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.But the niche of the needle-cactus seemed deeper.In fact it curved into darkness beyond the cactus.A passage!Now all he had to do was figure out how to pass one of the deadliest of the medium-sized plants of Xanth.Needle-cactuses tended to shoot first and consider afterward.Even a tangle tree would probably give way to a needler, if they grew side by side.Chester the centaur, a friend of Dor's father, still had puncture scars marring his handsome rump where a needier had chastened him.Dor poked his head cautiously around the corner."I don't suppose you feel like letting a traveler pass?" he inquired without much hope.A needle shot directly at his face.He jerked violently back, and it hissed on out to land in the moat There was an irate protest from the triton, who didn't like having his residence littered."The needier says no," Grundy translated gratuitously."I could have guessed." How was he going to pass this hurdle? He couldn't swim under this cactus, or reason with it, or avoid it.There was barely room to squeeze by it, in the confined alcove."Maybe loop it with a rope, and haul it out of the way," Grundy suggested dubiously."We don't have a rope," Dor pointed out."And nothing to make one with.""I know someone whose talent is making ropes from water," Grundy said."So he could pass this menace.We can't.And if we did have rope, we'd get needled the moment we hauled the cactus out into the open.""Unless we yanked it right into the moat." Dor chuckled at the thought.Then he got serious."Could we fashion a shield?""Nothing to fashion it from.Same problem as the rope.This ledge is barren.Now if cacti don't like water at all, maybe we can scoop--""They can live without it, but they like it fine," Dor said."They get rained on all the time.Just so long as it doesn't flood too much.Splashing won't do any good, unless--" He paused, considering."If we could send a lot of water flowing through there, flood out the cactus, wash the dirt from its pot, expose the roots--""How?"Dor sighed."No way, without a bucket.We just aren't set up to handle this cactus.""Yeah.A firedrake could handle it.Those plants don't like fire: it burns off their needles.Then they can't fight until they grow new ones, and that takes time.But we don't have any fire." He shook a few drops from his body."Sometimes I wish you had more physical magic, Dor.If you could point your finger and paralyze or stun or burn--""Then the Good Magician would have had other defenses for his castle, that those talents would be useless against.Magic is not enough; you have to use your brain.""How can a brain stop a needier from needling?" Grundy demanded."The thing isn't smart; you can't make a deal with it.""The cactus isn't smart," Dor repeated, an idea forming."So it might not grasp what would be obvious to us.""Whatever you're talking about is not obvious to me, either," the golem said."Your talent is translation.Can you talk cactus language too?""Of course.But what has that to do with--""Suppose we told it we were dangerous to it? That we were salamanders, burning hot, about to burn it down?""Wouldn't work.It might be scared--but all it would do would be to fire off a volley of needles, to kill the salamander before the creature could get close.""Hm, yes.But what about something that wasn't threatening, but was still sort of dangerous? A fireman, maybe, just passing through with flame on low."Grundy considered."That just might work.But if it failed--""Doom," Dor finished."We'd be pincushions."Both looked back at the moat.The triton was watching them alertly."Pincushions either way," Grundy said."I sure wish we were heroes, instead of golems and boys.We're not cut out for this sort of thing.""The longer we stand here, the more scared I get," Dor agreed."So let's get on with it before I start crying," he added, and wished he hadn't phrased it quite that way.Grundy looked at the needle-cactus again."When I was really a golem, a little thing like a needier couldn't hurt me.I wasn't real.I felt no pain.But now--I'm too scared to know what to say.""I'll say it.It's my quest, after all; you don't have to participate.I don't know why you're risking yourself here anyway.""Because I care, you twit!"Which had to be true."Okay.You just translate what I say into cactus talk." Dor nerved himself again and walked slowly toward the vegetable monster."Say something! Say something!" Grundy cried, as needles oriented on them visibly, ready to fly off their handles."I am a fireman," Dor said uncertainly."I--I am made of fire.Anything that touches me gets burned to a crisp.This is my firedog, Grundy the growler.I am just taking my hot dog for a walk, just passing through, chewing idly on a firecracker.I love crackers!"Grundy made a running series of scrapes and whistles, as of wind blowing through erect cactus needles.The needler seemed to be listening; there was an alert quiver about its needles now.Could this possibly work?"We are merely passing through," Dor continued."We aren't looking for trouble.We don't like to burn off needles unless we really have to, because they scorch and pop and smell real bad." He saw some needles wilt as Grundy translated.The message was getting through! "We have nothing against cactuses, so long as they keep their place.Some cactuses are very nice.Some of Grundy's best friends are cactuses; he likes to--" Dor paused.What would a firedog do with a compatible cactus? Water it down, of course--with a stream of fire.That wouldn't go over very well, here."Uh, he likes to sniff their flowers as he dogtrots by.We only get upset if any needles happen to get in our way.When we get upset, we get very hot.Very, very hot.In fact we just get all burned up." He decided not to overdo it, lest he lose credibility."But we aren't too hot right now because we know no nice cactus would try to stick us.So we won't have to burn off any inconvenient needles."The cactus seemed to withdraw into itself, giving them room to pass without touching.His ploy was working! "My, these firecrackers are good.Would you like a cracker, cactus?" He held out one hand.The cactus gave a little keen of apprehension, much as the tangler had when Crunch the ogre growled at it.The needles shied away.Then Dor was past it, penetrating into the alcove passage.But he was still within range of the needier, so he kept talking.After all, if the thing caught on to his ruse, it would be a very angry cactus."Sure was nice meeting you, cactus.You're a real sharp creature.Not like the one I encountered the other day, who tried to put a needle in my back.I fear I lost my temper.Tempering takes a lot of heat.I fired up like a wounded salamander, and I went back and hugged that poor cactus until all its needles burst into flame.The scorch marks are still on it, but I'm happy to say that it will probably survive.Lucky it was a wet day, raining in fact, so my heat only cooked its outer layers some instead of setting the whole thing on fire [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]