Faun and Games by Piers Anthony Page A

white body, but blue eyes.   Forrest tried not to stare at her
    rippling bare chest, knowing that centaurs paid no attention to certain
    effects, but he was impressed.
     
    She came to a stop before Imbri.   "Hello, mare in human form.   I am
    Ilura Centaur, and these are my foals.   We apologize for our tardiness."
     
    "Tardiness?"
     
    "We were some distance when we heard your call, and the foals couldn't
    move at adult speed."
     
    Forrest realized that more than one creature had answered Imbri's call.
    But Imbri was already handling it.
     
    "I am Mare Imbri, and this is my companion."
     
    "What have you to trade?"
     
    "A pleasant daydream."
     
    "What do you wish in return?"
     
    "Information on the person on Ptero who can best help us to find what we
    seek."
     
    "What do you seek?"
     
    "A faun for a vacant tree."
     
    "That would be Cathryn Centaur.   She is the one who best knows where to
    find fauns."
     
    There was a pause.   Then Imbri, realizing that she had her answer,
    looked directly at Ilura.   The centaur's eyes went blank in a manner
    Forrest recognized.   She was having a daydream.
     
    He looked at the two foals.   One was a dark furred male, the other a
    light furred female.   The male was stoic, while the female was
    impatiently stamping her feet.   "Hello, foals.   I'm Forrest Faun.   You
    must be dissimilar twins."
     
    The female looked quickly at him.   "I'm in a hurry," she replied.
     
    The male looked slowly at him.   "I'm in no hurry," he said.
     
    "Well, I'm sure your dam will be finished here soon."
     
    The female reacted rapidly.   She used a forefoot to scratch letters in
    the sand.   THE HURRY TWINS: IMINA AND IMINO.
     
    Oh.   "My apology for misunderstanding," Forrest said.
     
    "Don't be," Imina said quickly.   "It happens all the time."
     
    "We're used to it," Imino added slowly.   "It's probably a good thing we
    don't exist."
     
    "But how can I be talking to you, if you don't exist?"
     
    " We're might-he's, " Imina replied rapidly.   "It would take a freakish
    set of circumstances to make us real.   For one thing, our dam isn't real
    either."
     
    "Only our sire, Hurry Centaur, is real," Imino said tardily.
     
    Forrest was starting to catch on.   "Your sire lives in Xanth proper, and
    the rest of you don't."
     
    "That's it exactly," Imina agreed swiftly.   "We can only come to exist
    if our dam gets real, and encounters our sire, and performs a certain
    ritual that makes human folk uncomfortable to contemplate. All that
    seems extremely unlikely."
     
    "I'm sorry."
     
    "It doesn't really- natter," Ii-nino said deliberately.   "There are far
    too many might-he's for Xanth to accommodate."
     
    Ilura had completed her daydream.   "Come foals; we must be off."
     
    "Already'?" Imino asked.
     
    "About time!" Imina said.
     
    "I had a very nice dream of your sire," Ilura said.   "I think he may be
    almost ready to consider something."
     
    They galloped off into the yellow color.   Forrest and Imbri watched them
    go.   "Those were might-he's," he said.
     
    "Yes.   It's a shame they aren't real."
     
    "How do we find Cathryn Centaur?"
     
    "I think we just ask for her."
     
    "Can we just ask for the faun I need?"
     
    She turned to him, startled.   "We could certainly try."
     
    He faced nothing.   "I want to trade with the faun I need."
     
    Nothin, happened.
     
    "I suspect he isn't close enough to hear," Imbri said.   "Have you
    noticed that all the creatures we have encountered here are equine
    crossbreeds?"
     
    "I hadn't noticed," he said, surprised.   "Could it be coincidence?"
     
    "It could be.   But I think there must be sections of Ptero for different
    types of creatures, and this happens to be the equine section. That
    would explain why we landed here: I'm equine, so was drawn here.   So
    there would be no fauns close by.   Cathryn Centaur must know where they
    are."
     
    "That makes sense to me.   Very well, let's trade with