Humfrey caught hold of Crombie, who spread his wings and bore them both up. For a moment they tilted unsteadily, then righted and moved smoothly forward.
Bink ran up as they landed at the shore. 'We were so worried about you, afraid the enemy would get you first!'
'The enemy did,' Humfrey said, reaching for a vial as he let go of the griffin. 'Turn about, Bink; desist your quest, and you will not be harmed.'
'Desist my quest!' Bink cried, amazed. 'Right when I'm so close to accomplishing it? You know I won't do that!'
'I serve a new master, but my scruples remain,' Humfrey said. There was something sinister about him now; he remained a small, gnomish man, but now there was no humor in that characterization. His gaze was more like that of a basilisk than that of a man: a cold, deadly stare. 'It is necessary that you understand. The bottle was opened by the agency of the entity that lies beneath this lake, a creature of tremendous intelligence and magic and conscience, but lacking the ability to move. This is the brain coral, who has to operate through other agencies to accomplish its noble purpose.'
'The-enemy?' Bink asked, dismayed. 'The one who sent the magic sword, and the dragon, and the squiggle-'
'And countless other obstructions, most of which your own magic foiled before they manifested. The coral can not control a conscious, intelligent, living entity; it must operate through thought suggestions that seem like the creature's own notions. That was why the dragon chased you, and the squiggle spied on you, and why the other seemingly coincidental complications occurred. But your talent brought you through almost unscathed. The siren lured you, but the gorgon did not enchant you into stone; the midas fly was diverted to another target, the curse of the fiends missed you. Now, at the heart of the coral's magic, you are finally balked. You must turn back, because-'
'But it can not control you!' Bink protested. 'You are a man, an intelligent man, a Magician!'
'It assumed control of the golem, possible only because Grundy's reality was not complete and this is the region of the coral's greatest power. It caused the golem to open the bottle. Crombie and I are subject to the holder of the bottle. It does not matter that the bottle is now floating on the surface of the coral lake; the conjuration was done in the name of the brain coral, and it is binding.'
'But-' Bink protested, unable to continue because he could not formulate his thought.
'That was the most savage engagement of this campaign,' Humfrey continued. 'The struggle for possession of the bottle. The coral managed to dislodge it from your clothing, but your magic caused the cork to work loose, and we started to emerge. That was the impact of the fiends curse, aiding you by what seemed like an incredible coincidence. It shook the bottle within the vortex. But the coral used a strong eddy current to jam the stopper back, trapping Grundy outside. But your magic made the magic mirror get caught halfway, shattering it, with fragments inside and out, enabling us to establish communication of a sort. Then the coral's magic caused you to lose your fragment of glass. But your magic guided you to Beauregard, who re-established communication. You nearly reached the bottle in time, by turning the liability of your infatuation for the nymph into an asset-your talent outmaneuvered the coral neatly there!-but here the coral's magic is stronger than yours, and so it got the bottle first. Barely. In effect, your two talents have canceled out. But now the coral, through the power of the bottle, controls Crombie and me. All our powers are at its service, and you have lost'
Chester stood beside Bink. 'So you have become the enemy,' he said slowly.
'Not really. Now that we have access to the coral's perspective, we know that it is on the side of reason. Bink, your quest is dangerous, not merely for you, but for all the land of Xanth. You must desist, believe me!'
'I do not believe you,' Bink said grimly. 'Not now. Not now that you've changed sides.'
'Same here,' Chester said. 'Conjure yourself back into the bottle, and let us rescue the bottle and release you in our power. Then if you can repeat that statement, I'll listen.'
'No.'
'That is what I thought,' Chester said. 'I undertook this mission as a service to you, Magician, but I have never collected my Answer from you. I can quit your service anytime I want. But I shall not renounce this quest merely because some hidden monster has scared you into changing your mind.'
'Your position is comprehensible,' Humfrey said with surprising mildness. 'I do not, as you point out, have any present call on your service. But I am obliged to advise you both that if we can not prevail upon your reason, we must oppose you materially.'
'You mean you would actually fight us?' Bink asked incredulously.
'We do not wish to resort to force,' Humfrey said. 'But it is imperative that you desist. Go now, give up your quest, and all will be well'
'And if we don't quit?' Chester demanded belligerently, eyeing Crombie. Obviously the centaur would not be entirely loath to match his prowess against that of the griffin. There had been a kind of rivalry between them all along.
'In that case we should have to nullify you,' Humfrey said gravely. Small he was, but he remained a Magician, and his statement sent an ugly chill through Bink. Nobody could afford to take lightly the threat of a Magician.
Bink was torn between unkind alternatives. How could he fight his friends, the very ones he had struggled so hard to rescue? Yet if they were under the spell of the enemy, how could he afford to yield to their demand? If only he could get at the brain coral, the enemy, and destroy it, then his friends would be freed from its baleful influence. But the coral was deep under the poison water, unreachable. Unless-
'Jewel!' he cried. 'Send the diggle down to make holes through the coral!'
'I can't, Bink,' she said sadly. 'The diggle never came back after we sent it after the bottle. I'm stuck here with my bucket of gems.' She flipped a diamond angrily into the water. 'I can't even plant them properly, now.'
'The worm has been sent away,' Humfrey said. 'Only the completion of your quest can destroy the coral-along with all the Land of Xanth. Depart now, or suffer the consequence.'
