Dog and Dragon-ARC Read Online Free PDF Page B

would be hiding their heads from illusions, most likely. And anyone peering out could see his head and hands. He was just as dexterous with his feet, as with his hands, and he’d a lot of experience with hide-aways. He deserved a fee for this, besides the sheer pleasure of doing it.
    In a way, he thought, he had taught his Scrap of humanity, and she in turn had taught him. He told her that there were many ways of solving a problem. She’d showed him that his ideas were still quite constrained to maintaining the status quo. His purpose was retaining the balance, but it didn’t have to be same balance—just so long as it was balanced.
    A few moments later he was back at the edge of the flowing, fuming stream through the blue-black stone of the causeway. It was running stronger and fuller now, and definitely not as hot. He put his hand on Díleas’s head. “Wait. It will get cooler.”
    So what was it about him, and her, that would have unbalanced Tasmarin, that meant she had had to go back to where she came from?
    It didn’t make much sense to the planomancer.
    There was a need for balance, but why the two of them? In terms of energy all things were different, but not that different that they could not be balanced out.
    The traveler Arvan emerged from the cart. Fionn noticed he had his bow again, arrow on the string. “What were you talking to the Beng about, stranger?”
    Fionn had spoken in the tongue of the creature of smokeless flame. There was no need of course. They were nearly as adept linguists as he was, but it unsettled them to have someone address them in their own tongue. He wondered how the Scrap was coping with a language that would be strange to her…only that dvergar device might just help. She’d learned to read fast enough with its help. He grinned at the traveler, cheered by that thought, and pleased with his bit of work here. Force-lines were realigning already. “I just ruined his day. What did you want me to say to him?”
    “Nothing. They’re tricky, those ones. You know his language, though.” That was outright suspicion.
    Fionn shrugged. “Rather a case of he knows mine. They have the gift of tongues, those ones. All the better to lie to you with. So I told him a truth, and made him very unhappy.”
    “And what was that? You have a spell against them?”
    “I wish. But they have a dislike for water. The merrows could sell you a few charms, if you had goods they were interested in. I’ve a protection I bought from them for a song and some entertainment. The Beng tried me, and the merrow spell has brought a counter to the demon. I pointed out to the creature that water is wet. Wet, and cooling down, and spreading out. It didn’t like that and has probably gone to consult with its master. We’d best be away before the master comes here too. They can put powerful compulsions on people, and the bigger they are, the stronger they are. We’ll have to contrive a bridge of some kind, but we’ll be able to cross it. The dog and I can swim it if need be. By now it’ll be like a very hot bath.”
    Díleas growled and shook himself. Looked suspiciously at the water.
    “He doesn’t like baths,” said Fionn, grinning.
    The traveler burst out laughing. “Same as most dogs. Usually when the Beng find us here, they torment us. Send their creatures to attack us. We’ve got the bells and other protections on the carts, but the best we can do is to stay in them and keep moving until we get out of the local lordling’s territory. Never seen anyone chase one off before.”
    “I wish I could chase them off. It was just the merrow spell doing it, and a lucky happenstance. But the chances are next time I won’t be near a lot of hidden water, and the merrow spells need water. You don’t happen to have a plank about those carts of yours? And maybe a rope? I could get you a start on a way across the water. It’s cooling, but I wouldn’t swim it for a while.”
    “Plank?” asked one of the other