Read Online Yon Ill Wind by Piers Anthony - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Piers Anthony
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pictures.” She found another lug and set it before her. She quickly sketched a crude picture of it, then crossed it out and drew an even cruder bug.
And the lug became a bug. It did work pictographically.
Maybe the Good Magician had figured she was too stupid to read and write. Which was actually a pretty accurate assessment; she had never gotten beyond the first year of Centaur School, so could handle words of only one or two syllables. If she had had to write “quintessential,” she would have expired.
“So if you can draw, you can use this marker,” she concluded. “I confess I don't know exactly how versatile it is, but since there are a number of lugs around here, at least you'll have all the bugs you want. Is it a deal?”
The spider nodded yes.
But now she had just the slightest, wee-est little tinge of apprehension. Was this spider honorable? Suppose it grabbed her and the marker? But then she concluded that it must be honorable, because Otherwise the Good Magician wouldn't use it in a challenge. So she girded her loin—no, that would be unmaidenly. She lifted her chin and walked into the spider's range. If she had misjudged the situation, and the spider grabbed her and tried to suck her juice, she would turn its juices to poison and make it sorry. But she hoped for the best.
The spider became the dock. Chlorine set dainty foot on it and went to the boat. She climbed in. Then she set the magic marker on the dock, untied the boat's tether, picked up its paddle, and shoved off. “Nice doing business with you,” she called cheerily.
The spider reappeared, holding the marker in its mandibles. It waved at her with a long forelimb. She had passed the second challenge.
Oops—-she had forgotten Nimby. “Hey, Nimby!” she called. “Can you join me?”
Nimby walked down to the dock as Chlorine returned.
The spider obligingly changed form, allowing Nimby to tread its planks and get into the boat. Maybe it realized that Nimby was actually a dragon with impenetrable scales, so wasn't anyone to fool with. Then they pushed off again.
She paddled across the moat without incident. But she knew there would be a third challenge. What would it be?
They were never the same, she understood. Just so long as it wasn't a fierce moat monster, because she didn't know what she would do in that case.
She came to land at a garden within the moat outside the Good Magician's castle. They climbed out of the boat.
The moment they did, the boat wended its own way back across, stranding them. It was now too late to change her mind.
She gazed at the garden. It was lovely, and loathsome.
The left side was overgrown with foul-looking and -smelling weeds and had statuary that was downright disgusting.
The right side had a multitude of pretty flowers, with attractive scents. Naturally that was the side she wanted to step into.
But the path led into the foul side, so that was where she went. It would have been impossible to go into the nice side without treading on flowers and ripping out beautiful vines, and she couldn't bear to do that. But the path was overgrown with burrs, thorns, nettles, stinging vines, scratchpads, and even a stink horn she just missed stepping on. That would have wiped out all her appeal in one swell foop, for nothing and nobody could stand the sound or stench of stink horn.
The farther she went, the worse it got, until it was plain that she could not get through this way. This was one mean garden half. And obviously a challenge.
She backed out and rejoined Nimby, who was innocently waiting. Her nice dress was smirched with refuse colored yuck, and her arms and ankles were scratched.
What an awful section!
She considered the nice side again. If only the path were there! But it wasn't, and though the garden was beautiful, it was just as thickly woven as the ugly side was. Not only would she do a horrible amount of damage- if
And the lug became a bug. It did work pictographically.
Maybe the Good Magician had figured she was too stupid to read and write. Which was actually a pretty accurate assessment; she had never gotten beyond the first year of Centaur School, so could handle words of only one or two syllables. If she had had to write “quintessential,” she would have expired.
“So if you can draw, you can use this marker,” she concluded. “I confess I don't know exactly how versatile it is, but since there are a number of lugs around here, at least you'll have all the bugs you want. Is it a deal?”
The spider nodded yes.
But now she had just the slightest, wee-est little tinge of apprehension. Was this spider honorable? Suppose it grabbed her and the marker? But then she concluded that it must be honorable, because Otherwise the Good Magician wouldn't use it in a challenge. So she girded her loin—no, that would be unmaidenly. She lifted her chin and walked into the spider's range. If she had misjudged the situation, and the spider grabbed her and tried to suck her juice, she would turn its juices to poison and make it sorry. But she hoped for the best.
The spider became the dock. Chlorine set dainty foot on it and went to the boat. She climbed in. Then she set the magic marker on the dock, untied the boat's tether, picked up its paddle, and shoved off. “Nice doing business with you,” she called cheerily.
The spider reappeared, holding the marker in its mandibles. It waved at her with a long forelimb. She had passed the second challenge.
Oops—-she had forgotten Nimby. “Hey, Nimby!” she called. “Can you join me?”
Nimby walked down to the dock as Chlorine returned.
The spider obligingly changed form, allowing Nimby to tread its planks and get into the boat. Maybe it realized that Nimby was actually a dragon with impenetrable scales, so wasn't anyone to fool with. Then they pushed off again.
She paddled across the moat without incident. But she knew there would be a third challenge. What would it be?
They were never the same, she understood. Just so long as it wasn't a fierce moat monster, because she didn't know what she would do in that case.
She came to land at a garden within the moat outside the Good Magician's castle. They climbed out of the boat.
The moment they did, the boat wended its own way back across, stranding them. It was now too late to change her mind.
She gazed at the garden. It was lovely, and loathsome.
The left side was overgrown with foul-looking and -smelling weeds and had statuary that was downright disgusting.
The right side had a multitude of pretty flowers, with attractive scents. Naturally that was the side she wanted to step into.
But the path led into the foul side, so that was where she went. It would have been impossible to go into the nice side without treading on flowers and ripping out beautiful vines, and she couldn't bear to do that. But the path was overgrown with burrs, thorns, nettles, stinging vines, scratchpads, and even a stink horn she just missed stepping on. That would have wiped out all her appeal in one swell foop, for nothing and nobody could stand the sound or stench of stink horn.
The farther she went, the worse it got, until it was plain that she could not get through this way. This was one mean garden half. And obviously a challenge.
She backed out and rejoined Nimby, who was innocently waiting. Her nice dress was smirched with refuse colored yuck, and her arms and ankles were scratched.
What an awful section!
She considered the nice side again. If only the path were there! But it wasn't, and though the garden was beautiful, it was just as thickly woven as the ugly side was. Not only would she do a horrible amount of damage- if
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