Demons Don’t Dream (24 page)

Kim looked at Dug. "He's male; you take it," she murmured. Because of course a Player had to handle it; this could be another challenge.

Dug stepped forward. "We are travelers playing a special game," he said. "We aren't looking for trouble, we're looking for a place to spend the night in peace."

"If you come in peace, you are welcome to spend the night in our village," Horace said.

Dug glanced at Nada, and Kim glanced at Jenny. Nada and Jenny both nodded: centaurs could be trusted. Apparently Dug had handled the challenge appropriately, by expressing their desire for peace. Kim was relieved; centaurs were bad enemies and good friends, and there would be no need to fear any dangers of the night here.

So Horace led them to the village. This appeared to be a group of stalls, but there were human-type houses too, evidently for those who served the centaurs. Several other centaurs came out to greet them, among them two mares.

Kim saw Dug and Sherlock blink at the sight of the bare-breasted lady centaurs. Those were the fullest breasts she had ever seen, and she suspected that the sight had far more impact on the men. But both had the wit to mask their reactions. She managed to mask her smile. Actually she would love to have an upper torso like that, to make male eyes pop.

There were passing introductions. Then the centaurs showed them to their stalls, which turned out to be fairly nice little houses with nice beds of straw inside. The three women shared one, and the three men another. Bubbles and Sammy found comfortable places of their own in the straw and were instantly asnooze. It took a while longer for the others to eat and settle down, but in due course they too were asleep.

So this had turned out to be no challenge,  Kim thought. But she knew mat if Dug had given the wrong answer, the party could have been in desperate trouble. Was Dug a naturally diplomatic person, or had be been lucky, this time? It was important for her to know, because he was her competition. Even if she no longer cared about the prize.

In the morning, refreshed, they resumed their journey. "Would you like a ride as far as the Gap Chasm?" Horace Centaur inquired.

 Kim exchanged another glance with Dug. A ride? Was this another challenge? Yet centaurs were trustworthy. Maybe this was just the game's way of moving them along rapidly to the next challenge. In some other variant there could be a real row with the centaurs, or a dragon waiting along the path. But in this one it was at the Gap Chasm, so the sensible thing to do was to get on down there without wasting time. It was as if the game got impatient with delay, and wanted to get on with the action.

"Why not?" Dug said after a pause. "As long as our friends can ride too."

"Your friends are welcome," Horace said.

"If I may inquire," Sherlock said, "is there a place here where a new community could settle?"

Horace was surprised. "What kind of community?"

"A human Black Wave community.**

Horace looked at the other centaurs. "We could use more servants," he said. "For the menial chores."

Sherlock frowned. "We'll keep it in mind," he said, evidently intending to do no such thing. Why should his folk settle for more of the same kind of treatment they had in Mundania?

So six centaurs carried the party rapidly southward. Kim carried Bubbles Dog with her, and Jenny carried Sammy Cat on the back of another centaur. The scenery fairly whizzed by. Kim would have preferred to go slower, because she was a bit afraid of the next challenge. Getting across the Gap Chasm was bound to be no easy matter. She knew there was an invisible bridge, but how could they find it? If they tried to go down into the chasm, the Gap Dragon would get them. Nobody crossed the Gap with impunity.

All too soon they arrived. There was the huge chasm, with its base shrouded in fog and the sheer brink of it taunting them. There was no bridge in sight, of course.

They dismounted and the centaurs galloped away. What next?

Dug, heedless of the scary depth, explored the verge. He walked east. Soon the nature of the chasm changed. The land did not drop straight down, but descended in a series of half-loops, so that it was possible to go down without falling. "We can handle this!" he said enthusiastically.

"But there is a dragon below," Nada warned him.

"You can be a big serpent and scare it off," he said.

"I can't scare that dragon. Not the Gap Dragon. The only safe way to handle him is to avoid him."

“Well, we can have Sammy Cat show us a way down and across that will avoid the dragon." He was so confident that it was annoying.

"Perhaps," Nada said guardedly.

Kim could see that the naga princess had her hands full, trying to keep Dug out of trouble. She couldn't even change forms both ways in his presence, because of the problem of clothing. It probably wasn't much fun for her, being his Companion. But it might not be much fun for Jenny Elf, either, being  Kim's Companion, because Kim was impulsive too.

"This could be trouble," Cyrus said, glancing up.

Kim followed his gaze. An ugly little dark cloud was scudding from the north. "Is that who I fear it is?” she asked.

"Cumulo Fracto Nimbus," he agreed. "You encountered him before."

"I sure did! He always rains on the party."

There was a rumble of thunder. The others looked up. They shared glances of dismay.

"Hey, what's the big deal?" Dug asked. "So a little cloud passes. So it rains a bit. That won't stop us."

"That's Fracto," Nada said.

"Fractal?"

"Fracto, Xanth's worst cloud. We had better get under cover."

"What's all the fuss about one tiny cloud?" he demanded. "It'll be gone soon enough."

"If you do not care to heed my advice, perhaps you should exchange me for Kim's Companion," Nada said somewhat stiffly.

Dug looked surprised. Then he glanced at Jenny Elf, thoughtfully. "I guess maybe there's something I'm not picking up on here," he said. "But as I see it, we can wait until an actual storm threatens."

But the others knew better. They were already hurrying to find the makings of a tent Kim went to a pie tree she had spied, to gather a good meal to eat while they waited for me cloud's fury to expire. Jenny was going for pillows. There was no telling how long they would have to wait

"I can't believe this," Dug said. "One stupid little cloud! You'd think it was a hurricane or something.'*

There was another rumble. The cloud was expanding, puffing itself up voluminously. A puffy face was forming on its surface. A chill gust of wind came down.

"What an ugly puss," Dug remarked, staring up at it.

Sammy meowed. Dug looked around. "I didn't mean you," he said, flashing a smile. The cat relaxed.

"We could use some help on this tent,” Sherlock called.

Dug finally realized that this was serious. He went to help pitch the tent.

The first fat drops of rain spattered down. Then their nature changed. "Hey, that's sleet!" Cyrus exclaimed.

Kim held out her hand. Hard pellets bounced off it. "Sleet? That's hail!" she said.

They got the tent finished, and piled unceremoniously into it as the hailstorm intensified. Bubbles and Sammy joined them, not wanting any part of the storm. The dog huddled close to Kim, nervous about the closeness of so many relative strangers, but not making any fuss. Kim was also highly conscious of Dug wedged on her other side.

Now the hail had become snow, piling down in turbulent flurries. They were safe under the canvas, and they had blankets too, so they were comfortable. Kim just couldn't keep her awareness off her closeness to Dug, under a shared blanket. If only something like this could be real, as in a date!

"That's more of a cloud than I figured," Dug said, paying her no attention. "Snow—on a warm day!"

"Not only that," Sherlock said. "It's colored, if you'll excuse the term."

Kim peered out. She saw pastel hues. The snow was all the colors of the rainbow! "It's pretty," she said.

"Nothing Fracto does is pretty," Nada said darkly.

They ate the pies while the storm continued. "I wonder why Fracto came here right now," Jenny said. "How could he know we were here?"

“The game!" Kim exclaimed. "He was sent by the game! It's another challenge."

"A cloud sent to mess us up?" Dug asked. "But all we have to do is wait for it to peter out"

Sherlock shook his head. "I don't know much about clouds or magic, but I'll bet this is going to make a difference. For one thing, this chasm's going to be twice as hard to cross, covered in snow."

Dug nodded. "You're right. After the storm passes, that funny snow will remain. It'll slow us down."

"Slow us down?" Kim asked. "Maybe it will speed us up!"

The others looked at her. "We don't want to jump into that blind," Nada said. "The smaller crevices will be covered up, and the slopes will be treacherously slippery. We should wait until it melts."

"But that could take days," Kim protested. “No, I'm thinking of skiing down on that snow. That would make a tedious trip easy."

"Skiing!" Dug said. "I tried to ski once, and almost broke my leg. That was just a little slope. This canyon's a mile deep. Even a skilled skier could get himself killed.”

He had a point Kim had skied, but she was no expert, and this would be no easy course. "Well, we could sled down it, maybe.”

"Where'd we get sleds?"

Sammy stirred. He was about to head out into the storm when Jenny caught him. "Not yet, Sammy!" she said. "Wait till it stops snowing!"

Dug pursed his lips. "He can find sleds?"

"Sammy can find anything," Jenny said proudly. "Except home. So there must be sleds nearby."

"Can you be sure they are near?" Nada asked.

"Actually, I can't," Jenny admitted. "Sometimes things are way far away. But I know he'll find the closest sled there is."

"Okay, so we can get sleds," Dug said. "But sleds can be dangerous too, on an uncharted slope. I was ready to walk it, but I don't know about this."

"Maybe Sammy can also find a safe route down," Kim suggested. Then we could follow on sleds."

"I wouldn't let him go alone," Jenny said. "But maybe he could ride on a sled with me, and sort of indicate whether it was safe to go on. I mink that might work."

Finally the storm eased. Fracto's rages were severe, but seldom endured long. But what damage they could do in a short time!

Kim and the others climbed out of the tent. The snow was several feet deep, almost burying the tent; they had almost to tunnel to the surface.

It was a changed world. Colored snow lay everywhere, changing the landscape. The nearby trees had piles of blue snow on their foliage, while bushes were buried under yellow snow. The level land was covered in brown, while the descending slopes of the Gap Chasm were clothed in black. But it was definitely snow; Kim dipped a finger and tasted it. Black icy flakes.

They foraged for heavier clothing. There were yellow jackets growing nearby, and the cold had frozen their stingers, so that it was possible to wear them. There was also a boot tree with a fine selection ranging from bootees to jack boots. Before long they were all suitably bundled up, looking like so many stuffed dolls.

Kim realized that all this was unlikely to be coincidence. The game had set up its challenge, with supplies in place, and moved in the storm when they arrived. They were not going to go hungry or cold. They merely had to make it down into the Gap Chasm.

"Now, Sammy," Jenny said. The cat bounded away, leaving pawprints in the snow. The dog, less adventurous, remained in the tent

Jenny followed the cat, and Kim followed Jenny. Soon they came to a sled shed. Kim knew it was that, because mere was a sign on the door saying so. The cat bounded up to the door and waited until Jenny opened it. They went inside.

There were two big rounded devices. One was labeled ROBERT and the other ROBERTA. "But these aren't sleds," Jenny said. "At least, not like any I've seen."

Sherlock arrived. "Those are bobsleds!" he exclaimed, amazed.

"They have nicknames?" Jenny inquired.

Now Kim recognized the type. She had seen them race in the Winter Olympics on TV. Horribly swift three- or four-man sleds. They were supposed to careen down into the chasm in these? "But we don't know the first thing about handling a—a Robert sled," she protested weakly.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Sherlock said. "I rode on one once. Course it wasn't far or fast, just a little demo hill. I was the steersman. I probably couldn't have steered it wrong if I'd tried, on that track, but I did sort of get the great feel of it. That's the king of sleds, for sure."

Kim felt a sinking sensation. They were going to do it! Go down into that dread chasm on bobsleds!

They hauled the sleds back to camp. "Look what we found," Nada said, pointing.

Kim looked. There were two clearly shaped trails down into the chasm, with square signs posted where each divided.

"How did those signs get there?" Kim asked. "I don't see any tracks in the snow, and they weren't there before it snowed."