Bink, its forelimb blades gleaming.
Bink scooped another volley of liquid at it. The cat leaped straight up in horror, letting the splash pass under. Oh, it was ecstatically angry now!
'We can handle this two ways, Cactus,' Bink said calmly, his hand ready by the water. 'Either I can soak you down thoroughly-or you can stand and let me pass. Or any combination of the two.'
The cat snarled. It looked at Bink, then at the water. Finally it affected loss of interest, in the manner of balked felines, and stalked to the side, all three tails standing stiffly.
'Very good, Cactus,' Bink said. 'But a word to the cunning: if I were to be attacked on the way, I should simply have to grab my antagonist and plunge into the pool and drown him, whatever the mutual cost. That would be inconvenient, and I hope it does not become necessary.'
The cat pretended not to hear. It settled down again to sleep.
Bink walked toward the door, affecting a nonchalance similar to that of the cactus cat, but was wary. Fortunately he had bluffed it out; the cat did not move.
Now he was past the hurdles. He explored the castle until he located the Good Magician Humfrey. The man was gnomelike, perched on top of three huge tomes so as to gain the elevation he needed to pore over a fourth. He was old, perhaps the oldest man in the Land of Xanth, with skin wrinkled and mottled. But he was a fine and honest Magician, and Bink knew him to be a kindly individual under all his gruff-ness.
'Magician!' Bink exclaimed, still irked by the challenge of entry. 'Why don't you pay attention to who's visiting] I had to run your infernal gauntlet-and I'm not even coming as a supplicant. I'm on the King's business.'
Humfrey looked up, rubbing one reddish eye with a gnarled little hand. 'Oh, hello, Bink. Why haven't you visited me before this?'
'We were yelling across the moat! You never answered!'
Humfrey frowned. 'Why should I answer a transformed griffin who squawks in a manner that would make a real griffin blush? Why should I acknowledge the bellow of an ornery centaur? The one has no Question, and the other doesn't want to pay for his. Both are wasting my time.'
'So you were aware of us all the time!' Bink exclaimed, half-angry, half-admiring, with a little indefinable emotion left over. What a personality this was! 'You let me struggle through the whole needless gauntlet!'
'Needless, Bink? You come on a mission that will cost me an inordinate amount of time, and will threaten the welfare of Xanth itself. Why should I encourage you in such folly?'
'I don't need encouragement!' Bink cried hotly. 'All I need is advice-because the King thought that was best'
The Good Magician shook his head. 'The King is a remarkably savvy customer. You need more than advice, Bink.'
'Well, all I need from you is advice!'
'You shall have it, and without charge: forget this mission.'
'I can't forget this mission! I'm on assignment for the-'
'So you said. I did tell you that you needed more than advice. You're as ornery as your friends. Why didn't you leave that poor dragon alone?'
'Leave the poor-' Bink started indignantly. Then he laughed. 'You're some character, Magician! Now stop teasing me and tell me why, since you obviously have been well aware of my progress, you did not let us into the castle the easy way.'
'Because I hate to be disturbed for minor matters. Had you been balked by my routine defenses, you could hardly have possessed the will to pursue your mission properly. But as I feared, you persevered. What started as a minor diversion with a shapely ghost has become a serious quest-and the result is opaque even to my magic. I queried Beauregard on the matter, and he got so upset I had to rebottle him before he had a nervous breakdown.'
Beauregard-that was the bespectacled demon corked in a container, highly educated. Bink began to feel uncomfortable. 'What could so shake up a demon?'
'The end of Xanth,' Humfrey said simply.
'But all I'm looking for is the source of magic,' Bink protested. 'I'm not going to do anything to harm Xanth. I love Xanth!'
'You weren't going to install the Evil Magician as King, last time you were here,' Humfrey reminded him. 'Your minor personal quests have a way of getting out of hand.'
'You mean this present mission is going to be worse than the last one?' Bink asked, feeling both excited and appalled. He had only wanted to find his own talent, before.
The Magician nodded soberly. 'So it would seem. I can not fathom in what precise manner your quest will threaten Xanth, but I am certain the risks are extraordinary.'
Bink thought of giving up the quest and returning to Chameleon, ugly and sharp of tongue as she was at the moment, with Millie the nonghost hovering near. Suddenly he became much more interested in the source of the magic of Xanth. 'Thanks for your advice. I'm going on.'
'Less hasty, Bink! That was not my magic advice; that was just common sense, for which I make no charge. I knew you would ignore it.'
Bink found it hard at times not to get impatient with the Good Magician. 'Let's have your magic Answer, then.'
'And what do you proffer for payment?'
