Xone of Contention

by Piers Anthony

  It came. Chlorine got on behind Nimby, and they were on their way somewhere. She wondered where he had been all night. Probably riding around in random patterns, never pausing, so that Dearth could not pin him down. Fortunately Nimby did not need sleep; when they lay together for the night, and she slept, she knew that his Awareness was reaching out, exploring all Xanth. But what about Edsel's mortal body? That must be getting tired. So where were they going now?

  Not south. Nimby followed roads and trails to the side. Dearth was aware—it seemed he always knew where Nimby was, once he tuned in—and the weather worsened. But it was apparent that a storm could not be generated instantly, and Nimby, taking an unexpected direction, was staying just ahead of it. Still, this was not leading home.

  They drove some distance, and dawn came. Still Nimby led them in the strange direction.

  They took a side trail. This soon became waterlogged. The flooding had reached this far, drowning out the road. Chlorine saw a bridge ahead that was above the water, but the approach was impossible.

  Nimby turned off the motor and came to a stop. He touched Chlorine's hand.

  She got off and went to the car, which had stopped with its tires deep in standing water. “The road goes through, and crosses the river. Thereafter it’s mostly high ground. If we cross here Dearth won’t he able to flood us out later. But it will stop your motor. Turn it off. We'll make a winch. It will be slow, but can be done."

  They didn't question this. They shut down the motor and brought out the block, tackle, and rope. Nimby walked the Lemon out to a stout tree then anchored the block to it. It was a special design, that could be set to increase the pulling force considerably. This required a lot of rope but they had it. Nimby had planned well. Then he tied one rope to the motorcycle and the other to the distant car. He rode the cycle along a dry ridge—and it hauled the cat slowly through the water.

  Chlorine remembered that there had been an example of such a pulley in one of the movie previews they had seen on the second day in Mundania. Nimby had studied that, and learned. There had been motorcycles, too, she realized. Now he was using what he had learned then. Nothing passed him by.

  Then Nimby disconnected and walked the Lemon to another tree, farther along. He repeated the process. After several such stages the car was through the deep puddle and back on dry land, at the edge of the bridge. It had been towed through the water without having to struggle to keep its motor dry. Apparently water didn't hurt a motor that wasn't running, at least not in the same way as it had in the mountains. Unless it was guided in the night by the malign power of the Demon E(A/R)th.

  They let the motors dry briefly. Then they started them, without difficulty and rode across the bridge. The water was rushing tumultuously under, but the bridge supports and structure were solid evidently this was a little known crossing that Dearth had not thought to wash out. Now it was too late.

  Was Dearth angry? So it seemed. This time clouds did not form and thicken, the opposite was the case. The ten am warmed and dried. Steam rose from the scene. Then smoke. Then fires broke out. Smoke rose into the sky. What was happening?

  Nimby touched her hand. “Volcanic activity?” she asked amazed "Are there volcanoes here?"

  Not hitherto. But Dearth was angry and the power of the earth was his as well as the powers of the air and water. This region would see its first volcano, it Nimby didn’t get away from here soon.

  But Nimby was already moving away from it. Then two vehicles raced past the spreading skies and left them behind. The volcano was too late. Dearth had not had time to raise it to sufficient power thanks to Nimby’s sudden change of direction. Even so. there would be new weather headlines for the local newspapers. Chlorine wondered again where Nimby had been during the night—but obviously it had not been near here. So be had surprised Dearth, and gotten through another barrier.

  Nimby signaled the car again. They pulled over to the side of the road. Nimby touched Chlorine’s hand.

  "Nimby needs time to be Aware.” Chlorine announced. "We have caught up to his prior plan and now he needs more information. But we can't afford to pause. Dearth will strike. We have an hour of clear road ahead Nimby must ride in the car, and Dug can ride the Lemon "

  "Got it." Dug said "It's been like magic, getting through. We want more of that." He took over the motorcycle.

  Nimby got into the back of the car, with Chlorine. Kim drove as they moved out. Nimby leaned back and closed his eyes Chlorine thought he was sleeping, but he took her hand.

  Suddenly she was sharing his Awareness. She saw the Land of Mundania extending as her perception rose from the car, like a bird flymg upward. The trees, houses, roads, lakes, and fields spread out in the manner of an unfolding map. There were tiny cars on the roads, moving in various directions. She realized with a start that this was not a picture, this was reality. This was what was happening in this region of Mundania right now.

  There was another river, also flooding, with its bridges closed They had circled around one such impediment, but now were heading into another. Well, they had almost two days to get home, and if it took one day to get around this one, they would still be in time.

  The scene flew south to the peninsula of Xanth, called Florida in Mundania. It dropped down to another swollen river, crossed it,. and oriented on a town beyond. On a motel. Into that motel, searching out a particular unit. Into that unit.

  There was a figure Chlorine recognized. Sean Baldwin Mundane. With a young woman who looked somewhat familiar—oh, it was Willow Hi without net wings. Her Mundane version. And Sean’s little brother David Baldwin now age fifteen. And his cat. Midrange. They had visited Xanth three years ago. Chlorine knew them well, for she and Nimby had been with them when the Ill Wind came to Xanth.

  Willow carried a locket Chlorine recognized it, from Nimby’s.

  Awareness, it was magic, holding any amount of anything, and at the moment it held a few oddments, a lesser demon, and a bucket of magic dust.

  Magic dust! She had for the moment forgotten. That was what Nimby needed to have some power of magic in Mundania. His body in Xanth was the source of all magic, but here he was Mundane. Until he got that dust. Sean and Willow were bringing it to him, but had been stalled by the flooded rivers. They could not get across.

  Did Dearth know this? So far he had given evidence of watching only Nimby, but he surely could watch anyone he chose, here in his dreary land. So he was not only blocking Nimby's progress, with imperfect success, but blocking Sean's progress, with better success. Because Sean did not have Awareness; he could not fathom the devious ways to circumvent the barriers.

  That river would take days to subside. How could Sean and Willow get through? They had Sean's car, but the bridges were closed. The bridges were in place, but deemed to be unsafe during the flood. No one was allowed on them. Maybe someone could sneak across by foot, but then he would be without his car. What could they do?

  Willow perked up, cocking her head. She heard something, or sensed it. She touched Sean's arm, and whispered something to him. She had felt Nimby's Awareness! Chlorine knew this only because Nimby did. Contact had been made. Willow was of Xanthly origin, so was better attuned to magic, even this very slight magic of sensing.

  But what good was it? No one could cross that river from either side. Not until the three days of the Challenge were long since over. Nimby had gone around one block, but used up a night doing it, and the block at the other end he could not do much about. So the essential nature of this contest suggested that Nimby would lose. Did it mean that Sean's party would give up it’s effort to bring the magic locket to Nimby?

  Then the scene faded. The vision was done. Chlorine opened her eyes. Nimby did not. He had gone to sleep. Or at least his body had, and that was surely good.

  Chlorine told Kim what she had seen. "So the Mundane Baldwins are trying," she concluded. "But they can't reach us. and we can't reach them. Even if one party managed to cross its river, the other river is
keeping the other back. We are kept apart by parallel rivers. So it looks as though Dearth has won."

  "Is Nimby concerned?" Kim asked.

  "I don't know. He's asleep." No need to clarify that it was really Edsel's tired body sleeping.

  "He probably got no rest last night."

  "So what do we do?" Chlorine asked, near tears.

  "We move on south. Maybe we'll get a break."

  "A break?"

  "Like finding a boat to cross the river."

  "Dearth would sink it."

  Kim shrugged. "It's not over till it's over."

  They continued south. When they reached the city, there was no way to go south beyond it.

  Nimby woke. "We have gone as far south as we can go," Chlorine said.

  He touched her hand, then returned to sleep. "Turn left," she told Kim. "There is a motel there with a room free." The motels were crowded now, because of the number of people caught unexpectedly away from home. Finding a room for the night would be difficult.

  Kim turned, and Dug on the motorcycle followed. They drove along the side road.

  "There," Chlorine said, pointing

  "But it says No Vacancies," Kim protested.

  "Try it anyway."

  They drove to the front office. Kim got out and went in. She emerged moments later with a look of vague awe. "They thought they had no vacancies, but then they got a cancellation, so we got it."

  "Nimby knew," Chlorine said.

  "How could he know the future? I mean, you explained about the Awareness, but that's all in the present, isn't it?"

  "I think he knew the people were canceling in the present. They just hadn't yet notified the office."

  So they had a good room. This time Nimby joined them. The storm hovered, but did not intensify; Dearth seemed satisfied to keep the two rivers flooded, knowing that they represented a formidable barrier. He knew where Nimby was, and where Sean's party was, as long as they remained separated, victory was just a matter of time.

  Nimby went to bed and slept.

  "We'll go get pizza," Dug said.

  Chlorine sat beside the bed and watched Nimby. Surely his body was tired, and needed the rest. But he didn't even seem to be worried. Was he bluffing? But with the two parties unable to meet, he had to lose. Should he at least be trying to get across the river, on the chance that Sean would get across his river?

  "Whatever the end of this, I love you." she murmured. "You are my everything, Nimby.” For at least she had had three years of the wonder of him. And perhaps she would have more, if all Nimby lost was status. She didn't want him to be hurt, but she hardly cared about his status, as long as she could be with him. But she was afraid that if he lost that status, he would leave Xanth, and that would be the end of everything.

  Dug and Kim returned with the pizza. They turned on the TV and watched the weather news. It wasn't good. They chatted about incidentals, staying away from the obvious subject.

  Nimby slept on.

  Finally Chlorine joined him, lying beside him, holding his hand. He was unresponsive. Was that just because his body was dead tired, or was it worse? Could Nimby have given up?

  In the morning Nimby joined them at a restaurant across the street for breakfast. Finally Dug broached the awful matter: "Two days are gone. What do we do?"

  Nimby touched Chlorine's hand. "We relax," she said. "We read a book."

  "Read a book?" Kim asked. It was evident that her patience was fraying.

  "I saw a little library just down the street from us," Dug said. "We could go there."

  Kim glanced at him, but refrained from making a sharp comment. "Well, it will pass the time, I suppose." As if they had too much time on their hands. Chlorine shared their gathering depression. Were they just supposed to dawdle here, waiting for the end?

  They finished breakfast and went to the library. But as they entered, the lights went out. "Oh, another power failure." the librarian said. "I'm so sorry." Her name tag said MARY LOU MATTHEW.

  Kim looked around. "You have a computer system."

  "Yes, for the patrons to use to go inline," the librarian said. "They love it. But the power's been so erratic the lust two days, we can't use it."

  They knew why the power failed. Nimby could escape the moment he reached the O-Xone, if he had access to the Grid at the right time.

  The formal check-in time was in the next half hour, but Dearth would make sure the power didn't return until well after that, or when Nimby left the library. Things were quiet now only because Dearth was in control of the situation, but Dearth wasn't taking any chances.

  They looked at books, as it was light enough without electric lights. Nimby took one about quantum physics, and read it avidly. Chlorine remembered that Dug had discussed the matter. Nimby tended to follow up on anything that attracted his interest, so now he was completing his knowledge of that subject. Chlorine preferred to look at a book of pretty pictures.

  Then Nimby touched her hand. Mystified by his request, she got up and went to the library's bathroom. It had a window to the back. She loosened the latch and opened it. "Here," she said out the window.

  Something leaped up, landing on the sill. Startled, she drew back. It was a nondescript cat.

  Then she recognized it "Midrange!" she said. "What are you doing here?" She picked him up. Nimby had known he was coming.

  She carried the cat into the main section of the library and set him down beside Nimby. Nimby reached out to Midrange's collar. There was a chain with a locket. Nimby took the locket in his hand, without removing it from the cat. He touched Chlorine's hand, and she felt a thrill of power. It was the magic dust within the locket; Nimby was drawing on it without even having to open the locket. Something in her body changed. In fact she felt three pulses of change.

  Chlorine stared. So did Dug and Kim. "Is that what I think it is?" Kim asked.

  There was a sudden roll of thunder outside. Dearth had just caught on.

  Nimby got up, briefly touched the hands of Dug and Kim. and went to the computer terminal, carrying Midrange, who seemed more than satisfied. Chlorine knew how that was. He touched the unit. It came on.

  Lightning struck the building. But the library evidently had an arrester, because there was no damage. Dearth had been caught by surprise, and couldn't act swiftly enough.

  Kim caught on. She leaped to the terminal and started typing. The screen came on. "But there's no power!" the librarian protested

  "Now there is," Dug said. And indeed there was, for Nimby was powering the system magically. None of them saw fit to mention that detail, however.

  Chlorine sat at the adjacent terminal, joining in. This one was also working, as the current flowed throughout the system Dug came to type for her.

  Kim led them straight to the O-Xone They entered it, and the hall became real around them.

  Edsel and Pia were there in Breanna's seat. So were Breanna and Justin "We were afraid you wouldn't make it," Pia said, coming to hug Chlorine.

  Chlorine had had a similar fear, but didn't care to admit it "Nimby knew."

  "For sure," Breanna said "We sent the locket out, but heard there was really bad weather in Mundania. We figured we knew why. When the Baldwins reported trouble getting through, we were really nervous "

  "Midrange Cat got through with the locket," Chlorine said. “I think the magic leaked out and affected him, giving him extra intelligence He knew where to go." Suddenly she realized why Nimby had been sleeping so much his Awareness had been following the cat, guiding Midrange throughout "The Demon E(A/R)th was watching the humans, not the cat, so he slipped though.” She glanced at Kim "You'll have to see that Midrange gets back to his family, with our gratitude.”

  "We will," Kim said.

  Nimby touched hands with Edsel, and Chlorine touched Pia. Her orientation changed, now she was looking the opposite way.

  Nimby touched Chlorine's hand Suddenly she had important new information. She turned to Pia "I have some news for you Nimby
is pleased with the way you and Ed cooperated, and has given you three gifts."

  "Oh, we don't need any gifts." Pia protested "Being in Xanth was such a wonderful experience for us" She glanced at Edsel "We're going to stay married, and have children, and I'm going to study the environment I have gained so much!"

  "Then I hope you are pleased with the gifts for they have already been given,” Chlorine said "First, your body has been restored to its form at age sixteen, as it seems was your wish in Xanth, and will be easier to maintain that way."

  "Oh!" Pia exclaimed "I thought that was only during the adventure. It was a foolish wish, anyway "

  "It's really meant for Edsel," Chlorine said. "i 1,1^ ,f -• FrUiM agreed

  "Second, your diabetes is gone."

  Pia's mouth dropped open "No more needles? I thought that was only in Xanth too. The healing spring.”

  "No more needles. Third, you will receive a visit from the stork."

  Pia was astonished "You mean—even though we were in Xanth, with your bodies?"

  "Perhaps." Chlorine said "We used your bodies similarly. Because of your association with Xanth at the time, your child will have a magic talent, when visiting Xanth."

  Pia seemed about to faint "That really, gave her something to think about,” Kim said, smiling "I envy her.” Kim's smile, though genuinely warm for her friend's good fortune, had a tinge of sadness she tried to mask.

  "You, too, will receive a visit,” Chlorine told her "With similar magic.”

  "A—? But that can't be! I mean—" Kim hesitated, unaware that they knew about her problem in that respect, and her secret heartache "I mean, we were in Mundania the whole time."

  "The storks deliver as Nimby tells them to. The two of you were extremely helpful, and are deserving.”

  Now Kim was the one about to faint “You mean, I really will have—a baby?" Her underlying sadness was transforming to abiding joy, and it was mirrored in Dug's face.

  "As will I " Chlorine. said Then, startled, she looked at Nimby "I will?”

  Everyone laughed. Then the three women came together and hugged each other.