Free Luck of the Draw (Xanth) by Piers Anthony Page B

circle around to come here.” Bryce paused, a bulb flashing over his head. “So I can see it coming well before ten seconds!”
    “Precisely,” Trent agreed.
    “So we should move out of the way now. Avoid it, get under cover.”
    They did so. The dragon completed its curve, oriented—and failed to spy them. It shook its head, belched out a disgusted ball of smoke, and flew away without landing. It might be illusion, but it was realistic throughout.
    “So I can triangulate, and anticipate a threat in time to handle it,” Bryce said, pleased.
    “If you are properly alert,” Trent agreed.
    Suddenly a ground dragon burst out of the ground right before them. “Get back!” Bryce cried.
    But his ten-second warning was not sufficient. The dragon had emerged too close. Its head shot toward Bryce, jaws gaping.
    And the dragon became a giant caterpillar whose jaws were suitable only for chewing plants. It was so close that it still collided with Bryce, knocking him down. It was no illusion!
    Bryce scrambled up and away. “What happened?” he asked breathlessly.
    “I had to use my talent,” Trent said. “I am a transformer.”
    So the Magician had transformed the dragon into a caterpillar. That was impressive. “My talent didn’t help me,” Bryce said.
    “That’s why you need to get a sword. That could have made the dragon pause.” Trent patted the scabbard of his own sword.
    “I have never used such a thing,” Bryce protested.
    “Learn.”
    “I guess I’ll have to.”
    “We can return to the castle now,” Trent said. “After I restore the dragon.”
    “Restore it?” Bryce asked blankly.
    “It would not be kind to leave it as a caterpillar.” Trent walked to the huge green insect. “Stay away from humans,” he told it. “Some of us are dangerous.” Then he gestured, and the dragon reappeared. It shook its head, understandably confused, then turned about and dived into the hole it had come from.
    They walked back toward Castle Maidragon. “I am impressed,” Bryce said. “Not only with your evident talents, but by the fact that you have taken the trouble to help me like this.”
    “We are doing it for Harmony,” Iris said. “If she chooses well, and avoids the kind of scrapes the others have gotten into, she will likely one day be King of Human Xanth.”
    Mindy choked. “Harmony?”
    “If,” Iris repeated firmly. “She has the potential, as all of them do, but must avoid squandering it as the others have.”
    “Oh. Of course,” Mindy agreed.
    Bryce wondered why she questioned it. Mindy’s position as a servant girl was unlikely to be affected regardless of who ruled. But he had a question of his own. “Wouldn’t she be queen, not king, being female?”
    Trent smiled. “It is Xanth custom to have kings. So when a female rules, she is a king.”
    “Oh.” He decided not to question it further.
    Outside Castle Maidragon they bid farewell to the Magician and Sorceress, and walked back toward Caprice. “I must say, Princess Dawn has set me up with some interesting contacts. I never thought that ex-kings would give me the time of day.”
    “It’s afternoon.”
    Which he supposed was about as specific as it needed to be, here in this magic land.

 
    4
    P RINCESS
    T he next day Caprice Castle was settled near a far more elaborate castle. “What is that?” Bryce asked, peering out a turret window.
    “That is Castle Roogna,” Mindy said. “The capital of Human Xanth.”
    “Human Xanth,” Bryce repeated. “I have heard that term before. Are there other races here?”
    “Many. Every species has its royalty or equivalent. So there’s a Dragon King, an Elf King, a Gnome King, a Goblin Chief, an Ant Queen, and so on. We treat them all with due respect. It makes it easier to get along.”
    “I should think so,” he agreed. “Animals have more status here than they do in Mundania.”
    “Mundania is backward,” she agreed.
    But when they checked with Princess Dawn, she had other news.