propelled by his whole body. Not being of as serious a questioning mind as Oskar or Mamakitty, he was content simply to make use of the fortuitous phenomenon and worry about explanations later.
Seeing their superior hard-pressed, both of Covalt's aides abruptly rushed to his aid, as did a pair of foot soldiers standing nearby. Their intercession was of no consequence. With the six-foot-long blade humming to itself like a gigantic wasp, Cezer forced them all back while clearing a circle around himself and his companions.
'How are you doing this?' Oskar shouted as they began to edge toward the stockade gate.
'How should I know?' Cezer continued to swing and thrust with zest, enjoying the look of confusion on the faces of their opponents, and the one of frustrated fury on that of the captain. When a couple of soldiers let arrows loose at the retreating visitors, the magically augmented sword parried them with ease. Thus redirected, one such shaft pierced the leg of another soldier, with the consequence that no more projectiles were forthcoming from the assembled, flustered troopers.
'Isn't your arm getting tired?' Sword in hand, Cocoa had her own potential opponents to worry about.
'Not yet,' he yelled back at her. 'It's as if an entirely different part of myself is holding it up.'
'Through the wonder of the Master's magic we have been given human form.' Mamakitty lunged sharply forward, driving back a would-be assailant. 'Perhaps we have been given other things as well.'
Then why is my sword still of normal length, and my legs already aching? Oskar wondered silently. Did it mean that there was something inherent in Cezer that made him a better swordsman? No matter. He was more than content to retreat under cover of his companion's proprietary enchantment.
By this time, word of what was happening had spread throughout the entire contingent of dragoons. In various stages of uniform and dress, putting aside their daily tasks, they took up arms and trailed the travelers down to the river's edge, waiting for the moment when their bewitched opponents should tire. Several of the uninformed newcomers tried to bring Cezer down from a distance with arrows or spears. His mysteriously elongated and accelerated sword blurring the air like a hummingbird's wing, Cezer once more parried these threats from long range as effortlessly as he did the soldiers' continuing futile sword thrusts.
There were half a dozen boats tied up at the river's edge.
One by one, the travelers clambered aboard the nearest. While the miraculously invigorated Cezer held off the entire contingent of dragoons, Samm slipped into the water and pulled the boat off the sandbar on which it was resting, giving it a hearty shove downstream before climbing over the dangerously declining stern to rejoin his companions.
Her own weapon still held at the ready, Mamakitty frowned as the current caught them and they began to pick up speed. 'They're not following. As angry as Cezer has made them, I thought surely they would follow. They have the boats to do it.'
Oskar gazed back at the shore, which was now lined with gesticulating, jeering dragoons. 'It seems they'd rather taunt us.'
'Let them taunt all they wish.' Emotionally exhausted, Taj lay slumped against a railing. 'Easier to parry insults than steel.'
Safely away, Cocoa sheathed her own weapon and strode forward. Seeing her approach, Cezer moved automatically to put up his sword. Had he paused to think about it he might not have initiated the gesture, for a six-foot sword would not easily slip into a scabbard designed for one half that size. But as it was turned toward its home, it began to shrink. Oskar blinked, but the phenomenon could not be denied. By the time it had swung around far enough to be scabbarded, the weapon had contracted back to its original length.
'How did you do that?' Cocoa indicated the now sheathed blade.
Cezer shrugged, then grinned. 'I have no idea. Some postmortem trick of Master Evyndd's, I should assume. I wonder what other posthumous surprises may await.' He straightened, making himself as tall as possible. 'I'm quite exhausted from the episode, but the swordsmanship was all mine. No magic in that. After doing battle all my life with two handfuls of smaller versions, it seems to come naturally to me.' Holding up a hand, he made a face at the blunt human nails that tipped his fingers. 'Miss my naturals, I do.'
'Well,
'My weapon will always be at your disposal, ready to extend itself to extraordinary lengths at a moment's stimulus.' He smiled enigmatically. Trying to read his expression, she considered how to react to this promise, finally deciding to ignore it. Turning, she settled onto a bench to watch the shoreline slip past.
'You know,' Oskar mused to Mamakitty as the two sat watching the shore, 'keeping in mind what we have learned of the customs of this land, perhaps that soldier was only trying to be very polite.'
The woman seated next to him considered. 'You could very well be right, Oskar. I didn't think of that. This is a difficult place in which to try and read someone's intentions. Tell me: did you smell the threat in him?'
The dog-man shook his head (that, at least, being a gesture with which he was long familiar). 'No, I didn't. There was something else. I think maybe he was coming into heat. And then there was the anger, when Cezer challenged him. Could we have so badly misread his intentions?'
She shrugged. 'It doesn't matter. Cocoa wasn't going to stay with him, and we certainly weren't going to leave her behind. I'll be glad if and when we enter country where people touch noses, rub up against one another, and engage in mutual grooming as a way of showing friendship.'
Oskar sighed. 'You cats are always so touchy-feely.'
From near the stern, Cezer had to comment. 'More polite than smelling a new acquaintance's butt.'
Taj turned toward the river. 'You disgust me, the lot of you.' Samm had no comment. Snakes usually didn't.
Oskar ignored the swordsman. 'That sounds to me like wishful thinking, Mamakitty. I'm afraid the best we can hope to encounter is the human habit of shaking hands.'
'So impersonal.' Turning away from him, she let eyes and mind relax by concentrating on the slowly changing panorama beyond the boat.
While the near riverbank retained the distinctively reddish cast of the kingdom it delimited, the low sandbars, high reeds, and rustling palms on the far side had assumed a distinctly orange hue. Very fat birds and puffballs with sunken eyes flitted in profusion among the tropical growths. While it remained warm, the closer they drifted to the far shore, the more the temperature moderated. Humidity increased, however, altering without lessening their discomfort.
'How I long for the cool depths of the Fasna Wyzel.' Always fastidious in his personal habits, Taj was suffering from the perspiration that soaked his clothing. Unlike his former feathers, the artificial raiment he was compelled to wear could not be cleansed by simple preening. So it was not surprising that it was he who suggested they take turns washing themselves and their clothing in the river.
Having been the one to advance the proposal, it was he who tentatively slipped first into the water. A couple of ropes secured to the boat had been tossed into the river. These now dangled astern. By clinging to one of these, a bather could enjoy the cleansing action of the current while exerting minimal effort to remain afloat. Come evening, everyone had taken a turn. The river was deep enough so that even Samm's feet did not bump against the bottom. Not that he cared. The snake-man was the best swimmer among them. A few fish nibbled curiously at their toes, but nothing emerged from the deeps to bite or sting the grateful bathers. Taj had to remember to hang on to the rope with one hand instead of flapping both simultaneously in the water.
When the stars came out, they were tinged with carmine, and the moon was a pink blot against the blackness.
'Tomorrow we'll pick a place to go ashore on the western bank.' Mamakitty was leaning back against the railing, studying the night sky.
'How?' Oskar wondered. 'When Master Evyndd took us to Zelevin, we saw boats like this on the Shalouan, and I remember watching them as they were steered. This one has no oars, no sail. Without a way to guide it, we're likely to drift past any suitable spot.'
'Don't you remember? It should be enough to just move that wooden thing fastened to the back. I recall that when they were pushed one way, boats turned in the other direction.'
Cezer looked back at the rudder that was swinging freely with the current. 'That's right, I remember now. People on boats pushed such things in the opposite direction they wanted to go.' He relaxed. 'I suppose that means we can go ashore anywhere we like.'
She nodded. 'Let's try to pick a dry place. I don't like getting wet any more often than I have to.'
