[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
ods%203%20-%20Vengeance%20of%20the%20Danc.txt by this time not to be fooled,
either. And don't ever forget that both know you, Boquillas in particular, and
know the powers and limits of Kauri."
"I understand. Don't worry. The Kauri are nothing'if not careful about such
things."
"Well, it only takes one slip and the tremendous power you'll feel over there,
as you are, may blind you to your dangers and limitations. I can give you, and
Poquah as well, spells to protect you against the routine iron of Earth, but
it is only limited protection and iron will still bum, scar, and even kill if
it penetrates your skins. So much contains iron there that you'll have to be
on constant guard."
Joe's eyebrows rose and he looked at the Imir. "You're coming, too?"
"I am a wizard of considerable strength who has spent some time on Earth,"
Poquah replied calmly. "My powers are more than sufficient for concealment and
will also aid, I suspect, in locating and penetrating the plot. I am just
61
JACK L. CHALKER
below the power threshold established by the wish. Why?
Do you object?"
Joe remembered the Imir's courage and dedication in their previous bouts with
the Baron. "No, of course not.
Glad to have you."
"I assume that what goes for Joe goes for me as well,"
said Tiana, feeling left out.
Ruddygore sighed. "No, my dear, I'm afraid it doesn't.
You can't go."
She stood up angrily, a very formidable sight. "I am going!"
"You cannot. Even if we could find some way to fake the Goddess's departure
for what might prove a great length of time, and even if we could convince the
Council to allow the risk of your not getting back, it still won't work."
"I was born here, yes, but I was raised and educated in Europe! I am as much
of Earth as these two!"
"Not quite, but, yes, I'll grant you that you would be a valuable addition;
but, you see, it just isn't possible.
The wish Dacaro used against wizards blocks power, not skill. You are over the
wizard threshold, my dear. You are too powerful. The wish prevents you, not
I."
She looked at Joe, stricken, and Joe looked back with equal anguish. In more
than five years they'd been an
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%2...ods%203%20-%20Vengeance%20of%2
0the%20Danc.txt (47 of 242) [1/19/03 4:31:02 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%20Jack%20L%20-%20The%20Dancing%20G
ods%203%20-%20Vengeance%20of%20the%20Danc.txt inseparable team. "Then I won't
go, either," Joe said flatly.
The anger and frustration seemed to subside in Tiana.
"Yes you will, my love," she responded with a wistful sigh. "You must. Not
only is this far bigger than just the two of us, but I think the Rules and
your own nature command it. If you could go, and did not, it would eat at you
forever. If none of them came back, you would not be able to live with
yourself, wondering. I could not stand to see that happen to you. You will
go."
Page 37
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Joe still looked uncertain. "We'll see," he muttered under his breath.
"There is a gray area here that must be addressed,"
Ruddygore told them. "The Rules apply here, and they
62 VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS
apply to all of us, but they do not apply to Earth. That means we won't need
an unwieldy seven or more for our company, but it also means that Marge will
remain a Kauri, bound by Kauri rules as well as her own nature, and the same
for the others. This is also true, to a degree, for
Dacaro and Boquillas, particularly when interacting with ones from here. I
would not be too concerned about it, though. It certainly will not be Marge
who takes on Dacaro in the end."
"Yeah, well, that's the point, isn't it?" Joe snapped. "I
mean, you're gonna drop us over there cold, at which time we somehow have to
find out where in a country three thousand miles wide and two hundred million
strong they're hiding, then take on a super-powerful wizard with no wizard to
match, all without being picked up and locked away in some looney bin by the
cops. It's crazy!"
"Actually, it's more like two hundred and fifty million people," the wizard
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]