Hip Deep in Dragons Read Online Free PDF Page B

canvas, but as worlds populated with living, thinking beings. Beyond the flickering world, the lines faded to first a cerulean, then cobalt and finally to a blue so dark, I could no longer see it, although I had a subliminal impression that the worlds did continue onward into blackness.
    “This is the Continuum of R’hipayon Quar.” He pointed to the star-like object at the center of the miniscule solar system. “And at its heart is the Source of All Magic. From here power flows out to all the worlds along the Wizard’s Road.” At his words, lines blossomed from the orb, arcing and spiraling outward, growing fainter until they too, took on the color of the outer darkness.
    The glow of the magical construct threw colored shadows on Robby’s face as he withdrew his hands, and left it hanging in the air between the two of us. As I somehow knew he would, he pointed at the guttering ring of light. “This is Vayron, your world. Here, magic is dying.”
    “But why?” The thought of the loss left a wound in my heart.
    “Technology. We call it the Blight.” He shook his head sadly. “Magic and technology canna long exist together in a world, and technology always wins. There was a time when your world was as magical as Mycon, with all your own enchanted races and creatures. But man is often too clever for his own good and thought to develop machines to ease his burden. Think of the farmer who must work to prepare his fields every season. He and his family have to labor many long and hard hours for their food. He might hire farm hands to help, but he must pay, or at least feed, those extra workers. He could contract with an earth spirit or a wizard to prepare his fields, but then he would be forced to do the same thing again the following season. He has only to buy a tractor once, and his labors are lessened for many years to come. So the machines slip insidiously into the world, all under the pretense of making life easier.”
    The laptop resting on the desk in the corner of my living room seemed to take on a sinister mien. “You talk about technology as if it were aware—some kind of sentient entity.”
    “It is—every bit as much as magic. It is the darkness beyond the worlds, which we simply call the Void, because to name it would give it more power than it already has. It is not evil, it is just beyond any concept of human morality. Cold, soulless, and empty, but conscious. What you might think of as the ultimate machine mind.”
    “That’s what’s creeping into my world.” I snorted. “Heck, we’re inviting it in. We can’t wait for the newest tablet or next generation smart phone. One day in the future, my world will be as dark as these others, won’t it?” I pointed to the dim outer shells. “Does that mean your world is next?”
    He shook his head vigorously. “Nay. More than three centuries ago the Council decreed that it would hold the line here—that magic would retreat no more. At the time the machines started to become so strong here in your world—what you call the Industrial Revolution—we began to place guardians on the Road to prevent that mechanization from spreading down-world any further. All apprentice wizards must spend a span of a dozen years as a guardian, ensuring that nothing of this world’s Blight passes into Mycon. The Accords governing passage up-world, from Mycon to Vayron…” He stopped to scratch his chin. “Now, they are just a bit flexible. A being from Mycon can come into Vayron and then return home. He just canna bring back any object that could be considered technology.”
    “You mean something like trying to get through customs at Miami International Airport?”
    He chuckled. “You might be surprised what happens. The entire Court of the Northern Sidhe spends the winter in a condominium they own over on Gulfshore Drive. I dare say I would too, if the alternative was an ice-locked castle in Caksas Mahr.”
    “Wait,” I began. “You’re telling me there