Mything Persons

I patted her shoulder in what I hoped was a reassuring

way.

"Well, give it a try and we'll find out."

She nodded, wrapped one arm around my chest, and

used her other hand to play with the jewels on her belt

buckle.

There was a sparkle of light, but beyond that nothing.

"Not enough juice," she mumbled to herself.

"So turn it up already," I urged.

- Even if the vampires tended to avoid light, we were lit

up like a Christmas tree and bound to attract attention

if we stayed at ground level much longer.

"Cross your fingers," she said grimly and touched

the jewels again.

The light intensified and we started up fast ... too

fast.

"Careful, Boss!" Guido shouted and grabbed my

legs as they went past him.

That brought our progress to a halt... well, almost.

Instead of rocketing up into the night, we were rising

slowly, almost imperceptibly.

"That's got it, High Roller!" Massha exclaimed,

shifting her grip to hang onto me with both arms. "A

100 Robert Asprin

little more ballast than I had planned on, though."

I considered briefly telling Guido to let go, but re-

jected the thought. If the bodyguard released his grip,

we'd doubtless resume our previous speed... and while

a lot of folks at the Bazaar talked about my meteoric

rise, I'd just as soon keep the phrase figurative. There

was also the minor detail that we were already at a

height where it would be dangerous for Guido to try

dropping back to the street. There was that, and his

death-grip on my legs.

"Don't tell me, let me guess," I called down to him.

"You're acrophobic, too?"

The view of Blut that was unfolding beneath us was

truly breathtaking. Truly! My life these days was so

cluttered with crisis and dangers that a little thing like

looking down on buildings didn't bother me much, but

even I was finding it hard to breathe when confronted

up close with sheer walls adorned with stone creatures.

Still, until I felt his fingernails biting into my calves, it

had never occurred to me that such things might upset a

rough-and-tumble guy like Guido.

"Naw. I got nothin' against spiders," he replied nerv-

ously. "It's heights that scare me."

I let that one go. I was busy studying the tower which

could be viewed much more clearly from this altitude. If

anything, it looked stronger than the portion of the

building that was below us. One feature captured my at-

tention, though. The top portion of the tower, the part I

assumed was Aahz's cell, was shaped like a large

dragon's head. The window I had been expecting was

actually the creature's mouth, with its teeth serving as

bars.

I should have anticipated something like that, realiz-

ing the abundance of stone animals on every other

building in town. Still, it came as a bit of a surprise...

MYTH-ING PERSONS 101

but a pleasant surprise. I had been trying to figure a way

to get through iron bars, but stone teeth might be a bit

easier. Maybe with Aahz working from the inside and us

working from the outside, we could loosen the mortar

and....

I suddenly realized that in a few moments we would

be level with the cell... and that a few moments after

that we'd be past it! Unless something was done, and

done fast, to halt our upward progress, we'd only have

time for a few quick words with Aahz before parting

company permanently. With time running out fast, I

cast about for a solution.

The wall was too far away to grab onto, and there was

no way to increase our weight, unless....

When Aahz first taught me to fly, he explained the

process as "levitation in reverse." That is, instead of

using the mind to lift objects, you push against the

ground and lift yourself. Focusing my reservoir of magi-

cal energy, I used a small portion to try flying in reverse.

Instead of pushing up, I pushed down!

Okay. So I was desperate. In a crisis, I'll try anything,

however stupid. Fortunately, this stupid idea worked!

Our upward progress slowed to a halt with me hang-

ing at eye-level with the cell's dragon mouth.

Trying not to show my relief, I raised my voice.

"Hey, Aahz! When are visiting hours?"

For a moment there was no response, and I had a sud-

den fear that we were hanging a hundred feet in the air

outside an empty cell. Then my partner's unmistakable

countenance appeared in the window.

"Skeeve?" he said in a skeptical voice. "Skeeve!

What are you doing out there?"

"Oh, we were just in the neighborhood and thought

we'd drop in," I replied in my best nonchalant voice.

"Heard you were in a bit of trouble and thought we'd

102

MYTH-ING PERSONS 103

Robert Asprin

better get you out before it got serious."

"Who's we?" my partner demanded, then he focused

on my assistants. "Oh no! Those two? Where are Tan-

anda and Chumley? C'mon, Skeeve. I need a rescue

team and you bring me a circus act!"

"It's the best I could do on short notice," I shot

back, slightly annoyed. "Tananda and Chumley aren't

back from their own work yet, but I left a message for

them to catch up with us if they could. Of course, I'm

not sure how much help they'll be. In case you're

wondering why I'm being carried by my apprentice in-