'No. I have to bring it close to you. Put your hand on it, Bink.'
'I will not!' Bink exclaimed.
Grundy jerked the reins to one side, kicked the flanks of the fish, and leaned forward. The fish swerved, reared, and accelerated right at Bink. 'Hey!' he protested as it grazed his hand.
But at that moment his outlook changed. Abruptly the stars were mere stars, and the stairs-were the branches of a latticework tree. Above him the others were near its summit, about to step onto the thinning twigs that could not support their weight. Crombie was already supporting much of his mass by flapping his wings, and Chester-
Bink shook his head in amazement. A centaur, climbing a tree!
Then the fish buzzed out of range, and the madness returned. Bink was on the translucent stairway again, climbing toward the glowing constellations. 'It's crazy, I know!' he cried. 'But I can't help myself. I have to go on up!'
The golem guided his fish in close again, 'You can't throw it off even when you know it's doom?'
'It's mad!' Bink agreed, suffering a measure of sanity as the wood passed near again. 'But true! But don't worry about me-I'll survive. Go get Chester off that branch before he kills himself!'
'Right!' Grundy agreed. He spurred his mount and buzzed upward. Bink resumed his climb, cursing himself for his foolishness.
The fish disappeared in the night. Only the caged star-that Bink now knew was nothing more than a glowberry-showed Grundy's location. That light moved up near the centaur.
'Good grief, golem!' Chester exclaimed. 'What the horsefeathers am I doing in a tree?'
Bink could not hear Grundy's side of the conversation, but could guess its nature. After a moment Chester started backing down the stairway steps.
'Hey, oaf!' the Magician cried. 'Get your ass's rear out of my face!'
'Go down,' the centaur cried. 'This is no stair, it's a tree. We're climbing to our doom.'
'It's information. Let me by!'
'It's madness! Grundy, take your wood to him.'
The light descended. 'Great galloping gizzards!' Humfrey cried. 'It is a tree! We've got to get down!'
But now the centaur was climbing again. 'I haven't finished my business with that constellation centaur,' he said.
'You equine fool!' Humfrey exclaimed. 'Desist!'
The fish zoomed down toward Bink. 'I can't handle them both,' Grundy cried. 'I've only got the single piece of wood, and there are four of you.'
'The griffin can fly; hell be all right for now,' Bink said. 'The stair-I mean the tree-is narrow. Give Chester the wood; no one can pass him. Then you search for more wood.'
'I had already thought of that,' the golem said. The fish zoomed off. In a moment Chester reversed his course again. The Good Magician cursed in most un-Magician like vernacular, but was forced to retreat in the face of the centaur's rear. Soon they were right above Bink-and he too cursed as his ascent was balked
The constellations, seeing the retreat, exploded in rage. The sky centaur cried silently. At his summons, the other monsters of the heavens gathered: the dragon, the hydra, the serpent, the winged horse, the giant, and in the river the whale.
The madness remained upon him, but Bink no longer wanted to climb the stairway. The monsters were converging, clustering about the top of the stair-spiral. The serpent was starting down, its sinuous body coiling along the spiral, while the winged ones flew down. Bink was not certain whether they were real or illusion or something in between-but remembering the arrow-strike at the dogwood tree, he was disinclined to gamble. 'We've got to get under cover!' he cried.
But Crombie, highest on the stair and unaffected by the spell-wood, flew up to do battle with the winged horse. 'Squawk!' he cried.
'Neigh!' the horse replied.
Grundy buzzed by on his steed. 'Oooh, what they said!'
Wings spread, griffin and horse faced off, claws swiping, hooves striking. Contact was made, but Bink couldn't tell from the whirling, flapping silhouettes which creature was prevailing.
Then the serpent arrived. Chester could not use his bow effectively, since no arrow would travel a spiral path, so he waited with his sword. Bink wondered what the centaur saw, since he had the wood and so perceived reality-or something. Probably it was not a serpent, but an equivalent threat. Meanwhile Bink had to interpret it as he saw it.
As the huge snake-head came close, the centaur bellowed a warning and struck it across the nose. Blade met fang. The serpent's teeth were large, reflecting starlight, and they gleamed with what might be poison. There were two projecting ones, and they moved with the precision of a fencer. Chester was compelled to retreat, since he had only one sword.
Then Chester took a cue from the winged horse, and used his front hooves. He bashed the serpent on the nose, one-two, one-two, while dazzling it with the sword. His front feet did not have the power of his rear ones, but his hooves had sharp fighting edges and a cumulative impact that could splinter bark from a tree, or scales from a serpent
What would happen, Bink wondered, if the wood were to touch the serpent? Would it give the serpent a different view of reality? Would the centaur then seem to be something else? How could anyone be sure
