Xanth 19 - Roc and a Hard Place by Piers Anthony

Author:Piers Anthony
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Xanth (Imaginary Place), Science Fiction, Humorous, Fantasy Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure, General
ISBN: 9780812534863
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 1995-01-02T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11: CHENA.

In the morning, refreshed, they set out to locate Chena Centaur, the mystery token. Kim passed the back of her hand across the surface of the nether chamber, and restored the ground the way it had been. "No sense leaving a mess," she explained.

"That is one powerful talent," Ichabod remarked. "Sorceress level, perhaps."

"I don't know," Kim said. "I'm still learning how to use it. I don't know its limits."

"It would be wise to ascertain them."

They moved on. Soon they came to a river that looked too deep to wade across. "Maybe I can erase a section," Kim said. "So we can walk across dry. Then I can unerase it after we're across."

Arnolde looked thoughtful. "I wonder."

Kim squatted by the riverbank, and passed her hand across the surface of the water. There was a ripple, but it didn't disappear. "I don't understand," Kim said. "Why isn't it working?"

"Because the water fills in the gap as soon as you make it," Arnolde replied. "I thought that might be the case. It would be remarkable were it otherwise."

Kim nodded. "I guess so."

"Perhaps it is just as well that there is some reasonable limit on it," Arnolde continued. "It would be dangerous, otherwise. I think I feel more comfortable this way."

"Me, too," Kim confessed. But she seemed a bit disappointed, too.

"Now how do we get across this river?" Dug asked. "It's too deep to wade, and I don't like the look of those shark fins in the center."

"Loan sharks," Kim agreed. "They'll take an arm and a leg if you let them. Let's not let them."

"Maybe you could carve out another boat or raft," Jenny Elf suggested. "That worked well to get us to Xanth."

"I suppose I could. But it wouldn't be easy to navigate, because I can't get under to make a keel. We could haul it across with ropes, if we could get the ropes anchored on the far side of the water."

"And who'll swim across with ropes!" Dug said.

"I can do that," Metria said. "I can't float with heavy things, but I can with light things, and hemp feels light."

"It can make men light-headed," Ichabod agreed.

So they sent Sammy Cat to locate some hemp with suitable ropes, while Kim found a fallen log and made a dugout boat by erasing a hole in it. There were some cracks in the wood, but she smoothed those over with finger-smears, making it watertight. It wasn't Xanth's prettiest boat, but it seemed serviceable. And, contrary to her expectation, she had been able to shape a crude keel, by having the menfolk roll it over so she could work on the bottom of the hull.

Small selective erasures could do a lot.

When the craft was ready, and they had the necessary rope, Metria floated across the river, carrying the end of the rope. The sharks leaped up and snapped at her with their red, green, blue, and white teeth, and sometimes they did catch a piece of her, but she just dissolved that portion

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