Date: Thursday, 29 Oct 1992 12:24:44 EST From: Message-ID: <92303.122444BANNON@MAINE.MAINE.EDU> Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: [R] Hazy leaves Karl with an urgent task References: <1992Oct25.221713.21631@midway.uchicago.edu> Hazy noticed Karl sit up on the bench that she had dragged him to after he started to collapse again. He seemed to be much more alert. She drifted over to him (invisible) and touched his forehead. He reacted quickly. Yes, he was definitely coming around. "Karl," she whispered on the breeze, "Listen please, I'm going to go set the pirate ship on fire." In her invisible form her voice took on a very strange quality. It seemed to have layers to it and it came from many directions. "It is very important to get the Arcas away from the pirate ship. I don't know how. I'm leaving that up to you and the others. Remember Karl, the pirate ship will soon be in flames and the Arcas must be moving away or we shall be in danger too! I'll start the blaze up high to try and buy us a little time." He was looking around confusedly. "Oh Karl!" she said, "Nod if you got that will you?" He stilled his head and nodded slowly. Then he dropped his head into his hands and gave a low moan. That would have to do. Hazy lifted off of the deck of the Arcas and sailed over to the pirate ship. She went over to the main mast and landed on a reefed topsail. A lightning strike was just a matter of motion. Whirling particles, positive and negative charges, friction. Hazy was invisible particles in motion, wild careening motion. The energy she was building began to show. She began to resemble a particularly virulent ball of St. Elmo's fire. Small bolts of electricity reached out from the center and clawed at the sky, brilliant and writhing. She kept the energy reined in and under control. There was only one place this bolt was going. A sound accompanied the display, a hissing, snapping and crackling. The time had come to let go the blast. The brightness of the lightning ball tripled for an instant and then there was a blinding flash that cast shadows briefly all over the deck of the ship and the sound of a minor explosion. By the time those on board looked up the sail was engulfed in flames. Hazy