Chapter 9: GolemChapter 9: Golem

avoc assessed the situation: Four naked women were chained to the dungeon walls, and the fourth one was Gale. A clothed woman stood beyond Gale. One naked man lay unconscious or dead at Gale's feet.

He must have tried to rape her, and gotten clubbed by her fast foot.

Only a fool would have left her legs free. There was an open coffin set in the floor, with the emaciated body of another woman. The second man was covered in leather armor, secure from kicks. He stood before Gale, menacing her with a knife. That must be Shrapnel, the torture master.

He had to take immediate action. But the man would stab Gale before Havoc could get there.

"Hold, varlet!" Havoc cried, brandishing his sword. It was the only thing he could think of to distract the man's attention from Gale.

The varlet whirled to face him. And stared, astonished. "What are you?"

"I am King Havoc. Now cease molesting that maiden."

Shrapnel's face worked, evidently uncertain whether to sneer or laugh.

Behind him, Gale smiled, recognizing the rescue effort. Havoc couldn't read her mind, because he wasn't here personally; he was animating a little golem fashioned into the likeness of himself. By similar token, she couldn't read his

436 Key to Havoc

mind, but he knew Gale had confidence in him.

The torture master's indecision didn't last long. "Whatever you are, I'll stomp you to oblivion." He strode toward Havoc and stomped.

But of course Havoc did not wait for him. He charged forward himself, ducking under the stomping foot and attacking the rear foot. He scrambled up on the toe, and climbed the laces of the boot. He thrust his tiny sword into the small space between the boot and the man's leg armor. The sword was no larger than a broad toothpick, but it was solid steel, and its edge and point were sharp. It dug a nice hole in the shin.

Shrapnel roared, as much with indignity as pain, and lifted his foot, trying to shake Havoc loose. But Havoc clung to the boot laces, and struck again, this time sawing across the surface of the skin. Blood flowed.

The man grunted and put his foot down, bringing his free hand across as if to swat a fly. Havoc lifted his sword over his head, pointing up. The huge hand sheered off, thinking the better of it. Instead the knife hand came around. The blade was as long as Havoc's whole body.

Havoc jumped to the floor and scampered around the foot. Shrapnel was bent over, trying to catch him. The bent posterior was a temptation, but the leather armor covered it, and in any event, he would have had to throw the sword to reach it. He needed to get up near the face in order to do real damage.

Meanwhile, he needed to occupy the torture master's attention, distracting him not only from Gale but from what else was happening on the premises. If he gave Shrapnel any time to think, the man would realize that where one golem could penetrate, others could too. The larger ones needed to be assembled, having been smuggled in disguised as supply carts. Only the smallest were ready for immediate action. This one would not hold the man for long.

He looked at the hung women. They had been brutally tortured. One was crisscrossed by whip slashes, and another had been de-breasted and gutted. The third seemed intact, but was leaking gobs of oil. That must have been some session!

"Havoc--those are fakes," Gale said. "Not real women. The last was raped by a real hellhound, though."

"Shut up!" the clothed woman said, stepping threateningly toward Gale.

Gale's foot caught her in the stomach. The woman doubled over, her breath knocked out, and fell to the floor beside the naked man. Obviously she was one of the enemies.

But Havoc was more concerned with the tactics of his immediate situation.

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Gale had said the women were not real. Were they mannequins--or golems?

It would be impossible to rape a mannequin, who would normally have no orifice. But a partially animated golem was possible. The Brown Chroma personnel had said that there had been an order here for several attractive female dolls two years before. These could be they. They were no longer very attractive, but behind their injuries were fine forms.

He ran toward the clothed woman, who spied him and scrambled up.

She tried to flee the chamber, evidently having had enough of combat. Obviously she was no mannequin or golem.

But as she tried to dodge around Havoc, she came too close to Gale.

This time Gale's foot caught her on the side of the head, and she went down in a heap, unconscious.

Havoc hid behind the body on the floor, dropped into the coffin with the corpselike woman there, and vacated his own golem for a moment. Back in his own body, he reached out with his mind. Ennui was beside him. "Female golems there, maybe, and in bad shape, but see what you can do. I'm in trouble." Then he bonded again with his own golem.

Shrapnel was stalking him, knowing better than to ignore him. Even a tiny figure could make a lot of mischief if not stopped. The man slashed with his knife, but Havoc was already moving away, clambering out of the coffin, diving over a bare leg, rolling, and scrambling away. But Shrapnel was in close pursuit.

There was no real cover. He ran to the nearest leg of the raped golem female. But he didn't want to get stuck in the gooey substance at her feet.

Meanwhile, Shrapnel was coming right in.

Then the golem moved. Her head lifted and her face oriented on the torture master. "Haven't you done enough, you bag of putrescence?" she demanded.

Shrapnel's mouth dropped open. He glanced at the fallen live woman, who remained unconscious. "You can't talk! You're not real!"

The golem slipped one hand from the manacle and brought her arm down. Apparently it hadn't been necessary to clamp the manacles tightly on a figure who had no personal will. "What you have done to me is unreal, you leather-bound excrescence." She freed her other hand, and reached for him with both.

Shrapnel rocked back, appalled. "No! It can't be!"

His back almost banged into Gale, who was hung immediately opposite.

She lifted both feet, planted them against the leather, and shoved him violently forward. Arms flailing, he staggered into the raped woman. She closed 438 Key to Havoc

her arms around him in a tight embrace. "Rape me again, you foul feculence!

I can never get enough of you." She pushed her face toward his, but it was no kiss she offered; her teeth were bared. Havoc recognized the mannerism of Ennui; she was animating this golem, playing out a dark fantasy. Surely loving it, as this was her chance to be bold and decisive in a way she never dared in person.

Shrapnel jerked his face away, but she pursued him, clasping him tightly while she snapped repeatedly at his nose. "I want more of your puny flesh in me, you hideous thing. Give it here." She lunged again. She was having a fine time, making a mean man suffer.

The torture master brought his knife about and stabbed her in the back.

When that didn't stop her, he brought it up and carved into the side of her neck. He kept going until her head fell over against her shoulder. Then at last

her arms went slack, and she fell away from him. "Oh, you have slaughtered me, you vile monster!" she declaimed as she crashed to the floor.

Shrapnel righted himself and looked around. Now the other two female dolls were free and advancing on him like dreadful specters. Those would be Symbol and Bijou, the other female members of his invasion team. Their bodies were back at Village Wetback, hidden from view. Gale had done a fine job of distracting the torture master so that he did not spy the larger party following her.

"Let me give you a piece of me," the one he thought was Symbol said, hefting a severed breast.

"Let me return the delights of the whip," the one who must be Bijou said, raising the whip. They were all grimly enjoying this.

Now at last Shrapnel caught on. "Golems! I got these figures from Brown Chroma, but never animated them beyond a set script. Just cut them up and restored them. Now they're being occupied by foreigners."

"We do love you to pieces," Symbol said, shoving the breast at his face gore-side forward, like an open cherry pie.

"We do feel your pain," Bijou said, cracking the whip. It caught him across the chest. The leather protected him, but the sound was sharp.

Shrapnel lunged for them both, his knife flashing. He stabbed them repeatedly, going for whatever vital organs golems might have. Their flesh was boneless, and it carved readily, without much bleeding from the interior, because these were repairable golems who had already bled their limit. He cut off their arms and heads, and finally they sank to the floor, unable to fight further. "We'll be back!" Symbol cried as she died.

There was noise from elsewhere in the torture complex. "I'll tend to Piers Anthony 439

you later," Shrapnel called, and ran from the chamber.

Meanwhile, Havoc was with Gale. He used the hooks in his hands to climb the wall beside her to reach one of the manacles, but this one was tight.

He tried to jam his sword into it, to force it open, without success. He tried to

pry it loose from the wall, but it was beyond his means.

"Secure the rest of the complex," Gale told him. "I'll be all right."

"But you're helpless as long as you're chained."

"Not entirely. Go, Havoc; you need to take Shrapnel out."

"What was he doing with you?"

"He was trying to convert me to a succubus. He played the game of torturing the three pseudo women, so that I would think that was what I would suffer next, and capitulate. Then I would have to leave my body and capture the souls of innocent boys, to animate his army. He has bodies in another chamber. He may have female bodies too, because he had an incubus to collect women." She glanced at the male body before her. "That woman, Handmaid, helped him set me up for it." She paused. "Oops--in our distraction she must have recovered and crawled away. She's dangerous too.

The incubus is out of commission now, but don't trust Handmaid."

"How did you take out an incubus?"

"I had a bit of help. You don't want to know more. Stop dawdling, Havoc; I'm not that lovely naked."

"Yes you are." But she was right: he had other business to accomplish.

"The seed didn't buzz," she said with mock wonder.

He climbed carefully down her arm and stood on her shoulder. She turned her head, and he kissed her enormous mouth. "Scream if anything happens; I will hear you and come immediately."

"I know you will, Havoc," she said bravely.

He jumped down to the floor, and ran after the torture master, dodging around the bodies on the floor. Anyone who didn't know that these were merely golems would be horrified by the carnage. Even so, it was bad enough.

He followed a short hall to another chamber. This one had four naked men hung on its walls. Havoc recognized three as mannequins--real ones, not golems--and the fourth as a living man. The man was brown of hair and skin and eye. He had been there some time; the products of his body's wastes were on the floor at his feet. Another torture demonstration, surely to convert another person to evil duties of the soul. If the sight of others being tortured didn't break him down, maybe the disgust of his accumulating refuse would. There was nothing nice about the torture master's operation.

"Who are you?" he asked the living man.

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The captive stared down at him. "Why should I tell any of your minions anything? I'll never serve you, you brutal creep."

"I'm not Shrapnel. I'm a golem animated by a rescuer. The torture minions already know your identity; I don't."

The man shrugged as well as he was able. "I am Berm, of Village Bravo in the Brown Chroma. I was captured when I came to rescue my sister."

The name meant nothing to Havoc. "Are there keys here I can use to release you?"

"No. Shrapnel keeps them on him."

"Then I will free you after I kill him."

The man smiled wryly. "Thank you. I will be forever indebted."

"Did Handmaid pass this way?"

"No. Don't speak to me of that bitch. She's supposed to clean up my refuse. But she wouldn't unless I became her lover."

"Chained to the wall?"

"Chained to the wall," Berm agreed. "She favors sadism. Shrapnel let her; he thought it was funny. Maybe she's another torturer."

Havoc ran on. There was another passage, leading to a lavatory chamber. The torture master was there, tending to the punctures on his leg.

"Ho, varlet!"

That was another golem. This one was two feet tall, and accordingly more formidable. It would be animated by Throe or Chief. It would keep Shrapnel occupied for a while. Havoc stayed clear, exploring side passages.

He wanted to know what other surprises this complex had.

He found a room full of naked male bodies. Those would be the ones awaiting boy-souls, for animation as Shrapnel's army of conquest. There was another with female bodies, maybe for more soldiers. There were storage chambers filled with supplies and weapons. There were fairly nice residential rooms. There were no working personnel. That was all.

Take out Shrapnel, and there would be no more resistance. That seemed clear enough.

But as he went back to help the larger golem do that, he was almost overrun by the torture master. The man was running toward the body chambers, and Havoc couldn't stop him.

He went to the lavatory. There was the two foot golem, cut to pieces.

Shrapnel was tough with his knife.

He went to the kitchen, where the cart of food supplies had been delivered. It was sitting out of sight of the cook, and three more two-foot-tall golems were in the process of assembly. One was in Havoc's image, and two Piers Anthony 441

were in Gale's image. "Who are you?" Havoc asked.

"Chief," the male replied.

"Ennui. Those torture chamber golems can't be used any more."

"Bijou. But these ones can."

"Shrapnel is going to rouse his army. I don't know how many there will be, but this is mischief. We need to free Gale from one chamber, and a man called Berm from another. If we can't get the key to the manacles, a hammer and chisel may do it. Then we'll get out of here and set off the void bomb."

Chief glanced at the cart. "It is primed. It will detonate in half an hour, as you directed."

Havoc had forgotten that detail for the moment. "So we have a tight time limit."

Chief looked around. "What about the cook?"

"Leave him alone. I don't know whether he's loyal to Shrapnel, or captive. If he opposes us, we'll have to put him down."

Chief lifted a rod. "I'll look for a wedge to hammer with this, to pry the manacles out of the walls. Where are the captives?"

Havoc pointed the way, and Chief walked in that direction.

"We've got knives," Ennui said. "But I doubt we could do much against a zombie army."

"We didn't expect to have to fight," Bijou said.

Havoc nodded. "I anticipated a covert operation, to get Gale out safely.

I didn't know she would be chained to the wall." In fact he had been so busy smuggling them in that he hadn't worked out a more thoroughgoing approach.

Chief and Throe had tried to warn him about this, but with barbarian naiveté he had dismissed it. He would know better next time.

There was a sound of tramping. Ennui looked in that direction. "Army?"

"I fear so," Havoc said. "You go help Chief. I'll go try to free Gale."

"You can't do it alone," Bijou said. "I'll help you." She snatched up a kitchen mallet.

Havoc led the way toward the torture chamber. But they were too late: the first wave of the zombie army was charging down the hall. They were women, naked except for their knives. The two of them ducked back into the storage room, hiding from the horde.

"Damn," Havoc said. "I hate fighting women."

"Especially when they're bigger than you are," Bijou said with a fleeting smile. "We'd better hide until we see Shrapnel."

That was a better idea than whatever he had been trying to think of. He had always been apt as an individual fighting other individuals, but had no 442 Key to Havoc

early experience fighting full size people as a half foot golem. What could he do?

"Why don't I throw you at him?" Bijou suggested. "Then you can slit his throat before he knows what's happening."

That was another good idea. "Do it," he agreed.

They lurked as the women streamed by. And there was Shrapnel, following behind. "Check every room!" he called. "Destroy any golems you find."

"We have to do it fast," Bijou said. She set down her mallet and knife and picked him up. Then, as the torture master came close, she heaved Havoc at his head.

Havoc missed the head and bounced off the shoulder. He dropped to the floor. "There you are!" Shrapnel said, backing away. "Here to me, soldiers!"

Havoc leaped at him, catching a leg and trying to clamber up it. But the man knocked him down with a fist. Then the women were there, their many hands reaching down.

Havoc drew his sword and slashed at whatever was in reach. The sword sliced off fingers before catching in a forearm. He yanked it out and swung again. But there were no screams or retreat: these creatures seemed to be impervious to pain. In a moment they caught him around the body, wrenched his sword away, and lifted him high. One took him and hurled him against a wall. The impact knocked his head askew. He dropped to the floor, tried to get up, and was caught again. This time the women twisted off his arms and legs, his golem penis, and finally his head. Then they picked up the head and used a spike to poke out the eyes. He was done for. And he hadn't even hurt Shrapnel.

Though Havoc had been dismembered, he still heard what was going on, because the sense of hearing was in the head. "Get that other one. The female. Destroy it."

There was the sound of a scuffle, and of limbs being wrenched. Bijou was being destroyed.

Havoc reverted to his natural body. It was of course untouched, but the experience of dismemberment had seemed real, except for the lack of pain.

But he couldn't relax. Gale was in deadly danger, and not just from the torture master. The void bomb, once primed, could not be turned off; it would soon implode the entire torture complex. There were golem bodies in the torture chamber, broken, but maybe he could rouse one. A female golem could be animated by a male, if he chose; he had learned that some men who Piers Anthony 443

were unsatisfied with their state did choose to animate females. He reached out with his mind, searching.

He found--the spider. It was in Gale's backpack, forgotten. He bonded and animated it, then climbed out of the pack to look around. The chamber was as it had been, with the bodies strewn across the floor.

He walked into Gale's line of sight and waved his two front legs. After a moment she saw him. "Who--?"

He walked in the pattern of an H.

"Havoc!" she exclaimed. "Did you get him?"

He dropped his body to the floor as if clubbed.

She understood. "You got bashed."

He made a nodding motion with his whole body.

"Havoc," she said urgently. "We don't have much time, and there's something you need to know. I'll talk; you move forward for Yes and backward for No. If you don't understand, move to the side. Okay?"

Havoc jumped forward, then returned to his place.

"Good. Shrapnel has activated his forces and is winning the battle."

He moved forward. How did she know?

"You must be wondering how I know. Swale told me. The succubus--

we're friends now. When the incubus--that's his body at my feet--tried to rape me and capture my soul, Swale intercepted him and took him instead.

She saved me, Havoc. Now I want to save her. That's her body in the coffin; I don't think it's recoverable. I want her to share mine. That way she won't die when her body does."

Havoc scuttled to the side. The last thing he wanted was Gale rendered forever inaccessible to him.

"Wait, Havoc! I don't think she has to take a man's soul. She wasn't sure, but the more we pondered it, the more we thought that it's an option. But if she does take it, she can return it. So it doesn't matter, when she's my friend.

She won't be a barrier between us anymore--not as lovers. But I love you, Havoc, and won't do this without your approval. May she stay with me?"

Havoc was bemused. Gale was strung up on the wall for torture, rape, or death, and she was asking his approval of the presence of a dangerous succubus? He distrusted this, but he knew Gale. She always had good reason for what she did, right from the start, when she had offered him all the Peeks and Touches he wanted. She had won him then, and that would never change.

If she wanted to save the succubus, and believed the demon would behave, it was probably for the best. She would have verified it with her dragon seed.

In any event, he wanted to get beyond this quickly, because she had to have 444 Key to Havoc

more important things to tell him, and indeed there wasn't much time. So he moved forward.

"Good. She can protect me by capturing the soul of any man who rapes me. She can help me by traveling out in soul form, observing, and returning to report to me, as she has done for the battle of this torture complex." Gale lifted one leg, moving her foot slowly forward. "She says the zombie soldiers, nine male and twenty female, have won, and destroyed all your golems.

Handmaid is hiding for the moment; she doesn't like it when victims fight back. Shrapnel is about to return here and rape me and torture me until I capitulate and go to work for him. Or simply to kill me. Swale can't save me this time, because--Havoc, it's too complicated to explain in the time we have. You must talk with her directly."

Havoc moved to the side.

"She won't take your soul! She can't, if you don't climax. Just return to your body, poke your finger out before you, and listen to her. She'll be there,

invisible but conscious. She can't touch you, but you can touch her. Do it now, Havoc. We have only a minute or so. Now!"

Havoc didn't trust the succubus, but he did trust Gale. He retreated to his body, opened his eyes, and lifted his right hand, slowly poking his forefinger into the air before his face.

I am here, Havoc.

"You're the succubus?" he asked, surprised by how readily it had worked.

My spirit is floating before you. If you withdraw, I can't follow. I can't take your

soul. Even if you poked your member into my space and climaxed right now, I couldn't.

That's the problem.

"You want to take my soul?"

No! You are the man Gale loves. I want never to hurt you. But she will be lost, as

I was, if we don't save her now. Here is the problem: ordinarily I could be with her, and

take the soul of any man who rapes her, as I did the incubus. But I can confine only one

male spirit at a time. I must get rid of him before I can return to protect her again. And

I can't get rid of him.

"Why not?"

Because I can't touch a man, or a male body. He has to touch me. When I brought

souls before, I would come to hover just above the crotch of an empty body, and Shrapnel

would lift the penis to intercept me, and I would feed the soul into it. Then I was free to

return to my own body, or to take another soul. But I can't do that now--and if I could,

it would only make one more soldier for Shrapnel to control. I can't even return it to the

incubus's own borrowed body, because there's no one to lift his member into me, and anyway,

we don't want him loose; he's dangerous. He's committed to Shrapnel, and is as vicious as

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he is.

"I appreciate the problem. But I thought you could touch a woman.

Why did Gale have to extend her toe to you?"

I hold the male incubus soul captive. He can't touch a woman--and neither can I,

while he's in me. I must get rid of him immediately. But there is no one to take him.

"No other males in the torture complex?"

The only other unconfined male in the complex right now is the cook. He's a good

man, held hostage; he would help us if he dared. I wouldn't put the incubus in him if I

could.

"Did you check the male torture chamber?"

No. I hate that place.

"There's a new captive there. His name is Berm."

He felt the shock of the succubus. My brother! He's here?

"He was searching for his sister, and was captured."

I must see!

"Wait! We haven't finished--" But she was gone.

"What is this all about, Sire?" It was Symbol, who had overheard his one-sided dialogue.

"I was in contact with the succubus. She has to get rid of an incubus she intercepted, so she can take the soul of the man who rapes Gale. But she has no male body to put it in, and if she did, she'd need help."

"There's a simple counter-ploy," Symbol said. "I learned of it when I seduced a Red Chroma official. Their specialty is demons; they know how to handle them. All she needs to do is--"

"Tell her about it, when she returns here. Just poke your finger into the air until you feel her. I've got to try to help Gale directly." He focused on the

golem spider, and in a moment opened his eyes in the torture chamber.

Shrapnel was there. He was in the process of baring his member, so as to rape Gale.

"So you think you can possess me, whatever comes after," Gale was saying to him. "You think that little thing of yours is big enough to take me on. You're dreaming, you belch of vomit."

Gale had a sharp tongue when she was angry. She was captive, but making it clear that she wasn't cowed. Shrapnel could rape her, he could kill her, but he would never break her spirit.

But Havoc was here to see that neither rape nor killing occurred. He ran forward, leaped on the man's leather-clad leg, and scrambled on up his body.

Shrapnel, intent on Gale, did not notice the spider. He was nudging forward, watching her legs.

446 Key to Havoc

Sure enough, she kneed him. But he had expected that, and took the force of it against his armored thigh. He wedged in close, inside her leg, orienting.

"Remember what happened to the incubus," she said.

"The succubus took him out," Shrapnel said. "But she has nowhere to deliver his soul, and she can't take another until she does. That's why I know you are safe to approach, at the moment. In time she'll find a body, and then she'll be back, and you will be unsafe. So this is my window of opportunity.

I've never had a spitfire as beautiful as you before. Even if I have to kill you

later, this will be sheer delight."

Even had the man not been an enemy, he would have disgusted Havoc.

He liked abusing women.

"You're a cowardly, dastardly, reprehensible, filthy clod of dragon manure who couldn't have any woman without first manacling her to a wall."

"What makes this especially rapturous is your evident aversion to the process. I would like it if you screamed, too." He pushed up against her.

"When you become my regular mistress, I want you to revile me constantly, even as you spread your legs. I want to dominate you unwillingly, without requiring manacles. But for now, they will do."

Meanwhile Havoc had reached the man's shoulder. He leaped onto the top of the head, then straddled the face. He was able to cover one of the man's eyes and part of his nose.

Shrapnel made a grunt of disgust and reached up a gloved hand to slap Havoc off. Havoc scuttled to the other side of the face, digging his leg spikes

in.

The torture master lifted both hands, pawing at his face. Havoc scuttled down under his chin. Meanwhile, Gale lifted her leg again, planted her foot against the man's armored belly, and shoved him away. So Havoc's effort had won her some reprieve.

"So you're back," Shrapnel said, recognizing the true identity of his attacker. "This time I'll smash you. Then I'll despoil your bitch." He grabbed under his chin, but Havoc slid down inside his collar, clinging to the flesh under the armor.

The torture master pounded his own chest with his fist, but Havoc was already sliding around to the armpit. He found the most tender flesh and used his mandibles to make a great chomp.

Shrapnel roared. He plunged his hand inside his collar, grabbing for the spider--and this time Havoc lacked leeway to escape. He was caught between finger and thumb. He bit the thumb, but the man did not let go. He Piers Anthony 447

hauled Havoc out, brought his other hand around, and smashed them together. The spider, caught in the crush, was squashed, and several of his legs broken.

Shrapnel dropped him to the floor and returned to Gale. "Now where were we?" he inquired gruffly. "Oh, yes, you were about to scream." He jammed in against her, avoiding her kick.

Havoc lay crumpled on the floor. Two of his eyes still worked, and one was pointed in Gale's direction. He could see her and the torture master, and hear them, but couldn't move. This body was done for in all but perception.

He saw Gale lift one big toe slightly, and realized that she could be trying to

contact the succubus, but he couldn't tell whether that contact was successful,

or what it might portend.

He wondered whether he had delayed things long enough for Symbol to tell the succubus about the supposedly simple counter-ploy. Would it stop the brute from raping Gale, or was it something else, of interest only to a succubus? Whatever it was, it was now their only hope.

It seemed to be insufficient, for Shrapnel was orienting his member and bringing it to bear on her cleft. Gale's face was averted, her jaw set; she seemed resigned to being taken. Havoc knew that meant that she had no intention of being taken--but what possible defense could she have?

Shrapnel's member touched her--and something happened. The man stiffened through the rest of his body, then fell back. "What's this?" he exclaimed.

"It's your friend the incubus," Gale informed him with relish. "He has been delivered to you. Now I think he wants your body."

"But this isn't possible! I'm not an empty body."

"Let me educate you about something," Gale said. "This incubus, like the succubus, ranges out in spirit form to find a body to infuse. He then uses that body to seduce an innocent girl, whom he incites to climax, and he takes her soul. The male body he uses has its own soul, but the incubus suppresses that soul while he is there. Exactly as the succubus does with her human maiden host. Once he accomplishes his purpose, the human host resumes control, so the state is temporary. But in this case the soul of the incubus was

captive of the succubus who took him, and she put her spell on him to confine him to the body she would put him in. You taught her how to do that.

So she disposed herself just outside my cleft, and waited for you to enter her space. Then she delivered the soul in the usual manner, feeding it into the channel leading to its residence. So now the incubus is confined to your body, and will govern it in your stead, for only the succubus can release him from it,

448 Key to Havoc

and she will not."

"He will not have my body," Shrapnel grated, sweating. He was stagger-ing around the chamber like a drunk man.

"Unless you succeed in beating him back," Gale said. "It can be done, for I did it when I was invaded. But I think you are in for some hours of struggle. The incubus may have seemed to be your friend while he had other bodies, but I think he is not your friend now that there is only one body to share. Good luck."

"You bitch! I'll kill you!" He tried to draw his knife.

"If you do, the incubus will use your diversion of attention to secure the control points of your body," Gale said. "He has no love for me, but I doubt he will pass up that opportunity. You will do best to fight for your own body before you tackle mine."

Shrapnel did not reply. He was evidently too busy doing exactly that.

Swale had learned the Red Chroma ploy, and used it, and saved Gale. Symbol was right: it was a simple yet effective device. Havoc's effort of distraction had provided enough time.

Gale lifted her head and addressed him. "Havoc, if you can hear me, try to communicate with the cook. His name is Smoky. He's a decent man, despite everything. Make a deal with him to free me and Berm, and promise to protect and reward him. Do it before the soldiers discover what has happened to their leader." Then she looked surprised, and spoke again. "Swale is with me now. She says Shrapnel told them to wait while he attended to other business, and they all stopped in place and waited. They obey him implicitly; it's part of the spell. So they won't act until he tells them to. But if he beats

back the incubus soon, then he'll get them moving again. We just can't be sure how fast that will be. Do what you can do as fast as you can."

Havoc vacated the spider, returned to his body, and spoke aloud. "Anybody in hearing: we need to befriend Smoky the cook, and get three people out of there. Gale, a captive named Berm, and Smoky. In a hurry. The void bomb is set to detonate soon. Animate anything you can, and address that cook." Then he quested with his mind, searching for anything to animate.

He found a Havoc-golem head in the garbage of the kitchen, where the soldiers had evidently thrown it. One eye still functioned, and it could hear, though the ears had been bitten off. The mouth was battered, with several teeth missing, but could be worked. He spit out a squash rind as well as he could without having any breath.

How could he talk, without breath? But he tried it, and lo, he could. The Brown Chroma made its golems economically, with the various portions sepa-Piers Anthony 449

rately spelled. Thus the legs could walk on their own, if they had anchorage, and the head could see, hear, and speak on its own. That had not been the case with the man-sized golems, but the little ones seemed to have a different design.

"Smoky!" he called. His voice was surely muffled by garbage, but it had to suffice. "Smoky! Smoky!"

The cook evidently had good ears. "Who calls me?"

"A golem's head in the garbage. Listen, for it is important."

The cook came and fished the head out of the can. He set it on the counter and hefted a large cleaver. "Who animates you?" he demanded.

"King Havoc. But I don't expect you to believe that. Hear my offer, then verify what I say. I will get you out of here before I destroy the complex,

and will guarantee you compatible work at City Triumph, if you will free the two prisoners in the torture chambers."

"If I listen to a voice like yours, Shrapnel will have me flayed." But he was evidently interested, because he asked a question. "How could a little golem head destroy this complex?"

"With a void bomb. Look in the supply cart, in the false bottom, and you will see it. Do you know what a void bomb is?"

"I can guess."

"Then you know not to touch it. It is primed, and its time is expiring.

Look, then go to the female torture chamber, where you will see Shrapnel in the throes of identity siege. Free the woman and bring her here."

"I'll do better than that. I'll take you with me. If you are lying, I'll toss you in the meat grinder."

"Excellent."

First Smoky verified the void bomb: it was a black mass labeled BOMB.

"The Black Chroma did not want to part with it," Havoc said. "But they owed me a significant favor, and I am after all the king. That will destroy everything here."

"Maybe," Smoky said noncommittally. "If it's real." He carried the head out of the kitchen and down the hall. The twenty nine soldiers stood there in various awkward poses: however they had been when their master had told them to wait. The cook had to dodge around them, but they did not try to impede his progress. The men were all young and robust; the women varied, but some were pretty. Havoc wondered how Shrapnel had collected their bodies, as that had obviously been a separate effort from the acquisition of souls. What had happened to their souls? He would have to investigate, after he was done here.

450 Key to Havoc

They reached the torture chamber. There was Shrapnel, writhing on the floor. "Master!" Smoky called. "Are you ill?"

"He can't answer you," Havoc said. "The incubus is trying to take over his body, as it is now confined there. The incubus' own body is vacant, as you can see."

"This place is a disaster," Smoky said. "What happened?"

"Our personnel animated the golem women, and they attacked the torture master. He fought back. But then he tried to rape Gale, and the succubus got him."

Smoky was on the verge of persuasion. "Name the succubus."

"Swale, of the Brown Chroma. That's her body in the coffin. It will die soon, from neglect during her absence."

Smoky looked in the coffin, and shuddered. "Damn! She was a nice girl when she came here. I liked her, though I couldn't help her. I wondered what had happened to her, but didn't dare ask."

"I hope to be a nice girl again, Smoky," Gale's mouth said. "My body is wasted beyond repair, but Gale here will let me stay with her, if you free her."

Smoky looked at her. "How do I know you are Swale? I fear Swale is dead."

Gale's face smiled. "Remember when I was first being tortured by example? I was left alone at night, and you came to feed me in the darkness and clean up my refuse. Because the damned Handmaid who was supposed to do it had not, out of spite. You had to do it spoonful by spoonful, as I could not

use my hands, and tilt the cup to my mouth. Your food was always good, and you never teased me with it. You spoke kindly to me, saying that you didn't like what was happening, but you had to obey lest you be tortured similarly. I was so grateful for the sympathy that I offered you my body, and promised not to tell. The first night you declined, and the second, but the third night you accepted, and I gave you what I could, which were my kisses, my breasts, my cleft, and my words of camaraderie. After that we met many times that way, and I think it was as meaningful for you as it was for me, the sex being merely a pretext for companionship. I was a girl of sixteen, and you a middle aged man, but we shared something nice amidst a den of horrors. But after I capitulated and became a succubus we didn't dare, because I was afraid I would take your soul without wanting to. My training made me vicious, but I was never vicious to you, or you to me. We were not lovers so much as associates, both caught in a situation so ugly that we savored that little bit of

decency and pleasure that was our relationship. Now we both have a chance to escape, and the word of King Havoc and Gale is good, and I beg you to Piers Anthony 451

help us accomplish this. Please, Smoky, do it."

Tears were running down Gale's face, and down Smoky's face too. All doubt had been banished. He set down the golem head, turning its eye to face Gale/Swale, then lifted his cleaver and approached her. He wedged its blade under the right manacle and pried it out of the wall. Then he did the same with the left manacle. Gale fell against him, her arms too stiff and weak to function immediately. He caught her and held her carefully upright. She turned her face to him and kissed him passionately.

Then she spoke again. "Now we must rescue my brother."

"I'll do it," Smoky said. He steadied her until she could stand alone, then hurried out of the chamber.

Gale's body walked around the chamber, swinging the arms stiffly, limbering them. Then she bent and picked up the golem head. She lifted it to her face and kissed its mouth. "Thanks for coming, Havoc," Gale said. "I'd make love to you, but you don't have what it takes."

"Not at the moment," he agreed.

She rummaged in her tattered clothes for her knife, and a small box.

"We'll need these to handle the water outside," she said.

They made their way through the passage, around the frozen soldiers, and to the other torture chamber. The young man was standing there, swinging his stiff arms as Gale had, recovering the use of them. Smoky was cleaning him up.

"Berm!" Gale's mouth cried. She ran forward to hug him, still holding the head in one hand and the knife and pillbox in the other.

"Do I know you, lovely lady?" he asked, taken aback.

"I'm your sister, Swale! In another body. Mine is--done for. This is Gale, my host and friend. Shrapnel was torturing her the same as me, the same as you."

"Hello, Gale," Berm said.

"Hello, Berm," Gale said. "Now we're getting out of here."

"This way," Smoky said. He led the way through the labyrinth of passages toward the main entrance, still holding his cleaver. Then he paused.

"We can't go outside--we need a pressure bubble, or magic. Otherwise the water will kill us."

"I have water pills," Gale said.

But as they came to the entrance, a creature changed out of a side passage. "That's the hellhound!" Gale cried. "The rape creature." She brought her knife up.

"This one is mine," Smoky said. He stepped between Gale and the 452 Key to Havoc

charging animal. It didn't even seem to notice him; its eyes were on Gale.

Havoc, watching from the head she carried, wasn't sure what kind of interaction they had had with this creature, but it did look vicious.

The hellhound leaped for Gale--and Smoky swung his cleaver and caught it across the neck. The blade penetrated the throat, slowing the creature in mid-air. Blood spurted, and the hellhound fell to the floor.

"Was that necessary?" Havoc asked. "It's just an animal."

"It's not just an animal," Gale said grimly. "The thing rapes bound women, grotesquely."

They moved on. But the delay had been critical: Shrapnel stood at the entrance door. He had won his internal battle, and was functioning again.

"There they are! Catch them! Chain them. The traitor cook too."

"I should have cleaved his head off when I had the chance," Smoky said.

"We sent you off to rescue Berm," Havoc reminded him.

"There's another way out," Gale cried. "Follow me!" She turned and ran away, evidently guided by the succubus.

The two men followed. But so did the naked soldiers. Two of the fugitives were newly released from manacles, and the third was a middle aged man, so their speed was not great. But the soldiers lost ground, because they were still new to their bodies, and clumsy. Havoc's eye was facing back, and he saw the soldiers, male and female, try to jam into the narrow corridor--all of them at once. They crashed to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs.

But Shrapnel knew where the fugitives were going, and there were many passages. Havoc knew there was more trouble ahead.

"It's the next chamber," Gale gasped.

And there were three female soldiers blocking the way, armed with knives.

"Throw me!" Havoc cried. "Don't slow down."

Gale swung her arm and loosed him like a bowling ball. He rolled and bounced down the passage toward the soldiers. They were clearly taken aback, scrambling out of his way though he was a largely harmless ball. The world seemed to be spinning around as his eye changed position, but the glimpses he caught were enough. He rolled right on through the doorway to the chamber beyond, and fetched up against a bulkhead, his eye facing back.

There were the sounds of combat outside. Two figures fell into the chamber. They were Berm and a woman, struggling for the knife she wielded.

Ordinarily the man would have been stronger, but Berm's arms still were not fully back in play. However, the woman's motions were clumsier, and in a moment the man wrested the knife from her. Then he hesitated.

"Cut her throat!" Havoc yelled. "She's not a person, she's a half mind-Piers Anthony 453

less thing."

Still, the man hesitated. The woman grabbed again for the knife, and the struggle resumed.

Gale stepped in, evidently having dispatched her antagonist. She assessed the situation, strode toward the two, and carefully slit the woman's throat. "Come on," she said, going to the wall behind Havoc.

Then Smoky appeared. There was more blood on his cleaver and a cut on his arm, but he seemed to be in good condition.

"I hear more coming," he said breathlessly. "We had better move out."

"Take a pill," Gale said, passing them out to the men and taking one herself. "They are to adapt us to the deep sea water without drowning." She turned to the portal and rotated its wheel. "Out this way."

Berm and Smoky swallowed their pills. Havoc couldn't see their reactions, but gathered they found the effect strange.

The portal swung open. Gale stepped into a chamber beyond. "Come on; this takes time, and we don't have much left."

Suddenly another woman charged into the larger chamber. This one was disheveled but clothed. It was Handmaid. She swept up Havoc's head and backed off. "I've got your leader!" she cried. "I know about golems.

Now you must meet my terms."

Gale looked out of the small chamber. "Then you know that the anima-tor isn't in the golem, but elsewhere. Keep the head." She pulled the portal closed.

"Tough luck, Handmaid," Havoc said. "You lose."

Handmaid realized she had erred. "Damn it!"

Then Gale opened the portal again. "Let the men grab you and strip you, and you can come with us."

"Why should I do that? I like it here."

"Because the void bomb is about to detonate."

Handmaid pondered only a moment. Then she held out Havoc's head and spread her arms.

"Get her knife first," Gale said.

Berm and Smoky grabbed Handmaid and ripped off her outer clothes.

Sure enough, she had a sheathed knife hidden under one arm. They threw that away and quickly stripped her naked, while Gale drew the portal closed again. But she also held Havoc's head so that he could watch the proceedings.

Handmaid's body was not in Gale's class, but she was reasonably fit.

"Better give her a pill," Havoc said.

Gale smiled. "Almost forgot." She handed Handmaid a pill. Then she 454 Key to Havoc

started turning the wheel on the opposite portal.

After a moment, a vent opened and a jet of cold water shot into the chamber. "We'll drown!" Handmaid protested.

They ignored her. "Why are you taking her along?" Havoc asked.

"She has information."

"I'm not telling you anything," Handmaid said. "All I agreed to was to let the men have their way with me."

"I don't want anything to do with you," Berm said. "You're a sadistic tease."

"Neither do I," Smoky said. "You never gave Swale a break."

Handmaid nodded. "I did figure you'd be beating me up and forcing me into degrading acts, maybe involving Gale. I don't like any of you either. But that's the price of my survival. I'll recover, because none of you really go for

extended sadism."

The water was up to their waists and rising rapidly. "These pills really work?" Berm asked Gale.

"Yes. It's Translucent magic. The water will seem like air, and you'll breathe it. You won't be able to swim. But we'll walk to Village Wetback."

"So what about me?" Handmaid asked. "I'll let you do what you want to do to me, but I want to get it over with."

Havoc pieced together the misunderstanding. "Gale told you to let the men grab you and strip you. She meant to disarm you so you couldn't do any of them harm. She's not into needless brutality."

"I came here to get information on the torture cult," Gale said. "You have it. I'll get it from you."

"That wasn't my deal," Handmaid said. "I yielded my body, not my mind."

She didn't know that Gale could read her mind, and Gale didn't tell her.

She just shrugged as the water level reached their heads. Then she ducked her head under, breathing, setting the example.

In a moment the others did the same. "It does work," Berm said, amazed.

"Suddenly this seems like air."

There was a wavy flicker, two pulses. "That's a weird effect," Berm said.

"I thought the water pill had already taken."

"That's not the water pill," Havoc said. "That's the two minute warning on the void bomb! You have to get out of there; you're still within its implosion range."

The water was near the top, but the door wouldn't open until the chamber was completely filled. Gale clutched the wheel impatiently as the seconds Piers Anthony 455

passed. Then the wheel turned, and the door opened. They piled out into the tunnel beyond, running along it. But Havoc knew that they would never get clear of the bomb's implosion radius in time. "Keep running," he said, hoping he was mistaken.

His real body was beyond mind reading range, but Gale caught on anyway. "We're finished," she muttered as she ran.

Then they came across a young man evidently waiting for them. He was translucent, almost invisible in the water. "Placebo!" Gale cried. "Get us out of here. Now!"

He didn't hesitate. Powerful magic manifested. A shimmering ball formed around them, and hurtled outward from the torture complex, carrying them with it. Then it slowed, hesitated, and started moving back.

"But this isn't supposed to happen," Placebo said, surprised.

"Relax," Havoc's head said. "That's the backwash from the implosion of the void bomb. The water is filling in where the torture complex vanished, and pulling your bubble with it."

Placebo looked at the head. "A talking ball?"

Gale smiled. "Placebo, meet the golem head of King Havoc. Havoc, meet Placebo, my Translucent Chroma guide and temporary lover."

The handsome young almost invisible man looked embarrassed. Evidently he hadn't expected their liaison to be announced. Havoc hadn't expected it either. What had she told the man? Or failed to tell him?

"You said you were on a mission for the king," Placebo said. "You didn't say you knew the king personally."

Gale laughed. "Oh, yes, I know him moderately well. He's my regular lover, when he's not with his new girlfriend."

So she was paying Havoc back for his affair with Bijou. She had always matched him step for step, in her fashion.

"You're the king's--?" the man asked, dumbfounded.

"Yes. So when I return to him, perhaps you can have his girlfriend.

That's fair, isn't it?"

Havoc suspected she was giddy from the narrowness of her escape from the torture complex and the void bomb. But it was true that the magic of the Translucent Chroma man had just saved her from the latter, and that was a service worthy of special reward. Havoc had never intended to put Gale at such risk. "That's fair," he agreed.

The bubble dissolved, and they were standing on the floor of the Sulvan Sea. "I, uh, the village is not far away," Placebo said.

"Thank you for saving my life, Placebo," Gale said. She drew him in 456 Key to Havoc

with her free hand and kissed him.

"You just told me to move you. I didn't know there was a bomb."

"You might have read it in my mind."

"I--I can't read minds. Because--"

"Placebo's magic is a sometime thing," Gale told the others. "I think he may have more of a future with us than with his own Chroma."

"With you?" the man asked. "But our association was to end when your mission was done."

"I think not," Gale said. "Oh, I forgot. Placebo, this is Smoky, the cook, who also helped us escape. And Berm, the brother of a friend. And Handmaid, who is no friend, but we'll return her to her home village unscathed, in due course."

They found a path and walked toward the village. Havoc vacated the golem head and returned to his real body. "There's a party of five headed this way," he said to his mission companions. "We'll take the two nonChroma men with us to Triumph. Maybe also the Translucent Chroma man; Gale likes him. The girl will be taken to her native village and freed after we garner

whatever she knows about the torture cult. Do not let her know we can read minds; she's no friend. But we will treat her courteously."

"Got it," Symbol said.

"They have been through an extremely rough situation. Comfort them."

"Got it," Bijou said.

"See if we can get transport home. We'll consult on the way."

"Got it," Ennui said.

He looked at Symbol. "Your Red Chroma ploy was effective. It saved Gale from rape."

"That should be an interesting story."

Havoc looked at Bijou. "Gale has taken a supplementary lover: the Translucent man. He just saved her life, and she's not yet ready to turn him loose.

There must be more to this, and I will get it from her. His name is Placebo. I want to treat him well, but I want Gale to myself for now. Can you handle him?"

"Yes," Bijou said sadly. "That will divert him from her, and me from you."

"Bijou, read my mind. I'm not jealous of her, and I'm not dumping you.

I may even marry you." He removed his crown for a moment. "You know Gale will always be my first love. Now you can have a second of your own, if you wish. He seems like a nice young man."

"I know," she said. "I've always known I would have to move on. I just Piers Anthony 457

feel some pain at the reality."

Symbol put her arm around her, with a certain calculated sympathy.

"Havoc is Havoc. No one owns him, emotionally. He's like me in that respect."

"Very like you," Bijou agreed.

Throe and Ennui chuckled.

"Is there something I'm missing?" Symbol asked.

"You're another changeling," Throe said. "I think we forgot to tell you."

"Gale reported on the changelings," Symbol said. "But as I recall, she didn't mention me."

"We figured it out," Bijou said. "You definitely fit the pattern. That's why King Deal liked you."

Symbol pondered briefly. "I suppose I am. Does that explain my attraction to Havoc?"

"Everyone is attracted to changelings," Ennui said. "Even other changelings. So Havoc is drawn to you as much as you are drawn to him. And liaisons between changelings must be common."

"But Gale is my first lover, and Bijou is my second," Havoc said. "Gale and I understand each other, and will be together if we can be. Now let's meet that party, and go on from there."

The others shrugged. They would do what he wished, though it was clearly not what they had anticipated.

Soon the party arrived, and the six of them went out to meet them, beyond the village. Havoc and Gale came together first, embracing and kissing. Then they set about introductions. "To simplify things, we will pair off for the moment," Havoc said. "So that each of us need be concerned with only one other, who will clarify confusions. Placebo--"

"Sire," the man said, bowing his head. He was evidently daunted not only by so suddenly encountering the king, but by his discovery that he had just had an affair with the king's mistress.

"This is my girlfriend Bijou. Perhaps yours too."

Bijou smiled at Placebo. She took his hand. "Let's talk." She led him back toward the village. He offered no resistance, seeming stunned.

"Smoky, this is Symbol. She will see about finding you a compatible position at City Triumph or elsewhere, considering your help to me."

Symbol took Smoky's hand. The man seemed almost as awed as Placebo had been. "I'm sure there's something."

"Berm, I know you want to be with your sister. But for the moment that's not feasible. We can perhaps give you a few minutes with her, how-458 Key to Havoc

ever." He looked around. "Ennui?"

Ennui knew what he wanted; to let Swale animate her briefly, so they could talk together directly. "A few minutes," she agreed. "Meanwhile, let me get you some clothing."

"Everything here is translucent," Throe said.

"Havoc has spares," she said, and led him off.

"Now you, Handmaid," Havoc said. "You tried to hold me hostage."

"Yes." The woman made no denial and no apology. She was tough.

"Throe, interview this woman. Ask her what she knows about the torture cult and its motives. Maybe you can get her some opaque clothing, too."

Throe nodded. "This way, miss."

"I won't answer."

But the answers would be in her mind as Throe put the questions. He would read them and remember them. This was in his bailiwick, because the torture cult had been their best lead to the identity of King Deal's killer.

It

had sent Swale after Gale, trying to foil her investigations of the changelings.

Was it also involved with the attempts on his life, and Gale's? This seemed likely, though the mechanism was obscure.

That left Havoc, Gale, and Chief. "I mean to have my lover back," Havoc said, kissing her again.

"Sire, first get the succubus placed elsewhere."

"No, I want Swale with her."

"But she could take your soul!"

Havoc removed his crown. Will she, Gale?

We think not. She doesn't want to. But we're not sure she can stop it. If she does

take it, she will return it, though.

Havoc restored the crown. "I think not. But I must make certain."

"Then have her invest some other woman," Chief said, "and let some other man test the issue."

"This is not a risk I would ask any other to take in my stead. I must do it myself."

"Sire!"

"But if I am mistaken, and I lose my soul, you will be in charge of this party and the kingdom until a new king is installed. Check on me in half an hour."

"Sire," Chief repeated, appalled.

Havoc put his arm around Gale and walked her toward the village. Chief had no choice but to let him.

"But you know, he's right," Gale said. "We aren't sure, and it's foolish to Piers Anthony 459

risk the king unnecessarily."

"I need to know to what extent we can trust Swale."

"We just rescued her brother. This is of overwhelming importance to her. She will be loyal to us, Havoc."

"Her ability to travel widely and observe can be valuable. Her ability to invest women may be similarly useful. And the way she can take out a man, at need--"

"Yes. She took out the incubus. That saved my soul."

"So she can become a considerable asset, if we are sure of her."

"Havoc, she's loyal. But she may have no choice. It may be an involuntary reflex."

"In which case she will take my soul--and return it to me."

"It's still chancy, Havoc. She tells me it is. She has never returned a soul to the same body; it may not work. There's so much we don't know."

"So we'll find out."

"So we'll find out," she agreed, resigned. "Havoc, is it really this verifica-tion you're after, right now?"

"Only in part. Gale, I love you and I've been without you too long. I've got to have you back."

"You know I've had sex with Placebo, and with the incubus, and almost with Shrapnel, all in the last two days."

"You know I'll be having sex again with Bijou, and perhaps others. It isn't sex that defines our relationship."

"It isn't sex," she echoed. "Oh, Havoc, I wanted you throughout."

"I know it. But the Translucent Chroma man--why do you want to keep him?"

"He's decent, and he can't read minds, which means his future in the Translucent Chroma zone is uncertain. We might be able to fix his problem. I would like to do that, before I turn him loose. He did save my life."

Havoc nodded. It was worth exploring. "I admit I like the variety of other women. Bijou is most obliging. But you're the one I love."

"I know it."

Havoc braced himself for what he knew she would not like. He had worked out a strategy in his protected head, and told no one. It was the only way to be sure of keeping a secret. "Which will make this harder."

"Harder?"

"You must invoke the succubus for me. I want to be sure it's her and not you."

"You're going to have sex with her, in my body?"

460 Key to Havoc

"This one time."

Gale grimaced. "If we ever find a tame incubus, I'll do it back to you.

That demon had the magic touch. His member was like a wand of sheer desire."

"If we ever get an tame incubus, I'll take a lesson from him."

They had reached the village. They went to the room reserved for Havoc.

"You know that any villager can look in through the walls," she said. "And read our minds, if we let them."

"That village can take a lesson from us." He closed the translucent door and removed his clothes while she went to the lavatory to clean up after her ordeal. He knew she was tired, and after this he intended to let her sleep as long as she needed. But he had plans that needed to be implemented rapidly, and the succubus was vital to them. He had to know he was safe from her, and that other men were too.

He removed his crown. Perhaps it would protect him from this, and so void the test.

Gale emerged. She did a dance step, making her body come alive in a special way. "How do you like me now?"

"You're the succubus!"

"Gale called me back. I talked with my brother five minutes, and kissed him. I can never thank you enough for saving him, Sire."

"He came to rescue you. He must be a good man."

"He is. I must also thank you for allowing me to remain with Gale, now that my own body is gone. This saved my life."

"I want you to work for me."

"Sire, I will do so. Anything you want."

"Right now I want sex. I want you to seduce me, as you would a man you meant to take. But I want you not to take me."

"I know, Sire. But I had an arduous training to become what I am. I am no longer an innocent sixteen year old girl; I am a deadly female demon. It will take years for the horrors in my memory to ease, if they ever do. I can not be sure I won't do you harm."

"Seduce me, and do me no harm."

"Sire, possession of this marvelous body, and the proximity of an interested man, are making me increasingly eager to perform. But before it carries me away, I must warn you once more that this is dangerous. I am not a nice woman. Test me on some other man first."

"No."

"Then here I come." Her dance became increasingly alive. Her breasts Piers Anthony 461

moved, and her thighs, and her face assumed an expression of pure sexuality that he had never seen on Gale. But it wasn't just that. Every part and aspect of her body and manner were overwhelmingly sexual. He could have been impotent, and she would have made him immediately potent. There was almost an aura, luring him in.

"This is the dance of the succubus," she said.

"I have seen it." But he realized as he watched that he hadn't--not like this. What he had seen was a human imitation; this was the real thing. It was immeasurably more potent. She lacked time to get through the first section of it before he came to her and embraced her.

Then he was in the throes of it, plunging, bouncing, climaxing with such force it seemed that her body would be washed away on the spurt of it. But she was as eager as he, clasping him, kissing him, drawing him in impossibly close as her body made him more than welcome. Gale had always been passionate, and Bijou enthusiastic, but Swale was desperately ardent, meeting him more than halfway. Her limbs clasped him externally while her cleft milked him internally, wanting it all, endlessly.

For an instant he felt as if they were on the frothing surf of a mighty sea in a storm, locked together as the water surged across the beach and carried them along. Then he found himself in her embrace, blissfully ebbing, floating.

"Oh, Havoc," she breathed. "You took me with you! I never had an experience like that. I love you."

"Who are you?" he demanded, needing to make sure.

"I am Swale, the succubus. I did not take your soul. All the others, I did not climax myself; I caused them to jet, and I was off away with their spirits.

But you carried me through it. I couldn't have taken you without taking myself. " She smiled. "There's a notion: sucking myself into my own womb!"

"Does that mean that if I had not set you off, you would have taken me?"

"No. Your passion climaxed just before mine, and I felt no need to steal your soul. When I was sure of that, I let your surge carry me. Gale read your mind, and gave it to me, and I was gone, as I longed to go."

He understood that effect, having experienced it with Bijou. "So you are safe."

"Sire, I am safe. With you. I love you."

That was the second time she had said that. "Did you have much experience with men, before you became a succubus?"

"Some. I paid for my keep on a caravan. But that was mostly to spread 462 Key to Havoc

my legs and let them finish fast. I used ointment to make myself slick, as otherwise I would have been dry. I never loved."

"Then perhaps you mistake the joy of passion for love."

"Perhaps," she agreed. "But I don't think so. With women they are more closely allied than they are with men. Do you wish to be rid of me now?"

"No. But I do wish to be with Gale. You and I will talk again soon, when I clarify what else I want of you. I think you'll find it compatible."

"Just to be close to you, with your knowledge and tolerance, is enough, Sire. For that I sincerely thank you."

Then her presence faded, and Gale's body went limp. But in a moment it revived. "I'm jealous, Havoc," Gale said.

"With reason. She's extremely good at sex."

"By definition. Let me clean up. Then I'll have at you myself."

"What, sex again?"

She got up. "Did you expect otherwise?"

"No."

She laughed, and went to the lavatory, while he lay on the bunk and pondered. Gale was not truly jealous; one of the qualities of changelings seemed to be a lack of such disharmonious emotions. So Gale did not have enmity for Bijou, and Havoc did not resent Placebo; they recognized the need for those relationships. Similarly, Gale knew Havoc had reason to have sex with Swale, and surely had made mental notes on technique. It had been amazingly good with the succubus, and she had not taken his soul. So she was safe. But that was only the beginning.

Gale returned, looking beautiful. "It is true. Others marvel at our tolerance for each other's sexual activity elsewhere. They don't understand our realism about such things. If I can't have sex with you, that's no reason to deny you having it elsewhere. I know you'd rather have it with me. And I know you do not seek to deny me incidental pleasure elsewhere."

"I wish you the best of it," Havoc agreed, and kissed her.

"Swale says our attitude is different from that of others," she said. "But that does not mean we lack caution. I don't want you with Symbol any more than you would want me with a male changeling. Because that could give us serious competition and imperil our relationship."

"Agreed. Symbol already tempts me dangerously."

"And you her, I'm sure." But she spoke of it as she might a high cliff: a danger to be avoided rather than feared.

While their passion slowly built up again, they spoke of memories of Piers Anthony 463

love, and Gale filled him in on the details of her ordeal in the torture complex. Havoc found her mental replay of the hellhound's rape of the golem woman intriguing rather than horrible. She chided him for that, while appreciating his male nature, providing him with full visual detail. He picked up her

mental wonder that he should enjoy seeing such a massive member jammed into so tight a cleft and pumping that voluminous a fluid. Relating to his reaction, she began to see it in a new way, getting hot herself. Then Havoc murmured "Think passion, keep your mind shield high, and hear me. Make sure Swale is hearing too." He put his crown on, protecting his thoughts so that he could focus them without being mentally spied on.

She nodded, indicating her understanding, and continued kissing and stroking him. She knew that their enemy lurked somewhere near, and had ways to watch them, and to lay traps for them. Their only protection was to keep that enemy in doubt about their thoughts and plans.

He kissed her ear. "Can Swale carry information from one person to another?"

She kissed his ear in turn. "Yes."

"Have her visit Ennui again and learn what she and Throe have learned from Handmaid about the force behind the torture cult. Who or what directed it to act against you."

"She's on her way. But I can tell you already that the spy eyes that watched me and summoned a sea storm to kill me were not the doing of the torture master. Shrapnel didn't know of them, so surely Handmaid doesn't either."

"Our enemy uses others against us, without telling them," he whispered.

"Our enemy has special powers. But we haven't made much progress in identifying it."

"Because it knows us better than we know it. I want to confuse and surprise it. That's where Swale comes in, if we can trust her."

"I think we can, Havoc. Her interest is now in preserving my body--

and yours. So we don't need to trust her demon nature, except in that she doesn't want to die. But she does love you, as most women who know you do, and wants to be with you again."

"You can handle that?" He could see how Gale might become uncomfortable if the succubus pre-empted more of her time with him.

"I knew it would be this way when I invited her to stay with me. She is no more a threat to our relationship than Bijou is, because she can't take you from me, by definition. She can only borrow my body when I let her. And she has talents that help, such as seeing in darkness and taking out rapists."

"And seductive dancing," he said appreciatively. "And sex. Her cleft felt 464 Key to Havoc

like a hungry mouth."

"Yes. She is a succubus. Any man who enters her is going to yield his essence. How does she relate to surprising our enemy?"

"She can travel from woman to woman, carrying information, I think undetected by others. That provides a way for us to remain in touch when we are separated beyond mental range."

"So she can," Gale agreed, surprised by the relevance. "So our enemy won't know that we are coordinated."

"We shall need coordination. I have in mind five golem couples, each emulating the two of us, going about our business in widely separated regions of the world. How will our enemy know which are relevant and which are not?"

"But if our enemy can read our minds--"

"Only I will know the relevance--and I wear the crown to protect my thoughts."

She caught on quickly. "So our enemy may know there are five couples, and that they are all golems, and that only one is really us, but still not know

what we are doing. Like a game wherein the pieces are visible but the strategy is hidden."

"That's it. Maybe this time we'll surprise our enemy, and identify it."

"We'd better, Havoc. That enemy is dangerous."

"How well I know it." While they talked, his passion had been building further. His caresses became serious.

"She's back," Gale murmured.

He staved off his ardor. "What's her report?"

"Handmaid knows much about the operation of the torture complex, but nothing about any directives from outside it. Only Shrapnel knew. And she doesn't think he knew anything more than that he owed a favor to an unknown party, who had provided him with the torture complex of his dreams, and sending Swale out was that favor."

He had been afraid of that. "I sent you into that hellhole for nothing."

"No, it was worth eliminating, and we did gain Swale's assistance."

"I am sorry I had to send you blind, but if our enemy had read your mind--"

"I know, Havoc. I knew you wouldn't desert me. Others thought I was naïve, but they didn't know you as I do."

"I do love you. Maybe from the first time we played Tickle & Peek, and you gave me everything."

"Because I loved you already," she agreed. "I didn't know it then, but Piers Anthony 465

now I know it was love. We didn't know we were both changelings."

"But the dragon seeds knew. That we were too close."

Her passion became pain. "Oh, Havoc, I want to have your babies!"

There was their tragedy. "If only whoever is behind the changelings had made us less similar."

"Could it be our enemy?"

There was the great awful mystery of it all: why would some secret power spread changelings across the globe, so attractive to each other they would inevitably fall in love, and so closely related that they dared not breed--and kill anyone who wanted to know more about them? It didn't seem to make sense. Unless the changelings were supposed to take over the world, having no family lives of their own, and answer to that power without knowing it. If that was the case, he was against it--and probably King Deal had been against it too. If this were a phenomenal secret power play, that would not work if others knew of it and opposed it, then this policy did make cruel sense.

"We may owe our lives to the enemy," he said. "But we owe that enemy vengeance, too."

"I hope there's some other explanation," she said.

"Swale, tell Ennui to expedite Handmaid's departure for her own village.

The king's transport is available. I want her out of here before morning.

Similarly I want Smoky on his way to City Triumph before dawn, by other transport. Tell Ennui to tell Symbol."

"Swale's gone," Gale reported. "She's glad to be able to do this for you.

Now we are alone again." Then, evidently tired of the delay, she amplified her efforts and responses, and carried him into their culmination. She had indeed been making notes on the techniques of the succubus, and was putting them into practice. Havoc had no complaint.

After which they slept. Gale, worn out by her session in the torture complex, slept fitfully, until she put a hand on his shoulder. Havoc woke, surprised. "What?"

"Swale here. Gale's asleep, but not well. Sire, you can be thoughtless.

Gale has just come off a horrible experience, and could use your support."

"My support?"

"Her body is strung tight. I can ease her, but she needs more. Put your hands on her."

Havoc did. She was right: Gale was tense, even in her sleep. "Thanks."

He sat up, and gave her a soothing massage, reassuring her body by his strength

and caring. Then her body relaxed and her sleep deepened. She was the finest woman he knew, but she had been pushed to her limit by that experi-466 Key to Havoc

ence. He had indeed been thoughtless.

In the morning Havoc held a conference. "As you may know, we are being watched. What we do seems not to be secret from our enemy, who seeks to kill me or those doing my special bidding. So this meeting may be known. My plan is to move more swiftly and surprisingly than the enemy can readily track, so that by the time it counters, we will be done. There is danger

for all of us, but I think no greater than the danger of failing to act expeditiously. It is also best if no one else knows the exact nature of my strategy.

So

I ask all of you to follow my directives without question, keeping open minds.

We are about to go after several important artifacts simultaneously. You will pair off by male/female couples of your choice, each of which will animate golems in my image and Gale's image. The golems will impersonate us to the best of your abilities. If it becomes apparent that the folk you encounter are not deceived, do not cease; maintain the pretense. I believe it will be possible

for you to carry it off and obtain the artifacts."

He looked around. "Throe, with whom will you couple?"

"With me, if you please," Ennui said.

Havoc, surprised, looked at Chief. "With whom will you couple?"

"With me," Symbol said.

So the social realignment was taking place, with likes joining with likes.

"As you wish. Placebo, with whom will you couple?"

"Me, Sire? I have no--"

"With me," Bijou said, taking his hand. She had evidently come to terms with the need to serve Havoc by seducing another man.

"But I was simply helping the Lady Gale to travel through the Translucent domain," Placebo protested. "I'm not part of this party."

"You are now." She squeezed his hand. "Gale still needs your help. I will emulate her as a golem. You will emulate King Havoc. Now don't argue."

Placebo looked as if he wanted to argue, but Bijou kissed him, and he was silent. She was one of the mind readers, and knew that it was her job to bring him into line. She was doing it. The Translucent Chroma man, inexperienced with lovely women, was readily handled by them.

"Berm, with whom will you couple?" Havoc asked.

The Brown Chroma man was as surprised as Placebo had been. "But all I wanted was to rescue my sister."

Ennui spoke. "You will be with her, but in another place. I have made arrangements to convey you there. I think you will be satisfied."

Berm bowed his head. "If this is the king's will, I will of course cooperate to the best of my ability. But I have no partner, and no idea what I should

Piers Anthony 467

be doing."

Ennui paused, looking blank. Then she spoke again, with a different voice. "Do it, my brother. I'll join you soon. There will be a partner for you,

and I am assured that you will like her. We will clarify what you will be doing."

Berm nodded, recognizing his sister's animation of Ennui. "Then I will await instructions."

"Ennui will see each couple to its conveyance," Havoc said. "You will be informed of your specific missions."

Ennui rose. "This way, Havoc, Gale."

They got up and followed her out. There was a coach made of water, with two figures vaguely visible within it. Ennui and Chief had evidently been busy during his time in the torture complex, setting up schedules and making arrangements with the Translucent Chroma authorities. The truth was that Translucent was happy to have the torture complex gone, but had lacked justification to handle that matter itself. Havoc, as king, had it, and had

done them an incidental favor. Now they were cooperating to get his party on its way out.

"You will ride in back," Ennui said. "And animate your golems to guide the coach. I trust you know where you are going."

"We'll figure it out," Havoc said. "How do we guide this thing?"

"The squid will answer to the golem's signals."

"Squid!" Gale exclaimed.

"I'm sure it's tame," Havoc reassured her. "Anyway, golems surely don't taste very good."

Ennui smiled and closed the door on them. Havoc looked at the Havoc golem seated in front, and bonded with it. In a moment he was looking out through its eyes. It was clothed in the manner of the king. He turned his head to face the Gale golem. She was in a fetching gown. "Are you there?"

"Yes. Havoc, this is weird, impersonating ourselves, full size, when we're right here."

"Yes. I was impressed with the Brown Chroma golems, so arranged to obtain a number for this mission. I wonder how far we can go as golems?"

"First get us moving. We have to make way for the next coach."

Havoc lifted his right hand. "Squid--are you there?"

A long shape with trailing tentacles swam into view ahead of the coach.

It was evidently not phased out, but it looked strong enough to haul the coach. It latched two tentacles onto the front and waited, gently expanding and contracting its mantle. Its four great eyes oriented forward, sideways, and

backward.

468 Key to Havoc

Havoc made a throwing gesture forward. The squid jetted water and shot away, hauling the coach behind. In a moment they were well away from Village Wetback. The coach was not rolling along the ground, but sailing well above it.

Havoc lifted his golem arm and pointed left. The squid veered left, making the turn. Havoc straightened his arm, and the creature stopped turning and continued straight.

"So where are we going?" Gale inquired.

"Let's wait on that; it will take a while. Tell Swale to inform Ennui that Chief goes to the White Chroma."

Gale's golem expression went still, as she returned mentally to her body and communed with the succubus. Then she returned. "Done. Is it to be like this, in bits and pieces?"

"Yes. So that our enemy has no early warning."

"It's already confusing me."

"That's the idea." He leaned toward her and kissed her left ear. There was no tactile sensation. "I want the enemy to believe I'm doing nothing of consequence," he murmured into that ear. "Just relaxing after the horrors of the torture cult."

"I'd certainly like to do that."

"You can. I can't. Swale's messages are vital."

"Got it," she said. "Just tell me what you need."

That was just one of the wonderful things about her. She wasn't demanding further explanation, she was giving him whatever he needed, just as she had in that first game of Tickle & Peek. She knew he would explain when he could. "Now let's get serious," he said at full volume. "I know a female golem can do it, because I almost bedded one. It's the male I'm not sure of."

"We'll find out." She turned to him. They embraced imperfectly, as there was not much room on the coach's driving seat. "Maybe we had better go in back. Will the squid continue?"

"We'll find out." They scrambled over the back of the seat and joined their real selves in the main body of the coach. The two of them were sitting with their eyes closed, as if asleep. The coach continued to move, so evidently the squid would keep on in the same direction until signaled otherwise.

Meanwhile, if the enemy were watching, all it would see was two people with time on their hands, experimenting with new toys.

They lay on the floor at their real feet, embracing. But Havoc had no sensation of touch. His golem hands were guided by his eyes and will, not direct sensation. When he kissed her, he did not feel her lips.

Piers Anthony 469

"I suppose it's an aspect of feeling no pain," she said. "I think I could accommodate you, but I would have no sense of it. Can you even get it up?"

Havoc concentrated. "Yes."

"Well, let's see."

They removed the golems' clothing and attempted to come together naked. They were able to bring the applicable body parts together, and to juxtapose them, but there was no sensation. They might as well have been pushing two wooden mannequins together.

They gave it up. "But what about a golem body with a real one?" Havoc asked.

"I'm game." She faded, and then her real body came alive. "Do me, Havoc."

He tried, but though he got into position, he still had no feeling of it.

"Pretense is all I have."

"Too bad; this is interesting. You feel just like you." She was teasing him.

"Let's try it the other way." He vacated the golem and opened his real eyes. There were the two of them in intimate embrace.

Then the Gale golem animated again. He embraced her, and found her warm and receptive. He penetrated her, and it was much like reality. "Are you there? he asked.

"I can't feel you," she said.

"So is it better for the man than the woman?"

"Not when she's the real one." Her golem hands caught his head and brought it down to hers for a kiss. "Swale's back," she murmured. Then, louder: "I still can't feel your lips or your penis."

"Tell Placebo to go to the Invisible Chroma."

Gale's golem faded for a moment. That made him suddenly aware of her state, because the seeming flesh became hard and unyielding. He pulled his groin back, and was able to, but feared that it was possible to get caught inside stone, with the position wrong. Also, her hands on his head froze in place, and had her grip been tight, he would have been unable to escape. Sex with a true statue was not fun.

Then she softened. "Done," she murmured.

"You just turned halfway to stone around me."

She laughed. "Sorry about that. My mind isn't clever at being external and internal simultaneously."

He disengaged. "Get back into your own body, for now."

She did, and they lay together while the golems were inactive. "Gale," he 470 Key to Havoc

murmured into her ear, "I thought I could manage things this way, but it seems to be too inefficient. Swale takes too much time to go back and forth."

"She travels spiritually, but seems to be limited to ordinary flying speed.

I can ask her to hurry."

"No, I think I need better efficiency. You say that if Swale took my soul, she could return it?"

Her embrace tightened. "Havoc--"

"Could she take me with her, to consult with the others, and bring me back?"

He felt her shiver. She did not like this at all. But she answered. "I think she could."

"Could you fake my presence here?"

"Yes." Her grip on him was almost like that of the vacated golem.

He kissed her ear again. "The enemy would never suspect that."

She yielded. "You will owe me, Havoc."

"I'll always owe you."

Soon the succubus was back. Gale faded, communing with her. Then her body animated again. "Swale here," the succubus said, whispering in his ear as if making love. "Sire, this isn't wise. I think I could do it, but I don't

know my limits. If I lost your soul--"

Havoc wasn't sure either, but he knew that it was dangerous to continue trying to elude an unknown enemy who was out to kill him. If this gamble paid off, he would be able to identify the enemy, and maybe take it out. "If you take me, can I retain consciousness?"

"Yes, if I allow it. If that is what you wish."

"Yes. Take me to Ennui."

"Sire, I can't just take you. Only when your soul become vulnerable at the moment of--"

"Not even if I give it to you?"

"I suppose I could try," she said uncertainly. "No man ever volunteered his soul before. I have no experience."

Havoc relaxed his body. "Do it."

After a moment, she spoke again. "I can't. When I use Gale's body, it's not only because she lets me. It's because I'm resident in it. I can't touch you,

sire, and I can't touch your soul. You have to send it to me. You know how."

He had been afraid of that. The limitations of the succubus normally protected men and boys from folly. In this case, they balked him. But it wasn't insurmountable. "Then I will send my soul to you. Take it when it comes."

Piers Anthony 471

"Havoc, it was bad enough when you tested to be sure I could avoid taking you. This is worse. Gale has become my friend. I don't want to do this to her. She is really upset about this. She would rather have you do almost anything else. If anything goes wrong--"

"Just see that you don't lose my soul!" Havoc clasped Gale's body and addressed it sexually. He penetrated her and continued with sexual thrusts.

"Spirit of the planets!" Swale said. "She says to do it. But this frightens me."

Havoc felt the climax coming. "Gale, I'll be back when I can. Thank you." Then he geysered.

There was a horrible wrenching. He felt as though he was being sucked into a narrow necked bottle. Much of him wouldn't fit, and was being pulled away behind. Then he settled, confined in darkness.

"Where am I?" he tried to ask, but it was only a thought.

"You are in my womb," Swale replied, speaking in thought. "And I am in Gale's womb. Shall I tell her you are in good order?"

"I can't tell her myself?"

"Only if she enters your space, which is much confined at the moment.

She would have to poke her finger into her own womb. However, if I leave her, and expand in the air, she could reach you more readily."

"Do it."

"First she has to get your body off her body. Yours is empty. Ah, now it's off. I will emerge."

There was a sliding/squeezing sensation, as the succubus moved out of the womb and out of the body. Havoc wondered whether this was the way a baby felt as it was being born. Light came, and he saw Gale's giant cleft, then

her thighs and belly as he moved away. Rather, as he expanded. He could see neither himself nor Swale, but had the feeling of increasing volume.

He hovered in space, looking down at Gale's body, with his own inert body tumbled beside it. He looked disreputable in that clumsy position.

"I told her to poke her finger forward."

Gale did. It missed him, but must have found Swale. "I will tell her to move it. When she crosses you, let her know."

The finger moved toward him but missed him. After a moment it reversed, approaching him again, and missed by a smaller margin. "She is intersecting me, and I am correcting her."

"It would be easier if you just moved me to intersect her still finger."

"That I can not do. I can touch her or infuse her when alone, but you are male, and can't touch her. She must touch you."

472 Key to Havoc

"But you were just inside her, with me."

"I was inside her alone. Then I took your spirit. That's a special process.

I could remain where I was, but once I exit her, I can not return as long as I have you in me."

Then the finger crossed him. There was no physical sensation, but there was a feeling. "Gale! I'm here!"

The finger passed on beyond, but immediately reversed course; she had heard him. She returned. "Havoc?"

"I'm here inside Swale. I feel confined in a bottle, but I'm all right. How is my body doing?"

"It's unconscious. That bottle is her invisible womb."

"I'm a baby," he thought, realizing that though he had been born from Gale in a fashion, he still hadn't been born from Swale.

"A big baby. You just sired yourself, I think. In me."

"And in Swale. Gale, I must go to Ennui and others. This may take some time. Do not let the enemy know I'm gone."

"I'll try. First we'll sleep. Then we'll play some more. But if you don't get back in time--where are we going?"

"To the Yellow Chroma, for a holiday."

"Fine," she agreed. "But will the squid be able to haul us there?"

"It will be met at the boundary by a fire coach. Ennui will have arranged it. She doesn't miss a detail."

"Try to return before then, Havoc. I don't think I can move three bodies without giving things away."

"I'll try. I love you, Gale." He had learned to say that. It was true, but originally he hadn't thought to speak it aloud. She had finally gotten through to him about it, just as he had gotten through to her about his need to touch her body in passing even when they weren't planning sex. They were still learning from each other.

"I love you, Havoc."

Then he was sailing into the sky-like water of the Sulvan Sea, leaving Gale below. "This is hard on her," Swale said.

"I think the enemy will be reluctant to believe that I would leave her in such manner, or that I would ever let you take my soul."

"Any normal person would be reluctant to believe that," she agreed.

"I'm pretty cynical, but even I'm surprised. What is this enemy?"

"An unknown entity who I think killed King Deal, tried to kill me, and tried first to stop Gale by sending you, then to kill her on the way to the torture complex. It seems to know where our bodies are, and wants us out of Piers Anthony 473

the way."

"It did try to kill Gale. Placebo saved her. She made him fall in love with her, as you made me fall for you."

"I did not try to make you do that."

"I know, Sire. It's just the way you are. Let it be; I never truly loved before, and I like the feeling, even if I know I can never have your love in return."

"Gale and I are changelings."

"Yes. You are superior people."

"I doubt that. But we do have good bodies and good minds."

"And you make others like you. Whoever crafted you did an excellent job."

"It may be that our enemy crafted us, and means to use us for nefarious purpose. And will kill us to prevent us from verifying, exposing, or interfering with that."

"While hiding behind other agencies, like the Temple or the torture cult,"

she agreed. "Maybe it crafted you too well, so that you are not the unquestioning servants you were supposed to be."

"Maybe so," he said, appreciating the new slant.

"We are here."

He looked out--that was easy to do, since they had no substance blocking their view--and saw Village Wetback. There were two coaches traveling out from it. Swale moved into one, and as they phased into its interior Havoc saw that it contained just one person: Berm. He was being taken to City Triumph to impersonate Havoc there. There were two inert golems.

"Wrong coach," Swale said apologetically. "Have you anything to say to my brother? I can hover near until he moves and accidentally impinges my space."

Havoc was about to demur, then realized that this would be a good chance to practice. "Do it."

She disposed herself close, and waited. In a moment Berm lifted a hand, perhaps to scratch his head, and must have intersected her, for he paused,

looking startled. Then he nodded and moved his hand carefully across until it intersected Havoc's space.

"Here," Havoc said. "This is King Havoc."

"Sire!"

"You are being taken to my residence in City Triumph, where you will use your golem to emulate me. A young woman there named Spanky will assist you.

You will learn to use your golems, which are perfect likenesses of us."

474 Key to Havoc

"I know how to use a golem, Sire. They are from my Chroma. But as for trying to emulate you, even as a golem--I would not presume--"

"Spanky has been emulating Gale, and assisting the man who emulated me, who has now gone elsewhere. She will be able to guide you well. When you are alone with her, you may do with her what pleases you both."

"Sire?"

"You have been under duress for some time. You need time to recover, emotionally as well as physically. Swale will be by to see you on occasion, but

she is busier than I expected. Relax, heal, get comfortable. Learn all you can of the ways of the king. When my mission is finished, you will be able to go home, but we do not know exactly when that will be."

"Yes, Sire." The man seemed somewhat overwhelmed.

"Meanwhile, practice with the golems in this coach. You can animate either one, when you bond, as you know. Make it seem that I'm in the coach with you."

"Yes Sire."

"Swale, take us away."

She did so. "That was nice of you, Sire."

"I wanted to see how well it worked."

"I mean giving him that bath girl. I picked up her image from Ennui's mind. She'll soon make him forget his privations."

"Bath girls can be a great comfort to a man," he agreed. "And until we figure out what to do with you, you will have to be with Gale, and Gale will be

with me at the capitol. So Berm might as well be there too, so you can see him regularly."

"That is nice of you too, Sire."

"Didn't Gale promise to treat you right if you joined her?"

"Yes, but only to the extent of getting me a body to occupy. I doubted that she would do more than the minimum."

"Now you are helping me, and I will see that you don't regret it."

"I already don't regret it. I really am re-learning niceness from you folk, and I like it. I can feel the meanness fading. I thought I would never be human again."

"You were the one who reminded me to be more considerate of Gale, in her distress and fatigue."

"Yes, I'm pleased that I thought of that."

"So even an inhuman woman is more sensitive than an ordinary man."

"Well, you aren't ordinary, Sire."

He let that go, uncertain whether she was teasing him.

Piers Anthony 475

They came to a second moving coach. This one contained Throe and Ennui. Swale went right up to the woman, and spread herself out until Ennui moved her head and her nose entered succubus territory.

"She is amazed. I have visited her several times, but she never thought I would bring you. She will talk to you now."

Swale hovered before Ennui. Ennui poked out a finger, and soon intersected Havoc. "What awful lunacy caused you to pull this dangerous stunt, Havoc? Throe will have a fit."

"It's so nice to have my actions applauded."

"If you survive this, do you have any idea how it will look to that assessment team that's judging your fitness to be king? Submitting your soul to the good graces of a succubus?"

"Enough of the compliments. You and Throe must approach the Translucent Chroma authorities and obtain from them, in the name of the king, a mind reader spell that will identify all minds impinging on a set space/time locus. Bring it to Triumph."

"I don't suppose this is supposed to make any sense to us," she grumped.

"Correct. It may not even be relevant."

"You're sure that being possessed by a succubus hasn't warped your mind?"

"It warped my member, perhaps, but may have had less effect on my mind."

She allowed a smile to show. "You were always a barbarian, Havoc."

"I'm glad it shows. I will check back later."

"Take care of yourself, Havoc. Insane as you may be, you give my life meaning."

"I thought Throe was doing that."

"He's giving my life passion. You were right: he is the one for me."

"I should talk to him too. Put him on."

Ennui withdrew her finger, took Throe's hand, and poked his finger into the same space. "Hello, Sire," he said. "You know I would never have let you do this."

"If the enemy kills me," Havoc replied evenly, "it won't be because I stood still and waited for the end. Conceal the fact of my contact as long as possible. Let the enemy think it's only the succubus, or that you are acting on

your own initiative, or even that you really are me."

"Done."

"I'll be in touch."

Throe withdrew his finger, and Swale floated out of the coach. "Where 476 Key to Havoc

next, Sire?"

"Chief and Symbol. I have to give them their assignment."

She moved on through the water, and soon found another coach, going in its own direction. "I can contact Symbol, but she would fight me. Better to have Chief intercept me."

"Do it. This business of sliding into women's private anatomy is weird.

That's properly a solid man's business."

"It's the penalty of traveling with a succubus. You're in my private anatomy.

But I told you: I can't enter a woman while you are with me." She spread herself out before Chief and waited.

Chief shifted position, and his elbow entered Swale's space. He paused, receiving her message, then carefully poked his finger directly at Havoc.

"Yes,

Sire." If he was surprised by Havoc's invisible presence, he did not show it.

"Ask the White Chroma authorities for a timer."

"A timer, Sire?

"A device whose magic places an event precisely."

"A chronograph."

"That must be the name. Bring it back to Triumph."

Chief nodded. Swale withdrew, and they were floating again. "Next?"

"Placebo and Bijou."

"That will be a chase; I think they're already in the air."

"Already?"

"Ennui arranged for the Invisible Chroma to fetch her, as it is some distance."

"Ennui handles things well."

"Yes, she is unusually competent. How did you find her, Sire?"

"We met by chance and made an oath of friendship."

"She says she owes you everything."

"She is generous."

"If you have had the impact on other lives that you have on mine, she is being accurate."

"A barbarian does what he has to do."

"Which seems to be to wreak havoc on civilization."

"Naturally."

They rose to the surface of the Sulvan Sea and into the air above. Swale oriented and gained speed. It was evident that she could move rapidly when she wasn't finding her way. He wasn't sure of her mechanism of flight or any other motion; apparently it was part of existing in spirit form. But the air coach must have moved rapidly too, because it took time to catch up to it.

Piers Anthony 477

Havoc watched the ground passing below. The home planet was beautiful this way, with its variegated landscape and patchwork colors. Even the clouds above the Chroma were colored, their tints matching those of their Chroma. Havoc had seen colored clouds in the distance, when a child, but they had always changed to neutral gray when they passed over Village Trifle in the nonChroma region. In his recent tenure as king he hadn't had much chance to look at the sky. Now he admired it. The colors of magic were charming, as befitted the planet of Charm.

He looked up. Sure enough, planet Mystery was there, just as colorful.

Yet again he wondered whether there were people living there, gazing back at Charm with surmise.

At last Swale caught up with the invisible coach. Havoc couldn't see it, but did see the figures within. They seemed to be flying through the air, clasping each other for safety.

As they came close, it became apparent that it wasn't for safety that Placebo and Bijou were clasping. "Your girlfriend is making that man forget your fiancée," Swale remarked with satisfaction.

Havoc found himself somewhat out of sorts. But he was the one who had put them together, knowing they would get along. He wanted Bijou to be less oriented on him, because he would keep her only if he couldn't have Gale.

"You had sex with Gale, you had sex with Bijou, you had sex with me, twice," Swale said. "And maybe others, past and future. These two aren't entitled?"

"They're entitled," he said. "I just didn't figure on seeing it personally."

"Maybe we should wait before we contact them. They should be through soon."

"Yes." He could not avoid watching the couple, because Swale hovered close. "You're enjoying this."

"Of course. When I became a succubus I learned to crave sex above all else. I am learning decency now, but sex still has fascination. Every act is a bit

different, a rule unto itself."

"I never thought I would encounter a woman more interested in it than I am," Havoc said ruefully.

"I'm not a woman. When I was a woman, I had the normal indifference to it. It was just something men would pay for."

"It's true you're good at it. I always thought Gale was ideal, but you actually enhanced her."

Swale floated close to the couple, observing. The man was translucent, 478 Key to Havoc

like shaped water, while the woman was flesh toned. Her body could be seen in distorted form through his body. "He's a bit naïve, and so is she. They have finished, and neither realizes it. They don't have a polished sense of completion."

"You can tell this from one observation of their coupled bodies?"

"Yes. If I got into her now, I could in due course make her bring him to a second and infinitely more satisfying climax. Better for her, too."

"Don't do that. I need to give them their mission, and get on home to my own body."

"You're jealous that she's enjoying it with someone else."

Havoc tried to deny it, and could not. He had been with Bijou while wanting Gale; now he had Gale, and missed Bijou. "Yes. I thought I was beyond jealousy, but maybe not."

"Men are such turds."

She was needling him, and he knew it, but she was nevertheless scoring.

"And women aren't?"

"Women are more loyal, in this respect. Bijou would be with you now, if you hadn't told her to make nice to Placebo. She's doing what you told her to do."

So she was. He was still out of sorts. "Men are turds," he agreed. Then he changed the subject. "What is hauling this coach?"

"I'll check." She flew through the invisible coach wall to the front, carrying him along.

She stopped suddenly. Had Havoc been physical, he would have suffered a concussion. "What did you do?"

"I bounced off their steed. It seems to be an air stallion. I didn't see him."

"A bird?"

"Well, he does seem to have wings. I can't tell, because I can't overlap him and can't see him."

"This is good enough. We can guess that he knows where he's going."

They returned to the inside of the coach and waited as the couple disengaged and cleaned up. The man and his clothing looked watery, but was actually completely solid. Then Swale placed herself in Bijou's way and established communication.

"I told her we just arrived. I don't think they wanted to be watched."

She was surely right.

Placebo, acting on instruction, poked out his finger, and soon intersected Havoc. "Ask the invisible Chroma for a spell of invisibility, for the king,"

Piers Anthony 479

Havoc said. "They will assume you are the king, since you will be animating the king golem."

"Yes, Sire. Bijou explained about pretending to be the king. But I don't think I know you well enough to fool anyone."

He had a point. Throe and Chief both knew him as well as any civilized folk did, and Berm was being relegated to the protective safety of the king's apartment, where the staff would assist him. But Placebo had a problem.

"How close are you to the invisible Chroma?"

"I think we'll be there in half an hour. I'm not even sure how to animate the golem competently."

And Bijou had distracted him instead of drilling him on that. It was a mistake Gale would never have made. The man needed fast and competent instruction. "I can show you, but I will have to enter your body. Are you amenable to that?"

Placebo hesitated. "No offense, Sire, but I don't know what that's like.

I'm not inclined toward sex with men."

"It's not sex. The succubus will infuse me into you, and I will share your body, but you will retain control. I will leave when you know enough about me to emulate me."

"In that case, all right, Sire."

"She will put me in your member. You will have to poke her with it."

"That is sex. With an invisible female."

"Not exactly. It's more like incomplete sex. You can't see her or feel her."

"Sex with a ghost."

Havoc checked with Swale. "You can infuse me--and take me back later? Without there having to be more sex?"

"Yes. I retain control of your spirit, because of my special magic, until I return it to your own body. But are you sure you want to do this? If anything happens to Placebo while you are with him, it will happen to you too, and I might not be able to get you back."

"I'll risk it. He has to be able to emulate me."

Placebo hesitated, so Bijou parted his translucent clothing and brought out his translucent member. It was not erect, but this didn't matter. Bijou lifted it slowly. Swale oriented so that the member nudged the region that was her cleft, then abruptly ejected Havoc. He was squeezed out of her invisible womb, down her channel, and into the translucent member. The succubus magic carried him on through the tight channel until he reached the prostate, and there he remained.

Now he was able to spread out. He found the man's nervous system, 480 Key to Havoc

and followed it up to his brain. "Hello. I am here."

"Sire? Am I imagining you?"

"I may seem like no more than a thought to you, but I am King Havoc.

Now I will instruct you on my mannerisms. Remember, I am a barbarian to whom civilized virtues come unnaturally. I see people as individuals rather than as objects. I care about them. But when crossed, I can become violent.

I'm not much for deception unless it is really necessary. Now let me show you the operation of the golem. I don't think I can animate it directly, but I can tell you how."

"That should help, Sire."

"First, you bond with it. That is, you identify with it, projecting your mind into it."

The dragon seed buzzed.

"What was that, Sire?"

"A warning of danger." Because it had buzzed while Havoc was communicating, so no one was lying to him. Unless there was some other wrongness about the situation. Was there a problem with the golem? "We had better check those golems. Tell Bijou."

Placebo did. "There's nothing wrong with the Gale golem," Bijou said.

"I tried it before, and it's just fine."

"Tell her to try activating the Havoc golem."

"A female can animate a male golem?"

"Yes. It's just a fancy puppet, really."

The Gale golem relaxed, and the Havoc golem became active. "This golem seems perfect to me," the golem said, with Bijou's intonations."

"Then it must be something else," Havoc said to Placebo. "We must be alert."

Then the coach rocked, as if its wheels were encountering stones on the road. But there was nothing except air around it. It shook, and bounced.

"What's happening? Bijou asked, alarmed.

Havoc advanced to take over the speech mechanism. "Remember the water bomb? This may be an air bomb."

"Havoc!" she cried as she bounced on the jumping seat. "It's really you!"

"It's really trouble," he said. "My dragon seed buzzed, and I think this is what it knew about."

"I don't see anything."

"An air bomb would be invisible, I think, like the rest of the Invisible Chroma." Havoc got a notion. "Swale--where are you?"

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"Here," she said from Bijou's mouth after a moment.

"Can you fly really fast, when alone?"

"If I concentrate."

"Go to Symbol and ask her if the Invisible Chroma would try to take us out. It may be our enemy, but she's not."

"On my way."

Then Bijou spoke. "She's gone. But Havoc, we can't wait for her. This violence is shaking apart the coach."

So it seemed. Havoc was hanging on to the seat and side of the coach as it jolted crazily around. "I think this in an attack. There's invisible roughness

calculated to snap the coach free of the steed and drop it to the ground, to crash. It will look like an accident."

"Can we stop it?" That was Placebo, speaking from inside.

"Not if it's magic. Bijou--can you read the mind of the steed?"

"Oh, yes. He's a nice alicorn. But he's terrified now; this is none of his doing."

"Can you get your golem to guide him?"

"I can try." In the front of the coach, the Gale figure animated and addressed the invisible creature ahead. But that meant that Bijou was no longer minding her own body; it was falling off the seat.

Havoc handed his way across and caught her with one arm. He spread his legs, wedging them against wall and seat, and clung to a ceiling handhold with his other arm. The rocking of the coach hurled her into him like a rag doll, but he was able to prevent her from flying out again. Meanwhile, his mind was working.

"Placebo, I know you can do powerful magic when you have to."

"Sometimes, Sire. But I'm out of my Chroma."

"Take back your eyes. Look around; can you see any Translucent Chroma territory nearby?"

The head turned, and the eyes gazed around. "Yes, I see one water volcano to the side."

"Bijou!" Havoc called. "Steer the steed toward that water volcano to the side."

"I'll try," the golem called back. "He's pretty spooked."

"Charm him with your girlish adoration."

"But even if we get there, you know I can't do magic," Placebo protested.

"You sure as hell can! You saved us all from the void bomb."

The coach bucked violently. There was a tearing sound. A blast of wind struck him in the face. The coach was coming apart.

482 Key to Havoc

There was a scream. The Gale golem had been thrown out of the coach, and was falling to the ground.

"Bijou!" Havoc cried. "Get back to your body!"

Her body came alive in his grasp. Her eyes opened. "I'll try again."

Then she sagged again.

The Havoc golem animated. It pawed the seeming air, finding its way out of the torn coach. Then it leaped into space.

"Bijou!" Havoc cried.

But the Havoc golem did not fall. It landed on something and remained high. "The steed!" Placebo said. "She's on the steed."

Now the steed changed direction, heading for the water volcano. Unable to make the steed answer to the reins, she had mounted it and was guiding it directly. "You are some girl," Havoc murmured appreciatively.

"She's some girl," Placebo echoed. "I thought no one could replace Gale in my heart. No offense, Sire; I didn't know she was--"

"I know. Gale's her own woman."

"But Bijou could, I think. She's not as smart or strong, but she has determination and courage."

"That she does." They were making progress toward the volcano, though the coach was still rocking violently.

Swirling clouds were forming, boiling up and outward and fragmenting in rapid order. Dust was stirring from the ground below, shaping into an expanding funnel. This was a full fledged storm, only now becoming visible.

Then there was a much worse bump, as if the coach has smashed into a wall. It came apart, and the air rushed in around them. The invisible harness snapped, and suddenly the Havoc golem was tumbling forward and down, while the coach tumbled sideways and down. Havoc felt his hair being tugged, and his clothing. It was worse for the girl's body. He clung desperately to it.

The world seemed to be spinning around them.

Bijou opened her eyes and screamed.

"We're close enough!" Havoc cried. "This is Translucent terrain. Take us, Placebo!"

"Sire, there's no--I can't--"

"Placebo!" Bijou shrieked.

That did it. A bubble of water enclosed them, stopping their fall. The storm-like winds abated. They floated toward the water volcano, which was jetting wisps of vapor and occasional gouts of hot water that puffed into roiling clouds.

"That's more like it," Havoc said.

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Bijou twisted within his grip, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him avidly on the mouth. "You saved me, Placebo," she said. "With your magic."

Havoc gave the man back his mouth. "I really didn't--"

"And you saved me, Havoc, by making him do it," she said, kissing him again.

"That about covers it," Havoc said, taking back the mouth. "Now I know you can't fly us out of this region. Land us, and we'll either walk or see

if the alicorn returns."

The bubble drifted down toward the wet ground. They reorganized their clothing and combed their hair. It had been a rough passage.

"Swale's back," Bijou said. "I felt her slide into me."

"She does that," Havoc said. "I find it a bit eerie."

There was a pause. Then Swale spoke, using Bijou's mouth. "I see you aren't much of a coach driver. You lost your horse."

"What's your report?"

"Symbol says that the Invisible Chroma is completely loyal to the king, and would never countenance any such attack."

"That's what I thought," Havoc said. "But I doubt this was natural. I think my enemy struck again, and tried to make it seem the fault of the Air Chroma. This occurred beyond the Invisible Chroma territory."

"Yes. It is similar in respects to the way it was when Gale was attacked.

That was within Translucent territory, but was not of Translucent making."

"So the enemy is independent of the Chroma. It can generate magic mischief anywhere it chooses."

"So it seems," Swale agreed. "But how did it know you were here, Havoc?

I don't know of anything that can trace a succubus or incubus in free flight, or a soul either."

Havoc nodded. "Either the enemy has much more power than we can fathom, or there's another explanation. I think it saw this coach heading for the Air Chroma, and guessed we were after the spell of invisibility, and knew that could be mischief, so tried to take us out. It didn't know I was here."

"That makes sense," she agreed. "What now?"

"Placebo--is that air steed by any chance within the range of this water volcano?"

"I don't--"

"Don't give me that. Extend your awareness and find out."

After a pause, the man answered. "Yes, it landed at the fringe. It seems uncertain what to do, lacking human guidance."

484 Key to Havoc

"Enclose it in a bubble and bring it here."

"But Sire--"

"Do it," Bijou said, reading the man's mind.

"I'm doing it," Placebo said, seeming surprised.

"Now you still have the mission," Havoc said. "We've lost the golems, so you'll have to go as yourselves, acting for the king. I think they will accept

you, especially since you'll be with the steed."

"But my bubble can't go beyond the boundary of this volcano," Placebo said.

"You'll ride the back of the alicorn. It seems to be competent to fly independent of Chroma, and can probably handle the two of you for the short distance remaining."

"I suppose so, Sire."

"Good enough. Swale, take me home."

"Line up," she said. She lifted Bijou's skirt.

"You know where to put it," Havoc told Placebo, and retreated to the prostate. Darkness surrounded him, but in a moment he felt a pull, and he was sucked into another place. The succubus was recovering him, having never truly let him go.

Then Swale floated into the air, leaving Placebo and Bijou seemingly on the verge of renewed sexual contact. She rose into the air, oriented, and moved rapidly across the terrain.

"How did you get a buzz from your dragon seed?" she inquired as they moved.

"I--" Then he paused. "It's with my physical body! I couldn't have heard it. Yet it gave me the warning I needed."

"Maybe you saw a warning signal, and interpreted it as a buzz."

"Maybe. But Placebo heard it too, and I doubt he has a seed." Havoc pondered. "I think the dragon seed was aware that I was entering danger, so it buzzed, because it knows danger and truth regardless of distance. There must be some tenuous connection between my body and my soul, so I was able to hear that buzz even from that far away."

"There is indeed a connection. That was why I needed my body; when my body died, I would have died, had not Gale decided to give me hers as a home. Now I am tied to her similarly, and that is the thread I am following back now. I can never get lost from my host body, if I am free to go to it."

"That must explain it," Havoc said. "So my body protected me after all."

"You seem to be very good at protecting yourself, and at making things Piers Anthony 485

come out right."

"It's just common sense management."

"Or a changeling talent."

He nodded, mentally. "A person can be strong and fast and smart, and still suffer because of bad breaks. My dragon seed alerts me so that I can avoid or handle some of those."

"I'm sure it's a great help. But I think also that you are the type of person who acquires special things like dragon seeds, or mind reading, or the use of a succubus, or golems or void bombs, and makes them work in ways that others might not imagine."

"It's true. Each of these things seemed like a dire threat, but became uncommonly useful. I have been fortunate."

"You make your fortune, by seeing potentials where others don't. So does Gale. It must be a changeling attribute."

"And the enemy does not want us to know about the changelings." Havoc suffered a nervous thought. "Suppose the enemy sends a changeling after me? I mean, someone who has the same strengths I do?"

"You might meet your match. So you had better complete your mission before that happens."

"I think my mission is to identify the enemy, who may also be the source of the changelings, and nullify it. But now I think this will be no easy course."

"Agreed. Yet I believe in you. I may have been your enemy, or at least an agent of your enemy, but now I love you and will do anything for you."

"You're doing it now."

"My point is that part of your talent may be to convert your enemies. So you may be a more formidable opponent than your enemy realizes."

Havoc pondered. "Or I may be typical, which is why most of the threats are inanimate. You were supposed to divert Gale by taking out Lad Student; had you succeeded, you would not have remained long enough to become an ally."

"I underestimated Gale. Is it possible that the changeling maker does not fully appreciate the strengths of grown changelings? It seems to handle them only as incipient babies, and not touch them otherwise."

"It seems possible," he agreed. "Swale, you are not a changeling, I think, but you seem to have a rare understanding of such matters."

She laughed, unphysically. "I have recently been exposed to superior intellects. Now I draw on Gale's--and yours. I was never that insightful on my own. And that makes me think of another thing. The folk you recruit seem to be varied and ordinary, yet in your presence they become more than 486 Key to Havoc

they were. You bring out their best, and they give you everything, as I am doing now. You have made Ennui become a formidable organizer, when she was once a creature of dullness. You have made Bijou into a princess in mind as well as emulation. Throe has become more than a bodyguard. The lady Aspect has left her grief behind and become your facilitator and defender.

Even those who resist your impact, like Chief and Symbol, nevertheless perform aptly for you. Now it is happening with Placebo and Berm. You animate those around you."

"I'm just trying to do my job, so I can retire soon with honor and go back to Village Trifle with Gale."

"I don't think you'll ever do that."

"I love her!"

"And she loves you, deeply, abidingly, utterly. She trusts you as few other women ever trust a man. But it's not just that she is a changeling, so may be one you can never marry. It's that once you are out of your little village, you

may be no more able to return to it than I can to my original body. You're the king."

"You mean I'm marked?"

"Yes. But also that your horizons have broadened, as mine have, and you will no longer settle for a life of farming and child raising. Neither will

Gale."

Havoc wanted to argue, but there was a disturbing ring of authenticity about her conjecture. Still, he did not want to continue as king. "There must be some other way."

"If there is, you will surely find it."

"If I survive."

"Havoc, you must survive. Those you have touched would be desolate without you, and the kingdom would suffer grievously."

This was too much. "You talk like a love-smitten fan."

"I do. I am. And I am typical. Have a care for those you change."

Havoc had to marvel. This was a succubus, at one time merciless in her mission, now urging him to be gentle. Because he was part of her at the moment, he knew she was not pretending. She did love him, and so did the others. And he and Gale had wrought that change in her, and in the others. "I do care," he said. "About all of you. But I have an enemy who does not."

She made a sigh of pure emotion. "I know it."

Now they came to the coach hauled by the translucent squid. "Look at that!" Swale thought.

He looked. Inside it Havoc seemed to be having sex with Gale. How Piers Anthony 487

was that possible? Then he pieced it out. Gale was animating the Havoc golem, and causing it to go through the actions on her natural body, which did not have to move because it was the passive recipient. So it seemed as if two people were participating. This would have fooled any observer who did not know that one person was absent--and then it would have seemed to be the female who was gone. Gale was doing a really good job of concealing Havoc's mission.

"We will need her help to put you back," Swale reminded him.

"Contact her."

"This may not be easy. She's not moving. The golem doesn't count."

He hadn't anticipated this problem. They would have to wait until Gale finished emulating him. But that might be some time, as she was trying to mask his absence the whole time he was gone. The golem was methodically plumbing her, indefatigable because it could never climax. It was a perfect way to fool a passing observer. But it also meant it could continue indefinitely.

"Wait--we don't have to wait," he said. "The coach is moving. We're floating along with it now, but we don't have to. We can float stationary relative to the ground, and let Gale overlap you."

"So we can," she agreed, surprised. "We could have done that with the others, had we realized." She spread out ahead of Gale, then let herself drift back relative to the coach. Gale's body intersected her.

The Havoc golem abruptly withdrew and flopped on the seat, inert.

Gale reached out to the Havoc body and lifted its member, which intersected Swale. She squeezed, and Havoc was flushed into his own body. In a moment he spread though it, reviving. He felt somewhat the worse for wear; his body evidently didn't like being vacated. But it remained functional.

Then he embraced Gale. "Where were we?" he asked, stroking her as if ready for sex.

"Getting sore," she said, wincing. "I couldn't feel what was happening. I discovered there was some abrasion."

"Then I won't aggravate it." He kissed her. "I'm back. I'll catch you up on what happened."

"Swale's already doing it. You animated Placebo?"

"There was a problem. We handled it."

"An air bomb!" she exclaimed. "The enemy struck again."

"Unsuccessfully, again."

"Havoc, we can't keep dodging these indefinitely."

"Soon we won't have to, I think."

488 Key to Havoc

The squid reached the edge of the sea. They dressed and did partial animations of their golems: just enough to reduce their weight and enable them to be guided by the hands. They got out, bid parting to the squid, and walked up the bank to the shore. As they did so, the magic of the water pills evaporated, and they returned to normal.

The land was bright yellow, with blades of flamelike grass growing. This was the fringe of the Yellow Chroma. There was a coach made of seeming fire, drawn by a fiery stallion. They approached it, and found that hot as it looked, it was comfortable for them. They led their golems in and sat down, four abreast.

The stallion moved forward, and the coach rolled across the yellow terrain. They looked out the windows, and saw that even the clouds in the sky were like rounded flames. They passed under one, and it rained: burning droplets. All the trees had golden foliage, and the trunks were burnt umber.

They crossed a fiery stream, with coruscating currents around its pale yellow rocks.

"If I didn't know this is Yellow Chroma, I might guess," Gale remarked.

"What are we here for?"

"A smoke bomb."

"What is that? Explosive vapor?"

"I picked up the concept from a passing mind. It forms a cloud that unmasks anything concealed by a spell of invisibility, because the smoke can't disappear."

"You suspect invisible mischief?"

"It is possible." He changed the subject. "Gale, when I retire as king, can we go back to Village Trifle?"

"Too late: Swale gave me your dialogue on that. I agree with her: we can't go back. We would no longer fit, mentally or emotionally."

"But where else can we go?"

"I'll have to see what happens to retired kings. There must be some."

"If they weren't retired by death." He changed the subject. "Swale."

"Yes, Sire," the succubus said with Gale's mouth.

"Go to Triumph and invest Spanky. Have her address Berm. Have the two of them practice with their king and queen golems. Between times, you may talk with your brother. Stay there until we return."

"But suppose you need me again, Sire?"

"You have done your part. Now you are off duty. Relax. Return to us only if you encounter something you feel we need to know immediately."

"Done, Sire!" she said gladly, and faded.

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"You're giving her her reward," Gale said. "Free time with her brother."

"She did good work. I think Placebo and Bijou would not have survived had we not been there to help them navigate the air bomb."

"What was it like, riding in the womb of a succubus?" Gale asked mischievously.

"It was an interesting experience. But there was more of me in there than I normally care to put in."

"I never would have believed it. I thought there was no limit to how much of you you like to get into a woman."

He laughed. "I thought so. But henceforth I'll settle for the ordinary.

Are you suggesting that I'm neglecting you?"

"No. But I wish I could throw away the wire."

"We've got to learn more about the changelings! Maybe we can marry."

"I hope so, Havoc." But they both knew this was unlikely. They did not want to risk having magically deformed babies. There were educational plays describing that problem, just as there were about the dangers of wrong sex.

It was one reason for the rule of the fourth child: to ensure that there was always a fair mix of types in every village, no matter how isolated the village

was.

The coach approached a Yellow Chroma village. The houses seemed to be on fire, and even the yellow children flickered brightly.

Just beyond the village was a huge golden arc stretching across to the horizon. Its near end plunged into the ground at an angle. The fiery horse galloped up to this end and onto the arc. Suddenly they were rising, balancing on the top of the arc, sliding along it with increasing velocity.

The landscape became visible below, in all its shades of yellow and orange. This was like flying, except that it was sliding. The arc was a track that

guided them across the Chroma at a speed they could never otherwise achieve.

Then they saw other arcs converging on theirs. The coach descended at their common anchorage not far from the great bright volcano. There was Fireside City. It was surrounded by a palisades of leaping flames, and its buildings were in the form of towering infernos.

"It's certainly impressive," Gale murmured. "Now when we go out, do we do so as ourselves, or as animated golems?"

"Let's try the golems; that's what the others are doing, if they haven't lost their golems."

They made their bodies comfortable, and animated their golems. Then Havoc had a perverse notion. "Let's try each other's golems."

Gale, always game for his challenges, let her golem fade. Then Havoc 490 Key to Havoc

bonded with it, and looked out through the eyes of the Gale representation.

Meanwhile the Havoc golem came alive and looked back at him. "What have you been up to, woman?" it demanded gruffly.

"I'll never tell, Sire," he responded demurely.

They both laughed, but decided to see if they could carry it through. As the coach rolled to a halt, the Havoc golem climbed out, then turned back to offer a steadying hand to the Gale golem, parodying civilized mannerisms they were learning.

A small contingent of Yellow Chroma officials were on hand to greet them; three males and one lovely flaming female. "Sire," a yellow man said, bowing his head. "I am Fireman, regent of Fireside City. To what do we owe the honor of this royal visit?"

Havoc started to answer, but Gale spoke first. "I wish to obtain a smoke bomb."

Fireman was plainly taken aback. "May I inquire for what purpose?"

"No."

There was a pause. Havoc did his best to look demure; he was only supposed to be the king's lover, or perhaps more properly in this setting, the king's flame, there to look pretty. Then the female spoke. "Sire, I am Fiera.

Will you allow us to entertain you while we arrange to deliver the bomb? It will take a few hours."

"By all means," Gale said.

"We have a fine relaxation resort nearby. Your coach will take you there."

They returned to the coach. "Let's switch back," Gale said. "You are beautiful, but this is wearing."

Havoc smiled with her semblance and vacated the golem.

The coach took another track--directly toward the fire volcano. It came to a stop at a high platform right next to the huge bright mountain. The coach walls faded out, so that it seemed they were sitting on nothing, and in nothing. There was the feel of intense magic in the air.

A streak of fire emerged from the great cone, flying high into the sky. It exploded into a hundred bright sparks that spread out in a star-like pattern and drifted down around the outside of the cone. Another streak sailed up, and detonated similarly. Then several more came up simultaneously, their displays overlapping.

"Oh, I like this," Gale said. "It's so pretty."

Havoc had to agree. He had never seen fire magic this close before, and it was impressive. He had not thought of non-illusion magic as a display before, as an entertainment. That was because real magic was rare in the Piers Anthony 491

nonChroma regions, and never wasted. Here at the fire volcano there was so much magic they could afford to waste it.

A score of streaks shot up, exploding simultaneously. The sparks formed a huge face whose sparkling eye winked at them. They laughed. "Augmented by illusion, I suspect," Havoc said.

Gale snuggled up to him. "Havoc," she breathed in his ear. "Is there a point to all this business with the couples and the golems?"

"Yes, and it's time for you to know it. Our enemy seems to know what we're doing, so we had to confuse it, not by concealment of our actions, but by concealing our purpose. I need some special tools and not others. I think our enemy can't try to stop more than one mission at a time, so now it has to guess which is the key mission. I'm gambling that it will stop the wrong ones, and that by the time it figures out the right ones, it will be too late."

"That accounts for the five missions," she agreed. "But they could have been organized without the use of all those golem copies of the two of us."

"I wanted more than one level of deception, to further confuse the enemy."

"It must have. It certainly confused your friends." She paused thoughtfully. "But if the enemy is something special, like the Glamors, that shouldn't

work."

"You believe in the Glamors?"

"No. They're mythology, of course. But the way this enemy has been, it forces me to wonder."

"We can settle that in a hurry," he said. "We can ask the dragon seeds."

She smiled. "Yes. I'll make the statement: the Glamors are the enemy."

Havoc's seed buzzed. "It says no."

"Is that because they exist and aren't the enemy, or because they don't exist?"

Havoc laughed. "Because they don't exist, of course."

"I got no buzz," she said.

"That makes sense."

But she still wasn't satisfied. "If the Glamors exist, wouldn't they, by definition, have more power than the dragon seed? So couldn't they make it give a wrong answer?"

Havoc was about to demur, but paused. "The seed does have its limits.

It's our most accurate guide, but I guess we can't be sure."

"And if the Glamors exist, they wouldn't be fooled by golems, either."

"That reminds me: we need more practice with the golems."

"Oh, no!"

"I want others never to be sure whether the Havoc and Gale they en-492 Key to Havoc

counter are originals or golems. We all have to be good with them."

"All right, Havoc," she agreed wearily. "But I must say I'm tired of having sex with your golem."

"No sex," he agreed. "For now."

"For now?"

"Well who knows where my crude male passions may lead me? Maybe one day golems will develop feeling."

They animated the golems and watched the continuing fire display. It was spectacular.

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