invisible wall, in whatever manner it existed. In another moment they were out of the Void and into the night of normal Xanth.
Smash felt a horrible weight departing his shoulders. He had saved them; he had gotten them out of the Void at last! How wonderful this normal Xanthian jungle seemed! He looked eagerly at it, knowing he could not stay, that his soul was now forfeit. The mares had delivered, and it was now his turn. Perhaps he would be allowed to visit this region on occasion, in bodiless form, just to renew the awareness of what he had lost, and to see how his friends were doing.
They halted safely beyond the line. Smash dismounted and lifted Chem to the ground, where she
continued sleeping, feet curled under her, head lolling. She was a pretty creature of her kind, not as well developed as she would be at full maturity, but with a nice coat and delicate human features. He was glad he had saved her from the Void. Someday she would browbeat some male centaur into happiness, exactly as her mother had done. Centaurs were strong-willed creatures, but well worth knowing.
'Farewell, friend,' he murmured. 'I have seen you safely through the worst of Xanth. I hope you are satisfied with your map.'
Then he lifted Tandy. She was so small and delicate-seeming in her sleep! Her brown hair fell about her face in disarray, partly framing and partly concealing her features. He deeply regretted his inability to see her through her adventure. But he had made a commitment to the Good Magician Humfrey, and he was honoring that commitment in the only fashion he knew. He had seen Tandy through danger, and trusted she could do all right now on her own. She had fitted a lot of practical experience into this journey!
In a moment, he knew, he would not care about her at all, for caring was impossible without a soul. But in this instant he did care. He remembered how she had kissed him, and he liked the memory. Human ways were not ogre ways, of course, but perhaps they had a certain merit. Through her he had gleaned some faint inkling of an alternate way of life, where violence was secondary to feeling. It was no life for an ogre, of course-but somehow he could not resist returning the favor of that kiss now. He brought her to his face and touched her precious little lips with his own big crude ones.
Tandy woke instantly. The two mares jumped away, afraid of being seen by a waking person not of their domain. But they did not flee entirely, held by the incipient promise of his soul.
'Oh, Smash!' Tandy cried. 'You're back! I was so worried, you stayed in the gourd so long, and Chem said she thought you weren't ready to be roused yet-'
Now he was in trouble. Yet he was obscurely glad. It was better to explain things to her so that she would not think he had deserted her. 'You are free of the Void, Tandy. But I must leave you.'
'Oh, no. Smash!' she protested. 'Don't ever leave me!' This was becoming rapidly more difficult.
Separating from her was somewhat like departing the Void-subtly awkward. 'The mares who carried you out of the Void, in your sleep-they have to be paid.'
Her brow furrowed, in the cute way it had. 'Paid how?' He was afraid she wouldn't like this. But ogres weren't much for prevarication, even in a good cause. 'My soul.' She screamed.
Chem bolted awake, snatching up the rope, and the mares retreated farther, switching their tails nervously. 'What's the matter?'
'Smash sold his soul to free us!' Tandy cried, pointing an accusing finger at the ogre.
'He can't do that!' the centaur protested. 'He went to the gourd to win back his soul!'
'It was the only way,' Smash said. He gestured to the two mares. 'I think it is time.' He looked behind him, locating Imbri. 'And if you will kindly carry my body back into the Void afterward, so it won't get in anyone's way out here-'
The three mares came forward. Tandy screamed again and threw her arms about Smash's neck. 'No!
No! Take my soul instead!'
The mares paused, uncertain of the proprieties. They meant no harm; they were only doing their job.
Tandy disengaged herself and dropped to the ground. Her dander was up. 'My soul's almost as good as his, isn't it?' she said to the mares. 'Take it and let him go.' She advanced on Crisis. 'I can't let him be taken. I love him!'
She surely did, for this was the most extreme sacrifice she could make. She was deathly afraid of the interior of the gourd. Smash understood this perfectly; that was why he couldn't let her go there. But if she refused to let him go in peace, what was he to do?
Chem interceded. 'Just exactly what was the deal you made, Smash?'
'Half my soul for each person carried from the Void.' 'But three were carried, weren't they?' the centaur asked, her fine human mind percolating as the fog of sleep dissipated. 'That would mean one and a half souls.'
'I am returning with the mares,' Smash said. 'I don't count. Imbri carried me as a favor; she's the one who carried Tandy to the Good Magician's castle a year ago. She's a good creature.'
'I know she is!' Tandy agreed. 'But-'
'Imbri?' Chem asked. 'Is that an equine name?'
'Mare Imbrium,' he clarified. 'The nightmares come out only at night, so they never see the sun. They identify with places on the moon.'
'Mare Imbrium,' she repeated. 'The Sea of Rains. Surely the raining of our tears.'
So that was what the name meant; the education of the centaur had clarified it. Certainly it was appropriate! Imbri was reigning over, or reining in, the rain of tears. But it could be said in her favor that she had not done anything to cause those tears. She had charged no soul.
'Not my tears!' Tandy protested tearfully. 'Smash, I won't let you go!'
'I have to go,' Smash said gently. 'Ogres aren't very pretty and they aren't very smart, but they do do what they agree to do. I agreed to see the two of you safely through the hazards of Xanth, and I agreed to parcel my soul between the two mares who delivered you from the Void.'
'You have no right to sacrifice yourself again for us!' Chem cried. 'Anyway, it won't work; we'll perish alone in the wilderness of northern Xanth.'
'Well, it seemed better to get you to Xanth instead of the Void,' Smash said awkwardly. Somehow the right he thought he was doing seemed less right, now. 'Near the edge of Xanth the magic begins to fade, so it's less dangerous.'
'Ha!' Tandy exclaimed. 'I've heard the Mundane monsters are worse than the Xanth ones!'
'It may be less dangerous only if you accompany us,' Chem said. She considered briefly. 'But a deal's a deal; the mares must be paid.'
'I'll pay them!' Tandy offered.
'No!' Smash cried. 'The gourd is not for the like of you! It is better for the like of me.'
'I don't think so,' Chem said. 'We have all had enough of the gourd, regardless of whether we've been inside it. But there are three of us. We can pay the mares and retain half a soul each. Three fares, so Smash can be free, too.' 'But neither of you has to give any part of her soul for me!' Smash objected.
'You were doing it for us,' the centaur said. 'We can get along on half souls if we're careful. I understand they regenerate in time.'
'Yes,' Tandy said, grasping this notion as if being saved from drowning. 'Each person can pay her own way.' She turned to the nearest mare, who happened to be Crisis. 'Take half my soul,' she said.
Chem faced the second, Imbri. 'Take half of mine.'
The mare of Rains hesitated, for she had not expected to be rewarded, and she had not carried Chem.
'Take it!' the centaur insisted.
The mares, glad to have the matter resolved, galloped past their respective donors. Smash saw two souls attenuate between girls and mares; then each one tore in half, and the mares were gone.
Smash was left standing by the third mare. Vapor. He realized that he could not do less-and of course Vapor was supposed to have a half soul. In fact, she had been promised half of his. Now she would get it, though she had not carried him. 'Take half of mine,' he said.
Vapor charged him. There was a wrenching and tearing; then he stood reeling. Something awfully precious had been taken from him-but not all of it.
Then he saw the two girls standing similarly bemused, and he knew that something even more precious had been salvaged.
