Ultima(#1): Machinations by Austen Andrews

Author:Austen Andrews
Language: eng
Format: epub

Chapter 8

Secrets of the Black Goar

Jatha the Meer laid down his tall ears, wrinkled his nose and commented, "If you’re open to honest criticism, Fairfax, this is without question one of the most degrading acts I have ever seen."

The wizard and the ranger lurked in a sunlit ravine, spiky with grass and reeds. Dried rivulets on the slopes had uncovered roots from the trees of the surrounding forest. These thick, twisting projections served as footholds for the two men.

Jatha balanced atop a fat oak elbow and watched Fairfax at work. The ranger’s burst of yellow hair was pulled back into a knot. The rest of the man was spread out low, nearly prone to the ground. Each hand and foot perched upon a different curl of root, arranged so that his face was near the muddy slope. It was an impressive feat of strength and agility.

He was sniffing a large, black pyramid of dung pellets nes-ded among the grass and muck. Insects buzzed around his head.

Jatha crossed his arms. "I believe that I shall indulge in a presumption, my dear friend, that moments such as this are the reason why women run away from you."

"Women don’t run away from me!" Fairfax protested in a voice muffled by its proximity to the earth.

"They certainly don't run toward you. Like dogs, they can sense when something is not entirely palatable." He rotated his head, trying to get a better view, until his furred cheek touched his shoulder. "You’ll admit it to yourself presently. The Black Goat is named after a local legend, not local fauna. That’s only deer spoor you’re examining."

"No, it’s not!" Fairfax grunted as he extracted himself from the hazardous perch. His well-worn leather garb creaked as he stood. "That pile began on the inside of a black goat. And if you’re bold enough to wager a pitcher on it, I’ll pit my proof against your skepticism."

Jatha smirked. He tapped his companion on the chest. "Done! On the condition that you wash your face before we share any manner of comestibles."

The ranger laughed. " ‘Comestibles!’ Very good." With a dun-colored sleeve he wiped the sweat from his brow. "If you had any knowledge of spoor whatsoever, those big eyes of yours would recognize the difference between deer droppings and goat droppings. Those came from a goat. But my proof is more obvious. The black goat, as you know, is a carnivorous animal of supernatural ancestry. Even an untrained observer can distinguish between dung fashioned from meat and that formed from vegetation, as an ordinary goat would produce." The Meer twitched his ears and sighed. "I suspect your point must be forthcoming."

Fairfax tapped his nose. "The difference in odor is unquestionable. I say that those pellets fell from a carnivorous goat. On your knees now, master wizard, and tell me that I’m wrong."

Jatha patted the ranger's shoulder. "Better I buy the pitcher than consent to that. I surrender the point. Without a doubt you have a better head for dung than I.

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