The Journey

by Piers Anthony

  “Yes, Floyd. She will be there with us.”

  Floyd was about to roll her over onto her back, to give her a proper kissing, when another thought occurred to him. Months ago, when Floyd had helped a curious man named Niddala with a small assignment, the man had repaid Floyd with a most impressive diamond ring. Now, Floyd searched his innermost pocket and removed the concealed ring. He dropped to a knee, but before he could ask her, she said, “Yes!”

  “But I didn’t ask!” he protested as she threw her arms around him.

  “You didn’t have to,” she said through kisses. She tapped his skull. “I can read your mind, remember?”

  The kissing had only just begun when Floyd heard a familiar voice from behind him. “A touching moment that, sadly, must be cut short.”

  Amelie gasped. So did Floyd. He turned in time to see the Hunter Elf step from behind a rocky ruin of a wall. One by one others in the press-gang appeared too.

  Floyd stood and reached for his sword.

  Chapter 22: Man

  Floyd paused to slip the diamond ring onto the little finger of his left hand, as he had been interrupted before actually putting it on Amelie’s fourth finger. There was no sense in leaving that loose, especially now. In fact, he realized it would help him make his point.

  Then he gazed at the circled press-gang thugs. “Something you lads should know before we engage,” he said conversationally. “You’re not the first gang this foul elf has led. The first ones I encountered two years ago did not fare well. They were rude to the White Ladies, and most of them were killed.”

  The men of the gang looked tough, but something about Floyd’s attitude put them off. He could see by their reactions that one or two had heard of the White Ladies, and knew that they were not to be fooled with.

  “Ravisher, here, is not your friend,” Floyd continued. “He led the others into that death trap, and he is leading you into similar mischief. You’d be best off to quit now and save your hides.”

  “Save your breath, pipsqueak,” Ravisher growled.

  “Butt out, frogface, or I’ll hurt you,” Floyd snapped.

  The Hunter Elf’s jaw dropped in astonishment at his temerity. So did Amelie’s.

  Floyd returned his attention to the press-gangsmen. “You see, to do your job you must capture me without killing or seriously injuring me. Because boat captains don’t pay well for battered oarsmen. They want strong, fit men who can row well from the outset. So you must take it easy on me. I, in contrast, have no such restraints; I can hurt you or kill you with impunity, since your business is illegal. So though you outnumber me, you have no advantage. In fact it’s an unfair engagement. Ravisher doesn’t care about you at all; it is Faux Fee he is after. He is merely using you as a pretext to get rid of me so that he can have Faux all to himself. You can all die as far as he cares.”

  Now one of the men called his bluff. “I can take you with my bare hands, twerp!” He advanced menacingly. “I don’t have to kill you, just bind you.”

  “Perhaps a token demonstration is in order,” Floyd said. His sword flashed so quickly it was almost invisible. The man cried out as he clapped his hand to his ear and fell back.

  In a moment it became clear what had happened. Floyd had cut off the man’s right ear. “Now I think you lads know that I could as readily have cut off his nose—or his face,” he said conversationally. “This was merely a demonstration, as I said. If you annoy me, I will strike with more conviction.”

  The men were plainly impressed. Floyd had moved swiftly and with unnerving accuracy. He wasn’t bluffing.

  “Enough of this nonsense,” Ravisher said, striding toward Floyd.

  The sword flashed again. The Elf’s head flew off and landed in the dirt with an expression of surprise. The body stood there headless. There was no blood.

  The press-gangsmen stared. They had clearly never seen anything like this before.

  “I believe I gave you fair warning,” Floyd said calmly to the head. “Do not interfere with what concerns you only peripherally. In the past you were dealing with a boy. Now you face a man. There’s a difference.”

  Then he squatted, picked up the head by the hair, brushed off the dirt, and handed it to the Elf.

  Ravisher carefully set the head back on his neck and twisted it into place. “So it seems,” he said grimly. He was hardly cowed, but he was impressed. He was canny enough to know when he faced a dangerously unknown quantity. He would wait until the situation clarified.

  “That, too, was a token,” Floyd said. “Don’t make me hurt you. Fear not, I will get to you in due course.”

  Then he addressed the men again. “Do we understand each other?” he inquired.

  The men exchanged glances. They had seen his proficiency with the sword. They had seen him attack the Hunter Elf with seeming impunity. Then they turned and walked away, one man carrying his ear. Indeed, there were no easy pickings here.

  That left Floyd, Amelie/Faux, and Ravisher.

  “Your turn, Faux,” Floyd said.

  “Mine?” Faux asked, surprised. “I represent no threat to you, Floyd. Quite the opposite.”

  “That depends on how you see it.”

  Even Ravisher was surprised now. He was listening closely.

  “You made a deal with Amelie,” Floyd said. “You would protect me, and indeed, make a man of me, so that she could marry me in due course.”

  “So I did,” she agreed. “And it seems I have delivered.”

  “You delivered,” he agreed. “But there remains the matter of your price. You may take her soul, or her firstborn son, or her husband for your monthly sabbats.”

  She nodded. “True. I have yet to decide which.”

  “I love Amelie and do not want her to pay any such price. It would hurt me to have a soulless wife, or to lose my firstborn son, or to be subject to your lecherous whims on a monthly basis. Therefore you are a threat to me that I must deal with.”

  Faux was taken aback. “Floyd, that deal was made before you ever met me. It is what caused me to take two years of my attention to see to your needs. You are in no position to renege now.”

  “No position,” Ravisher echoed.

  “Stay out of it, sphincter,” Floyd snapped. “I am not dealing with you yet.”

  Amused, the Hunter Elf was silent.

  “You have something in mind,” Faux said. “It is curiously opaque at the moment, but there’s something.”

  “I propose to settle Amelie’s account myself,” Floyd said. “To relieve the need for Amelie to do it.”

  Faux smiled. “I don’t want your soul. My association with you is meaningless unless you are independent.”

  “I am not offering it.”

  “What, then?” she asked, baffled. Ravisher was plainly curious too.

  “This: I will enable you to escape Ravisher forever. You will never have to oblige his passions, even long after I pass from the scene.”

  Now Faux exchanged a glance with Ravisher. They were mutually perplexed. Such a thing was plainly beyond any powers Floyd might have, man or not.

  “Fat chance,” the Hunter Elf muttered darkly. “Your behind will be mine, Fee lass.”

  “I’ll bite,” Faux said after a moment. “What is it?”

  “Do I have your agreement? That guarantee in exchange for anything Amelie owes you?”

  “No. I need to know the mechanism first.”

  “She has a point,” Ravisher said, amused again.

  Floyd ignored him. “Do you remember our encounter with Niddala?”

  “Yes. A passing incident. You did him a favor and he gave you a token. In fact it was the diamond ring you were about to give Amelie.”

  “Exactly. It’s a lovely and valuable ring. Also magic.”

  “Could be,” she agreed. “Niddala did have a small collection of magic artifacts. I hadn’t realized you had kept it. It faded from my awareness, until you produced it just now. What of it?”

  “It was not coincidence t
hat you forgot it. Its magic repels the supernatural.”

  “Ah. I am supernatural, so even my awareness of it was repulsed. Still, what has this to do with the price of rice in China?”

  “Everything. I had time to myself during those long sails around the continents, given that you did not elect to share your bed with me, and I amused myself not only by practicing swordplay and learning to read. I studied the ring. Bit by bit I learned its qualities. It protects the wearer from attack by the supernatural. Since most human events are natural, the ring normally has little if any effect. But in its element, it’s powerful. I tested it cautiously, and found no limit to its repulsive power. I cannot be injured by any supernatural force I could find. I believe the same would be true of anyone else who wore it.”

  “I have heard of those rings,” Ravisher said. “They were crafted in prehistory by folk who were tired of being molested by spirits like me. They can be given, but not taken.”

  “So it seems,” Floyd agreed. “I was about to give it to Amelie, to protect her, but now I have a better use for it.”

  Amelie appeared hurt. “You are breaking our engagement?”

  “By no means, my love. It is only that I must find some other token to express my love for you. I must give this one to Faux.”

  Her lower lip turned rubbery. “I feel jilted!”

  “Not so, Amelie. I must do it to protect you from serious loss. Let me talk to Faux again.”

  Faux reappeared. “I believe I am beginning to get your gist. You knew that ring would protect you when you went to rescue Dulcie from her demon.”

  “I forgot about the ring then,” Floyd admitted. “But surely it was protecting me, yes. Now I remember that the demon hurt his hand when he tried to squeeze my heart.”

  “So it was raw courage, in that case.”

  “I suppose so,” he agreed. “I simply wanted to rescue the damsel, and prove myself to you.”

  “As you did.”

  Floyd shrugged.. “But we drift from the subject. If I give you this ring, and you wear it always, it will prevent any supernatural thing from attacking you.”

  “I’m not going into battle,” Faux said. “What I need is—” She paused.

  “To you, Ravisher’s attentions are attacks,” Floyd said. “Is that not so?”

  “So they are,” Faux agreed thoughtfully.

  “All I want is to kiss you and stroke you and—” Ravisher began.

  “And plumb me until your demon seed spurts from my ears,” she agreed wrathfully. “I’d rather be impaled on a thick, pointed mast, sails and all.”

  Floyd held out the ring. “Deal?”

  “Deal.” She took it and put it on her fourth finger of her right hand.

  Amelie sighed. “I suppose it is a fair deal, much as I would have liked to have that ring for my own.”

  “You will have it, dear, as long as you are with me,” Faux replied. “It will protect us both.”

  “True,” Amelie agreed, mollified.

  “We’ll see about that,” Ravager said. “I think it’s a bluff. Those rings exist, but we have only this yokel’s word that this is one of them.”

  Faux smiled. “Then come to me, wretched lover.” She opened her arms invitingly.

  The Hunter Elf stepped into them, eagerly clasping her mouth with his.

  There was a flash as his body was flung back. He fell on the ground, stunned.

  “Great stuff, electricity,” Faux remarked. “Remarkable effect on hostile spooks.” She glanced at Ravisher. “Kiss me again, spook.” She pursed her lips.

  The Elf sprang back to his feet. “This is your fault, mortal,” he said savagely to Floyd. “You no longer have the ring. I will pulverize you.”

  “Welcome to try,” Floyd said. “Kiss me, spook.” He pursed his lips.

  Not at all amused now, Ravager charged him, catching him in a bear hug. And froze, paralyzed, before Floyd dropped him to the ground.

  “Incidental detail,” Floyd remarked to no one in particular. “I have had the ring for some time, keeping it always close. Some of its repulsion seems to have rubbed off on me. I suspect the effect will last several months. Longer, maybe, if I embrace the one who wears it. Eventually I may have to find some other protection, but this residual effect will do for now.”

  Ravisher stared at him, then faded out. He knew he had been bested.

  “Good show, Floyd,” Faux said. “Amelie made a good choice. You are worthy.”

  Now, belatedly, Floyd felt doubt. “Am I? It remains a mystery to me why Amelie’s skry selected me as the best for her to marry. As you said at the outset, I’m nothing special.”

  Both women laughed. They were using the same mouth at the same time, but he heard the two voices. “There is a reason,” Faux said. “You said it yourself.”

  “I did?” he asked, perplexed.

  “You became a man. Other villagers are shallow boys, even after they survive their Journeys, and the girls who do it are hardly better. Being exposed to the wider world is no guarantee that a person will benefit by it. But you are the exception. You became a true man, as you have just demonstrated.”

  “But Amelie’s skry couldn’t have known about all this!”

  “The skry didn’t need to know the details. It just knew you were the best. You were nothing, but now you have courage, decency, and realism. That’s a good combination.”

  Floyd realized it was true. He had indeed matured. “But I did have considerable help along the way.”

  “I did my job,” Faux agreed. “And have been paid.”

  Amelie reappeared. “Thank you from saving my soul,” she said. She spread her arms. “Come to me, my man, my love. After all, you need to be close to the ring. Especially when we sleep at night and can’t be alert.”

  “Especially,” he agreed. He knew they would have a long trip back to Ireland. He expected to enjoy it. There were advantages to being a man.

  Chapter 23: Dublin

  Floyd stood on the balcony of his flat, watching the sky darken over Dublin. Mostly, he watched the lone figure stroll eagerly along the empty sidewalks. A figure who had, if anything, a pep to his step. A small travel bag hung from one shoulder. Floyd thought he might have heard whistling.

  “He is eager to leave,” said Amelie.

  “He is eager to live a little.”

  “Or a lot,” she added.

  Directly below, thousands of candles and wicks flickered in open windows, illuminating homes and businesses everywhere. The street was surprisingly quiet for this time and day. Beyond his window was the popular city square, now mostly deserted. A lone lamplighter worked his way around the square, and Floyd watched with interest as the man deftly wielded his extraordinarily long pole.

  He felt hands on his shoulders and soon warm breath on his neck. This was followed by soft lips on his earlobe. “You can still stop him,” said Amelie softly into his ear. “We are no longer living in the village.”

  Floyd shook his head. “As much as I hated it, The Journey made me who I am today. And helped me win your heart, too.”

  “Your son has been raised among poets and artists. He wants to follow in his father’s footsteps and write great novels. He is a sensitive soul. The world can be cruel.”

  “And it can also be wondrous, too. He needs to live in order to write.”

  “Better he was a stable boy then.”

  Floyd laughed. “We have taken steps to ensure his safety.”

  “Faux Fee has asked for an unusual payment this time.”

  “Our next child to raise as her own,” Floyd said, nodding.

  “Can we do it?”

  “We will have to,” Floyd said, “unless Jonathan can circumvent the deal.”

  “Like you did with the ring,” said Amelie.

  “Our boy is clever.”

  “When he returns, he will be a boy no longer.”

  “One can hope,” said Floyd.

  In the near distance, the ambling figure of their so
n, Jonathan, turned a corner and was gone, and Amelie wept silently into Floyd’s arms.

  “I hate this.”

  “It’s not so bad,” he said. “Some boys return to marry their girls.”

  “I would have married you anyway, you fool.”

  He held her at arm’s length. “Really, now?”

  “No, I thought you were droll.”

  “But interesting enough to want to save?”

  “You can thank the skry for that,” said Amelie.

  “I do,” said Floyd. “Every day.”

  Below, a young couple moved along the sidewalk far below their flat, holding hands and seemingly in love. The man said something and the woman covered her mouth and laughed.

  “Where do you think he will go?” asked Amelie.

  “I heard Faux mention a lost city of gold in the Americas. She also mentioned Xibalba.”

  “Xibalba?”

  “The Mayan underworld. There is a girl there, being held captive by the gods—”

  “Just stop. I can’t listen to any more. Promise me he will be safe.”

  Floyd threw back his head and laughed. “Our son is in good hands with Faux Fee. It’s the Mayan gods I’m worried about.”

  The End

  Also available from

  Piers Anthony and J.R. Rain:

  Aladdin Relighted

  The Aladdin Trilogy #1

  Amazon Kindle * Amazon UK * Paperback * Audio

  ~~~~~

  Also from Piers Anthony:

  Hair Power Book

  (Book #1)

  Amazon Kindle * Amazon UK * Paperback

  ~~~~~

  Also from J.R. Rain:

  The Spear

  Major Quatermain #1

  Amazon Kindle * Amazon UK * Paperback

  Author’s Note:

  Piers Anthony

  This collaborative novel was a challenge in places, as we delved into a few historical or semi-historical figures.

  When I checked the background of Jonathan Swift, I discovered an interesting private personal life, as he tells Floyd. Then when we got to Xanadu I reread Coleridge’s famous poem, Kubla Khan, and was disappointed. Here’s the thing: I first encountered its remarkable first verse in high school, no, not in class, but when sneak-reading my own preference of junky science fiction and fantasy. Obviously I was never going to get anywhere in life with that attitude. It was quoted in a story, and it mesmerized me, so that I sought Coleridge in preference to the dull stuff in classes. Things like The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, “We were the first that ever burst into that silent sea”; Christabel, who lay down in her loveliness; and France: an Ode: “The Sensual and the Dark rebel in vain,/ Slaves by their own compulsion! In mad game/ They burst their manacles and wear the name/ Of Freedom, graven on a heavier chain!” What a commentary on the French Revolution, and indeed as it turns out, on contemporary events! But always first in my fond memory was the opening of Kubla Khan: “In Xanadu did Kubla Khan/ A stately pleasure dome decree:/ Where Alph, the sacred river, ran/ Through caverns measureless to man/ Down to a sunless sea.” Fabulous Xanadu has colored my imagination ever since. It may be that I named my magic land Xanth because of my affinity for a word so close to Xanadu. I had also liked the name Xanthe, surely from that same affinity. So there is where I wanted to return, in my imagination, and in this novel I finally did so.