The Golden Shield of IBF Read Online Free PDF Page B

universe. But if this spell had to be all that exact, logic dictated that she would return to her own universe within the Mist of Oblivion, in which case she would be dead. Under her breath, Swan muttered that word that Erg’Ran didn’t think proper for her to use.
    “What’s that mean?” It was her newfound friend with the studded animal collar and the short skirt who asked.
    “Oh, just a local expression where I come from,” Swan answered. The language spell had required little magical energy and was working remarkably well. She understood these people’s speech perfectly, and they seemed to understand her just as easily. The girl’s name was Alicia, and Alicia had been joined by her friend Gardner. Gardner was dressed even more strangely. He, too, wore an animal collar—usually worn by something called a dog, Swan had learned—and there was a leash attached to it, the end of which Alicia kept looped around her wrist. Gardner also wore something called handcuffs—they appeared to be rather flimsy seeming but nonetheless well-made manacles—on his wrists. They were linked together by a length of delicate chain. When Gardner firs joined them, Swan had asked Alicia, “Is he some sort of prisoner?”
    Alicia winked at her, announcing, “He’s a prisoner of love, honey!”
    Swan was uncertain what that meant, although she felt that she had the general idea.
    For some time, Swan, Alicia, Gardner and the half-cat, half-woman had been seated on a very comfortable staircase. Many strangely dressed persons went up and down its length. Some of the women were very beautiful, some of the men very handsome. This universe seemed like a nice enough place to visit, but she hoped she wouldn’t have to live in it. The future of Creath was her responsibility, as was the safety of the Company of Mir. Almost certainly, her spell which had protected the Company was dissolved when she made her escape. There was much to do.
    Periodically, Alicia would say, “I wish I could smoke.” At first, Swan was aghast that someone wanted to be set afire (despite Alicia’s bizarre appearance, the girl didn’t seem that strange). Later, Swan realized that Alicia wanted to set fire to something else, not actually smoke herself. But, it was hard to imagine Alicia with a pipe like the one which old Erg’Ran habituated.
    Alicia had been consulting what was called a mini-program. After a moment, she announced, “There’s a sword fighting demonstration. Sounds neat. Wanna watch?”
    “Sword fighting? Yes!”
    “Come on Gardner.” Alicia tugged at Gardner’s leash as she stood up. Gardner walked a little behind them as they wove their way through the crowded corridor. A creature covered in fur, with a horrible face and weapons of all types festooned about its body, passed by them and called out, “Hey, Alicia.”
    “Neat costume, Farley!”
    “So, everyone here is costumed as some character out of a book or—”
    “Book or movie or TV maybe,” Alicia informed her.
    The meanings of “movie” and “TV” were unknown to Swan, but she would somehow divine them.
    Their band wandered along many passageways, the sounds of speech and laughter filling the air. At one point, there was a doorway leading to the outside, and Swan accompanied her companions, Alicia proclaiming, “I gotta grab a smoke.”
    In fact, Alicia’s “smoke” was nothing like that of Erg’Ran, but a white paper cylinder, the ground leaves encased within it as they would be in the bowl of a pipe.
    “Drag?” Alicia asked her.
    “Drag what?” Swan answered.
    “You’re cool, Swan!” Alicia laughed.
    Swan remarked, “No, it is a little warm with this dress, actually. Where I come from, it is cold now, and snow is falling.”
    “The weather has really been crazy bad lately,” the half-cat, half-woman named Brenda announced.
    “Has it?” Swan asked. “Crazy” seemed to be a word describing mental aberration. Was the “weather” here, rather than a