Adventurers Wanted 1) Slathbog's Gold by M.L. Forman Read Free Book Online Page B

it made Alex like him even more.
    “Dark,” said Andy, and all the lamps went out. “Exit.”
    Alex waited in the darkness. He wasn’t sure if Andy was still there or not. He listened carefully, but could only hear his own breathing. Deciding he was alone in the bag, he took a deep breath.
    “Exit.”
    As quickly as Alex had entered the bag, he was out of it again. He was standing in the brightly lit shop, the soft leather bag in his hands. He looked at Andy, a little surprised by how easy it had been.
    “Neat little trick, isn’t it?” said Andy.
    “Very neat,” Alex agreed. “But how do you get things in and out of the bag without going in yourself every time?”
    “You hold the bag next to the thing you want to put in and tell the bag where to put it. When you need something, you ask for what you want and it’ll come out. You don’t normally have to specify where things are when you’re taking something out, unless you have more than one of something. You can practice tonight with your packages.”
    Andy went to find the shopkeeper, leaving Alex alone with the magic bag. Alex quickly looked around to make sure nobody was watching him, and then he looked into the top of the bag to see what was there. The bag was completely empty, and Alex’s doubts about magic started creeping into his mind once more.
    After several minutes of discussion and a little debate on price, the shopkeeper wrote Alex’s name in a large black book. Alex held the bag while the shopkeeper read something in a language Alex didn’t understand, waving his hands over Alex and the bag.
    “It’s a good thing they bind the bag to you,” said Andy, putting Alex’s packages into the new bag. “That way you can’t lose it, no matter what.”
    “Can’t lose it?”
    “Not unless some powerful magic is used against you,” Andy said. “The bag will either stay with you, or stay where you put it, no matter what. Unless of course you’re dead.”
    “Oh,” Alex said in reply. His head felt stuffed with information, and he was afraid he was running out of time to do any serious thinking.
    “There you go,” said Andy, handing Alex his new bag. “All your gear is inside and ready to go.”
    “Thanks,” said Alex. “Will we be sleeping inside our magic bags as we travel?”
    “Of course not,” said Andy in a surprised tone. “Why would we do that?”
    “It seems to me that we’d be safe and comfortable inside our bags,” said Alex.
    “Safe until you come out in the morning and find a bunch of goblins standing around you,” replied Andy. “How could you warn the rest of us if there was trouble?”
    “I didn’t think of that,” said Alex.
    “If you were alone, you could sleep in your bag, I suppose,” Andy went on. “But when you are with a company, it is best to camp as a company. We’ll all be there if trouble shows up, and it helps to build fellowship as well.”
    “Yes, of course,” said Alex. “It was a foolish question. It’s just that . . .”
    “What?”
    “Well, we don’t really have magic where I come from,” said Alex. “I mean there are people who do things they call magic, but it isn’t real. I don’t know anything about real magic, and I don’t know anything about adventures either. I’m starting to think I don’t know very much about anything at all.”
    “Don’t worry,” said Andy, slapping him on the back. “You’ll learn quick enough as we travel. We all know this is your first adventure, so everybody will help explain things to you. As far as not knowing about how magic works, not many people really do. Just accept that it does work and try not to worry about the why. ”
    “All right,” Alex replied. “I guess I’m ready to go then.”
    “Not quite,” said Andy, leading him down a narrow road, away from the Golden Swan and the center of Telous. “You still need a weapon. And I know just the place.”
    “A weapon?”
    “You can’t go on an adventure without one,” said