Fractal Mode

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 will find me. 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. It 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 rads 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 under 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 close, 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 rapport 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 five 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.

Nona considered. “Does she remember my association with you? I mean, beyond now?”

Yes. It has passed through her thoughts. We travel far, and you are with us. Finally some of us pass back through the anchor. I do not know why we all do not go, and Provos does not remember what those ones do away from the others, but they do return.

“Does she remember whether the anima comes?”

She does not seem to. But that may be because no one has asked her.

“Could it be that some of you travel because the others are captive?”

It could be. I am not apt at conjecturing.

“Well, maybe you will help me to bring the anima, because then you will be able to return to your Virtual Mode. Then I will be queen of Oria, and I’ll have to marry and bear children who have great magic. I dread that.”

Why would you be queen? I understood from the thoughts of my friends that this office was inherited.

“It is. Under the animus the firstborn son of the king becomes king after him. Women do not rule, as none of them have magic stronger than illusion, and theow men have similar weakness. It is the power of magic which governs, and it follows the firstborn. But under the anima the magic flows the other way, through the women, and the lastborn. So the last-born woman of the lastborn woman has the greatest magic, and must therefore rule. But to bring the anima, there must be a special pattern of births leading to a woman who matches the magical nature of our world. That woman is me. Because the world is now governed by the animus, I am the only woman with significant magic; I am the channel. But with the anima, all other women after me would have magic, according to their lineage, and all men would be reduced to illusion. Everything would change.”

As a horse, I am indifferent to rank and power of the human type. But most humans seem to desire it. Why do you dread it?

“Because it’s just another kind of captivity. I would have to marry, and have babies, and though with the anima these would add to my power rather than deplete it, I would not be free. I want to explore, to see new things, to act without regard to responsibility. I don’t want to exchange one form of oppression for another.”

This is the way Colene feels. But she also desires love.

Nona considered. “I don’t desire love, for that, too, is captivity. Yet I may not be able to avoid it. When I get close to Stave, and pretend to be loving him, so that the despots won’t know what I’m really doing, the pretense wears thin and I begin really feeling it. He feels the same for me, I know. It is a trap, but an alluring one. I don’t know what to do about that.”

Colene also has mixed feelings about Darius. She wants to marry him, but perhaps can not, because he must marry a woman with much joy, and drain that joy from her. She has no joy to spare; she has depression instead. So she must be his mistress only, and let him marry another, and she doesn’t like that. He has interest in other women, and she is jealous of them. She wants to breed with him, even though she is afraid of it, so that he won’t do it with someone else. He says she is young, and she doesn’t like that either.

“How old is she?”

Fourteen years.

“In my culture, that is too young for that kind of activity.”

In hers too. But in his culture it is all right, if both people have desire and understanding.

“But then he can—”

He honors the convention of her culture, because she is of it.

“He must be a good man.”

Yes. I believe he is correct. But Colene is my girl. I must go with her, however she feels, and help her in what way I can, even when she goes wrong.

“Yes, of course.” Nona wished she had a companion like that, because her own situation was precarious.

You are not excluded, Seqiro thought. I like you too. While we are here, I will help you, as you are helping me. I would be lost without a sympathetic human mind.

That was a wonderful relief, for the big horse had magic like none other known on Oria. “Thank you, Seqiro.” She leaned forward and hugged him as well as she could. She began to believe that she had a chance to accomplish her destiny.

There was a pause in their communication. Then the horse thought again: The despot is gone. He is beyond my range. It is safe to emerge.

“But is it?” she asked. “The despots have much stronger powers of illusion than the theows do, and can make pictures of scenes this far from the castle. They may be waiting for us to come out of the water so they can spot us.”

How do they do this? I saw the illusion pictures they made, but did not understand how that was done.

“They use their creatures,” she explained. “They see through the eyes of animals who serve them, and craft illusion pictures from those images, which they project for anyone to see. This is beyond the powers of theows, but ranking despot women can do it, and all despot men.”

So when the queen showed Colene with the knave, there was an animal there?

“Probably a spider in the corner. Once a despot trains a familiar, that creature serves the despot loyally, and the despot makes sure it is fed and cared for. When a familiar is killed, the despot who has it is most annoyed, not because he cares about animals, but because it requires considerable effort to train a replacement. Only the despot who trains a familiar can draw on its images, because animals do not see or hear the way we do, and each is different, and that information must be interpreted. I could train a familiar, but seldom do, lest my ability be discovered. I keep only a lizard near my house, whose perceptions will tell me whether anyone strange has come there.”

Then I am a familiar.

She laughed. “I suppose you are, Seqiro! But you are to an ordinary familiar as a king is to a theow child.”

Perhaps so. I can see the similarity in the magic. But I can not relate readily to unfamiliar creatures, and have extreme difficulty getting into the minds of strange human beings.

“The despots can’t get into human minds at all! Only animals, and only with patience. Then it is mostly a matter of controlling their movement and reading their senses, not truly relating to their thoughts. However, we can never be sure which animals are theirs, so we must always be cautious. When a blackbird watches us, we know it is a familiar, but when a fly buzzes near we have no way to tell. However, I doubt that they have many night creatures; usually they use flying animals to spy away from the castle.”

He saw the situation in her mind, and agreed. We must remain hidden until darkness. Unfortunately I am growing hungry.

“But I can make food!” she protested. “All I need is something organic to transform. What do you prefer?” Oats.

She took one of the smaller stones and transformed it into a bucket. Then she found a loose hair on his back. She held it and concentrated. It became a mass of oats, which poured though her hands and floated up to the surface. “Oops!” she exclaimed in dismay. “I forgot where I was; I meant them to fall into the bucket.”

She fashioned another stone into a tight-fitting cover for the bucket, then transformed another hair into oats inside it. She passed this container around to Seqiro’s nose. But he couldn’t eat it, with both the oats and his nose encased. She did some more magical shaping, and finally got a hood which had a feed bucket at the base.

This is nice magic, the horse thought as he munched. “So is yours,” she said. Then she made some food for herself from a spilled oat, and ate it. Lend me your mind.

Nona found this request odd, until she fathomed his reason. Seqiro was a horse, with the mind of a horse; he could remember very well, but could not reason in the human fashion by himself. But with the mind of a human being, he could think as well as that human could. He had something to work out. So while they ate, they thought, and Nona became a viewer of that thought. It was as if she were thinking, but she was not; she was merely watching.

Seqiro drew on his memories and limited understanding of the situation of Colene and her companions, and on Nona’s experience of Oria. When the two meshed, it became apparent that three abilities were needed to escape capture by the despots: Nona’s magic, Seqiro’s mind-talk, and Darius’ conjuring. These meshed abilities would enable them not only to escape the despots but to reach the Megaplayers. The Megaplayers were the ones most likely to be able to reverse the animus, establish the anima, and so change the culture of Oria and free the anchor of the hostile spell which prevented the main party from returning to the Virtual Mode.

“It is true!” Nona exclaimed when the horse finished and returned her mind to her. “We must work together, for otherwise we all are lost, and if we succeed we all prevail. You are the folk I needed to reach at the instruments.”

Or at least we are folk who may be able to help you. Our arrival here was coincidental.

Nona now understood the concept of the Virtual Mode better than before. “It was not coincidence that I came to that place and sought contact. I thought it was the Megaplayers, but it was for a Virtual Mode—and yours was the one I encountered. Perhaps some groups could not have helped me, but yours can, so I was lucky I connected with you.”

Perhaps so. But much remains in doubt.

“Much remains in doubt,” she agreed. “But I’m glad it was you, Seqiro, and your friends.”

The horse did not send a direct thought, but she felt his mental warmth. He did like her. He liked human girls, and she was one, but he also liked the type of girl she was. Just as she liked the type of horse he was.

After eating, they slept, for they knew that they would have little rest once they left the water. They would have to locate Seqiro’s friends, and try to find the Megaplayers. Nona found it comfortable, for though she was awkwardly perched on the back of the horse, under water, with a complicated head-hood, Seqiro sent a pleasant mind message of relaxation.

NONA woke from a pleasant dream which quickly faded. Her legs were feeling stiff, because she was not used to remaining on a horse, but in a moment Seqiro’s mind caused that discomfort to fade. It was a continuing comfort to be in his company; he knew how to make a human being feel better.

It is a skill we require in my reality, he explained. There we control the humans, and require them to do our bidding, but we prefer them to be satisfied. Most would have trouble functioning without horses. Colene is more independent, as are you, but the techniques remain helpful.

“They certainly do! Are there other things you can do for our kind?”

I can make you perform beyond your normal level. But this would be a stress on your body if used too often.

“Beyond my normal level? You mean I could do better magic?”

No. Your magic is beyond my scope. You could run faster, lift a heavier weight, or act with improved coordination. You could be more effective in combat with another of your species, or could accomplish some necessary task with better dispatch.

“So if a despot catches me, I might be able to twist out of his grip with unusual strength, and escape,” she said. “But that would not affect his magic. I would have to counter that myself.”

Yes.

“Still, it’s probably going to be helpful, because our chances of hiding long from the despots are small. We had better hurry to join the others, and start our journey to the Megaplayers.”

Seqiro made his way up the slope and out of the water. The tights of the night were bright, helping to clarify the ground so that he did not stumble. Nona had always liked the night as well as the day.

She changed the hoods and hoses back into innocuous objects, and did the same for the stones which had weighted the horse enough to enable him to remain below water, freeing them of encumbrances. “But before we go farther, I must get down,” Nona murmured.

Seqiro did not need to inquire why; he knew it from her mind. You could have done that in the water.

She realized it was true: she was wet through anyway. The currents would have carried the fluid away. She just hadn’t thought of it. So she got down and squatted by a bush, then returned. She preferred to walk beside the horse, getting her legs back into shape.

“Where should we go?” Nona asked.

You must work out a procedure, for I am not an original thinker.

“But you have been thinking original thoughts for hours!” she protested.

No. I have used your mind to think them. Now I am merely in contact with you, and you must do the original thinking. We know that we must work together, but you must decide how we shall get in touch with the others.

Nona realized that this did make sense. The horse had never claimed to be other than a horse, except in the matter of mind-magic. “Then I think we must get close enough to your friends so that you can talk with them. I hope this is not close enough for the creatures of the despots to spot us.”

I will try to explore the minds of the creatures we encounter. If I practice, I should be able to attune more perfectly as time passes.

They walked on toward the castle, the ground illuminated by the tiny filament curls. Then, suddenly, they were in range, for Nona heard Colene’s voice in her mind. Seqiro! Is that you?

I am with Nona, who kept me safe.

That was a considerable exaggeration, but Nona was so glad to have made contact that she didn’t protest it.

Darius has a plan. He will join you, while Provos and I hide.

Then Darius was there with them. He had conjured himself there. Nona was amazed, until she remembered what she had learned of his magic from the horse. Just as Seqiro’s magic was far superior to that of the despots, so was Darius’ magic. Despots could conjure only small objects, nothing living. Nona was the same; any object that was too large simply caused the conjurer to be drawn in instead. That was useful for flying, but not nearly as good as Darius’ instant self-conjuration. King Lombard must be fascinated by, and afraid of, the visitors. With excellent reason.

Yes, Seqiro replied. It was time for them to depart the castle.

“All right,” Darius said, speaking in his strange language, but his thoughts coming through to Nona in hers. “We believe that our chance of escaping unobserved is slight, but that Nona’s knowledge of the planet should help. So we have split our parties, and when Colene and Provos are safe, we will join them. Seqiro, have you learned enough to enable us to lead the despots astray?”

Yes. Nona has told me how they use familiars to spy on others, and that these creatures usually fly and seldom go out by night. Talk with her.

Darius faced Nona in the filament light, and she realized how handsome he was. “We fear you can not return to your village, now that you have helped us,” he said. “You must hide with us. Colene says that this planet should have many projections, some tiny, some large, and some like other planets. Is this true?”

“Yes, Oria is shaped the way all worlds are,” Nona agreed. “Except that much of it has weathered down, so no longer shows clearly. But the filaments remain. You can see their lights.” She gestured around them.

“We were amazed when we saw these,” he said. “Some extend far into the sky.”

“Yes, they are all sizes, and of course the stars are merely the joinings of larger filaments. Is this not true in your own world?”

He smiled. “Hardly! Now I propose to conjure us to different sites, staying ahead of the despots. But I can conjure a person only from me or to me, and only one at a time, safely. As far as I can tell, my range is not limited here, but it is not wise to conjure into a strange place. So one of us must go first, taking the risk, and since Seqiro represents our communication, it must be—”

“I’ll go first, of course,” Nona said quickly.

“That was not what I was about to say. You are our liaison with your people, and you know this planet. So I will—”

“But you must not risk yourself either,” she protested. “You are the only one with the conjuring magic.”

He considered. “All of us are necessary; none can be risked. We must find another way. But I do not think it will be safe to walk; it will be slow, and they will follow our tracks.”

“Maybe I can train a familiar,” Nona said uncertainly.

“A what?”

I will explain.

So while Nona cast about for a suitable animal to train, though she was in grave doubt that she could either find or train it in time, the man and the horse communed.

Then Seqiro’s thought came again. I can find a creature for you, and perhaps enhance your training of it. What is best for your purpose?

“A bat,” she said immediately. “But I would have to hold it in my hand, and they are hard to catch.”

There are bats here. If I can get into the mind of one, I will stun it for you.

Then, to her amazement, he did so. A bat fell to the ground not far from them. She hurried to pick it up, guided by the horse’s continuing contact with its mind.

It was a grown female in good health. This was ideal! Nona held the bat in her hand and exerted her magic. She felt Seqiro enhancing it. Lady bat, I call you my familiar, she thought. I will help you and you will help me. Give me your senses. And, thanks to the great added power of the horse’s mind-magic, the bat responded almost immediately. It became Nona’s familiar in a brief time instead of a day.

Nona flipped the creature into the air. Find a safe place for us to come, she thought to the bat.

The familiar flew into the night. But now Nona flew with it, borrowing the perception of its eyes and especially its ears. She saw, through its ears, the dark trees and clearings and gullies, until it came to a place in the lee of a mountain. This was suitable.

“Now I will go,” Darius said. “Then I will conjure the two of you to me. How far is it?”

Beyond my range, the horse thought.

Darius paused. “But then if I join the bat, I will not be able to tune in to you for the conjuration. You will be lost to me.”

“Then I should go first,” Nona said. “So you can remain in touch with Seqiro.”

“But then I will have no contact with the bat,” he pointed out. “I will not know where to conjure.”

They considered the matter, and realized that there was no easy way to do it. Seqiro could be conjured to join the bat, but then Darius and Nona would not be able to communicate with each other. Nona could be conjured first, but then Darius would not be able to move either of the others to join her. If Darius went first, Seqiro and Nona would be stranded behind.

“You say it isn’t safe to conjure more than one at a time,” she said. “But is the risk that great?”

“The risk is unknown,” he said. “In my own reality, with well-established settings, it could be done. But here it might lead to disaster. We might arrive far apart, or one might drop from the sky.”

She had to agree that it was best to avoid such a chance. She could float gently down, but neither Darius nor Seqiro could.

“We shall have to make shorter hops,” Darius concluded with regret.

But then Nona had another notion. “Could you conjure yourself—and carry me? So that I maintain contact with my familiar, guiding you?”

He looked at her, judging her weight. Because their minds were connected, she understood that in the process he took note of her appealing figure. Her tunic was still somewhat plastered to her, making her apparel wretched but showing very well the underlying contours. “Yes, I could do that. But it would be an unsteady ride for you, and we might fall when we landed.”

“Then we should try it once, and not again if it seems too awkward.”

They did it. Darius brought out several little dolls he had made, and took material from Nona’s wet dress to make a doll resembling her. He added a hair of her head to it, and a drop of her spit, and had her breathe on it. This was interesting magic! Then he made circles on the ground, identified one as where the three of them stood, and the other as where the bat waited, and invoked the cute horse doll. He moved that doll from one circle to the other—and Seqiro vanished.

Nona had known what was coming, yet not quite believed it. No despot had power like this! Yet Darius was an ordinary man in other ways, not arrogant at all.

Now it was the two of them together, and when Darius spoke it was unintelligible. “I don’t understand,” she said, showing by her words how it was, because he could not understand her language either.

He smiled. He spoke to the girl doll, and as he did so she felt an odd shiver. The doll had become her, or she the doll, in a weird way.

He approached her. She thought he was going to pick her up, but instead he moved the girl doll into the arms of the man doll—and Nona sailed up and into his waiting arms!

But now his arms were occupied, and he could not move the dolls. He spoke to the girl doll, and she felt its power leave her; then he spoke to the man doll, and stood there somewhat helplessly. She realized what was needed. She reached to his hand and took the embraced dolls from it, very carefully. Then she looked at the far circle, leaned as far as she could toward it, and moved the dolls to it.

There was a horrible wrenching, and the scenery changed. There was a jolt, and Darius fell, and she fell on top of him.

Disoriented, Nona reacted in a manner that had become almost automatic. She put her head down and kissed him on the mouth.

Almost immediately, she realized her mistake. This was not Stave, this was a different man. They were not pretending to be lovers in case a despot familiar was watching, they were magically traveling to another spot on the planet. She felt the flush forging to her face.

Then perhaps you should stop kissing me, the man’s thought came.

Oops! Nona jerked her head away, her embarrassment doubling.

But Darius laughed, outside and inside. “Don’t worry; I knew what you were thinking,” he said. “You forgot who I was.”

She felt his understanding. It had indeed been a mistake, no ill intended, and the ambience of the horse’s mind-magic made that clear. But her blush did not clear immediately.

“So should we make shorter hops?” Darius asked.

Nona tried to quell her embarrassment enough to think logically. The shorter the hops, the slower would be their progress, both because of the need to set them up more frequently and because they would be making three conjurations instead of two. It seemed to make better sense to make them as long as possible. It wasn’t as if it was unpleasant being in Darius’ arms.

Once more she was embarrassed, remembering that her conscious thoughts were being shared. This was another woman’s man, and she had no business thinking of any personal relationship. The problem was that she wasn’t used to this mind-magic, and her thoughts tended to run around like field mice, poking into everything. He seemed to have the same problem, for he had noted her figure, and there had been a whiff of sexual desire. It was odd, feeling what the man felt, but also exhilarating. What could two people do, when one was an attractive man and the other an attractive woman and their secret thoughts were open to each other?

“They can limit it to thinking,” he said. “If I followed up on every sexual thought I had, I would be in trouble, and not just with Colene.”

That had to be the answer. Nona belatedly remembered to send the bat out again, to find another suitable spot.

They made several more jumps, gradually extending the range and gaining confidence. They should be able to get away from any despots they might encounter. Darius was tired, for he had not had the chance to sleep during the afternoon. So they found a place under a large mountain and settled down for the rest of the night.

Nona made food for them: more oats for Seqiro, and bread for the human beings. Darius was amazed. “You need never go hungry!” he exclaimed.

“That would be true, if I dared show my ability,” she agreed. “But it would be death if the despots knew.”

He just shook his head, impressed. Nona was quite pleased, knowing that his reaction was sincere.

Then she made some pillows and covers for each of them, perversely enjoying the demonstration of her power. She had never dared do this at home, but these folk already knew, so it made no difference.

Darius lay down and went instantly to sleep. She had half expected him to—but of course he had a woman of his own. She was relieved and just a trifle disappointed.

Nona let the bat go to forage, for it was not right to deprive it of its feeding time. She would be able to summon it when she wanted, now that it was her familiar.

She really wasn’t that tired. But it would be best to get more sleep while she could, so—

SHE woke by daylight. Seqiro must have helped her to sleep, for it had never before happened that suddenly. Darius was already up, doing whatever men did in the morning.

She was about to use her magic to make more food. But Seqiro’s thought came: A hostile mind approaches.

Nona looked up. There on the horizon was a blackbird. “A despot familiar!” she exclaimed. “They have spotted us!”

“Then we had better move,” Darius said. “Where’s the bat?”

She sent her perception out and found the mind of the bat. “She returned to her cave for the day,” she reported. “It is far away. Even if she could perform well by day, it would be too late.”

“Is there room in that cave?!‘

She made the bat open its eyes and look around. “Yes, but it isn’t nice, because—”

“We must go there, then.” He drew two circles. Seqiro stepped into one, and disappeared when the horse doll moved across to the second.

Then the two of them stepped into the circle. The blackbird was now looming close. It dived down toward them.

Darius picked her up in his strong arms, and she moved the embraced dolls to the other circle. There was the wrenching.

They landed. Darius’ feet slid out from under, and they fell in their usual pile. Probably it was because she handled the dolls clumsily, so that they did not land properly upright. But the landing was soft.

Because they were in a mound of guano at the base of the bats’ cave. That had been her objection.

They struggled up, horribly soiled. But at least they were not hurt by the fall, and had escaped the eye of the despot’s familiar.

No, Seqiro thought.

Then she saw the head of one of the hanging bats turning to gaze at them. The despots had familiars here! Why hadn’t she realized that this would be the case?

“Where can we go?” Darius asked, controlling his revulsion of the dung in much the fashion he had controlled his appreciation of Nona’s body before.

Colene is now in range, Seqiro thought. The despots seem not to know her location.

“Then take us there!” Nona exclaimed. She didn’t even wait for him; she climbed sloppily into his embrace and moved the dolls, which she still held.

Nothing happened. Darius smiled, then drew two circles. Oh. Of course. The magic hadn’t known where to take them. Where would they have gone, if it had moved them to no specified destination?

The second try was successful. First Seqiro went, then the two of them.

They were in an embrace on a beach, still caked with bat dung. Colene turned from her embrace of the horse to see them. “Now, that’s what I call a dirty scene!” she said, wrinkling her nose. She was not entirely joking; a jealous rage was forming like a flash storm.

“Well, it’s dirty business, being with other women,” Darius replied.

Colene stared at him as he disengaged from Nona. The girl did not like the physical closeness of the two of them at all. Then something changed in her mind, and the rage dissipated.

Darius’ joke was registering on another level. She burst out laughing.

Nona did not quite understand the laughter, but realized that it meant that the situation was all right. That was a relief, because she didn’t want trouble with these new friends and their marvelous forms of magic. All she wanted was to get this awful manure off her body and out of her hair.