no cat. Had you presented yourself before the unfortunate lady as the cat you usually are, I'm sure she would have greeted you fondly. In your present condition, however, you were bound to provoke a somewhat different reaction.'
The swordsman looked down at himself. 'What's wrong with—oh. I forgot. Humans have this thing about clothing, don't they?'
'Indeed they do.' Glistening and nude, Mamakitty grabbed on to an overhanging tree branch to help pull herself up the damp slope.
The disconcerted swordsman sidled up to Taj. 'You're a sorcerer. Why don't you just conjure us back some clothes?'
'I am not, by any stretch of the imagination, a sorcerer.' The lean-muscled songster was contemplating with distaste the long climb from water's edge back up to the river road. 'I am only a familiar, and a very lowly familiar at that. And I miss my wings.' Stepping past his companion, he began to ascend in Mamakitty's wake—which, under the circumstances, was not so very bad a place to be.
TWENTY
In those dismal days of depression and misery, the road that led from Zelevin was not nearly as busy as it had been before the arrival of the Horde and the Khaxan Mundurucu. Like every other aspect of daily life, commerce, too, lay under a cloud. Because of this, the travelers managed to avoid drawing attention to themselves. The first village they encountered was too busy for them to enter, but with nearly the entire population of the second in attendance at a pitifully bleak marriage ceremony, they managed to sneak in and back out again with a ragtag assortment of appropriated attire Mamakitty insisted must be returned later, and enough food with which to stuff their borrowed pockets.
When eventually they reentered the Fasna Wyzel, more than memories came flooding back. They journeyed onward in silence, each lost in his or her own thoughts and emotions, no longer certain whether they were animal, human, or some enigmatic melding of both. As they left the marked trails behind and moved into the silent depths of the great forest they were confronted with places, sights, smells, and sounds they had known intimately in animal form. As humans, they perceived everything differently. When they had left the forest before, their human bodies had been new to them and their attention and interests directed elsewhere. Now they had time to reflect on the striking transformation they had undergone. It left each of them feeling very humble—except perhaps Cezer, who alone among them probably could not count that particular sentiment in his emotional vocabulary.
When the house of the good wizard Susnam Evyndd at last came again into view, however, even the flint- hearted swordsman was overcome by emotion.
It stood much as they had left it. The spiders had been busy, and a profusion of webs decorated the sheltered places under the eaves, in the doorway, and in some of the windows. But the sturdy structure had not burned or fallen down. It hunkered up against the bracing rocks against which it had been built, facing the forest and the rest of the world with thatched defiance—the only real home any of them had ever known. It at once drew them on and repelled them.
It was fitting that Oskar, having watched over the front door all his adult life, should be the one to push it open. How much easier, he reflected, to do so with hands than with nose or paw. But not necessarily as satisfying. Considering how long the house had been empty, they found the interior in surprisingly good condition. Plenty of dry food remained in the pantry, undisturbed and unfouled by weevils. But the small crunchy bits of dried and processed protein no longer appealed to Oskar and his feline friends, nor the barrel of assorted seeds to Taj. As for Samm, having gorged recently on meatfruit in the Kingdom of Purple, he felt no urge to eat again so soon. In that respect he was alone.
For years they had watched Master Evyndd prepare meals for himself. They had eaten human food during their arduous trek through the kingdoms of light. Now they set about improvising what they could from the available stores. The result would have appalled a genteel gourmet, but it filled their bellies and assuaged the ache that had begun to grow there.
It was very late on the morning of the following day when they finally awoke from a long-overdue sleep. Samm would have dozed on had Oskar and Mamakitty not pounded on his shoulders and slapped his face until he finally opened his eyes.
'Sssorry,' he mumbled as he rose to his feet. All night long, he had slept with the white radiance held close to his stomach to ensure its safety. 'It's easier to shed one's skin than an old lifestyle.'
They cleaned themselves, using the rainwater shower and towels instead of tongues and paws. Then, with Samm carefully carrying the lambent white orb, they went looking for Taj. They found him standing and waiting for them on the front lawn.
'How many times I sat in my cage, gazing out at this vista'—he turned to his refreshed and ready companions—'watching you play on this lawn, Oskar, while Mamakitty and Cezer and Cocoa chased bugs and chipmunks and the occasional ball of discarded wizard shine, while I was stuck in my cage, singing. Or studying.'
'I can sympathize.' For a snake, Samm was unusually compassionate. Except when he was swallowing someone. 'Apart from the singing part, of course. Not that I couldn't sing,' he added in response to their disbelieving stares, 'but no one wanted to hear me. My kind aren't celebrated for harmony.'
Apprehensive but game, Cocoa eyed the familiar. 'There's no use in putting it off, Taj. What do we do now?'
This morning, the songster looked older than his years. Try as he might, he could not escape the feeling that the ultimate responsibility for the success or failure of what they were about to attempt was his. With a deep sigh, he extended a hand to Samm.
'Give me the white light.'
The giant passed it over. Taj held it lightly in his open palm. It was warm, but not unpleasantly so, and weighed, according to his best estimate, less than nothing.
'Gather around.'
Cezer frowned at him. 'What for? You're the wise and powerful familiar, not us.'
The songster smiled at him. 'Did you think the Master set you all on this quest to keep me company? Just as we were all part and parcel of his life, so, too, are we parcel and part of his magic, even though he has gone from us. For an enchantment this profound to work, it requires input from every one of us.'
The swordsman shrugged and stepped forward. 'If you say so.' He eyed the shaggy-haired dog-man standing next to him. 'Just don't ask Oskar to pee on me, okay?'
'That's close enough. Now join paws—I mean, hands.' Self-consciously, the members of the little company complied. Taking a last look at the clouds (and hoping it was indeed not his last), Taj began—not to speak, which skill had never been his forte, but to sing.
'Strength of serpent, circle round this space.' Next to Mamakitty, Samm stiffened. A cold breeze sprang up around them; a small wall of conjoined atmosphere.
'Swiftness of cat, bar evil's trace.' The breeze grew stronger. A strange tickling sensation prickled Cocoa's skin. Blinking against the rising wind, she saw that everyone's hair was standing vertical, as if the current of air were blowing straight up out of the ground under their feet. She gripped Mamakitty's and Cezer's hands tighter in her own.
Taj sang to the sky for all he was worth, a song less melodious than it might have been had he been inhabiting his original form, but infinitely more powerful.
'Devotion of dog, hold all in place!
Oskar felt himself shaking. Or maybe it was the ground Underfoot. It was a wholly eerie sensation because it was utterly quiet. Even the animals of the forest had gone silent. With the now gale-force wind rushing up from his feet to his ears, he had to squint to see through the rising column of dust and litter that was shooting skyward.
