xanth 40 - isis orb by Piers Anthony Read Free Book Online

and cheerful. This is my month.”
    “I’m glad it was. You have been very helpful.”
    “Thank you. Actually it’s been nice talking with you. Few querents seem to have any interest in the rest of us here at the GM Castle. Himself has been even grumpier than usual recently.”
    Hapless had to smile. “As long as I’m not the cause.”
    “You are not. He’s glad you are agreeing to take the Quest. No, what has disturbed him is covert interference by the Demon Destroy-Her, who may be using the Gourd Realm to contaminate other Demons with trace souls, getting them interested in mortal affairs, without Trojan’s notice.”
    “Uh, Trojan?”
    “The Night Stallion, horse of a different color, who governs the dream realm. He asked the Good Magician to investigate, but it’s an extremely touchy business. We don’t want more interference by Demons.”
    “I should think so,” Hapless agreed. It had not occurred to him that the Good Magician could have problems of his own.
    It was time to go. He walked out of the castle, crossed the drawbridge, and paused. Then he took out the box.
    Did he really want to do this? He knew that once he started, there would be no stopping; he would be fully committed. Because of his gumption. But if he turned away now, he would maybe ruin the lives of five innocent people, and never get to find the one musical instrument he could really play.
    Still, he was in doubt. He knew that his life would be at risk. If he went home now, he could settle in as a local farmer or worker and have a safe existence. But a dull one. If he accepted the Quest it surely would not be dull. For one thing, he would find his girlfriend. Or maybe two or three girlfriends, if he included the bad girl.
    For some reason he found himself focusing on the bad girl. Who could she be? The Goddess Isis? Why would a goddess be interested in him? That didn’t make sense; he was nothing. But if not her, then who? What could a bad girl possibly have for him that a good girl would not? Apart from naughty allure? Why was he so intrigued with her, when he didn’t even know her?
    It seemed he had good reasons to take the Quest, and good reasons to avoid it. Why was he thinking about what would surely be bad for him regardless? He could avoid that whole issue by skipping the Quest.
    “Oh, fudge,” he swore, and opened the box.

Chapter 3:
    Feline
    Inside the box was a picture of a cat with the word FELINE. That was all.
    A cat? His first Companion was to be a cat? Hapless gazed at the picture with dismay. He really was not partial to cats. He didn’t hate them, but he could certainly live without them. It would be a nuisance to associate with one on a presumably difficult Quest.
    Then he realized that this was a kind of proof of the new status of the box. It was showing him what he hadn’t known he needed. He never would have chosen a cat on his own, but it seemed he did need it. Even as odd a cat as this, with blue and white stripes.
    He looked around. There was a path ahead of him that he hadn’t seen before. The one that would lead him to the cat.
    Hapless sighed and closed the box, returning it to his backpack. He set off down the path. After a few steps he paused and turned to look back at the castle. It was there, but then he noticed something else: the path wasn’t. There were trees and brush between him and the castle, no path and no sign that one had ever been there. How could that be?
    Oh—it was a one-way path. He had heard of them. Just to be sure, he faced backwards and stepped along it. Sure enough, it faded out the moment his feet left it.
    He paused again, considering. Did this mean that if he accidentally stepped off the path, it would vanish and he would be hopelessly lost? He hoped not. Then he thought of a way to test it, maybe. He took off his pack, with the box inside, and set it on the ground. Then he walked away from it. The path remained, with the pack at the near end of it. It was the box that shut