Read Online Vale of the Vole by Piers Anthony - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Piers Anthony
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mountain, and finally emerged into daylight on the south side. Esk knew that his relief was no greater than that of his companions.
Before them stood the castle. It had a moat and a solid outer wall. The drawbridge was down, and on it was a big empty cage.
They stopped just before the moat. "The Good Magician's castle is always beset by challenges," Chex said. "That is because the Magician doesn't want to be bothered by querents who aren't serious. But I don't see what kind of a challenge an empty cage would be."
"I've heard that the challenges are always slanted toward the visitors," Esk said. "Does an empty cage mean something to one of us?"
They exchanged glances. None of them had a notion.
"I suppose we could just go on in," Chex said. "But I distrust this. It is never supposed to be easy to get in, and if it seems so, then that must be a false impression. I would much rather understand the situation before committing myself."
Esk could only agree. "But how are we to understand it, if we don't go farther?"
"Oh, we should be able to reason it out to some degree," she said. "The intellect is always superior to blind action."
"That's not the ogre view," Esk said.
"We have uved vome intellect and vome acvion," Volney said. "If one doev not work now, we can try the other. But I find it odd that we have encountered vo many challengev on the way to the cavtle, and none now that we're here."
"That is strange," Esk agreed. "It's almost as if the challenges were in the wrong place."
"Or were they?" Chex asked, her wings flapping in her excitement. "Could that be the way the Good Magician planned it?"
"But aren't they supposed to be at the castle?"
"We assumed so, but how do we know? The Good Magician makes his own rules! He could have put the challenges anywhere along the route."
"But if they are slanted for particular visitors, how would the right ones be there for the right visitors? There are three of us."
But her excellent centaur mind was operating now. "I think he knew we were coming, and from which directions we were coming, so he could have set things up for each of us that the others wouldn't encounter."
"But he didn't!" Esk pointed out. "We all encountered the little dragons."
She looked at the cage. "Look—there are dragon droppings in there, and the bars are soiled with soot. Those little smokers were in there, but they got out!"
"They were let out," Volney said. "That cage hav a clavp only a human paw could operate. Mine couldn't."
"Why would they be let out before they were used?" Esk asked.
Chex shook her head. "I don't have the answer to that, but let's see if we can work it out. We three arrived together, and we helped each other get here. Does that seem usual?"
"No," Esk said. "I thought it was supposed to be one at a time."
"Well, let's pattern it. If things hadn't gone wrong, who would have come here first?"
"You would. You overshot the intersection; otherwise you would have arrived first, and then me, and finally Volney."
"So it seems reasonable that the Good Magician was setting up for me first. Now what would have been good challenges for me?"
'The mountain!" Esk exclaimed. "You're claustrophobic, so you were afraid to go into the tunnel until you realized that it was all illusion."
"And that could have been my first challenge," she said. 'To figure out the nature of the mountain, as I certainly should have done, because of my dam's map. But I failed that challenge and turned back."
'Then I failed it too, because I was with you."
"But if you had come alone, you would have gone on through the tunnel, because you aren't claustrophobic," she said. "So it wasn't a challenge for you; it didn't matter whether you caught onto its nature."
"But that chasm inside—that would have stopped me, if I didn't fall into it."
"Whereas I had no trouble with that," she said excitedly. "So maybe those were two challenges, one for each of us, set up together because we were likely to arrive so close
Before them stood the castle. It had a moat and a solid outer wall. The drawbridge was down, and on it was a big empty cage.
They stopped just before the moat. "The Good Magician's castle is always beset by challenges," Chex said. "That is because the Magician doesn't want to be bothered by querents who aren't serious. But I don't see what kind of a challenge an empty cage would be."
"I've heard that the challenges are always slanted toward the visitors," Esk said. "Does an empty cage mean something to one of us?"
They exchanged glances. None of them had a notion.
"I suppose we could just go on in," Chex said. "But I distrust this. It is never supposed to be easy to get in, and if it seems so, then that must be a false impression. I would much rather understand the situation before committing myself."
Esk could only agree. "But how are we to understand it, if we don't go farther?"
"Oh, we should be able to reason it out to some degree," she said. "The intellect is always superior to blind action."
"That's not the ogre view," Esk said.
"We have uved vome intellect and vome acvion," Volney said. "If one doev not work now, we can try the other. But I find it odd that we have encountered vo many challengev on the way to the cavtle, and none now that we're here."
"That is strange," Esk agreed. "It's almost as if the challenges were in the wrong place."
"Or were they?" Chex asked, her wings flapping in her excitement. "Could that be the way the Good Magician planned it?"
"But aren't they supposed to be at the castle?"
"We assumed so, but how do we know? The Good Magician makes his own rules! He could have put the challenges anywhere along the route."
"But if they are slanted for particular visitors, how would the right ones be there for the right visitors? There are three of us."
But her excellent centaur mind was operating now. "I think he knew we were coming, and from which directions we were coming, so he could have set things up for each of us that the others wouldn't encounter."
"But he didn't!" Esk pointed out. "We all encountered the little dragons."
She looked at the cage. "Look—there are dragon droppings in there, and the bars are soiled with soot. Those little smokers were in there, but they got out!"
"They were let out," Volney said. "That cage hav a clavp only a human paw could operate. Mine couldn't."
"Why would they be let out before they were used?" Esk asked.
Chex shook her head. "I don't have the answer to that, but let's see if we can work it out. We three arrived together, and we helped each other get here. Does that seem usual?"
"No," Esk said. "I thought it was supposed to be one at a time."
"Well, let's pattern it. If things hadn't gone wrong, who would have come here first?"
"You would. You overshot the intersection; otherwise you would have arrived first, and then me, and finally Volney."
"So it seems reasonable that the Good Magician was setting up for me first. Now what would have been good challenges for me?"
'The mountain!" Esk exclaimed. "You're claustrophobic, so you were afraid to go into the tunnel until you realized that it was all illusion."
"And that could have been my first challenge," she said. 'To figure out the nature of the mountain, as I certainly should have done, because of my dam's map. But I failed that challenge and turned back."
'Then I failed it too, because I was with you."
"But if you had come alone, you would have gone on through the tunnel, because you aren't claustrophobic," she said. "So it wasn't a challenge for you; it didn't matter whether you caught onto its nature."
"But that chasm inside—that would have stopped me, if I didn't fall into it."
"Whereas I had no trouble with that," she said excitedly. "So maybe those were two challenges, one for each of us, set up together because we were likely to arrive so close
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