Andrea Has Yet More Questions
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 11583
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As Andrea and Jarlath left Mahmoud the Elder behind, the girl had yet more
questions
for her companion. "This Ishmael is the one whom I ran into before, isn't
he? He is obviously very dangerous.
Why do we have to find and slay him?" "Because I promised Mahmoud that I
would do so
in return for his aid. Where do you think I got the goat's blood and
brains from? Of
course, we could have used yours, if you'd have preferred it. Even then
I'd have needed
to get the Chaioth root from Mahmoud, though, to add to the mixture to
make it poisonous."
"But do we have the time for this? How long have we got till the moon rises again - nine hours or so? Do you think we can find and kill Ishmael, then return and kill Mahmoud, then find this Lost Grove, all within nine hours? And how can we possibly kill Ishmael, anyway?" "As I said before, but you don't appear to have taken to heart: trust is an important thing to learn... But I'll tell you this much. The real reason for our using Joab's iron cage was as a pretext for striking the bargain that would lead to his death." "Oh. So you have some other plan for when the moon rises? I shan't waste my time by asking you what it is. But can I ask you one more question?" Jarlath put on an air of great weariness. It was not wholly affected, however. Though his vision was a great comfort, sometimes he found the sheer predictability of what would happen - and not least Andrea's questions - to be tedious. Not to be deflected, Andrea continued: "From the things you have done since we met, despite your youth you must be a very powerful mage. Why was it my magic that the giant wanted to consume, rather than yours?" "Because I use magic, whilst you are magic. Besides, the spring of magic that I rely on is fast drying up now. Yours is still mostly buried beneath the surface, with only a trickle leaking out now and again, but before long it will burst forth in a mighty flood. Or at least, it will if you don't succeed in damming it, as you are threatening to do. The time is fast approaching when you are going to have to make a final choice between the magical and the bestial aspects of your nature. What would Fritha have wanted you to do?"
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JH
8/12/2000 3:10:59 AM
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