MA02 Myth Conceptions Read Online Free PDF Page A

you listening, kid?”
    “But what are we going to do about…”
    But Aahz was already at work, rebinding the few items we had unpacked.
    “Don’t do anything, kid,” he warned over his shoulder. “We can’t let anyone see you doing menial work. It’s bad for the image.”
    “He said there were other magicians here!” I blurted at last.
    “Yeah ... So?”
    “Well, what are we going to do?”
    Aahz scowled.
    “I told you once. We’re going to pack our things and ...”
    “What are we going to do about the other magicians?”
    “Do? We aren’t going to do anything. You aren’t up to dueling, you know.”
    He had finished packing and stepped back to survey his handiwork. Nodding in satisfaction, he turned and shot a glance over my shoulder.
    “Do something about the pike, will ya, kid?”
    I followed his gate. The guard’s pike was still hanging suspended in mid-air. Even though I hadn’t been thinking about it, part of my mind had been keeping it afloat until I decided what to do with it. The question was, what should I do with it?
    “Say, Aahz ...”I began, but Aahz had already started walking along the wall.
    For a moment I was immobilized with indecision. The guard had gone, so I couldn’t return his weapon to him. Still, simply letting it drop to the ground seemed somehow anti-climactic.
    Unable to think of anything to do which would have the proper dramatic flair; I decided to postpone the decision. For the time being, I let the pike float along behind me as I hurried after Aahz, first giving it additional elevation so it would not be a danger to Gleep and Buttercup.
    “Were you expecting other magicians to be here?” I asked, drawing abreast of my mentor.
    “Not really,” Aahz admitted. “It was a possibility, of course, but I didn’t give it a very high probability rating. Still, it’s not all that surprising. A job like this is bound to draw competition out of the woodwork.”
    He didn’t seem particularly upset, so I tried to take this new development in stride.
    “Okay,” I said calmly. “How does this change our plans?”
    “It doesn’t. Just do your thing like I showed you and everything should come out fine.”
    “But if the other magicians ...”
    Aahz stopped short and turned to face me.
    “Look, kid,” he said seriously. “Just because I keep telling you you’ve got a long way to go before you’re a master magician doesn’t mean you’re a hack! I wouldn’t have encouraged you to show up for this interview if I didn’t think you were good enough to land the job.”
    “Really, Aahz?”
    He turned and started walking again.
    “Just remember, as dimensions go, Klah isn’t noted for its magicians. You’re no master, but masters are few and far between. I’m betting that, compared to the competition, you’ll look like a real expert.”
    That made sense. Aahz was quite outspoken in his low opinion of Klah and the Klahds that inhabited it, including me. That last thought made me fish for a bit more reassurance.
    “Aahz?”
    “Yea, kid?”
    “What’s your honest appraisal of my chances?”
    There was a moment of silence before he answered.
    “Kid, you know how you’re always complaining that I keep tearing down your confidence?”
    “Yea?”
    “Well, for both our sakes, don’t push too hard for my honest appraisal.”
    I didn’t.
    Getting through the back gate proved to be no problem ... mostly because there wasn’t a back gate. To my surprise and Aahz’s disgust, the wall did not extend completely around the palace. As near as I could see, only the front wall was complete. The two side walls were under construction, and the back wall was nonexistent. I should clarify that. My statement that the side walls were under construction was an assumption based on the presence of scaffolding at the end of the walk rather than the observation of any activity going on. If there was any work being performed, it was being done carefully enough not to disturb the weeds