MA11-12 Myth-ion Improbable Something Myth-Inc Read Online Free PDF

require your help in this journey, but not one bit above that.”
    The Shifter had become a tall creature with a very thin face and hundreds of tiny teeth crammed into a very ugly mouth. And at that moment the mouth smiled, or at least did something I thought was a smile.
    “Agreed,” it said.
    Aahz looked like he might have a small fit right there, but somehow he managed to contain himself. I was impressed. It wasn’t often that large percentages of a possible fortune were taken from him and he didn’t destroy something. Aahz and money were not easily parted, and if we did find this golden cow, there was no doubt in my mind that Aahz would not want to part with much of the golden milk. But now he would have no choice, for at least ten percent of the find.
    And I had no doubt we were going to be back here a number more times before this little venture was over.
    “What is your destination now?” it asked.
    “Bumppp,” Tananda said.
    For a moment the creature hesitated, and I thought I saw the morphing hesitate as well. Then it said, almost sadly, “Very well.”
    A moment later we ended up in the middle of a wide meadow filled with thick plants and orange flowers. The sky overhead was a faint blue and pink. Dark-green trees surrounded the meadow, and in the distance there were pink mountains. I had been ready to use my disguise spell on us to protect us from any storm, but the air was warm and humid, just the way I liked it.
    Actually, all in all, this was one of the most beautiful dimensions I had visited. I wondered what kind of lucky people lived here.
    Tananda turned a full circle, her sharp eyes taking in things I knew I didn’t see.
    “Ten percent?” Aahz said, his teeth still grinding.
    Tananda put her finger to her mouth for Aahz to be silent. I instantly started searching the tree-line for any sign of danger. There was nothing that I could see. No natives with weapons, no crouching tigers, no charging bears.
    Nothing.
    But clearly from Tananda’s actions and the attitude and hesitation of the Shifter, this wasn’t a friendly place. Beautiful, but not friendly.
    “The map,” she whispered to Aahz. “Quickly.”
    Then she motioned that we should all crouch down.
    The weeds and flowers covering the meadow were no more than knee-high and would give us no cover at all. They smelled like my dragon when he got wet.
    I figured we should move to the edge of the trees. At least there we might have a fighting chance if something came at us. But Tananda was the ex-assassin among us. She knew what she was doing. Or at least I hoped she did.
    Aahz opened the map and laid it out carefully on top of the weeds. It was clear instantly that the map had again changed. Bumppp, the dimension we were in, showed clearly, with only one path leading from this world toward the dream of our very own golden cow. And that path led to Vortex #4.
    Not #2, as I would have expected, or even #3, but #4.
    Tananda nodded and motioned for Aahz to quickly fold up the parchment and put it away. Then she stood.
    I stood right with her, and the moment I did I saw movement. Not just some movement, but all around the edges of the meadow the weeds and flowers were jerking and swaying as if something was running under them at us.
    Then a head poked up about a hundred paces from us. A massive snake head that was larger than my head, with yellow, swirling slits for eyes and huge fangs. There was no telling how long the snake’s body was, and I really didn’t want to wait around and find out.
    And then another stuck its head up to the right of the first one. And another and another.
    I spun like a dancer. We were surrounded by giant snakes with very nasty-looking fangs. If we didn’t do something quickly we were going to end up the main course for lunch.
    “Nice place,” Aahz said as the moving grass got closer and closer around us.
    “Any time now,” I tried to suggest, but the only thing that came out of my still sealed mouth was “Aggghhh