Man From Mundania by Piers Anthony Page A

Then the dragon, looking sur-
    prised, missed also; it shot right past them, so close that
     
     
     
     
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    Man from Mundania
     
    Man from Mundania
     
    73
     
    they were buffeted by the hot breeze of its passing. What
     
    had happened?
    The second dragon winged in toward them. It too missed
     
    with both fire and teeth, seeming as amazed as Grey was
    by this. Then the third one.
     
    "What happened?" Grey asked.
     
    "I told you. I Enhanced them."
     
    "But—"
     
    "I made them faster. So they flew faster than usual, and
    whipped their heads around faster, and fired faster. So
    their aim was off. They can't score on us until they get
    adjusted to their new powers—and they won't have them
    when they're not attacking us."
     
    Grey worked it out. He had driven a car once that was
    larger and more powerful than he was used to. Then he
    had come to a turn in the road, and almost careened off
    the road because his reflexes were wrong. He had made
    hasty adjustments, knowing that he could quickly wreck
    himself if he didn't. It could have been the same for the
    dragons. It would require precise timing and coordination
    of vectors to score with fire while on the wing, and if that
    timing was off, there would be no score. So what Ivy said
     
    made sense.
     
    Assuming that she could really do what she claimed.
     
    But that was magic.
     
    "Let's get on before they recover," Ivy said.
    Good suggestion! They walked up the path while the
    dragons reoriented. When the dragons made their second
    strafing runs, they misjudged the range again and gave up
    in disgust. "See? I don't like to use my talent frivolously,
    but for self-defense it's all right," Ivy said.
     
    Grey was just glad that the creatures had been pro-
    grammed to miss! The threat had seemed real enough, and
    he could hardly wait to get off this mountain! He would
    try to reason with Ivy about the matter of the dragons at
     
    another time.
     
    The path looped around the mountain again, but the
    diameter of the mountain was now so small that the circuit
    did not take much time. They walked up the last stretch
     
    to the castle itself, crossing one final bridge. The castle
    was, after all, full size, no longer looking like a dollhouse.
     
    They paused at the great wooden door, and looked back.
    From this height they could see far across the landscape. It
    was definitely a riverscape; they were sailing (without sails)
    upriver toward distant lofty peaks that reflected red in the
    late sunlight.
     
    Grey shook his head. He did not believe in magic, of
    course, but certainly this was a marvelous setting! Prob-
    ably only this mountain was genuine; the rest would be
    formed from some kind of projection on a surrounding
    screen. As amusement parks went, this was the best he
    had encountered! It was too bad that it was too persuasive
    for some. Ivy would be a terrific girl if she only could rid
    herself of her belief in Xanth!
     
    Ivy turned to him. "You've been great. Grey," she said,
    and quickly kissed him.
     
    How he wished he could believe in Xanth!
     
     
     
     
    Man from Mundania          75
     
    Chapter S. River
     
    •hey had finally reached the door to the castle.
    Ivy was much relieved; she had been afraid that Grey
    would panic and fall when the wyvems attacked. She had
    even hesitated to explain in too much detail how she could
    nullify them, because she did not want him to have to
    come to terms with the concept of magic while they were
    dangerously exposed. Suppose he spooked and fell off the
    ledge? It was better to wait until things were more secure.
     
    So now she merely kissed him and told him that he had
    been great. Indeed, he had been, considering that he did
    not believe in magic; it must have taken real courage to
    carry on in the face of that doubt! He should be a great
    guy, once he got over his confusion and saw Xanth for
     
    what it was.
     
    She addressed the door: "Hey, door, don't you know
     
    me?"
    The door didn't