No help? Suddenly Bink remembered something. 'That's it!' he cried. 'Dragon, follow that wisp!'
The dragon obeyed, despite Chester's incredulous neigh. It snorted no more flame, for its furnace was almost exhausted, but it could still run at a respectable pace. The wisp dodged about, as wisps had always done, always just at the verge of perception. Wisps were born teases. The dragon lumbered through fork after fork, quite lost-and suddenly emerged into a dry riverbed.
'We're out!' Bink cried, hardly believing it himself. But not yet safe; the nickelpedes were boiling out of the chasm.
Bink and Chester scrambled away from the dragon and up and out of the gully, and found themselves in the ashes of an old burn. Crombie spread his wings and launched into the sky with a squawk of pure relief. The nickelpedes did not follow even the dragon; they could not scuttle well through ashes, and might get caught by returning sunlight The party was safe.
The dragon collapsed, panting, in a cloud of ashes. Bink walked around to its snout 'Dragon, we had a good fight, and you were winning. We fled, and you pursued, and we all got caught in the cleft. We made a truce to escape, and you honored it well and so did we. By working together we saved all our lives. Now I would rather have you as a friend than an enemy. Will you accept friendship with the three of us before we part?'
The dragon looked at him. Finally, slowly, it inclined its nose slightly forward in an affirmative nod.
'Until we meet again-good hunting,' Bink said. 'Here, we can help you a little. Crombie, where is the nearest good dragon-prey-something even a tired dragon can nab?'
Crombie spun in the air and flung out a wing as he fell. It pointed north-and now they heard the thrashing of something large, probably caught in a noose-loop bush. Something fat and foolish, who would die a slow death in the loops if not dispatched more mercifully by the scorch of a dragon.
'Good hunting,' Bink repeated, patting the dragon on its lukewarm copper nose and turning away. The dragon started north.
'What was the point in that?' Chester asked in a low tone. 'We have no need of a dragon's friendship.'
'I wanted it amicable, here,' Bink said. 'This is a very special place, where peace should exist among all creatures of Xanth.'
'Are you crazy? This is a burnout!'
'I'll show you,' Bink said. 'We'll follow that wisp.'
The will-o'-the wisp was still present, hovering not quite close enough to overtake. 'Look, Bink,' Chester protested. 'We lucked out on that wisp-but we dare not follow it any farther. It'll lead us into destruction.'
'Not this one,' Bink said, following it After a moment Chester shrugged, gave a what-can-you-do? kick with his hind hooves, and followed. Crombie glided down to join them.
Soon the wisp stopped at a glowstone marking a grave. As they approached, the stone lit up with the words HERMAN THE HERMIT.
'Uncle Herman!' Chester exclaimed. 'You mean this is the place he-?'
'The place he saved Xanth from the wiggles,' Bink said. 'By summoning many creatures with his wisps, then setting a salamander-fire to burn the wiggles out. He gave his noble life in that effort, and died a hero. I knew the wisp would lead us here, once I recognized the burnout, because you are his kind and kin and the wisps honor his memory. Crombie's talent located the wisp, and the wisp-'
'Uncle Herman, hero,' Chester said, his face twisting into an unfamiliar expression. The belligerent centaur was unused to the gentle emotions of reverence and respect. Almost, it seemed there was a forlorn melody played by a flute, enhancing the mood.
Bink and Crombie withdrew, leaving Chester to his contemplation in privacy. Bink tripped over a pile of dirt that hadn't been there a moment ago and almost fell headlong; that was the only sour note.
Chapter 4
Magician's Castle
Magician Humfrey's castle was the same as ever. It stood tall and slender, with stout outer ramparts and a high inner tower topped by embrasures and parapets and similar accouterments normal to castles. It was smaller than Bink remembered, but he knew it had not changed. Perhaps the problem was that his memory of the interior made it larger than his memory of the exterior. With magic, it was possible that the inside really was larger than the outside.
The magic access routes had been changed, however, and the hippocampus or water-horse was gone from the moat, its time of service expired. There was surely another creature standing guard inside, in lieu of the manticora Bink had known: the one at the Anniversary party. Even monsters had to give a year of their lives as fee for the Good Magician's Answers, and they normally performed as guardians of the castle. Humfrey did not appreciate casual intrusions.
As they came to the moat, the nature of the new guardian became apparent Monster? Monsters! The water teemed with serpentine loops, some white, some black, sliding past each other interminably.
'But where are the heads, the tails?' Chester inquired, perplexed. 'All I see are coils.'
The three of them stood by the moat, pondering. What could a whole fleet of sea serpents have wanted to ask the Good Magician, needing his Answer so badly that all were willing to pay the fee? How had they gotten here? It seemed it was not for Bink and his friends to know.
Fortunately, this was not a hazard he had to brave.
