Rough Magic by Jenny Schwartz

Author:Jenny Schwartz [Schwartz, Jenny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-04-06T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

“Now!” Rory said.

Nils dashed through the hastily formed portal. He’d support it from the far side.

Istvan and I followed, with Jarod and Digger on our heels.

The portal shuddered.

Rory leapt through. The desert behind him vanished with a peal of thunder.

Or maybe not thunder. The ground beneath my feet shook. Could there be such a thing as a reality-shake?

But musings—and greetings for Nora, Quossa and Daud who came to meet us—had to wait. The swift change from the heat of the desert to the cold of night in the Pontic Mountains was the last straw for my bladder. I lit my oil lamp and ran for the toilet block. Surviving the apocalypse had taught me that while life as we know it might end, biological imperatives remained, and working bathrooms were a treasure that should be utilized.

“Where are you running to?” Jarod kept pace with me.

“Bathroom.”

His pace slowed. Then matched mine. “Actually…”

Everyone from the expedition joined us, although Istvan broke away in the direction of the griffin-friendly facilities.

“It’s flipping cold,” Jarod said as he washed his hands afterwards. “Like ice cold.” He flicked water. “I think I prefer the desert.”

“At least we’re aboveground,” Digger said.

“Amen,” I agreed.

Jarod shook his head at our enthusiastic relief. He’d enjoyed the adventure.

Rory and Nils remained silent. It could have been for any number of reasons, but magic sickness, and hiding the symptoms, was part of it.

As we walked as a group to the cookhouse I asked in a low voice, “The spindle hasn’t helped at all? With the magic sickness?”

Rory put a hand at the small of my back. “We’re okay.” That meant no.

We’d retrieved the spindle, but we had to work out how to activate it—something Nora was keen to start on.

“Amy, Istvan said you have the spindle. Get it out.”

We weren’t even at the cookhouse, yet.

“Scientists.” The single word, rumbled with disgust, came from Thane standing in the doorway. Light spilled out around his big orc body. “They will eat, first.”

Nora spun and snapped her beak at him. “They can eat while I study the spindle.”

He was unimpressed by her posturing and attack. “You cannot even hold the spindle.” He moved out of the doorway. “Come in and eat. Be welcome, heroes.”

“Whatever you’re cooking smells great.” Jarod inhaled loudly. “I’m Jarod.”

“Thane. It is venison stew. Daud caught the buck.”

There were quick introductions while Thane served our meal.

I left my pack beside me, taking Thane’s advice to eat first and deal with the spindle in a few minutes. If his suggestion had been wrong, Rory or Istvan would have suggested getting the spindle out to pacify Nora who stood muttering fretfully.

“I have a haunch of venison stashed in a tree.” Daud led Istvan outside.

Quossa followed them.

“Good stew. Sorry we’re eating your dinner,” Digger said to Thane as the rest of us sat around the table.

“I made extra. Wasn’t sure when you’d return. If you hadn’t tonight, the scientists would have eaten it for breakfast. They’ll eat anything.”

The scorn in his voice was as rich as the savory stew.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.