Centaur Aisle by Piers Anthony

Author:Piers Anthony
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Fantasy, Fiction, Adventure, Humour, General
ISBN: 9780345297709
Publisher: Del Rey
Published: 1981-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8: Mundane Mystery

They slept late, but that was all right because the intermittent rain wasn't due until midmorning. Arnolde dutifully acquainted the centaur Elders with his situation; as expected, they encouraged him to depart the Isle forever at his very earliest convenience, without directly referring to the reason for his loss of status in their community. A Magician was not wanted here; they could not be comfortable with him. They would let it be known that Arnolde was retiring for reasons of health, so as to preserve his reputation, and they would arrange to break in a new archivist. No one would know his shame.

To facilitate his prompt departure they provided him with a useful assortment of spells and counterspells for his journey, and wished him well.

"The hypocrites!" Irene exclaimed. "For fifty years Arnolde serves them well, and now, suddenly, just because--"

"I said you would not comprehend the nuances of centaur society," Chet reminded her, though he did not look comfortable himself.

Irene shut up rebelliously. Dor liked her better for her feeling, however. It was time to leave Centaur Isle, and not just because they had a new mission.

The intermittent clouds formed and made ready to shower. Dor set up a smudge pot and got a column of smudge angling up to intersect the cloud level. They applied the salve to their feet and hands, invoked the curse-counterspells Arnolde distributed, and marched up the column. Arnolde adjusted to this odd climb remarkably well for his age; he had evidently kept himself in traveling shape by making archaeological field trips.

For a moment they paused to turn back to face Chet, who was standing on the beach, watching for the rainbow. Dor found himself choking up, and could only wave. "I hope to see you again, cousin," Arnolde called. Chet was not related to him; what he referred to was the unity of their magic talents. "And meet your sire." And Chet smiled, appreciating the thought.

When they reached the cloud layer, they donned blindfolds.

"Clouds," Dor said, "tell us where the best path to the top of the rainbow is. Don't let any of us step too near the edge of you."

"What rainbow?" the nearest cloud asked.

"The one that is about to form, that my friend Chet Centaur will see from the ground."

"Oh, that rainbow. It isn't here yet. It hasn't finished its business on the eastern coast of Xanth."

"Well, guide us to where it's going to be."

"Why don't you open your eyes and see it for yourself?" the canny cloud asked. The inanimate was often perverse, and the many folds and convolutions of clouds made them smarter than average.

"Just guide us," Dor said.

"Aw." But the cloud had to do it.

There was a popping sound behind them, down on the ground.

"That's the popcorn I gave Chet," Irene said. "I told him to set it off when he saw the rainbow. Now that rainbow is fixed in place, as long as he looks at it and we don't; we must be almost upon it.

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