steaks. Milkweed pods provided the liquid; it was good milk, but in no way special.
'You may have noted we have used no magic in the preparation of this meal,' Trolla said. 'We use as little magic as possible here, because there is more magic here than anywhere else on the surface of Xanth. I realize that may not make much sense to you-'
'Quite sensible,' Humfrey said, chomping into another steak.
Trolla focused on him. 'You must be a Magician, sir.'
'Umph.' He seemed to be more interested in his food than in her discussion. Bink knew that was deceptive. Humfrey paid close attention to all things magic.
'If you are-if any of you have strong magic-I must caution you to be extremely careful in exerting it,' she said. 'Please do not misunderstand; this is no threat. We do not want you to feel at all uncomfortable here. It is simply that all magic-well, permit me to make a small demonstration.' She clapped her hands, and a nymph entered, as buxom and bare as the others. 'Bring a small firefly,' Trolla said.
In a moment the nymph returned with the firefly. It was very small-the kind that generated hardly more than a spark, harmless. It squatted on the table, rather pretty with its folded flame-hued wings and insulated legs. 'Now observe what happens when I frighten it,' Trolla said.
She rapped the table with a hooflike knuckle. The firefly jumped up, startled, and generated its momentary fire. A burst of light and heat emanated from it, and a ball of smoke roiled up toward the ceiling. A spot on the table a handsbreadth in diameter was charred. The firefly itself had disappeared. 'It burned itself up!' Chester exclaimed. 'It did not mean to,' Trolla said. 'This was a normal Xanth firefly, not acclimatized to this region. Here near the source its magic is multiplied a hundredfold. Thus its little spark became a self-immolating fireball. Until you males become acclimatized, I urge you not to practice your magic in this village. We value your presence, and do not wish you to suffer any mishaps.'
Bink looked to Humfrey, but the Good Magician continued eating. 'Uh, none of us have inflammatory magic,' Bink said, realizing that it was up to him to respond for their party. Yet he wondered: what would his talent do if anything threatened? What it might intend to be a mere 'coincidental!' amelioration might become much worse. 'But it would be best if-if nothing seemed to threaten our welfare.'
'There is, unfortunately, a most extreme threat to your welfare,' Trolla said gravely. 'Because you are males. You must have noticed we have no males in this village.'
'We noticed,' Bink agreed. 'Your nymphs seem quite intrigued by us.' Indeed, the nymphs were hovering so close that Bink's elbows tended to bump their soft midriffs as he ate.
'Our problem is this,' Trolla continued. 'A siren has been luring away our males. Originally we were a normal human village, except for our unique and critical task. Then the siren came and deprived us of our men. Because our job could not be neglected, we undertook at great personal risk the construction of the charmed access route you arrived on, so as to encourage immigration. But the new men, too, were soon taken away from us. We extended our search to non-human people; this was how I myself came here, with my husband the troll. But the awful drain continued; I was soon a widow-and not by the proper route.'
Bink felt sudden alarm. Some female trolls ate their husbands. It was said that the only thing a troll was afraid of was his wife-with excellent reason. Was this predaceous female looking for another husband?
'Our village now is composed of every type of intelligent female,' Trolla continued. 'And a number of supporting animals. The magic access route transports only intelligent creatures, but some animals drift in through the jungle. But the siren-this is what I meant by the danger to you. Once you hear her call, you will disappear into the forest and never return. We would spare you this if we could, but we are helpless unless we resort to unconscionable measures.'
'What would those be?' Bink asked nervously. 'We might deafen you so you could not hear her,' Trolla explained. 'Or geld you, so that you would not react to-'
'Why don't some of you females go out and slay the siren?' Chester asked. 'Meaning no offense, madam, but you could probably handle it.'
'The siren I would gladly tear apart and consume in bleeding chunks,' Trolla said. 'But I can not pass the tangle tree. The siren has made a deal with the tangler; the tree lets the males through to her, but grabs the females.'
'Then you need to eliminate the tangle tree,' Bink said. 'With magic as strong here as you've shown, it should be a fairly simple chore. A few fireflies, or some pineapple bombs-'
'This is no ordinary tangle tree,' Trolla said. 'We have tried to destroy it, but though it is outside our village, it has absorbed enough extra magic to foil our efforts. We are, after all, only females-and the men will not fight it when they are in thrall to the siren.'
Bink took a deep breath. 'I believe this is the service we can render, in return for your hospitality. Tomorrow we shall slay the tangler.'
Trolla merely shook her head sadly. 'It is kind of you to think so,' she said. 'But the siren will not permit it.'
The siren did not know about Bink's talent. Since both siren and tangle tree were magical entities, his magic would protect him against them. Somehow. But considering the possible complications of the enhanced potency of magic here, he would do best to tackle the tree alone. He didn't want his friends being hurt by the backlash. Maybe he could sneak out at night and do it, while the others slept.
Crombie squawked. 'What is the village employment, crone?' the golem translated.
'We are situated atop the source-lode of magic,' Trolla said. 'This is the origin of the magic of Xanth. The dust is highly charged with magic, and were it allowed to accumulate, most of the rest of Xanth would slowly become mundane, while the village would develop a fatal concentration. Thus we must spread the dust about, maintaining a reasonable equilibrium.' She looked about. 'We seem to have completed our repast. Allow me to show you our operations.'
'Umph,' Humfrey agreed. Now Bink was sure the Magician was only feigning disinterest, as was his fashion; the conclusion of their quest was at hand! Yet Bink found himself disappointed; he had expected more challenge to the acquisition of this knowledge than this.
Trolla showed them to a large central building fashioned of mundane stone. Inside, it was one huge gravel pit, where small female elves, gnomes, and fairies dug and scraped out sand with their little picks and
