+ Show First Post
Total: 227
Posts Per Page:
Permalink
Hiss.

She stares it down. She knows better than it what it ought to be doing right now. It ought to be catching fire. It had better. She's not going to back off until she has made it catch.
Permalink
After not backing off for long enough, the candle gives in and lights. A brief spiral of smoke appears, and then the flame goes out right away.
"Long enough" was, apparently, longer than it seemed like. The sun is starting to rise, for one thing. Hank and Skeeve are in a corner of the room poking at the misbehaving device. Skeeve announces "you did it!" and rushes candleward.
Permalink

"That was pathetic," says Kithabel. "It gets less pathetic later, right?"

Permalink
"That was not pathetic; it took you less than an hour! And on your first try, too.
But yes, it gets less pathetic later. In a couple months you'll be able to make it stay lit.
...I'm kidding."
Permalink

"I'm not in a great kidding mood. How goes it with the device?"

Permalink

"I don't have the slightest idea how this thing works. Skeeve's no help at all in that department, but thinks it could go where it's told to."

Permalink

"Probably."

Permalink

"Probably."

Permalink

"...With the rest of the possibility-space being taken up by...?"

Permalink

"Going various somewheres else at random, mostly. It's not going to stop working completely; this thing's durable."

Permalink

"What if it drops us in the middle of an ocean?"

Permalink

"It usually doesn't. If it does, we—er, I fly us out of the ocean and we hop to a different one."

Permalink

"What if it drops us in a volcano? I wasn't up to swimming around in volcanoes yet even this time yesterday."

Permalink

"It usually doesn't."

Permalink

"How usually."

Permalink

"It has never happened to me or anyone I know. I've never heard of it happening at all, but these aren't in common use for some reason so that might not mean much."

Permalink

"Some reason," mutters Kithabel. "How do you get around when you don't want to miss your appointments?"

Permalink

"Some of my coworkers can dimension-hop on their own, and at least one of the others can handle this more reliably than I can. If I'm using this it's usually because I'm traveling alone and there isn't a permanent gate between the relevant dimensions. Or because I wouldn't mind being dropped in a random world; that's always a possible reason."

Permalink

"How long does it take people to learn to dimension-hop on their own?"

Permalink

"Long enough that it's rare among humans. You'd be able to, once you're a sorceress again, but I'd imagine you don't want to."

Permalink

"I don't actually know that that's something sorcery can do at all, but considering that any sorcerers who tried it would simply appear to have disappeared forever, maybe it is. Anyway, doesn't get me home. Is the accuracy of the device likely to improve any if we stay here for a while?"

Permalink

"Not appreciably. I might be able to tweak it a little more than I already did, but if you're worrying about unlikely things like volcanoes then there's always going to be some risk."

Permalink
Skeeve suddenly falls over. And snores.

An old man with a long beard walks triumphantly into the room, and then stops. "Thou'rt not he. Where is he who is called the Boss?" He fumbles in a pocket of his blue robe and draws out a handful of powder. "One of us two is prepared for this encounter!"

Hank answers, "I'm right here, Merlin. Can you stop with the whole nemesis thing already? You know you can't—" and then he imitates Skeeve. Merlin looks at Kithabel, reaches into a pocket again, and asks, "Side you with this false magician?"
Permalink

"Uh - we've barely met."

Permalink
"Excellent. Tell the king his pet magician has been bested in a sorcerous duel, and by none other than Merlin!"
He starts dragging Hank toward the door. Hank is larger than he is; it's not very effective.
Total: 227
Posts Per Page: