to carry; everyone is the Atlas of his own world. It’s no one else’s fault that you were only beginning to understand the rules of the game after
thirty-something years.
Juffin pried me away from my thoughts.
“You know, Max, you yourself just came up with a brilliant metaphor with those calculators of yours. That is approximately what is going on here. When a powerful Magician realizes he
cannot enter the Corridor between Worlds by himself, he can turn into what is called a Rider. He finds a person who is capable of traveling between Worlds, and then he captures that person’s
spirit. For someone who has mastered the higher degrees of Apparent Magic, this is a piece of cake. Ideally, of course, you’d want to capture the spirit of some madman: they are often very
talented, and what’s more, they have no clue about their own talents or the possible uses thereof. Besides, their spirits don’t belong to anyone anyway.”
Juffin fell silent and took a good look at Lonli-Lokli. Apparently he liked what he saw, so he continued. “Given enough magical power, one can capture or possess not just someone’s
spirit but also his body. The body of someone who was born for magical travels. Now, if one really tries, one can also capture all the powers of one’s captive. The captive then dies, and the
lucky captor keeps a great deal of the victim’s talent. People like you or me are of no interest to him: we are too dangerous to deal with since we know what we do, more or less, and can put
up resistance.”
Another pause. Now the boss was looking at me.
“Although . . . You know, I wasn’t going to tell you this so as not to scare you beforehand. Now you know, and this knowledge might come in handy. One such clever fellow already
tried to straddle you when you traveled back to your home World. He failed, but you almost lost your memory, thanks to him: the bastard really stunned you. So, how do you like them
apples?”
I was shocked and dismayed, but recovered quickly. No doubt I had begun getting used to unpleasant surprises.
“So that’s why I couldn’t remember anything about my life in Echo! If I were a little weaker, I’d have thought I’d just seen a wonderful dream. But you should have
told me sooner, Juffin. I should know such things about myself.”
“What’s the point? If I’d told you, you might have been too scared to even try traveling between Worlds again,” said Juffin. “I was going to look for your fellow
traveler, but then I got hooked on your ‘cartoons’ and thought I could put off looking for the Rider for a while. You weren’t in any immediate danger: after such a crushing
defeat, the Rider wouldn’t have tried to bother you—believe me, I know his kind.”
“Fine,” I said. “Magicians be with you and that failed tourist.” I turned to Lonli-Lokli. “So does this mean you can travel between Worlds, too, Shurf?”
“Not yet. But I will someday. That time has not yet come. In my life, everything happens slowly. It is my destiny.”
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to get used to the thought that that time has already come,” said Juffin. “Don’t you get it? It didn’t go exactly how
you and I had planned it, Sir Shurf. This fidgety fellow”—he nodded in my direction—“stirred you up a bit sooner than he should have and was punished for it.”
“Hey! I didn’t stir anyone up,” I said. “Quit speaking in riddles.”
“If there’s anything I’m really certain about, it’s that I’m tired of speaking in riddles,” said Juffin, mocking my earlier line. “Fair enough,
I’ll explain. You accidentally, one might say out of sheer idiocy, dragged Shurf into your dreams. I believe you both know what I’m talking about. Then there were your joint walks
around the outskirts of Kettari. All of this resulted in Sir Shurf being in dangerous—or, I should say, dubious—situations: he is already quite capable of journeying between Worlds, but
thirty-something years.
Juffin pried me away from my thoughts.
“You know, Max, you yourself just came up with a brilliant metaphor with those calculators of yours. That is approximately what is going on here. When a powerful Magician realizes he
cannot enter the Corridor between Worlds by himself, he can turn into what is called a Rider. He finds a person who is capable of traveling between Worlds, and then he captures that person’s
spirit. For someone who has mastered the higher degrees of Apparent Magic, this is a piece of cake. Ideally, of course, you’d want to capture the spirit of some madman: they are often very
talented, and what’s more, they have no clue about their own talents or the possible uses thereof. Besides, their spirits don’t belong to anyone anyway.”
Juffin fell silent and took a good look at Lonli-Lokli. Apparently he liked what he saw, so he continued. “Given enough magical power, one can capture or possess not just someone’s
spirit but also his body. The body of someone who was born for magical travels. Now, if one really tries, one can also capture all the powers of one’s captive. The captive then dies, and the
lucky captor keeps a great deal of the victim’s talent. People like you or me are of no interest to him: we are too dangerous to deal with since we know what we do, more or less, and can put
up resistance.”
Another pause. Now the boss was looking at me.
“Although . . . You know, I wasn’t going to tell you this so as not to scare you beforehand. Now you know, and this knowledge might come in handy. One such clever fellow already
tried to straddle you when you traveled back to your home World. He failed, but you almost lost your memory, thanks to him: the bastard really stunned you. So, how do you like them
apples?”
I was shocked and dismayed, but recovered quickly. No doubt I had begun getting used to unpleasant surprises.
“So that’s why I couldn’t remember anything about my life in Echo! If I were a little weaker, I’d have thought I’d just seen a wonderful dream. But you should have
told me sooner, Juffin. I should know such things about myself.”
“What’s the point? If I’d told you, you might have been too scared to even try traveling between Worlds again,” said Juffin. “I was going to look for your fellow
traveler, but then I got hooked on your ‘cartoons’ and thought I could put off looking for the Rider for a while. You weren’t in any immediate danger: after such a crushing
defeat, the Rider wouldn’t have tried to bother you—believe me, I know his kind.”
“Fine,” I said. “Magicians be with you and that failed tourist.” I turned to Lonli-Lokli. “So does this mean you can travel between Worlds, too, Shurf?”
“Not yet. But I will someday. That time has not yet come. In my life, everything happens slowly. It is my destiny.”
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to get used to the thought that that time has already come,” said Juffin. “Don’t you get it? It didn’t go exactly how
you and I had planned it, Sir Shurf. This fidgety fellow”—he nodded in my direction—“stirred you up a bit sooner than he should have and was punished for it.”
“Hey! I didn’t stir anyone up,” I said. “Quit speaking in riddles.”
“If there’s anything I’m really certain about, it’s that I’m tired of speaking in riddles,” said Juffin, mocking my earlier line. “Fair enough,
I’ll explain. You accidentally, one might say out of sheer idiocy, dragged Shurf into your dreams. I believe you both know what I’m talking about. Then there were your joint walks
around the outskirts of Kettari. All of this resulted in Sir Shurf being in dangerous—or, I should say, dubious—situations: he is already quite capable of journeying between Worlds, but
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