asked.
So it seems.
Mace looked ill. There was one thrown into my room as well, he said. It wakened me, and I turned on the light and picked it up. I couldn't see what it could be, and the burning tallow seemed to sputter out an inch or so before it reached the tube. A dud, I suppose. A faulty fuse. But if it had not been, it would have exploded in my face!
----
4
The tube is packed with highly explosive gun powder, and when the flame of the fuse reaches the capped end and burns through this tightly sealed hole, the result is a controlled explosion. Sandow and his two step-sons sat at the kitchen table, drinking brew at an ungodly hour and staring at the two deadly, unexploded sticks of dynamite before them.
But gun powder is still a lost art. Every few years, someone seems to think they've got it figured out, but none of them ever come up with anything. Even what pre-Blank weapons we have are useless because they have no ammunition.
This is so, Gregor, Sandow said. But I would think that these ugly things we see before us-and the one which would have killed you-do not come from the Darklands. They come from Oragonia and were imported there from the eastern regions beyond the Cloud Range.
Spies! Mace gasped, slamming a big fist into the table so hard that the two sticks of explosives bounced up and down.
I doubt those things detonate from shock, Gregor said. But if you wish to test that theory, please do so on your own, somewhere far from the house. He turned to his master. Do you suppose our gorilla here is correct? Spies from Oragonia come to be certain we do not accompany the expedition to the east?
So it appears, Shaker Sandow said. Now that we are aware that there is treachery within Commander Richter's Banibaleers, we can be more watchful, less sheepish prey. But someone should warn the good commander himself.
I will, Gregor said, pushing his chair back and rising from the table.
Mace grasped his arm and pulled the fair young boy back into his seat. You will stay right here, with the master, Mace said. Ill go to see Commander Richter, for I am much more capable of handling whatever trickery and violence may be waiting on the way or at the inns themselves. It is unlikely that our assassin would return here again tonight, since he will know how ready we are for him. Or else he thinks us dead.
Gregor began to argue, but the Shaker agreed with the giant and put an end to any possible argument. The old man mused on his luck in obtaining both these lads. Not only was Gregor a latent Shaker whose powers were just beginning to come to the fore, but he was possessed of courage and a certain amount of daring on top of his intellect. So many Shakers, Sandow knew, were withered, helpless recluses who frowned upon physical bravery. Not so Gregor. And Mace. Aye, there was a blessing too. It was seldom one found a giant like Mace who combined those powerful muscles and quick reflexes with a cunning and intelligence the equal of any. Mace might sometimes pretend the buffoon, but beneath that clownish skin lay a calculating, clever man.
Go now, the Shaker said. Every moment you delay may endanger the lives of Commander Richter and his men. The assassin, if he realizes he failed here, may try to wreak havoc on the troops in order to force the rest of them back home for reinforcements.
Mace got up and started out of the kitchen, stopping only long enough to strap a knife sheath to his belt and drop a wickedly sharp dagger into it. Then he was gone
As Commander Richter had jested earlier in the day, the streets of the mountain village of Perdune were steep. There
So it seems.
Mace looked ill. There was one thrown into my room as well, he said. It wakened me, and I turned on the light and picked it up. I couldn't see what it could be, and the burning tallow seemed to sputter out an inch or so before it reached the tube. A dud, I suppose. A faulty fuse. But if it had not been, it would have exploded in my face!
----
4
The tube is packed with highly explosive gun powder, and when the flame of the fuse reaches the capped end and burns through this tightly sealed hole, the result is a controlled explosion. Sandow and his two step-sons sat at the kitchen table, drinking brew at an ungodly hour and staring at the two deadly, unexploded sticks of dynamite before them.
But gun powder is still a lost art. Every few years, someone seems to think they've got it figured out, but none of them ever come up with anything. Even what pre-Blank weapons we have are useless because they have no ammunition.
This is so, Gregor, Sandow said. But I would think that these ugly things we see before us-and the one which would have killed you-do not come from the Darklands. They come from Oragonia and were imported there from the eastern regions beyond the Cloud Range.
Spies! Mace gasped, slamming a big fist into the table so hard that the two sticks of explosives bounced up and down.
I doubt those things detonate from shock, Gregor said. But if you wish to test that theory, please do so on your own, somewhere far from the house. He turned to his master. Do you suppose our gorilla here is correct? Spies from Oragonia come to be certain we do not accompany the expedition to the east?
So it appears, Shaker Sandow said. Now that we are aware that there is treachery within Commander Richter's Banibaleers, we can be more watchful, less sheepish prey. But someone should warn the good commander himself.
I will, Gregor said, pushing his chair back and rising from the table.
Mace grasped his arm and pulled the fair young boy back into his seat. You will stay right here, with the master, Mace said. Ill go to see Commander Richter, for I am much more capable of handling whatever trickery and violence may be waiting on the way or at the inns themselves. It is unlikely that our assassin would return here again tonight, since he will know how ready we are for him. Or else he thinks us dead.
Gregor began to argue, but the Shaker agreed with the giant and put an end to any possible argument. The old man mused on his luck in obtaining both these lads. Not only was Gregor a latent Shaker whose powers were just beginning to come to the fore, but he was possessed of courage and a certain amount of daring on top of his intellect. So many Shakers, Sandow knew, were withered, helpless recluses who frowned upon physical bravery. Not so Gregor. And Mace. Aye, there was a blessing too. It was seldom one found a giant like Mace who combined those powerful muscles and quick reflexes with a cunning and intelligence the equal of any. Mace might sometimes pretend the buffoon, but beneath that clownish skin lay a calculating, clever man.
Go now, the Shaker said. Every moment you delay may endanger the lives of Commander Richter and his men. The assassin, if he realizes he failed here, may try to wreak havoc on the troops in order to force the rest of them back home for reinforcements.
Mace got up and started out of the kitchen, stopping only long enough to strap a knife sheath to his belt and drop a wickedly sharp dagger into it. Then he was gone
As Commander Richter had jested earlier in the day, the streets of the mountain village of Perdune were steep. There
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