“I wonder what’s on that other fork?” Nerine asked.

  Nydia was curious too, but saw no safe way to find out. “Nothing we want to mess with.” All the same, she wished she knew. As a nymph, she had not been curious, but of course there had been nothing to be curious about. Fauns, nymphs, and the One Thing were the extent of it. Here in outer Xanth, everything was odd, quite apart from the danger of some of it.

  In due course, just clear of an undue course, the trail rejoined the enchanted path. It looked very nice; the ogres had done good work. It seemed that ogres, like trolls, varied, with some being almost decent, hard to imagine as that was.

  The day was tiring, having seen enough action to hold it. Shadows were taking advantage of that weakness to grow longer. The sun, taking notice, descended toward the safety of the horizon.

  And there was a nice-looking campsite, complete with pie plants, milkweed bottles, a clear pond, and a neat cottage cheese. Their ideal place to stay the night. The enchanted paths really took care of their travelers.

  They went to the cottage, opened the door, and peered inside. It did not smell cheesy at all.

  “This is what I saw in the future,” Noletta said, satisfied.

  On a shelf were bottles labeled Moonshine, Sunshine, and Earthshine, made from distilled spirits. “I don’t think we want this,” Nydia decided. “They may be fine for experienced folk, but we’re still new to Outside Xanth. No offense to Metria, but I don’t quite trust spirits, even distilled ones.”

  The others accepted her judgment.

  Nerine found an old mirror in a corner, its glass cracked. “Oh, you poor thing!” she exclaimed.

  They settled in, harvesting pies and milk, and washing in the pond.

  Then another person appeared, walking along the path. It was a girl, maybe an early teenager, kicking pebbles ahead of her. She had hair-colored hair, eye-colored eyes, and a face-like face, essentially anonymous. She spied the campsite and veered off the path toward it. This made sense, as this was a camping spot and the day was ending.

  If they were going to have company for the night, they needed to get to know each other. “Hello!” Nydia called.

  Evidently startled, the girl paused, gazing at her. She did not speak. Maybe she was shy.

  “Are you joining us for the night?” Nydia called.

  “I guess.”

  She was evidently not much for dialog. “I am Nydia. Who are you?”

  “Ara. It means Most Able Maiden.” She recited it as if it were a spot memorization.

  Still not much. Nydia had an idea. “Woe,” she said to the crib floating nearby.

  The child woke. “Oh, that’s an Autism.” She returned to sleep.

  Nydia spot-researched the word in the template. It referred to a type of person who was not much for communication, had a rigid personality, and was emotionally detached. That explained things somewhat. She would have to initiate most of the conversation.

  “Ara, where are you going?”

  “To the Queendom of Thanx.” So she could respond satisfactorily to direct questions.

  “That’s interesting. Do you have business there?”

  “No.”

  “Family?”

  “No.”

  “Friends?”

  “No.”

  Nydia couldn’t think of what else to ask. Then she got a different idea. It was far-fetched, even wild, but just maybe it would work. “Nerine!” she called. “May I borrow your extra sock?”

  “Sure.” Nerine tossed her the sock. It landed obligingly right in her hand.

  “Ara, I have something that just possibly maybe might help you get along with us. May I explain?”

  The girl just looked at her, maybe not understanding, maybe not much interested.

  Nydia held out the sock. “This is a magic sock. I am thinking that if you put it on your head as a cap it might help you, well, talk.”

  The girl continued to look at her.

  Nydia was learning how to take the initiative. “Let me try it on you.”

  “Okay.”

  Nydia approached Ara and fitted the sock carefully on her head, like a cap with a topknot. It fit nicely, as the other socks did on their feet. “How does that feel?”

  The girl’s face lighted. “That feels wonderful! Suddenly I can speak freely. I have so much to say!”

  “Say it.”

  “I am here because my family in effect threw me out of the house, tired of my stupidity. I am not stupid, I merely had little to say to them. They engage in what they call small talk, which I have no use for, so I ignore it. I am not yet equipped to live alone, so I decided to go to the Queendom of Thanx where they welcome girls of any type, even ant and nickelpede girls. This campsite is merely a stop along the way; I do not mean to intrude on your party. I did not know you were here until you called. I was busy counting my steps.”

  Counting her steps. That, too, seemed to be part of the syndrome.

  “We are going to Thanx too,” Nydia said. “You are welcome to join us. We expect to arrive there tomorrow.”

  “Thank you! I am so grateful.” She paused, surprised. “I could never say that before. It is awful being emotionally isolated.”

  “It surely is,” Nydia agreed, gratified that her idea was working so well. She was still learning how to relate to real people.

  The girl touched the sock. “If I may ask, what is this headpiece you have lent me? It is doing marvels for my comprehension, let alone my sociability.”

  “It is a sock once worn by the Good Magician Humfrey. His magic suffuses it. It protects against damage by the elements.”

  “Like Earth, Air, Fire and Water? These are not oppressing me. I get along with them better than I do with people. They don’t pester me with pointless dialog.” She paused again. “Though now I appreciate that this is the way other folk relate to each other. They need diversionary distractions. I am not like that. I am of a different and probably superior stock. But I don’t see how the elements relate to my sociability.”

  It was becoming wonderfully clear. “There is a Fifth Element, the Void. You suffer from a void in personal communications. This leaves you emotionally detached from other people. The sock is protecting you from that.”

  “The fifth Element,” Ara breathed. “I knew of it, but thought it was nothing, literally. How wrong I was! It is transforming me! I will be really sorry when I have to give it back.”

  Nydia glanced at Nerine. “Keep it,” the sea nymph said. “I have two socks; I don’t need three.”

  “I am so grateful! I want to be your friend.”

  Nerine was plainly taken aback. “But I’m a nymph! Good for only one thing.”

  “I am too young to know what that one thing is. But does it exclude friendship? I truly understand what it is like to be limited by the opinion of others.”

  Nerine was suffering her own expanded appreciation. “Yes, I’ll be your friend.” She approached and hugged Ara.

  The evening and night passed amicably enough. There were comfortable old cots for all, as was to be expected in a cot-age cheese. In the morning, they found a patch of breakfast cereals, breakfasted, washed, dressed, and returned to the enchanted path, now a party of four and a half, Woe Betide being the half. Nerine’s tangle was back in her hair, but Ara clearly didn’t care. The two walked side by side, chatting, handling small talk.

  As the sun climbed to the very top of the sky so as to be there by noon—it being a punctual entity—they came to a sign. queendom of thanx. men welcome as long as they know their place. They laughed together. Evidently there would be no faun and nymph chases here, unless the nymphs chased the fauns. But Nydia wondered what kind of men would submit to rule by women. Would they be femaleish men? She had no personal experience with authentic men, but doubted she would want one herself who only looked male while lacking the spirit. Not that any real man would want a nymph for anything but the One Thing she was good for.

  There was a girl of fourteen walking out to intercept them. She had evidently expected them. She had brown hair and brown eyes. “Hello, Nymphs!” she called. “I’m Vinia. The Good Magician called me via our magic mirror and told me to join your Quest. So today I’ll show you around the Queendom and tomorrow we’ll head out.” She glanced at Ara. “We have a nice room for you with a roommate who likes the artistic type.”

  Ara frowned. “I’m not artistic. I’m autistic.”

  “Oops. We can get you a different girl. What kind would you like?”

  Ara paused, evidently guided by the sock. “It’s all right. I’m sure I can get along with her. Maybe I’ll try being artistic too.”

  Vinia smiled. “Artists are great folk. You will like it here.” She glanced at the floating crib. “And hello Woe Betide! We like you better than we do Metria.”

  “Gee,” the child said, abashed.

  “Is that all?” Noletta asked archly.

  “No, of course not. Nydia, I brought another Companion for you. Meet Anthem Ant.” She held up a hand. There was a red ant on it.

  “That’s a fire ant!” Ara exclaimed. “They burn folk!”

  “Anthem is one of the few telepathic ones,” Vinia explained. “We have a colony here and get along fine. The Good Magician said you’ll need her. She’s nice; you’ll like her.” She poked her hand toward Nydia. “Take her. The moment she touches you, you’ll feel her mind. Ants don’t have big minds, but the telepathic ones can draw on the brains of their companions to make them fully smart.”

  Nydia decided to gamble, as what Vinia said seemed authentic. She extended a hand. Vinia took it in hers, and the ant walked across.

  Suddenly there was a whole new person in her mind. “Hello, Nydia,” the ant said, not audibly but in meaning, with a musical quality.

  Amazingly, Nydia already liked the ant. She was indeed a nice person; there was no doubting it, because Nydia was sharing her mind. Deceit between them was impossible. Yes, she was an ant, a dangerous one, but it seemed that ants, like trolls and ogres, differed. “Hello, Anthem.”

  “We’ll get along,” the ant said.

  Indeed they did. They were lost in dialog as Vinia guided the group to their suite in the Queendom and the party got settled in for the day and night. Anthem could read the minds of any folk Nydia touched physically to make the connection. She was also musical. She shared her memories of the ethereal music of the spheres, which was transcendent.

  Then Nydia remembered something. “There was some dreadful danger we managed to avoid on our way here. Had we taken a wrong turn on the path, it would have wiped us out. Do you have any idea what it could have been?”

  “Oh, yes! Reading your mind, I see exactly the place. There’s a rogue dragon in that area, preying on travelers who aren’t protected by the usual path enchantment. Queen Demesne is organizing a posse to take it out.”

  The template lacked that name, which must therefore be recent. But as soon as Nydia realized that, the ant’s mind provided it. Queen Demesne, called Mesne for short, pronounced Meen, was a demoness with a good nature and a talent for organization. She was making Thanx a worthy Queendom, able to compete with the surrounding kingdoms.

  Nydia’s attention wandered. She lost track of incidental events. Then they were at a dance. There must have been things happening because now the nymphs were clean from their traveling and garbed in appealing dresses, with flowers in their hair. Even Nerine had her hair done so that her tangle looked intriguing. Nydia had to break off her rapport with the ant in order to pick up on the details of the event. It seemed Thanx had regular occasions like this for the benefit of its citizens. There were men there in plenty, and Anthem assured her that their interest in girls was the same as that of the fauns, but they were far more polite about it. There was no chasing, no grabbing and wrestling for position, and they kept their clothes on.

  A courtly man with plaid hair approached. “Will you dance with me, fair maiden?”

  “But I have no idea how to dance,” Nydia protested, though flattered by being taken for a genuine maiden. “I’m from the Faun & Nymph Retreat. I’m a nymph.”

  He smiled. “And I am from the Naga Kingdom. I’m a naga.”

  “In fact he’s the Naga Prince,” Anthem said. “Nolan, Queen Apoca’s consort. A former Protagonist.”

  “He’s a prince?!” Nydia exclaimed aloud. “I can’t dance with a prince! Even if I could dance. I’m nobody.”

  “Be at ease,” Nolan said. “I must admit to an ulterior motive.”

  “We don’t do that away from the Retreat.”

  He laughed. “You are shapely enough to arouse that thought. But my motive is for my companion Aurora to confer with your companion Anthem while we are touching. They can do so in privacy while we dance.”

  “But I can’t dance!”

  “Yes you can,” Anthem said. “I will guide you.”

  The music started, and suddenly she knew exactly how to do it. The ant was lending her her own ability, which she must have learned from associating with the humans when training in for this mission. She stepped confidently into the Prince’s embrace.

  And with that contact, she became aware of the presence of his companion Aurora. She was another fire ant, and another nice girl, quite pretty in her species. She also had a crush on Nolan, which might have been considered odd because ants and humans did not interact that way. But mind to mind, it worked. His wife Apoca did not disapprove; she understood this sort of thing.

  Meanwhile, Nydia was dancing flawlessly with Nolan, every step matching his step perfectly. It could hardly be otherwise because the two ants were coordinating the two humans telepathically. They were indeed like one person.

  “Hello, Nydia,” Aurora said in her mind.

  “Uh, hello, Aurora,” Nydia said the same way. “This is all so new to me! I never interacted with a man this way before.”

  The ant laughed. “Human men are complicated creatures, unlike male ants or fauns. They are worth getting to know.”

  “I suppose so,” Nydia agreed uncertainly as her body moved gracefully, independently of her mind.

  “Though Nolan is not exactly a man. He’s a naga with three forms: serpent, fish, and human.”

  Nydia hardly knew what to make of this. “Three forms!”

  “Nagas are shape-changers. He even has a separate talent: he can see the imaginary.”

  “But imaginary things don’t exist!”

  “They exist on another plane,” she said. “For example, he can see the Baton of Protagonism, which has no physical presence but is definitive when it comes to storytelling.”

  Nydia realized that it must be so. Metria had referred to the Baton, and used it to zero in on the nymphs.

  “Now let’s excuse the fire ants while they engage in their private dialog,” Nolan said, “and we can enjoy the dance.”

  Nydia discovered to her surprise that she was indeed enjoying the dance. Its smooth motions and interactions were pleasant, and the music and beat animated her in a new way. Being close to a real man in this different manner was also gratifying. There was nothing effeminate about Nolan, but neither was he a male seeking Only One Thing. She saw Noletta, Nerine, and Ara dancing with other men, though not as aptly as she herself. They lacked ants to make them expert. But the men were competently showing them how. “It’s fun,” she confessed.

  “It certainly is,” he agreed.

  In due course the dance ended. Nolan bid her a courtly farewell and returned to Queen Apoca, who was lovely but with outsized lips and plaid hair, matching his. It seemed that those lips could kiss a man into love slavery. She was certainly a woman of the Queendom!

  Then they went on a tour of Thanx, passing the Fire Ant Nest that Anthem and Aurora had come from, as well as a horrendous Nickelpede Nest. It seemed that all types lived here, as long as they behaved themselves.

  “Aurora had heavy news,” Anthem said, with a somber background note. “Tackling a Demon is dangerous work.”

  “We don’t want to cross a Demon,” Nydia said. “We’re just investigating.”

  “But the Demon does not want to be discovered. If he catches us, we could be blown to Hell, literally. Hell is not a nice place.”

  “If our alternative is to return to the Retreat and be good for Only One Thing, I’m ready to risk it. It’s not that I object to that One Thing, I just don’t want to be limited to it.”

  “I am supposed to guide you to a woman who conjures and shapes ectoplasm.”

  “Ecto what?”

  “Ectoplasm. I never heard of it before either. It seems it’s a kind of magic tissue that seems almost alive. She makes figurines of it that are said to be very realistic, but they don’t do anything.”

  “I am having trouble seeing how this relates to the mischief of the Elements.”

  “As I understand it, the Elements will animate the figurines so we can talk with them.”

  “Elements talk?” Nydia asked, surprised. “Fire, Water, Air, Earth? Whatever could they have to say?”

  “Who is stirring them up.”

  Now Nydia saw the relevance. “And when they do, we’ll be in big trouble with the Demon.”

  “Big trouble,” the ant agreed. Now the background music was threatening.

  Then Vinia reappeared. “A path has opened up,” she said. “I must lead you to Apoca.”

  “But we just saw her at the dance,” Nydia said. “Is she mad that I danced with her husband?”

  “No, she understands about that. This is something else.”

  Nydia shrugged, another human gesture she had picked up recently. “Lead on, though I can’t say I really understand about paths. Something about the near future?”

  “Yes, actually,” Vinia said as she led the way and the nymphs and Woe Betide followed. “They are colored, with green being the best. I always follow the green paths if I can. But sometimes they get tangled. That’s when there aren’t any good choices. But mostly it’s clear enough.” She smiled. “Apoca really showed me how to use them. We’re friends.”