I don't think so, Colene responded. I think they're real, but phased out, so we can't interfere with them.
But they couldn't remain indefinitely to stare at the effects. They had a horse to rescue. They resumed their walk, guided by Seqiro's thoughts.
They reached the stalls without interference, and Darius obtained a hair from the horse's mane, a drop of saliva, and the breath on the icon. It was complete.
One thing, the horse thought. I have discovered that my power is limited in this reality. I did not realize this at first because I had no reason to reach minds beyond this region. But I can communicate completely only at close range. Because I came to know Nona, and her mind is open to me, I can reach her at the village, but it is a strain. I can reach no other person there, and fear I would not be able to reach even you, Colene, at farther range.
Colene looked at Darius. They both knew that this was a serious limit. But it aligned with Darius' own ability to do sympathetic magic and not emotional magic. The reality was hostile to mind-magic, and perhaps only the horse's great power enabled him to retain even a limited proficiency.
Then Cotene patted Seqiro's shoulder. We won't let you get out of range, she thought reassuringly. We haven't been paying you much attention recently, but that's because we don't want to give away your importance to us. I love you, horseface.
Don't fight with me! Seqiro thought, alarmed.
Darius had to chomp on his tongue to stop from laughing out loud. But Colene took it with good grace. I can love without fighting, she thought, burying her face in the horse's mane. You never oppose your will to mine.
Darius saw that the bond between girl and horse was as deep as that between girl and man. He felt Colene's love of Seqiro, unconsciously relayed to him by the horse, and understood it. He felt himself loving Seqiro similarly, and didn't fight it. The horse was worthy, and a phenomenal asset to their group. And it had been Seqiro's power that enabled Colene to rescue them from captivity by the Emperor. He now accepted the necessity of that action, and was relieved that it had happened.
Colene turned to him. She hugged him, wordlessly but not thoughtlessly.
"But where are his supplies?" he asked after a moment. For the horse had been burdened with all of their spare food, clothing, and tools.
The despots took everything away.
"My bike!" Colene exclaimed aloud, then covered her mouth as if to silence herself. She was referring to her bicycle, an instrument with which she could travel with greater speed and ease than on foot. It also had been part of Seqiro's load.
That, too. I think they locked up what they did not understand, and they thought that to be part of a wagon.
Colene made a wry face. She did not like losing her things. But they had no effective way to recover them; any attempt would alert the despots to their effort to escape.
Then Darius conjured himself and Colene by turns back to his chamber. They had the wit to lie down first, so that they would not arrive standing on the bed.
Now that I'm getting to know your magic, I like it, Colene thought. Though it does make me want to retch.
This is only the lesser part of it, he replied. Everyone in my reality has this much.
So I understand. Say—do you ever need to make folk unhappy? Then you could draw from me, and I'd get happier while they all got suicidal
The notion seemed preposterous. Then he realized that if they ever got stranded in a reality in which evil folk held them captive, and his cyng power worked, her offer would make sense. She could be dangerous indeed, in certain circumstances.
Thanks, she thought. Then she climbed half on him, kissed him, and went to sleep.
CHAPTER 4
ORIA
NONA, trying to guide a clumsy pupil in the ways of harmony, jumped. It was the visitor-girl, with her strange mind-magic!
Nona! We need your help!
Nona disengaged with the pupil as expeditiously as she could, and retreated to the personal-needs chamber. Are the despots trying to kill you? she thought, uncertain what she could do. She had magic, but had to keep it secret, and in any event she could not match the power of the despots.
No, not exactly. They're taking Seqiro away!
Seqiro was the beautiful horse. Now Nona received his thought directly. The despots are taking me out of the stall. They are putting paraphernalia on me.
Then Colene's thought resumed: Provos told us that the despots would try to take Seqiro. She also told us that the attempt was not successful. But that merely means that Provos remembers us doing something to prevent this. It's up to us to do whatever it is now. And we're stuck here in the castle with the king and queen, who are being very nice to us while they do their dirt behind our backs, stealing Seqiro. We can't do anything without showing our hand.
So they needed someone else to rescue the horse, before he was taken to another castle and hidden so that he could never be found.
No, the horse's thought came. I can commune with them if they come within my range, and they willfindme. But they will not be able to travel freely. The despots are seeking to take me away, and to kill me if they can not control me. They do not know my mental nature; they see me merely as a fine beast of burden. I do not wish to be that, except for Colene. ft is time for us to escape from the despots, but best to do it without alerting them to the extent of our powers.
Now she understood. Separation from the horse would be a serious problem for the visitors, who depended on his marvelous mind-magic. It gave them the chance to learn the motives and plots of the despots. Nona's own destiny was surely linked with theirs, for they had come in seeming answer to her attempt to contact the Megaplayers, and they knew her secret. Her mental contact with Colene had been so sure and good that she knew the girl was to be trusted.
Now they needed her help. She also needed their help. If they worked together, they might accomplish both their destinies. What can I do?
Can you rescue Seqiro?
A theow take a horse from a despot? It was unthinkable!
Oh. Um. I see. Well, see if you can get close to him, and then tell him to throw his rider.
Nona shook her head. That would not be effective. Despots can float and fly. So can I.
Colene pondered a moment. How fast can they fly?
Not fast. It's as hard to fly as to run, and as tiring. We draw on the magic current, but that gives us ability, not energy.
So this magic isn't something for nothing, Colene concluded. Suppose Seqiro gallops away?
Then the despot would follow, and summon others, and they would surround him, and then kill him.
There was another pause. Well, maybe we can hide him somewhere. You get to him, Nona, and get on him when he moves the despot off, and get out of there. He will accept you because he knows you. Another pause, during which Nona felt Seqiro's confirmation. Um, you do know how to ride a horse?
No.
Brother! Well, rendezvous with him anyway, and float with him or something, and meanwhile we'll get away from here, and then we'll see.
Nona was not sanguine about this plan, but did not know what else to do, so she agreed. She made an apology to the teacher, explaining that something extremely pressing had come up, and hurried away. Because she was a good worker, and trustworthy, the teacher agreed.
She remained in touch with Seqiro, which was just as well, because soon the horse informed her that he had gone out of range of Colene. He was being ridden past the village toward a more distant village.
Can you reach Stave? she asked the horse. So he can help?
Seqiro tried, but discovered that Stave was busy on a carpentry project for a despot and could not get free. So it was up to her alone.
She took a shortcut, where there was no path, just a series of gullies and pools that were hard to cross without getting dunked. Also the myriad smaller rads, which were like boulders of every size arrayed in patterns all across Oria. In the village and castle and the cultivated fields most of the smaller ra
ds had been removed, so that only their faint filaments remained, visible by night. In the unsettled countryside the rads remained natural, and Nona preferred this. She tried not to step on the more delicate ones, though since they ranged all the way down to too small to see, this was impossible. Is anyone near me? she asked the horse.
He was not able to get into the minds of despots, but he could tell where they and theows were. No.
So she used her magic to float up over the rough terrain. Then she oriented on a tree ahead of her and drew it in, which meant that instead of moving it toward her, she moved herself toward it. In this manner she gained on the horse's progress along the winding road, and came back to land almost in sight of him. It was nervous business, because despite his reassurance, she feared being seen.
She heard the clip-clop of his hooves on the road, and forged on toward him. Then she realized that she was actually ahead of him; there was no need to hurry. Buck off the despot, and gallop here to me, she thought to him. This mind-magic was wonderful!
There was a sound. Then a man in a black tunic sailed up in the air beyond the bushes, and hovered there, surprised. He had made himself float rather than crash to land, but meanwhile the horse was galloping swiftly away.
The despot was facing away from her, having gotten turned when unseated. Nona gambled, and floated up herself, drifting over the road. When the horse caught up with her, she conjured a large rad ahead of him violently toward her. Since the rad was well anchored and far more massive than she was, the effect was to move her forward with a burst of energy to match the horse's velocity, and dropped down to his back. She grabbed onto his mane and hung on.
He slowed immediately. Guide me, he thought, now walking swiftly. She discovered that it was not hard to stay on him, because she was in touch with his mind and knew what he was doing; there was no conflict between them. She sat in the saddle the despot had placed, and felt almost confident.
That way! she thought, making a picture in her mind showing where there was an old path through the rough land. She had used that path as a girl to go berry picking, and suspected the despots didn't know about it. The ploy was effective; the despot floated on along the road, assuming that the horse was still running ahead. Despots had much magic, but could use only one type at a time; otherwise the man would have made a picture of the road ahead, and realized that the horse was not there.
So her little trick had worked. Nona followed up by using her magic to scatter the sand and dirt the horse's hooves had printed, so that no sign of his recent passage remained. Unfortunately this path went nowhere useful to them at the moment; it wound down to the shore of the sea. They would have to turn and go along the shore, and the despot would soon find them. It was possible to search a wide area, with the command of illusion that a despot had. Their time was limited.
Then she had an idea. Seqiro, do you mind the water?
I like water.
Suppose I weight you down with rocks, so you can stand under the water, and I make a hood with a tube so you can breathe? I think the despot will never think to look for you there. His image will not work well wider water, even if he tries.
Seqiro understood her concept immediately, for her mind was open to him in image as well as word. Yes.
Now she used her magic to fashion the hood. She summoned a stick of wood from the ground, held it in her hand, and changed it into a hood that would fit snugly over the horse's head, with transparent places so he could see out. It had a long flexible tube projecting from the top. The end of the tube widened out into a twisted shape resembling driftwood. "Now let me put this on you," she murmured. She had forgotten to focus her thought, but realized that the act of talking did that automatically; he still understood her.
Because he knew her mind, the horse did not flinch as Nona reached forward and worked the cumbersome device over his head. When the thing covered his eyes, he saw through hers. Then she got it down, and tied it under his chin, firmly. It looked weird, but she thought it should work.
"Now let me weight you with stones, so you can walk into the water," she said. She used magic to make a harness that fitted before and after the saddle, and floated heavy rocks into it. The work was tiring, for magic was merely another way of doing what a person could have done by hand, as far as the use of energy went, but she didn't stint. She was afraid that at any time the despot would discover his mistake and fly down the side path and find them.
Seqiro walked into the sea. The descent was moderate here, so that he had no trouble with the footing. Nona knew that the waves of the sea had battered the smaller rads of this region into sand. Man and nature kept changing the virgin world, and that was perhaps inevitable, but also sad. Weighted by the stones, Seqiro moved deeper, until the whole of his body was below the surface. Nona had to conjure additional stones to weight herself down, so that she would not float, and make a hood for herself: a detail she had almost forgotten.
The water was cold: another detail she had not thought of. Fortunately she was able to take a strand of seaweed and transform it into a thick warm suit for herself; she was plastered-wet, but the suit kept her warm. Then she made a similar covering for Seqiro, in patchwork pieces, until he said he felt comfortable.
They stood under the sea, their breathing tubes reaching up to their driftwood floats. The air did not taste good, but it sufficed. They seemed to be safe; all they had to do was wait.
"Is the despot close?" she murmured into her hood.
He is dose, but ignorant; he is on the path but not at the shore.
Good. He was just casting about, with no idea where they had gone. Probably he hadn't even sent a picture back to the castle to explain the situation, because he didn't want to have the blame for losing the horse. He hoped to find and recover the horse and complete his mission in good order. If so, that was also their fortune; there would be no immediate large-scale action by the despots.
Still, the situation was bleak enough. The loss of the horse would soon be known regardless, and Nona's absence from the village would be suspicious. She had committed herself the moment she came after Seqiro, and would not be able to return to her prior life. Now she had to press forward to victory for herself and the visitors, or to disaster.
She would have preferred that it had not happened. She was not, it seemed, as adventurous a girl as she had thought. Right now, the prospect of settling into a comfortable life with Stave strongly appealed. But she had always known that it was not her destiny to be a wife and mother, and that she would save her people if she could. In fact now, when she was in danger, was the only time she reflected with favor on married existence. It was, she realized, not adventure which made her nervous, but danger. If she could go to far places, and explore strange lands, and meet unusual people, with little actual threat to herself, then it would be ideal.
You belong with us, Seqiro thought.
"But I don't even know who you are, really," she protested. "Just that you came from places I can't fathom, and have powers no one here does."
I will tell you about us. We are each from a different reality. The laws of the universe are different in each one. I am from one in which the horses are telepathic—
"What?"
This is what Colene calls it. You call it mind-magic. The horses use it to control the human beings and make them do the necessary chores. Human beings are useful because they have versatile hands.
"But why did you leave, then?"
I was dissatisfied with that life. I wanted to explore new frontiers and gain new understandings.
"So do I!" Nona exclaimed.
So when I became aware of the forming Virtual Mode, I took it, and found Colene.
"The what?"
The Virtual Mode. One of the humans could explain it to you more effectively than I can, because they have the minds for it.
"But you have a good mind!" she protested. No. I borrow from the mind of the human being I am with. That is why it was necessary for me to achieve rap
port with you before getting out of range of Colene's mind. I did not want to revert to animal intelligence, and be at the mercy of the despots, to whose minds I have not attuned. Now I am borrowing from yours, and you lack the concept of the Virtual Mode, so it is hard for me to explain it. But I can tell you my experience, from memory. I stepped through the anchor with Colene, and we crossed into a new reality every few steps. The worlds changed around us, until they were like nothing we had known. We walked where a sea had been, but no water remained. Until we came to a reality where an Emperor made us captive. Then we escaped from him by freeing his anchor, and came to you, because you are the new anchor person.
"That I don't understand at all! I am not an anchor! I am a person."
This too is not easy for me to explain. Darius and Colene understand it, but we are not with them now. They say that it requires five points to fix four dimensions, and so our Virtual Mode has Jive realities and five people. You are the person who makes it possible for us to enter your reality. You can enter the Virtual Mode with us. but no other person here can unless you touch that person constantly. Except that something is wrong, and we can not use the anchor to return, because of the animus.
"Now, that I understand!" she said. "The animus gives men the power of real magic, leaving women only the power of illusion, which everyone has. But if I can find out how to reverse it, and establish the anima, then women will have the magic and men will be subservient. The despots will fall, and Oria will be the wonderful world it once was."
Would that affect the anchor?
"I don't know. But it would change the nature of our society, so maybe it would. If the anima came, I would be the queen of Oria, and I would do anything I could to help you."
Provos believes that it does have something to do with the animus.
"Provos, the old woman? I hardly know her, or any of you, yet, and would like to."
She remembers what is yet to happen, but nothing of what has happened. She remembered that we were not harmed by the despots, so we went there. But she does not communicate much, and Darius believes that if we listen to her too much, what she remembers will change. In his presence I understand this.