MA05 Myth-ing Persons by Robert Asprin Read Free Book Online Page A

on the magic side ...”
    “Don’t count me out so fast. My magic may not be at full power, but I can still pull off a trick or two if things really get rough.”
    Massha frowned. “But the force lines ...”
    “There’s one little item I’ve omitted from your lessons so far, apprentice,” I said with a smug little grin. “It hasn’t really been necessary what with the energy so plentiful on Deva ... as a matter of fact; I’ve kind of gotten out of the habit myself. Anyway, what it boils down to is that you don’t always tap into a force line to work magic. You can store the energy internally like a battery so that it’s there when you need it. While we’ve been talking, I’ve been charging up, so I can provide a bit of magical cover as needed. Now, I won’t be able to do anything prolonged like a constant disguise spell, and what I’ve got I’ll want to use carefully because it’ll take a while to recharge after each use, but we won’t be relying on your jewelry completely.”
    I had expected a certain amount of excitement from the staff when they found out I wasn’t totally helpless. Instead, they looked uncomfortable. They exchanged glances, and then looked at the sky, then at the ground.
    “Ummm ... does this mean we’re going on?” Guido said at last.
    “That’s right,” I said, lips tight. “In fact, I probably would have gone on even if my powers were completely gone. Somewhere out there my partner’s in trouble, and I’m not going to back away from at least trying to help him. I’d do the same if it was one of you, but we’re talking about Aahz here. He’s saved my skin more times than I care to remember. I can’t just ...”
    I caught myself and brought my voice back under control.
    “Look,” I said, starting again. “I’ll admit we never expected this vampire thing when we started out, and the limited magic handicap is enough to give anyone pause. If either or both of you want to head back, you can do it without hard feelings or guilt trips. Really. The only reason I’m pushing on is that I know me. Whatever is up ahead, it can’t be any worse than what I would put myself through if I left Aahz alone to die without trying my best to bail him out. But that’s me. If you want out, go ahead.”
    “Don’t get your back up, Hot Stuff,” Massha chided gently. “I’m still not sure how much help I’m going to be, but I’ll tag along. I’d probably have the same problem if anything happened to you and I wasn’t there, that you’d have if anything happened to Aahz. I am your apprentice, you know”
    “Bodyguarding ain’t much, but it’s all I know,” Guido said glumly. “I’m supposed to be guardin’ that body of yours, so where it goes, I go. I’m just not wild about the odds, know what I mean?”
    “Then it’s settled,” I said firmly. “All right. As I see it, our next stop is Blut.”
    “Blut,” Massha echoed carefully.
    “That’s right. I want to look up this Dispatcher character and see what he has to say. I mean, a town is a town, and we’ve all visited strange towns before. What we really need now is information, and the nearest source seems to be Blut.”
    “The Dispatcher,” Massha said without enthusiasm.”
    “Blut,” Guido repeated with even less joyful anticipation.
    It occurred to me that while my assistants were bound and determined to stay with me on this caper, if I wanted wholehearted support, I’d better look for it from the natives ... a prospect I didn’t put much hope in at all.

REMEMBER HOW I said that if you’ve seen one town, you’ve seen ‘em all? Well, forget it. Even though I’ve visited a lot of dimensions and seen a lot of towns, I had to admit that Blut looked a little strange.
    Everything seemed to be done to death in basic black. (Perhaps “done to death” is an unfortunate turn of a phrase. Whatever.) Mind you, when I say everything, I mean everything Cobblestones, walls, roof tiles, everything had the same