Thirteen Orphans by Jane Lindskold

Author:Jane Lindskold
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates
Published: 2011-10-16T16:00:00+00:00

16

Pearl didn’t want her two young partners to realize just how dangerous a creature lurked outside her house, especially since it was still held—if only barely—by her wards. If Brenda and Nissa realized just how great the danger was, they might panic and fail to feed her the ch’i Pearl would certainly need before this was over. Then, truly, they would be doomed.

The moon had many occupants, but only one was likely to be attracted by the bright coin that Brenda’s unintentional spell would have flashed when she drew that final tile.

The Three-Legged Toad.

The Three-Legged Toad was always attracted by things that were bright and shiny. There were tales told about the Immortal Liu Hai who had ridden the Toad, luring it to unwilling servitude by dangling a string of shiny gold coins. Pearl had no desire to control the Toad. All she wanted was to make it retreat to its home in the moon.

The Toad pawed with its one front paw against the wards and Pearl could feel them bending. The Toad was enormous, not simply by toad standards, but by any standards at all. After all, it could be seen up there on the moon by those who dwelt upon the Earth, so it must be enormous. And then Liu Hai had used it as a steed, so it must be at least the size of a horse.

Immortals were shaped by myth and legend. That was part of what made them so powerful.

“Pretty, pretty, pretty …” the Toad croaked, or something very like that. Pearl’s ward was one that granted unnoticeability along with protection from intrusion, but the toes on the Toad’s three legs had suction-cup pads and stuck to her ward as if it were a crystal globe and they the memories held within.

“Want the pretty, pretty, pretty …” the Toad clarified. His mouth was very wide, and the warts on his bumpy skin oozed little droplets that Pearl knew were a poison that caused heart palpitations and paralysis.

Pearl fed a little more ch’i to strengthen the wards, retaining sufficient to sustain her control over the winds and dragons when she summoned them. Then she ran her thoughts over the shape of her spell and found it ready.

She planned to summon the red dragon of the center, since its symbol was the walls around the world. She would then augment it with all four winds. The fourth wind would be the weakest, since it would only be represented by a pair, but that couldn’t be helped. She chose east for this weak wind, because east was the gentlest of the winds, and because she had plans for the others.

Pearl imagined her spell with the red dragon in the middle, an extra wall coiled around her wards, surrounded by the four winds. At her command, the spell came to life, and the Toad found itself buffeted. The cold of the north wind blew from above, making the Toad sluggish. The heat of the south wind dried the Toad’s

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