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."
"Must be game magic," Dug said. "We really have to sled down those trails."
"But how will we know which way to go?"
"I see the signs say RIGHT and LEFT," he said. "So all we have to do is follow those road signs."
"What kind of challenge is that?" she demanded. "I don't trust this."
"Ah, you're just chicken to take the ride."
"You bet I'm chicken," she retorted, nettled. "Why would they go to all this trouble to set up a challenge, then tell us how to get through it?"
“To get us quickly down to the bottom, where we'll have to figure out how to avoid the dragon."
It did make morbid sense. But still she didn't trust it This whole business was just too elaborate.
"Well, let's do it," Dug said. "Sherlock and Nada and I can take Robert, and Cyrus and Jenny and Kim take Roberta. We'll race each other down to the dragon."
“Who will men eat the first arrival, so the second can get through," Kim said acidly.
That finally made him pause. But he recovered. "We'll tackle that problem when we get there."
He was hopeless. And she was hopeless, to be so intrigued by him. But she reminded herself that it was only a game. The worst that could happen was that they would wash out and be back in Mundania.
Or was it? What would happen to the others, if the Players disappeared? The Companions would be all right, probably, but the others—Cyrus, Sherlock, and Bubbles— could be stranded in the snow, in the Gap, with a deadly dragon coming.
The game was no longer the fun it had been. But what could she do? Skip out on a challenge? She was stuck for it
They hauled the bobsleds up to the ends of the two trails. Sherlock showed Cyrus how to steer. "It's mostly leaning, actually," he said. "But you have to time it right, and pull on these handles, here." Then Sherlock went to the other sled and got in. Nada got in behind him, and Dug was ready to push and jump in at the back.
Their own sled had Cyrus, Jenny with Bubbles and Sammy, and Kim as the push-off rider. They got set. "Do we really have to race?" Kim asked. "Maybe it would be better to have one sled try it first"
"It is set up like a race," Jenny said. "Probably it's better to race."
There was just no getting out of this. Kim got set to push off. She looked across at Dug.
"On your mark," he called. "Get set. GO!"
Kim pushed. The sled tipped over the rim and started down. She leaped onto the back and hung on. It felt exactly like falling.
In half a moment they were zooming toward the fork. The sign said LEFT. "Sammy says go right!" Jenny screamed. Indeed the little cat was almost scrambling out of the sled on the right side.
So Cyrus steered it right. They entered a slanting ledge overlooking a sheer drop into the chasm, then threaded past an outcropping into a kind of narrow valley. There was another fork, with another sign: LEFT.
"Go left!" Jenny cried, as the cat scrambled left
They went left. Kim looked back, and saw that the path of the right fork turned and went directly down the face of the chasm, an impossible drop.
They came to a third fork and sign. This one said LEFT again. "Right!" Jenny cried, and they went right The trail looped around, found a channel, and debouched on a large level ledge. The sled slid to a halt. They got out
Kim's heart was thudding. “Two of those signs were wrong!" she said, outraged. "One of them would have dumped us into the chasm!"
Cyrus and Jenny looked back up the trail, "You're right," Cyrus said. He looked shaken. "We can't trust the signs. All of them said LEFT, but we had to go right twice. We couldn't just do the opposite of what they said, because one of them was correct. So there's no consistent pattern."
"Where is the other sled?" Jenny asked.
Sammy jumped from her arms and bounded along the ledge. They followed. Soon they spied it: jammed in a dead end about halfway between the ledge and the top. Its occupants seemed to be all right, though disheveled and annoyed.
“The middle sign was wrong?" Kim called.
"It sure was!" Dug called back. "You're lucky yours were right"
"Ours weren't We ignored them. Sammy knew the way."
"That's some cat," he said. Then Dug and Sherlock and Nada made their way down the slope to the ledge. Their sled was hopelessly jammed and unusable. Sherlock paused to look carefully at the signs, and then went to check the signs on Kim's trail.
They consulted. With only one sled, only one party could continue. In fact, there was only one trail leading down from the ledge. "I think this challenge can have only one winner," Dug said ruefully.
"Well, you can have it," Kim said. “This sledding scares me, and so does the dragon below. I'd rather find some other way."
"It is possible to go around the Gap Chasm," Nada said. "But it's a long way, and there are dangers."
"I don't care! I've had all of the Gap I care to."
Dug pondered. "I'd as soon go on down and get it over with. But not with wrong signs. You could make it, with your cat, but we'd probably get skunked again."
"Say, I think I have it figured," Sherlock said, returning. "It's not what they say, it's where they are. When you have to go right, the sign's on the right When you have to go left, it's on the left"
Kim looked. "You're right! It's like the game of Scissors!"
"Scissors?” Sherlock asked,
and the others looked similarly blank.
"It's a game. Most of the players have played it before, so they know the rules, but there are a few newcomers who don't. They sit in chairs in a circle and pass a pair of scissors around. Each one says, “I receive these scissors crossed,” and passes them on uncrossed, or whatever, and changes the scissors to match. It's different for each one, depending on the scissors. But when a newcomer does it, chances are he's wrong, and everybody knows it. They keep playing until he catches on: it's not the scissors, it's the legs. So maybe someone has his legs crossed, and he passes the scissors on uncrossed, saying they're crossed, and everyone agrees but the poor innocent who's looking at the scissors."
"The signs!" Dug said. "They're the scissors—and you have to look at where they are instead of what they are. That's the challenge—to figure out the key before you get creamed."
"And this was just the practice run, to give us a chance before we blow it for real," Kim agreed. "Though one of those wrong paths sure looked final to me."
"It isn't," Sherlock said. "I saw where it has a leveling slope after the drop, tike a ski jump. Then it dead-ends. It looks worse than it is."
"So now we know," Cyrus said. "But we have only one sled. I for one would rather not use it"
"So let's go find some other way," Kim said gratefully. "Let them have our sled, if they want it."
"I'm not eager to ride down," Nada protested.
Dug pursed his lips. "How do you feel about it, Jenny?"
"I don't mind which way, as long as I have Sammy to guide me."
Dug looked at Kim. "Want to exchange Companions?"
Kim was astonished. "Can we do that?" She had thought Nada's suggestion to that effect was sarcastic.
"We can try it and see what happens. I never saw any rule saying no."
Kim considered this amazing proposal. Jenny was good, and Sammy was useful, but Nada could become a serpent and a formidable bodyguard. Dug would need the cat's ability to sneak through the chasm valley without blundering into the dragon. It seemed a fair exchange. "Let's do it,” she decided.
So Nada Naga joined Kim and Cyrus, while Jenny joined Dug and Sherlock. Sammy Cat remained with Jenny, and Bubbles Dog remained with Kim. It all seemed even.
Then Nada assumed large serpent form and slithered up the snowy slope. She could handle it better in that form man in the human form; the snow gave her sinuous body purchase. She reached a small tree, clamped her teeth on it, and let Cyrus and Kim use her body like a rope to climb up more readily. When they reached the sapling, Nada went on up again. After several such stages they reached the top, cold but safe. Then Kim held out Nada's jacket, while Cyrus faced away, so Nada could return to human form and get quickly dressed.
"We're up," Kim called down to the others, who were now out of sight on the ledge.
"Okay," Dug called back from below. "Been nice knowing you! We're going down." There was the sound of the sled moving.
"And now we have to start our long walk around the Gap Chasm," Kim said. "But I'm relieved not to have to ride down any farther."
The others nodded agreement. So, it almost seemed, did Bubbles.
Chapter 11
DRAGON
Dug watched the other party scale the slope, leaving the Gap Chasm. His feelings were mixed. He was sorry to see Nada Naga go, because she was the most luscious female creature he could imagine. But she had also been a distraction. He had been more or less blundering through the challenges, and that was no good; he needed to focus clearly on what he was doing. He wasn't interested in winning the prize, just in extending his time in the game. But he realized that he had to keep winning challenges, and following the general course of the game, or he would soon enough be dumped out of it. So Nada had probably been a net liability, not because of her, but because of him.
Jenny Elf, in contrast, was not a romantic figure. He had no hankering to see her panties or body. And her cat was one supremely useful creature. The way he had found the bobsleds, and the correct path down the slope—that was a tremendous asset in this game. So Jenny made all the sense Nada didn't, for him. He should be able to do much better now.
But why had Kim agreed to the exchange? She hadn't wanted to sled down into the depths and meet the dragon. He could appreciate why. But Jenny would have gone out of the chasm with her. Nada hadn't wanted to sled on down, but would have, because she had to follow the route her Player decided on. So they hadn't had to switch for that reason. What did Nada offer that Kim wanted?
Well, protection, of course. Nobody much messed with Nada in her huge serpent form. Nobody, it seemed, except the Gap Dragon. She had been quick to point out that she couldn't back off that particular monster, and he had been quick to pick up on that fact. So despite what he had said, he was worried; there was a real threat down there, and he had better have a notion how to handle it before he got there. So now Kim had that serpent protection. Was that what she wanted?
He turned to look down into the chasm. Cold fog shrouded the depths, so he could not see more than the beginning of the trail. They should be able to navigate it successfully, now that they had the key to the signs. If that went wrong, Sammy Cat would let them know. So the trip down shouldn't be a problem. But the dragon would be more than enough to make up for it
"What are we going to do about that dragon?" he asked the others.
"That's bothering you?" Sherlock asked in mock surprise. "Me, too. If it eats me, I'm gone. If it eats you, I'm stuck down there with no game Player to lead the way. The Companion doesn't have to help me, you know."
"If Dug gets eaten, he'll disappear from Xanth," Jenny said. "Then I'll call Professor Grossclout, and he'll take me out I'll ask him to take you too."
"Why should he bother?"
"Because the game isn't supposed to interfere with regular people of Xanth. You're a regular person. So the Professor will have to put you back where we found you." She hesitated. "If I may ask, why did you come with Dug and Nada?”
"I am a member of the Black Wave. I'm trying to find a place for us to stay where folk will be glad to have us, or where there are no other folk to be concerned."
"Oh, like the Curse Fiends!" she said.
"The what?”
"They were folk of the Seventh Wave who settled in Lake Ogre-Chobee and became the Curse Friends, only others call diem the Curse Fiends. They remained sort of isolated, and never really mixed with the other folk of Xanth. So I guess you're the Fifteenth Wave. You want to be separate like them?"
"No, not really. But we're prepared to be, if that's the way of it. These Curse Friends—they're not really fiends, then?”
"No, they're just people. They act in plays, and go on tours, entertaining others. I think maybe they would have mixed, but nobody invited them to."
"Exactly. Maybe I should talk with the Curse Fiends."
"After we get by the dragon," Dug said firmly. "Nobody's talking with anybody, if he gets eaten first."
Sherlock and Jenny exchanged half a glance. "Man's got a point," Sherlock said.
“I can ask Sammy how to get away from the dragon," Jenny said. "But I don't think—"
Sure enough, the cat started running up the slope, in the same direction Kim's party had gone. Jenny had to chase after him, canceling her statement, so he wouldn't keep looking for the way away from the dragon.
Then Dug had a notion. "That evil cloud, what's-his-name, Fractal—he still around?"
There was a warning rumble from the depths. The mist was part of the cloud, and he was still there.
"Maybe better not to aggravate him by mispronouncing his name," Sherlock murmured. "Fracto."
"Fracto," Dug said contritely. "Sorry about that. Of course we don't want to aggravate him. He could blow up a storm again, and bury us."
Sherlock looked at him as if suspecting Dug of some devious purpose, but did not comment. Sherlock was right: Dug now knew how to get by the dragon.
Kim called down from above: they had made
it out of the chasm. "Okay!" Dug called.
They were ready to get into the Roberta sled, but Sherlock hesitated. "What's the matter?" Dug asked.
"I've got long legs. There's not enough foot room in this sled for me."
"Isn't it the same as the other sled?"
"No. Take a look." Sherlock climbed in—and his rear came back into the second person's place. It looked uncomfortable for him, and it would push the other two back, so that there wouldn't be enough room for the third person at the end.
"We'll have to change the order," Dug said. "Jenny, you try it."
Jenny got in, but her legs were much shorter, not reaching far into the front Dug and Sherlock's longer legs couldn't fit in the remaining space, so again there wasn't room for the third man.
"Then I'll have to do it," Dug said. He got in, and Jenny took the middle, with Sammy Cat in her lap, and Sherlock took the end. Now they fit perfectly.
Sherlock showed him how to steer. It was not hard, the man assured him; the other sled had been magically responsive, so that it seemed that even a thought directed it. All Dug really had to do was hold the handles and focus on where he wanted to go, and it would go there.
Belatedly he wondered: had the game arranged it this way? Because he was the Player, who should handle his challenges himself. The prior run had been for practice, so it didn't matter who steered the sled, but this one was for the money. How could the demon proprietors have known that Dug's sled would be lost, and that he would change to the other one? They must have had magical information.
They got settled in the Roberta sled and started down. Dug knew this was going to be one harrowing ride, but he reminded himself that it was after all only a game. There was always a way through, and they had found the way through for the sled. He hoped.
The sled started with a frightening plunge. It gathered such velocity that Dug abruptly doubted that he had a true path down. This could only end in a splat! He felt Jenny tense; a glance back showed her frozen with half a scream in her mouth, and the cat was hiding his head under her knees.
Then the ground curved up and the sled's runners took a better grip on reality. But before Jenny could get her scream the rest of the way out, the trail made a savage turn and ended in a square drop-off. There was space at either side, so that he could steer off the trail, avoiding the disaster. But the trail was clear, and mere was no sign. So it should be right, despite the appearance. What should he do?