heaved. He suspected that the Godmother's magic had finally run out, which was hardly surprising, considering the pace they had set. 'Please. And water.'
The bear looked over his shoulder at them. He was not in nearly as bad a case, but then, as Siegfried knew, bears could go for immense distances at a fast pace. 'I need the same. There is water ahead.'
Siegfried would have very much liked to tell them to press on, but — no. Desmond might be willing to kill his mounts, but Siegfried was not going to exhaust his friends. Never mind that they had not yet caught up with the villain. They would. 'We'll pause there until you are ready to go on,' he said, trying not to feel as if the words marked defeat. They were not defeated; they hadn't even fought yet. They would find Desmond, and Rosa, and they would rescue her.
At the promised water, a small forest pond sheltered by trees, green with algae and tasting of old leaves, but otherwise good, he dismounted, to let the bear and the two horses slowly sip, pause for a moment, then sip again. They needed the water, but — thank goodness — they were all three intelligent enough to know not to drink their fill at once. Their sides heaved, and the horses were dark with sweat.
He put a comforting hand on his horse's rump — and jumped as he heard a muffled voice not a handbreadth from where it rested.
'Siegfried, we must talk. Open the saddlebag, Siegfried. This is important. I'm speaking for Godmother Lily.'
'What the hell — ' said Leopold, staring wide-eyed.
'You've been saying that a lot.' Siegfried cautiously opened the saddlebag. A glowing green face looked up at him from inside.
'Yah!' he yelped, and jumped back, dropping the flap.
'Oh!' said the bird, flitting down through the branches to land on his shoulder. 'That's just Jimson. He's the Godmother's Mirror Spirit. It's all right.'
'Mirror — there's a mirror in that bag?' Siegfried blinked.
'There's two, in case you drop one,' said the muffled voice. 'Leopold has two, as well. Please open the bag.'
Once again, Siegfried raised the flap.
The face looked up at him, brows furrowed with anxiety. 'That's better. Siegfried, when you find Rosa, put this mirror on the ground, and put the others you have left next to it — if you have all four, make a square. We are going to try something dangerous then, and we will only have one chance. Meanwhile you can talk to me through the mirrors, and Lily through me.' He transferred his gaze to the little bird. 'Bird, how fond are you of being such a small plain bird?'
The bird cocked her head to one side, considering the question. 'Not all that fond, I wouldn't mind being an ea — '
'Good.'
A brilliant, flame-colored light enveloped bag, bird and Siegfried's head, blinding him. Leopold shouted. For a moment, all that Siegfried could see were flashes of color. He knuckled his eyes, blinking away tears of pain and hoping he hadn't just been permanently blinded.
Odd. The bird had gotten alot heavier. And...warmer.
His vision started to come back but — it was strangely bright on the side where the bird was. As things around him blurred and swam back into focus, he turned his head to see what was so bright, and so big. What was on his shoulder was a bird, still. She was easily eagle-sized, though not eagle-heavy. She had a tall curving crest of flame-like feathers, bright gold eyes, red-and-gold wings now held open with delight, and a pair of scintillating tail- plumes that trailed down his back and ended in a pair of peacocklike eyes. Allof her feathers were red and gold, and glistened and sparkled like living flames.
'Bird?' he said incredulously. The bird was craning her long neck around and looking down at herself in astonishment.
'I — you made me a firebird!' she exclaimed in delight. 'You made me a firebird! Is this permanent?'
'Unfortunately, yes, I'm sorry,' Jimson said apologetically. 'There was no time to do anything reversible.'
'Oh, don't be sorry! I'm not!' The bird lifted her head and gave vent to a joyous trill. If anything her singing was sweeter. 'I don't mind dodging a few feather hunters to be able to look likethis! Do I turn into a human girl, too?'
Jimson shook his head. 'Unfortunately, no, I'm — '
She caroled with delight. 'Even better! No clumsy old men wanting to marry me and sending people to catch me so they can!'
Jimson coughed. Evidently he had not anticipated how pleased she would be. 'Erm, well, good. I'm glad you approve. I apologize that we did this, but Siegfried may need your new powers when — '
'Siegfwied! Siegfwied! Wait!'
Once again, Jimson was interrupted. This time it was from a bell-like voice that rang through the forest. The face in the mirror looked frustrated, then resigned. 'You had better deal with that,' he said. 'I'll talk to your bird while you do.'
The bird hopped down onto the horse's rump and stuck her head into the bag. Muted mumbling came from it.
'Siegfwied!' A crystalline horn shoved the undergrowth aside, and to Siegfried's dismay, though not his surprise, the unicorn leapt through the gap. 'Heah I am!'
Oh, no —
