks," the mouth said. A pair of eyes formed, focusing on her. "What did you expect, a
belch?"
"But you're a cloud!" Ida protested. "Clouds don't talk.
Do they?"
"Of course clouds talk. Just not in a language humans understand.
"Oh, you mean the way dragons do?"
"Cardinally."
"What?"
"Intrinsically, inherently, fundamentally, elementarily, primarily.
"Essentially?"
"Whatever," the vapor said, clouding up.
"That's the Demoness Metria! " Mela exclaimed, looking back.
"However did you know?" the cloud asked, forming into the shape of a woman almost as shapely as
Mela herself.
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"It was a lucky guess. There's nothing of interest going on here, Metria, so we shouldn't waste any more
of your time."
"But isn't this Ida?" Metria asked. "She's the most interesting person in Xanth."
"I am?" Ida asked incredulously.
Mela asked. "Why is that?"
"Because of her destiny. There's never been one quite like it before."
"But my destiny was to be crystallized by the dragon," Ida said.
"That may have been what the dragon claimed," Metria said. "But dragons are notorious liars."
"I didn't know that."
"Well, you haven't had much experience with dragons."
"That's true," Ida agreed. "I didn't even know that humans couldn't talk to dragons."
"That's what comes of an isolated upbringing," the demoness said.
"Unless maybe my magic talent is to talk to monsters.
Metria laughed. "What an interesting way to put it! But your talent is hardly that."
"You know what my talent is?"
"Of course I know!"
"Will you tell me?" Ida asked eagerly.
"I might, if you asked."
"What is my talent?"
"Then again, I might not." The demoness faded out.
"I should have warned you," Mela said. "She likes to tease mortals. She probably doesn't know your
talent anyway."
"You mean demons are like goblins?" Ida asked. "You have to treat them discourteously?"
"Not exactly. But they don't mean to do you any favors.
Metria isn't bad, as demons go; she merely is bored and likes to entertain herself by watching what
mortals do. But she has a problem finding the right word sometimes, and that gives her away."
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"I noticed.
Now Okra spoke. "Why does the demoness think Ida is the most interesting person in Xanth?
"I'm really not very interesting," Ida said with maidenly modesty.
"She said it was because of her destiny," Mela said, remembering. "I must say that though Metria can be
annoying, she does seem to tell the truth. There must be something very special about Ida."
"Maybe we'll find out when we reach the Good Magician's castle," Okra said. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]