Myth-Ing Persons Read Online Free PDF Page B

us."
    "But if we leave it behind, how are we going to find your partner?"
    "We'll have to figure out something, but we can't afford to divide our forces. Otherwise, even if we get Aahz, we could still end up wandering around out there trying to find the other half of the rescue team."
    "If you say so. Hot Stuff," she grimaced, handing over the ring, "but I hope you know what you're doing."
    "So do I, Massha, so do I. Okay, gang, let's see what our backyard is really like!"
    From the outside, our place looked a lot more impressive than the side that showed in the Bazaar. It really did look like a castle… a rather ominous one at that, squatting alone on a hilltop. I really didn't study it too close, though, beyond being able to recognize it again for our trip out. As might be expected, my main attention was focused on the new dimension itself.
    "Kinda dark, ain't it."
    Guide's comment was more statement than question, and he was right.
    Wherever we were, the lighting left a lot to be desired. At first I thought it was night, which puzzled me, as so far in my travels all dimensions seemed to be on the same sun-up and sun-down schedule. Then my eyes adjusted to the gloom and I realized the sky was simply heavily overcast… to a point where next to no light at all penetrated, giving a night-like illusion to the day.
    Aside from that, from what I could see, this new land seemed pretty much like any of the others I had visited:
    Trees, underbrush, and a road leading to or from the castle, depending on which way you were facing. I think it was Tananda who was fond of saying "If you've seen one dimension, you've seen them all." Chumley, her brother, argued that the reason for the geologic similarities was that all the dimensions we traveled were different realities off the same base. This always struck me as being a bit redundant… "They're all alike because they're the same? C'mon Chumley!", but his rebuttals always left me feeling like I'd been listening to someone doing readings in another language, so of late I've been tending to avoid the discussions.
    "Well, Hot Stuff, what do we do now?"
    For a change, I had an answer for this infuriating question.
    "This road has to go somewhere. Just the fact that it exists indicates we aren't alone in this dimension."
    "I thought we already knew that," Guido said under his breath. "That's why we're here."
    I gave him my best dark glare.
    "I believe there was some debate as to whether or not we were being lied to about Aahz being held prisoner. If there's a road here, it's a cinch that neither my partner nor the ones he was chasing built it. That means we have native types to deal with… possibly hostile."
    "Right," Massha put in quickly. "Put a sock in it, Guido. I want to hear our plan of action, and I don't like being kept waiting by hecklers."
    The bodyguard frowned, but kept his silence.
    "Okay. Now, what we've got to do is follow this road and find out where it goes. Hug the side of the road and be ready to disappear if you hear anybody coming. We don't know what the locals look like, and until I have a model to work from, it's pointless for me to try to disguise us."
    With those general marching orders, we made our way through the dark along the road, moving quietly to avoid tipping our hand to anyone ahead of us. In a short time we came up to our first decision point. The road we were on ended abruptly when it met another, much larger thoroughfare. My assistants looked at me expectantly. With a shrug I made the arbitrary decision and led them off to the right down this new course. As we went, I reflected with some annoyance that even though both Massha and Guido knew that I was as new to this terrain as they were, it somehow fell to me to choose the path.
    My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of voices ahead, coming our way. The others heard it too, and without word or signal we melted into the underbrush. Squatting down, I peered through the gloom toward the road, anxious to