Something tugged at his carapace. Bink started dive, trying to dislodge it-then realized, in his reptilian brain, that this was something that had to be tolerated. Not a friend, but an ally-for now. So he dived, but allowed the dragging weight to persist.
Bink stroked slowly but powerfully for the underwater passage. The other turtle had already entered it. Bink didn't worry about air; he knew he could hold his breath for as long as it took.
It did not take long. This passage slanted up to the surface; Bink could see the moon as he broke through. The storm had abated.
Abruptly he was human again-and swimming was harder. 'Why did you change me back?' he asked. 'We weren't to shore yet.'
'When you are a turtle, you have the brain of a turtle, and the instincts of a turtle,' Trent explained. 'Otherwise you would not be able to survive as a turtle. Too long, and you might forget you ever were a man. If you headed out to sea, I might not be able to catch you, and so would never be able to change you back.'
'Justin Tree retained his human mind,' Bink pointed out.
'Justin Tree?'
'One of the men you changed into trees, in the North Village. His talent was throwing his voice.'
'Oh, I remember now. He was a special ease. I made him into a sapient tree-really a man in tree form, not a true tree. I can do that when I put my mind to it. For a tree it can work. But a turtle needs turtle reflexes to deal with the ocean.'
Bink didn't follow all that, but he didn't care to debate it. Obviously cases differed. Then Fanchon reappeared in human form. 'Well, you honored the truce,' she said grudgingly. 'I didn't really think you would.'
'Reality must intrude sometime,' Trent said.
'What do you mean by that?' she demanded.
'I said, we are not out of danger yet. I believe that is a sea serpent on its way.'
Bink saw the huge head, and there was no question: the monster had seen them. It was big; the head was a yard across. 'Maybe the rocks-' Bink cried, orienting on the outcropping that marked the exit from the triton's cave.
'That thing's a huge, long snake,' Fanchon said. 'It could reach right down into the cave, or coil right around the rocks. We can't escape it in this form.'
'I could change you into poisonous jellyfish that the serpent would not eat,' Trent said. 'But you might get lost in the shuffle. It also may not be wise to be transformed more than once a day; I have not been able to verify this during my exile, for obvious reasons, but I am concerned that your systems may suffer a shock each time.'
'Besides which, the monster could still eat you,' Fanchon said.
'You have a very quick mind,' Trent agreed equably. 'Therefore, I shall have to do something I dislike-transform the monster.'
'You don't want to transform the sea serpent?' Bink asked, surprised. The thing was now quite close, its small red eyes fixed on the prey; saliva dripped from its giant teeth.
'It is merely an innocent creature going about its business,' Trent said. 'We should not enter its waters if we do not wish to participate in its mode of existence. There is a balance of nature, whether magical or mundane, that we should hesitate to interfere with.'
'You have a weird sense of humor,' Fanchon said sourly. 'But I never claimed to understand the nuances of evil magic. If you really want to protect its life style, transform it into a little fish until we get to shore, then transform it back.'
'And hurry!' Bink cried. The thing was now looming over them, orienting on its specific targets.
'That would not work,' Trent said. 'The fish would swim away and be lost. I must be able to identify the particular creature I mean to transform, and it must be within six feet of me. However your suggestion has merit.'
'Six feet,' Bink said. 'We'll be inside it before we get that close.' He was not trying to be funny; the monster's mouth was much longer than it was wide, so that as it opened to its full aperture the upper front teeth were a good twelve feet from the lower teeth.
'Nevertheless, I must operate within my limits,' Trent said, unperturbed. 'The critical region is the head, the seat of identity. When I transform that, the rest naturally follows. If I tried it when only the tail was within range, I would botch the job. So when it tries to take me in its mouth, it comes into my power.'
'What if it goes for one of us first?' Fanchon demanded. 'Suppose we're more than six feet from you?'
'I suggest you arrange to be within that radius,' Trent said dryly.
Hastily Bink and Fanchon splashed closer to the Evil Magician. Bink had the distinct impression that even if Trent had had no magic, they would have been in his power. He was too self-assured, too competent in his tactics; he knew how to manage people.
The sea monster's body convulsed. Its head struck down, teeth leading. Spittle sprayed out from it in obscene little clouds. Fanchon screamed hysterically. Bink felt an instant and pervading terror. That sensation was becoming all too familiar; he simply was no hero.
But as the awful jaws closed on them, the sea serpent vanished. In its place fluttered a glowing, brightly colored insect. Trent caught it neatly in one hand and set it on his own hair, where it perched quiveringly.
'A lovebug,' Trent explained. 'They are not good fliers, and they hate water. This one will stay
