Apoca found herself liking Mnemonica, despite not knowing her.

  “I like her too,” Nimbus said.

  “What are we rescuing her from?” Nolan asked.

  The Gorgon went to the magic mirror on the wall. “You heard the Question, glass-face,” she told it. “Answer.”

  “Necessary background,” the mirror answered. “Centurion Centaur was sent to eradicate a dragon menacing a village. But the dragon turned out to be a human-dragon crossbreed named Pallorjade, who could assume the forms of her ancestry and also had the talent of being able to remedy any abuse. When Centurion arrived she changed to lovely human form, flashed her panties at him, seduced him, and then married him. So he did eliminate her as a threat, but not in the manner anticipated.”

  “Hey, centaurs don’t fall for panties,” Nolan protested. “They prefer fillies of their own species.”

  “Centurion is himself a human-centaur crossbreed,” the mirror retorted. “His human component was susceptible to human blandishments, and in any event Pallorjade considered his interference with her teasing of the villagers to be an abuse, so she remedied it in her fashion. He was up against formidable magic. Actually he was well off, because she turned out to be a good wife.”

  “Point made,” Nolan agreed with a faint odor of disgruntlement. “Go on.”

  “Their son was Cenpal, who was thus a handsome human-dragon-equine crossbreed, with the ability to assume those forms. His parents wanted him to marry an equivalent crossbreed, but there were none readily available, and fewer yet were smart and pretty in any of their forms. So they abducted Mnemonica from the Queendom of Thanx and locked her in a chamber of their isolated castle, pending her agreement to marry Cenpal. There she remains because she can’t escape, despite her ability to change forms, but refuses the nuptial. Thus she needs to be rescued.”

  “I should think so,” Apoca said. “No daughter of mine is going to be forced into a marriage she doesn’t want.”

  “Nor mine,” Nolan agreed. “She deserves the best.”

  They shared another glance, this one tinged with dawning passion. Their future daughter was already drawing them together. They had a mutual interest in signaling for her.

  “Cenpal agrees with you,” the mirror said. “He wants to choose his own wife, not have her selected by his parents, however meritorious she might be. But he, too, is captive to their will, in significant part by the excellent estate he will inherit if things remain sanguine, and if Mnemonica should change her mind and flash her panties at him, he will be lost, as his father was.”

  Apoca nodded. Men seldom realized the power over them that women had when they chose to exert it. Cenpal was lost the moment Mnemonica decided. If she decided. That had to be her own decision.

  “As it should be,” Nimbus said.

  “We need to rescue her soon,” Nolan said.

  “Prince Dolph will take you there,” the Gorgon said.

  “Oh?” Apoca said. “I thought the parade of early characters was over.”

  “It is, except for this one last task.” The Gorgon raised one hand and snapped her fingers.

  In roughly two and a third moments a wraith phased through a wall and shifted into human form. His shape-changes were more versatile than she had realized. “Hello again, folks,” Dolph said. “What can I do for you this time?”

  “You can deliver these folk to Centurion Castle,” the Gorgon said. “They are ready to rescue their daughter, Mnemonica, from dire distress.”

  Apoca was not at all sure they were ready but knew they would have to do it somehow. Their daughter!

  They walked to the central courtyard, where there was room for a roc bird. There was a basket just big enough for a man, a woman, and two bugs if they squeezed together compactly. They climbed in, not much bothered by the squeeze. Apoca didn’t mind if her buxom parts were pressing against Nolan. They were after all part of the process.

  Dolph changed. This close he looked even larger than he had when dealing with the ogre. He set his huge talons carefully through the upper webbing of the basket, spread his wings, and sprang into the air.

  “Oh!” Apoca exclaimed as the basket lurched violently upward. It felt more precarious than Gina Giant’s glass had. Could a bad pitch hurl them right out of it? “Would you mind—”

  “Gladly,” Nolan said, throwing his arms around her as he anchored himself in place with his spread knees. She knew he was not just being gallant. He really did want to be holding her like this, and she really wanted to be held. Why be coy? They were falling in love in concert. Maybe knowing that their marriage was inevitable helped. They were not going to abolish Mnemonica.

  Their faces were now close together. Nolan looked at her with increasing intensity.

  Ask her, you idiot! Aurora’s thought came. Apoca realized that she picked up on it because of her close physical contact with Nolan.

  “Would you—” he started.

  “Gladly,” she replied, and plastered a kiss on him. It wasn’t as universal as the one with Chaos had been, but it had one thing that one had not: burgeoning love.

  Then the big bird was descending. Had it made the journey in less than half a moment, or had their kiss been timeless? Did it matter?

  “To be continued,” Apoca told Nolan as she drew her face from his.

  “You didn’t use your power.”

  “Are you sure?”

  He laughed. “Not quite.” He knew she would not use it on him, preferring to win him naturally. He also knew that it hardly made a difference, since he had been primed for love anyway.

  They were approaching a castle perched on the pinnacle of a tall mountain. “Surely she could escape that,” Apoca said. “Isn’t the flying fish one of your forms?” Because any form he could assume, his daughter would be able to emulate.

  “It is. There must be a reason.”

  She peered closely. “The windows appear to be barred, with mesh between. But it could be poked out so a serpent could slither out.”

  “Yet the mesh remains intact.”

  Then they heard a buzzing. It seemed to emanate from the castle. It got louder as they got closer. This was curious.

  A biting fly landed on the rim of the basket. It glared at them, showing relatively big teeth. Then it launched at Apoca, jaws gaping.

  She was ready for it, or rather Nimbus was. The nickelpede gaped her own mouth and took it in as it tried to land on Apoca’s shoulder. Apoca had not been bugged by bugs since teaming with Nimbus.

  But now the background hum increased. Half a squintillion flies were orienting on them. Nimbus would not be able to protect them from such a swarm. They would get eaten alive.

  The roc veered outward, escaping them. But now it was clear why Mnemonica didn’t try to poke out the mesh and fly away from the castle. No living form would stop the bugs.

  The roc glided down to a ledge safely away from the castle. It set the basket down, then reverted to man form. “There are vermin that need cleaning out,” Dolph said. “I will do it as you handle the rescue.”

  “Uh, thank you,” Nolan said.

  “I will not return here. It will take time to drown the flies.”

  “Drown the flies?” Apoca asked.

  But he was already in motion. He jumped off the ledge and changed in midair to a weird, winged creature, like an ugly butterfly as big as small house. The wings were paper thin and glistened with brown goo, which slowly dripped as the thing flew clumsily toward the castle. There was a faint sweetish smell, as if it were edible.

  “What is it?” Nolan asked.

  “I have no idea.”

  They watched the thing lurch on into the swarm. The flies dived in for their feast, landing all over the wings. The first ones stayed there, while more piled in.

  “That’s odd,” Nolan said.

  “The creature?”

  “That too. I mean the flies don’t seem to be departing, just coming in. It’s as if they are stuck there.”

  “Fly paper!” Apoca exclaimed. “It attracts flies but is so sticky they can’t take off again. They stay there until they die.”

  “Or are drowned,” he said, catching on. “When he has a full load, he’ll fly to a lake and plunge in.”

  “Meanwhile we need to get inside, unobserved, so we can advise Mnemonica the bugs are gone.”

  “There must be access via the mountain,” he said. “Caves, tunnels, and the like.”

  Apoca spied a hole in the ledge they were on. “Indeed.”

  They walked into the hole, which obligingly widened into a tunnel with faintly glowing fungus on the wall so that they could see their way.

  “This can’t be here for us to use,” Nolan said.

  “It is for the rats,” Nimbus said. “So they can forage outside. We nickelpedes are familiar with such devices.”

  “Also to lure unwary creatures in so they can be swarmed and consumed,” Apoca said. “We fire ants have used them.”

  Apoca paused. “Which would be why this passage is human-sized instead of rat-sized. We may be regarded as prey.”

  “As with the biting flies,” Nolan said. “A pack of vicious rats. Too many for us to handle before we get eaten.”

  “Which explains why Mnemonica doesn’t sneak out this way,” Apoca agreed. She glanced at Nolan. “Would you be able to catch a rat without killing it?”

  “In my serpent form? Yes. But why?”

  “If you catch the king rat, I will kiss him.”

  He nodded. “I will be jealous.”

  “Not of this kiss.”

  He laughed. “I will soon be immune to that kiss.”

  She smiled. Natural love did nullify the love-slave kiss. He was telling her that he was getting there. Well, so was she.

  “Maybe it is time to stop flirting and get on with the mission,” Nimbus said.

  “Or we’ll start dream-kissing him,” Aurora said, flashing her nude human persona.

  “Together. You take his upper half,” Nimbus said, flashing her own bare dream form. “I’ll take his lower half.”

  Apoca stepped briskly forward. They were teasing, but she preferred not to risk it.

  Soon, plus a moment or two, they were in a spacious cavern. Rats appeared all around its edges, cutting off their retreat. The trap had sprung.

  Nolan became the serpent, big enough to gulp down a rat or three with a single strike. But there were hundreds of rats, and they looked to be ready to take a few losses for the sake of their feast.

  The snake formed into a hoop and rolled rapidly toward the king rat. Apoca admired the way he could assume any form of serpent; this was a hoop snake. The other rats were unable to swarm him while he was in motion. He reached the king, unwound, and caught the rat in his jaws. Then he hooped again and rolled back to Apoca. He unwound and held the king up, unhurt, for her. The rat looked distinctly nervous, but realized it was not being eaten, so maintained its regal bearing. Apoca knew how it was; she had to do much the same herself on occasion.

  Apoca leaned forward and kissed the king on the snout. She felt it take; he was now her love slave. “Direct your troops to form an honor guard for us,” she told the king, knowing that Nimbus and Aurora would project her thoughts to the rodent’s mind. “And lead us to the castle dungeon in our-sized passages, unobserved by any guards.”

  Nolan set the king down. The rat promptly ran off to rejoin his fellows, squeaking authoritatively. They formed into a troop that marched on down the largest tunnel exit, leaving the way behind them clear.

  “We work well together,” Nolan remarked as they followed.

  “We do.”

  Then they were in the dungeon. “Thank you,” Apoca told the king. “Wait for our return, so you can escort us back out.”

  The king nodded royally, amenable to her slightest whim. The rats would wait.

  They made their way up the stone steps of the dungeon. At the top was a brief landing and a locked door. “Barred from the outside, of course,” Nolan said. “But there’s a small window for the passage of food.”

  “SOP,” she agreed.

  He changed to serpent form, lifted his head, and slithered through the barred window. Then he changed back, heaved up the bar, and opened the door. “Madame may pass,” he said with mock gallantry.

  She walked through. “And here is your reward.” She kissed him without the magic power.

  “He’s mostly gone anyway,” Nimbus said.

  “We heard that,” Aurora said. “But it’s true.”

  A guard appeared, evidently having heard the door opening. “Hey! What’s happening here?!” He actually managed to convey both units of punctuation. Then he recognized her type. “You’re another Lips!”

  Apoca stepped in toward him and kissed him, this time with the power. “Be silent,” she commanded the man. “Lead us to Prince Cenpal.”

  Nolan glanced at her questioningly. “I want to know what kind of man is being thrown at our daughter,” she explained.

  He nodded, amenable to that.

  The guard led them up a winding stairway to a comfortable suite. There was the prince, handsome in man form. “Greetings, parents,” he said. “I am glad to meet you. We have a discussion to negotiate.”

  “You know of us?” Apoca asked, surprised.

  “I am a multiple crossbreed. I recognize the type. I saw you coming, in a manner, when the flies got taken out and the rats stopped scuttling. I knew something was up. You have to be here to rescue your daughter.”

  “And you did not sound the alarm?”

  “Why should I? We have a common cause.”

  Apoca was taken aback. “We do?”

  “Come in. Make yourselves comfortable. Yes, I don’t want to marry Mnemonica any more than she wants to marry me. I want to make my own choice, as does she.”

  Now, that’s interesting, Nolan said silently.

  “So the two of you have more in common than being multi-crossbreeds,” Apoca said.

  He smiled ruefully. “We do. My parents chose well. But we can’t agree to a forced marriage.”

  “How well do you know her?”

  “We share meals. This because it is the only way for us to eat; the food is secured. I could depart the castle and forage elsewhere, but Mnemonica can’t, and I don’t want to go openly against my parents’ wishes. They want us to associate regularly, in the hope that we will be attracted to each other.”

  “And are you?” Apoca asked alertly.

  He hesitated. “She is a fine young woman, smart, pretty, and talented. Any man, crossbreed or not, should be glad to marry her. But she is indomitable in her resistance to being forced, and I have to respect that.”

  Apoca found herself liking this candid young man. He really was a good match. “Was he fooling her?” Nolan asked via the bugs, suspecting that there was more interest here than was being expressed.

  “Maybe,” she answered the same way. Then, to Cenpal: “You did not answer my question.”

  He shook his head. “You remind me of her, by no coincidence. You even seem to be close to her age, surprisingly. I do know better than to kiss her.”

  Because they were in timeless Limbo, their ages not changing with the settings. In effect they were time travelers. “I am perhaps older than I look. You still have not answered.”

  “I already told you I don’t want a forced marriage.”

  Apoca was losing her patience. “Do I have to kiss you to make you answer?”

  He laughed. “Then I would be your love slave, not hers.”

  She reached out and put her hand on his. “You called my bluff. I will not steal my daughter’s prospect. You have nerve.”

  “It comes with my centaur ancestry.”

  “He loves her,” Nimbus reported. The physical contact had enabled her to read the man’s mind, as Apoca had intended. “They have not kissed.”

  So it was natural. That was best. The attraction was surely mutual. As was their resistance to being forced. They were two of a kind in mind as well as ancestry, different as that was. Apoca had not yet met her daughter but admired her steadfast attitude. Too bad the two had been brought together the wrong way.

  She squeezed the man’s hand. “Tell her.”

  Cenpal realized she knew. “She would just think I was doing what her captors wanted. That would really turn her off.”

  “It would,” Nolan agreed.

  “Tell her after we rescue her. Then it won’t be forced.”

  Cenpal was surprised. “You approve?”

  Apoca nodded. “It is a good match. We want what’s best for her.”

  “Come to our residence in Thanx,” Nolan said. “Or intercept us anywhere else. We will talk to her.”

  “I will do that.”

  Apoca let his hand go and stood to depart. “We are glad we talked.”

  “So am I,” Cenpal said, clearly gratified.

  “Mnemonica’s suite,” Apoca told the guard. He led them on to a high tower. It was clear there was only the one access, and it was locked. She was indeed a prisoner.

  An elegant woman appeared, clearly no servant. Apoca almost collided with her but managed to stop with only the brushing of shoulders. “The dragon lady,” Nimbus said.

  “Madame,” the guard said, clearly surprised.

  “Step aside and pause,” she told him. Then she faced Apoca. “You have to be her mother.”

  There was no question whom she meant. “I am.”

  “I am Pallorjade, his mother. I do want what’s best for him, and Mnemonica is exactly what he needs, and I would like to have her in the family, but I see now that abducting your daughter was an abuse. My talent is to remedy any abuse. Therefore I will exercise my power to remedy this one. Do your thing; I will not interfere. It will work out.” She walked away.