Read Online The Oathbound Wizard-Wiz Rhyme-2 by Christopher Stasheff - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Christopher Stasheff
Tags: Fiction, General, Science-Fiction, Fantasy fiction, Fiction - Fantasy, Fantasy, Juvenile Fiction, Epic, Science Fiction; Fantasy; & Magic, Fantasy - Epic, Fantasy - General, Wizards
Ads: Link
dragons," Matt said softly. "There are good ones among 'em."
"Oh, yeah, sure, the way there are good sorcerers and good vultures! How the hell would you know, anyway?"
"Because I have one for a friend."
The dracogriff spun about with a roar.
Matt held on for dear life.
"Off!" the dracogriff bellowed. "Get off, this second! No friend of a dragon can be a friend of mine!"
He stilled just long enough for Matt to jump down--and to back away, fast.
"Sure--it's your back. And after what that louse did to you..."
"Not me!" the dracogriff howled. "Mama! What would you think of the kind of creature who could do a thing like that to a poor helpless female?"
"I'd want to draw and quarter him," Matt said promptly, "but I wouldn't blame the whole barrel for what one rotten apple did."
"Easy enough to say," the dracogriff spat, a small blue flame issuing from his jaws. "Easy enough to say, when it wasn't you it happened to!"
"Mere were a few men who went after the woman I love," Matt said evenly. "I fought them off, and I would cheerfully have given them permanent jobs in the middle of a cornfield, as an alternative for the crows--but I don't blame all men for it. And my dragon friend is a good being--loyal, fair, and courageous. Stegoman never would have stood by and watched a bully burn you up that way!"
"I don't believe it--but if he was that good, how come he wasn't there to call off that monster?"
"Probably because he was off with me, helping save Merovence. I wish he had been there--he might not have welcomed you with open arms, but he sure would have kept that bully off!"
"I don't believe it," the dracogriff said again, but his mood was turning down from rage into surliness. "I can't complain about you, though."
"Look, if you don't want me along for the ride, I'll--"
"No, no, come on!" The dracogriff turned broadside and crouched. "Up and at
'em! Just don't let's talk about dragons again, okay?"
"Yeah...sure." Slowly, Matt climbed back into the saddle. He was silent as the dracogriff turned away and started back down the slope again, but soon he said, "Is that why you're having trouble getting home?" The dracogriff gave a short nod. "Yeah. Mind you, it took me awhile to get going again--by the time that oversize worm roared off and left me, those burns were beginning to hurt--and I mean hurt! Not to mention the stink of burning feathers. Took me two months just to grow my skin back, and I couldn't catch much to eat the whole time--just the odd rabbit that came too near. So after I could walk again, it took another month just building up my strength--and all thanks to a brainless brute, a flaming idiot!"
"Then you began to walk home?"
"No way I was going to fly! And let me tell you, you don't know what distance is till you've tried to hike it! I came across Ibile in three days, flying--and I scarcely made a hundred miles in three days, running! Then I came to that blagstabbering thing with the fake smile and the red neck and the loud voice, and it chased me back twenty miles! I just barely got away from him, and that sorcerer popped up with his wineskin and funnel--and didn't we have a jolly dance before I figured I'd better run faster than he could spell!"
"And that's how it's been ever since?"
"Right. I gain thirty miles, and I run into some new kind of monster I've never seen before--what do they do in Ibile, hold contests to see who can breed up the worst new fright?"
Matt shrugged. "I dunno. Wouldn't surprise me, though, from what I've heard about this place. How've you managed to stay away from the sorcerer?"
"Well, I think he's not too good," the dracogriff confided, "for which, praise Heaven. But every time he comes up with a spell to hold me, I manage to find a hole in it. Like, the first time, he drew a pentacle with a one-foot gap in one of the lines, and crouched there in hiding waiting for me to step in, so he could jump out, finish drawing the line, and shout the last phrase of the spell."
"But
"Oh, yeah, sure, the way there are good sorcerers and good vultures! How the hell would you know, anyway?"
"Because I have one for a friend."
The dracogriff spun about with a roar.
Matt held on for dear life.
"Off!" the dracogriff bellowed. "Get off, this second! No friend of a dragon can be a friend of mine!"
He stilled just long enough for Matt to jump down--and to back away, fast.
"Sure--it's your back. And after what that louse did to you..."
"Not me!" the dracogriff howled. "Mama! What would you think of the kind of creature who could do a thing like that to a poor helpless female?"
"I'd want to draw and quarter him," Matt said promptly, "but I wouldn't blame the whole barrel for what one rotten apple did."
"Easy enough to say," the dracogriff spat, a small blue flame issuing from his jaws. "Easy enough to say, when it wasn't you it happened to!"
"Mere were a few men who went after the woman I love," Matt said evenly. "I fought them off, and I would cheerfully have given them permanent jobs in the middle of a cornfield, as an alternative for the crows--but I don't blame all men for it. And my dragon friend is a good being--loyal, fair, and courageous. Stegoman never would have stood by and watched a bully burn you up that way!"
"I don't believe it--but if he was that good, how come he wasn't there to call off that monster?"
"Probably because he was off with me, helping save Merovence. I wish he had been there--he might not have welcomed you with open arms, but he sure would have kept that bully off!"
"I don't believe it," the dracogriff said again, but his mood was turning down from rage into surliness. "I can't complain about you, though."
"Look, if you don't want me along for the ride, I'll--"
"No, no, come on!" The dracogriff turned broadside and crouched. "Up and at
'em! Just don't let's talk about dragons again, okay?"
"Yeah...sure." Slowly, Matt climbed back into the saddle. He was silent as the dracogriff turned away and started back down the slope again, but soon he said, "Is that why you're having trouble getting home?" The dracogriff gave a short nod. "Yeah. Mind you, it took me awhile to get going again--by the time that oversize worm roared off and left me, those burns were beginning to hurt--and I mean hurt! Not to mention the stink of burning feathers. Took me two months just to grow my skin back, and I couldn't catch much to eat the whole time--just the odd rabbit that came too near. So after I could walk again, it took another month just building up my strength--and all thanks to a brainless brute, a flaming idiot!"
"Then you began to walk home?"
"No way I was going to fly! And let me tell you, you don't know what distance is till you've tried to hike it! I came across Ibile in three days, flying--and I scarcely made a hundred miles in three days, running! Then I came to that blagstabbering thing with the fake smile and the red neck and the loud voice, and it chased me back twenty miles! I just barely got away from him, and that sorcerer popped up with his wineskin and funnel--and didn't we have a jolly dance before I figured I'd better run faster than he could spell!"
"And that's how it's been ever since?"
"Right. I gain thirty miles, and I run into some new kind of monster I've never seen before--what do they do in Ibile, hold contests to see who can breed up the worst new fright?"
Matt shrugged. "I dunno. Wouldn't surprise me, though, from what I've heard about this place. How've you managed to stay away from the sorcerer?"
"Well, I think he's not too good," the dracogriff confided, "for which, praise Heaven. But every time he comes up with a spell to hold me, I manage to find a hole in it. Like, the first time, he drew a pentacle with a one-foot gap in one of the lines, and crouched there in hiding waiting for me to step in, so he could jump out, finish drawing the line, and shout the last phrase of the spell."
"But
Similar Books
