Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn From: spider@zk3.dec.com (Spider Boardman USG/bossec) Subject: [Jac] Trackless waste Message-ID: Date: Tue, 13 Jul 1993 02:40:53 GMT A horse and its rider were moving across the desert in twilight of false dawn. The man unslung a canteen from the back of the saddle and took a drink. After a glance back from the horse, they stopped. The man then hopped down and gave some water to the stallion. The horse broke the silence in a neighing facsimile of human speech, by asking, "How much longer are we going to be in this trackless waste?" The man grinned, and with a glint in his eye and a hint of menace in his voice he answered, "I supposed we *could* take a short cut...." The horse snorted and folded back his ears, remembering their previous trip through the non-spatial Void between the so-called universes. The man laughed heartily, but briefly, and then said, "Based on what they told me at the keep, we should reach the gate in about two more days. Of course, their directions weren't the best, so it may take another day or two before we locate it." The horse snorted and nodded. The man repacked the canteen while examining their surroundings. "It looks like we'll want to hole up for the day just over that next hill. Tell you what--I'll race you there!" With that, they were both off and running. The ground thundered and shook under the charger's hooves as he quickly opened a lead. As the race wore on, however, the horse began to slow, while the man's grueling pace never faltered. As they neared the top of the hill, the man had nearly caught up to the horse. Suddenly, the horse put on another burst of speed, and reached the top 400 meters ahead of his companion. As he waited there, be blew some foam and pranced a bit to keep from chilling after his hard run. When the man caught up, the horse called out, "Beat you this time, Jac!" The man laughed and patted the horse on the neck. "So you did, Windrunner. You're pacing yourself pretty well these days. Now, let's head down into the cleft just down the north side here, and I'll give you a good rubdown before we set up camp." After the horse's rubdown, Jac set up the daycover on its poles. He set out the vapor trap, to refill the canteens, and have some grain to Windrunner. Finally he started a small fire, and heated up some coffee while relaxing with his pipe. He then ate some jerked beef, and set out his bedroll. He sat a while after Windrunner had fallen asleep, lost in thought. Finally, he too slept, before resuming their journey the next evening. -- Spider Boardman spider@zk3.dec.com DEC OSF/1 development ...!decvax!spider I don't speak for DEC, and vice versa.