The train bound for Mount Parnassus came to an abrupt halt, jolting Anakin out of meditation.
"Sir, there's going to be a delay," the conductor told him. "It seems that goblins have sabotaged part of the track – cherry-bombed it from the look of things. We're going to see what we can do about it."
Anakin stood. "Very well. I can go on my own from here. Thank you for taking me this far."
The conductor nodded. "Good luck."
Anakin stepped off of the train and assumed his dragon form, then leaped skyward. He wouldn't be able to travel the entire distance to Mount Parnassus in this form – the Simurgh, guardian of Mount Parnassus, did not permit other flying creatures near her mountain. He decided he would land and take the ground route when he came within five kilometers of the mountain's base.
Normally, Anakin took great delight in his ability to take on dragon form. Always a lover of flight, being able to experience it without mechanical aid was the ultimate pleasure in his mind. Whenever he took to the skies, he indulged in spectacular acrobatics, engaged in races with other flying dragons, and even dared to challenge Fracto to a duel if he happened upon the cloud in his travels.
Not today. His flight was straight across Xanth, without deviation from his course. He was in no mood for aerial maneuvers today.
Luke and Leia… he hoped that, wherever they were, they were safe and having some success at their respective missions. Centaurs were notoriously stubborn – not unlike Skywalkers, he thought amusedly – and ogres… well, they were a different sort of challenge. He had to have faith in their abilities, however. He couldn't be around forever to protect them.
Luke, though… he worried Anakin the most. Despite all that the boy had been through in his lifetime, he was strangely naïve and trusting. He had complete faith in people, which was an honorable trait. But it also left him dangerously exposed to manipulation. And in the case of the game, where there was the possibility of a False Companion…
/I cannot betray him/ he thought bitterly. /I did that once when I killed his mother. I did it again when I gave him to the Emperor over Endor. If I do it a third time…/
YOUR SON WILL UNDERSTAND.
He winced. He hadn't heard that voice since back at the meadow…
/Who are you? And what business do you have mucking around in my head/
A LOT MORE THAN YOU THINK, SKYWALKER. AND DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT NOT GOING THROUGH WITH YOUR FALSEHOOD. THERE ARE SEVERE CONSEQUENCES FOR COMPANIONS WHO DON'T DO THEIR JOB.
/As a Companion, my job is to protect my Player, whoever he or she may be/ Anakin retorted.
BUT AS A COMPANION, YOU ARE BOUND BY THE RULES OF THE DEMONS – ALL RULES.
Something snapped into place in his mind. /You're Demon X(A/N)TH./
THAT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE. YOU ARE STILL BOUND TO BETRAY LUKE.
/And if I don't? What then/
X(A/N)TH named the punishment, and Anakin jerked with shock.
/Is that even possible/
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE TO A DEMON, SKYWALKER, the voice of X(A/N)TH sniggered. AND REST ASSURED THAT, IF YOU FAIL TO BETRAY LUKE, YOUR FATE WILL BE IN MY HANDS. YOU FAILED ME ONCE, SKYWALKER, AND THAT FAILURE HUMILIATED ME BEYOND THE SCOPE OF YOUR PATHETIC IMAGINATION. YOU WILL NOT FAIL ME AGAIN.
Anakin dove, landing a good hour's walk from the base of Mount Parnassus, but he did not yet shed his dragon form. He turned to the nearest tree – a gleaming-barked silver maple – and savagely sank his teeth into it. Ripping it up by the roots, he flung it to the ground and took out his frustration on it. By the time his anger had cooled, the tree was in shreds and his claws, jaws, and scales were gummed with sticky brown sap.
Finally, exhausted and feeling more hopeless than ever before, he allowed himself to shift back to human form. His robes were matted with sap, but that couldn't be helped. He finally turned around and set for the mountain, lost in his own melancholy.
Hideous shrieking filled the air, and three jet-black forms emerged from the forest. They stood alongside the path, watching him pass.
/The Furies/ he thought, giving them a wide berth. Among the oldest creatures in Xanth, Tisiphone, Alecto, and Megaera were hideous women with canine faces and snakes in place of hair, with batlike wings they folded about their bodies like cloaks. They took it upon themselves to accuse everyone they met of somehow neglecting or abusing their parents, cursing them or scourging them with the poisoned whips they carried at all times. Anakin wasn't sure how they would deal with him, who had only one mortal parent, but he had no wish to find out.
"Look at that Skywalker pass," snarled Tisiphone, fingering the leather thongs of her scourge. "The game forbids us from touching him, even though he has profaned his mother's name by slaughtering innocents in her memory. And has he even given thought of her since then? Or does he shrink from her memory, not wanting to consider what she would think of him now?"
"By Grossclout's orders, we cannot scourge or curse him," Alecto hissed, pointing a clawed finger. "Though he betrayed his father, the Force itself, by joining the Sith when he was created to destroy them. And he thinks he can absolve himself of that by killing the Emperor? Ha!"
"We must let him be," Megaera added in a vicious whisper, her tongue sliding over pointed teeth as if to ready them for rending Anakin. "Though he plots still more betrayal, though he will selfishly deceive his own flesh and blood to avoid the wrath of X(A/N)TH. Let us go, sisters, and leave this man to his machinations."
And they loped off with screeched laughter, leaving Anakin wishing they had just whipped him to death outright. Which meant they had accomplished their wishes.
He set to climbing the mountain, heading for the southern peak. The physical activity helped him take his mind off of X(A/N)TH and the Furies' remarks. Dust caked to his robes and hands, turning him an odd color of gray-brown, but he gave it no thought.
Something hissed, and he looked up to see an enormous snake lying across his path. The Python, banished guardian of the Tree of Immortality, lifted its head to gaze at him. Anakin held his ground – the Python was not particular about what he ate, though he preferred women if he had the choice.
"Get out of my way," he ordered. "I'm not in a mood to be trifled with."
The Python gave a rasping laugh. "You think to order me around, little morsel?" He reared his head back to strike.
Anakin drew his lightsaber, and when the enormous fanged head darted forward he slashed, slicing through a fang as long as his arm. The Python shrieked in outraged pain and writhed his body, hoping to knock his prey off his feet. Anakin was too quick for him – he leaped and landed astride the Python's back, raising his saber to plunge it through the thick scales.
More shrieking attracted his attention, and both duelists looked up to see a pack of women heading for them at a determined pace. Anakin groaned. The maenads, eternally young but extremely feral women, guarded the Tree of Immortality and northern peak of the mountain, though like the Python, they liked nothing better than to trespass on the southern peak in search of prey. It was an interesting match-up – the woman-preying snake versus the most predatory of women.
The Python gave a disgusted look. "Hurry up and let me eat you," he hissed. "I'm not sticking around." No doubt he had battled the maenads before – and come out the worse for it.
"I have another idea, one which could benefit the both of us," Anakin retorted.
"What, you expect me to carry you to the south peak?"
Anakin smiled.
"No!" the Python snapped. "It's not my territory! The Simurgh will cut me to pieces!"
"Would you rather confront the maenads?"
The Python flinched, an interesting sight.
"I thought not." Anakin extinguished his saber. "To the Tree of Seeds, my friend."
The Python hissed his loathing and set off at a swift slither up the mountain. The maenads shrieked wildly and gave chase, but even the fleetest of them couldn't hope to catch up.
Several minutes later, the Python reached the top and gave a twist of his body, dumping Anakin unceremoniously at the roots of the Tree of Seeds.
"This trip was one-way," he spat. "Don't think I'm coming back to take you down the mountain."
"I don't think that will be necessary," Anakin replied. "But thank you."
"You'd better be thankful." The Python turned to go.
STOP.
Anakin and the Python turned, Anakin with a great deal of surprise. That voice had been neither Grossclout's nor X(A/N)TH's. For one thing, it was female.
The Tree of Seeds was by far the most impressive sight Anakin had seen in a long time – and for one who had spent the last three months of his life in Xanth, that was saying something. Far more enormous than any of the arboreal giants of Endor or Yavin, it bore the foliage, blossoms, and fruits of every bush, tree, flower, and weed that one could possibly imagine, from the ordinary fruits of Mundania and the Galaxy Far, Far Away to the exotic pun-plants of Xanth. And perched on the largest branch, gazing down at them with a regal expression, was a huge bird every bit as awe-inspiring as the tree she perched in. With feathers that gleamed with every possible color and eyes that seemed to hold the wisdom of the universe, the Simurgh was a sight to behold.
PYTHON, YOU ARE FORBIDDEN FROM SETTING SCALE UPON THE NORTH PEAK, the Simurgh told him severely. I THOUGHT WE'D GONE OVER THIS BEFORE. WHAT GIVES YOU THE GALL THIS TIME?
"He was aiding me, my lady," Anakin said in the Python's defense, bowing. "We had…"
I'M AWARE OF THE BARGAIN YOU MADE WITH THE PYTHON, the Simurgh replied. AND THAT IS THE ONLY REASON I DON'T SLICE HIM INTO LUNCHMEAT RIGHT NOW. I SUGGEST YOU LEAVE AT ONCE, PYTHON.
The Python slunk away with a cowed expression. If he had possessed legs, his tail would have been tucked sheepishly between them.
"Was that harshness necessary?" asked Anakin.
DON'T FEEL SORRY FOR HIM, she said with the tone of a weary mother. HE WOULD HAVE EATEN YOU THE MOMENT YOU LET YOUR GUARD DOWN IF HE HADN'T KNOWN I WAS WATCHING HIM. NOW… She arranged her gorgeous plumage and gazed down at him with a questioning look. WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS WITH ME?
"The Crypt Keeper and the Four Horsemen seek to bring down the Interface, my lady."
WHAT! The Simurgh half-spread her wings in surprise, causing the entire tree to shake ominously. THE FOOLS!
"I have come to Mount Parnassus to seek aid in defeating them. We were hoping to gather an army to fight…"
AND AID YOU SHALL RECEIVE, SKYWALKER. BUT NOT IN THE FORM OF AN ARMY. YOUR CHILDREN, FETT, AND PHILLIPA HAVE GATHERED ENOUGH FORCES.
So four of the others had succeeded in their quests. Did that mean Jenny and Mentia had failed? Or that they had received other forms of aid?
THE OTHERS HAVE TOOLS TO DEFEAT THE ARMY OF THE HORSEMEN AND THE CRYPT KEEPER. YOU, ON THE OTHER HAND, NEED A TOOL THAT WILL REPAIR THE DAMAGE DONE TO THE INTERFACE BY THE CRYPT KEEPER'S STUPIDITY. CATCH!
The Simurgh lifted a talon and rapped on the branch she perched upon. A single fruit, brownish-gray and shriveled-looking, became dislodged and fell. Anakin instinctively lifted his hands and caught it.
EAT IT.
Puzzled, Anakin complied. Despite its unappetizing appearance, it tasted sweet.
FRUIT FROM THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE, LONG EXTINCT FROM XANTH. IT WILL GIVE YOU KNOWLEDGE OF THE CODE NEEDED TO REFORMAT THE INTERFACE, UNDOING THE DAMAGE THE CRYPT KEEPER HAS INFLICTED.
Four words sounded themselves in Anakin's mind. He repeated them to himself until he was sure he had them memorized.
"Thank you, my lady. Your aid is appreciated."
YOU WILL ALSO NEED THIS. She raised one wing and shook it, and a single feather dropped. Though small in comparison to the Simurgh, it was half as long as Anakin by the time it landed.
MY FEATHERS HAVE HEALING PROPERTIES, she explained. USE IT WISELY. AND YOU HAVE MY PERMISSION TO FLY TO CASTLE ZOMBIE FROM MOUNT PARNASSUS. IF YOU ARE TO SAVE XANTH, YOU MUST MOVE QUICKLY.
"Again, thank you, my lady." He assumed dragon form and clutched the feather in his forepaws.
AND ONE MORE THING.
He turned to face the Simurgh, listening.
TRY TO SMILE A LITTLE. THE FURIES AREN'T ALWAYS RIGHT, YOU KNOW. AND IF YOU LET WHAT THEY SAID BOTHER YOU, THEY HAVE WON.
He nodded once, then took to the air.