Of Machines & Magics Read Online Free PDF

number of puzzled expressions among those who merely wished Voss to finish pontificating.
    “Calistrope goes in harm’s way. We, between us, possess a number of artifacts which might be of great help to him. I have spoken to Calistrope and I have urged him to select a few items which might be of most use to him. Calistrope…” Voss gestured to the Mage, “the floor is yours.”
    A murmur greeted him, a murmur in which dissatisfaction sounded rather loud. Calistrope shrugged his shoulders.
    Ponderos belched again. “Pardon. Magical food, all wind and no body to it.”
    The company laughed and tension eased, a situation which Voss leapt into before Calistrope could take up his invitation to speak. “I, myself give this freely. A miniature self-perpetuating model of the sun, an experiment which was made some little time ago when we were testing such things. It will shine in dark places. May it be of use to you, Calistrope,” he placed the globe of pearly radiance on the table and again directed attention to Calistrope.
    “I thank the Despondent One,” he said. “If the sun should set, it will be of great value. As Voss suggests, I do have one or two requests which I would like to make.” Some there were who seemed relieved that his wants were so few; others, with more to lose, were dismayed. “The first concerns a packet of dust which … Issla has. The Dust which came from the Hall of Shandokar.
    Issla sprang to her feet. “How do you know this?” She jumped up and down in exasperation.
    Calistrope smiled.
    “No.”
    “Issla!” Voss pitched his voice low but no-one failed to hear the authority in it.
    “Oh. Take it then,” she thumped the table with her tiny fists. “But take care; used recklessly, it will suck out every last iota of magic from your body.”
    “Thank you my dear. Is she not as generous as she is beautiful? And her beauty is great indeed.”
    Issla was not placated.
    “Now. Something a little more mundane. I am a man of peace; I carry no weapon save a small poignard, hardly sharp enough to cut an apple. I shall need something to defend my person, a sword, something trustworthy. Sermis has such a one, I understand, a sword with an edge that cannot be dulled.”
    Sermis stood with a swirl of his cloak. It was sewn with overlapping silicate discs which chimed with any movement. “A poor thing, an heirloom, of sentimental value, of crude workmanship.”
    “I have heard you say,” Calistrope averred, “that it will pierce an ell of bumanda wood at a single thrust.”
    “An idle boast. I am shamed.”
    “Yet I would have it.”
    Sermis glanced across at Voss and Voss looked away. Sermis drew the sword and laid it upon the table where it glittered in the lavender light and the red.
    Calistrope took the sword up and examined the blade of faintly blue glass. It glowed slightly with an inner light and sent the faintest of tingles through his fingers. “Thank you my friend. Perhaps I might also have the loan of the scabbard; there seems little point in separating the two.”
    Resigned to the inevitable, Sermis unbuckled the baldric and passed the scabbard across to Calistrope
    “I shall return them of course, when I return.”
    “ If , Calistrope. If .”
    Calistrope nodded. “As you say, the if lays heavily on my mind,” he looked along the table. “Now, finally. I crave a boon from my oldest friend. Ponderos, you have a sigil which you have sworn by for as long as I have known you.”
    Ponderos heaved himself to his feet. “And neither of us knows how long that is, eh?” He took the talisman from around his neck and crossed to his friend’s side. He placed it around Calistrope’s neck. “I fancy it has little power left in it now; it was once potent against any weapon of iron or glass, bone or stone. What little power is left, is yours. However, there is one more thing I can give you.”
    Ponderos stood back from his friend. “I have spent longer than I can remember dabbling in the