He arrived this time at a different location, in a Magic Lantern Cloud, coming to rest on the surface of a lovely Earthlike planet. Here space was not densely crowded with stars, so it was evident that distinct days and nights were feasible. Stately oak trees shaded the greensward, and daffodils grew in pleasant clusters.
Immediately before him stood a marvelously lovely young woman. Her hair was long but curly, like a mass of golden shavings, and she wore a long and modest dress that could not conceal her aesthetic contours. Her eyes were gray-blue, her lips red, and her hands and feet were quite dainty. She was staring at Norton with an attitude of faint surprise and dismay.
"Hello," he said experimentally.
"But I meant to conjure a steed!" she exclaimed indignantly. She held up her right hand, one of whose delicate fingers bore a large and obviously magic ring.
"It seems your conjuration glitched," Norton said apologetically. "I'm just a man."
"A demon, belike!" she snorted. She stamped her petite foot angrily. "The magic works but once a day; now it is wasted, and I am stranded afoot. What use have I for a mere man?"
Why was it that the prettiest young women were the least interested in men? "Uh, maybe I can help you find another steed."
She studied him appraisingly, as if he might after all be of some use. "Be that a magic ring you wear?" He glanced at Sning. "Yes, in a manner of speaking."
"Then do you use it to conjure me a steed to replace the one you usurped," she commanded imperiously. "But it's not that kind of ring."
Her eyes fairly flashed fire. "What manner of man are you, to tease a maiden so? You owe me a steed!"
Norton wasn't sure about that, but she was so pretty and sure of herself that he really did not want to disappoint her. He would have to show her the nature of his ring. "Sning-"
Sning uncoiled from his finger and slithered across his hand and dropped to the verdant ground. He expanded as he did so, becoming a regularly sized green snake, and then a python, and finally a monster a foot in diameter.
"Sirrah!" the Damsel exclaimed, drawing a gleaming dagger. "Ye shall not consume me without a fight!"
"Oh, Sning doesn't eat people," Norton said uncertainly. "He's friendly. I think he's offering himself as a steed." He was amazed at this development; he had never suspected that Sning could change size. Maybe it was a talent limited to visits to contraterrene worlds, where the rules might differ.
"Fool would I be indeed to trust my tender flesh to the back of that fell reptile!" she cried.
"I'm sure it's safe. Here, I'll show you." Norton approached the monstrous Sning and climbed clumsily onto an elevated loop. The snake's flesh was firm and dry and slightly resilient, quite comfortable, and not slippery.
Norton had no trouble maintaining his perch. "See-Sning will carry you anywhere you need to go. Miss-Excelsia," she said. "And who be ye?"
"Norton." Fresh from his dialogue with Orlene, he did not care to go into the Chronos business yet. He wondered, irrelevantly, what her rule was for the use of "you" and "ye," as it did not seem consistent.
"I'll not ride that creature alone, sirrah!" Norton shrugged. "I'll ride with you, of course." He had not intended to separate from Sning anyway. "You can take another coil."
Warily she approached a loop behind his own. She mounted, sitting demurely sidesaddle. "But where are the reins?"
"I think he's under voice control. Where are you going?"
She cocked her head prettily. "Why, I had not decided."
"You wanted to conjure a steed without having a destination?"
