MA11-12 Myth-ion Improbable Something Myth-Inc by Robert Asprin Page A

though it tired me out, was a lot better than riding horses, let alone doing the job it would take to pay for one.
    We got into town as people were starting to close up their businesses and shutter the windows.
    “You weren’t kidding, were you?” Tananda said as we walked down the now mostly deserted sidewalk.
    “They’re afraid of something that comes out at night,” I said. “I have no idea what it might be.”
    As we passed in front of Audry’s, my friend the bartender waved from inside the window. I tipped my hat back at him. These people might be strange vegetarians who were afraid of the dark, but they sure were nice. We passed the hotel without Aahz even hesitating. And I didn’t say anything either. The last thing I wanted to let my mentor know was that the fear the locals felt had gotten to me as well during my one-night stay here. On the other side of town we stepped off the sidewalk and just kept walking, past a few homes with the shutters already drawn and bolted. Ten minutes later, with the sun still not touching the tops of the hills to the west, Aahz gave the all-clear.
    Again I touched each of them, pulled in the power, and lifted us, sending us down the road as fast as I dared take us, considering I had to make sharp corners and steep hills.
    This time I lasted ten minutes before I had to stop. Water and a quick rest got me going again, just as the sun started to set. From what I could tell, we were a long way yet from Baker. It was getting noticeably cooler, which was also helping me.
    “Can you keep going?” Tananda asked as I stopped for a second time and sat down on a rock beside the road.
    “We’re making good speed,” Aahz said, clearly satisfied with our progress.
    “We are,” Tananda said, “but this is hard on Skeeve.”
    “I can keep going,” I said, taking one more drink and then standing. “I just need to rest every ten minutes or so.”
    “Understandable,” Aahz said. “For someone of your level of skill.”
    “For someone of any level,” Tananda said, stepping to my defense. “There’s not much power in this area. He’s having to pull from a ways off.”
    “That true?” Aahz asked me.
    “It is,” I said. “But I said I can keep going and I can.”
    “Then we go when you’re ready,” Aahz said. “We don’t have much light left and we won’t be able to make the speed we are making now at night.”
    It was clear we were going to spend a night outside on Kowtow and face what an entire population was afraid to face.
    Aahz didn’t seem to be worried.
    Tananda had said nothing.
    I was just the apprentice. What place was it for me to say anything?
    In the west the sun was slowly setting. In the east an almost full moon was starting to come up over the horizon. In a few days the full moon would signal another fear in the people who lived here: the round-up.
    I pushed the thoughts and fears from my mind, focused on bringing in as much power as I could, then lifted us knee-high off the ground and headed down the road as fast as I could take us.
    The sun had almost set completely by the time I stopped for my next break. There was still no sign of the town of Baker.
    Okay, I’m the first to admit when I’m being stupid, if it’s pointed out to me. Luckily I had had enough common sense to not tell Aahz and Tananda how worried I was about the darkness, so they didn’t get the chance to point any of my stupidity when we ran into no problems at all after it turned dark.
    The first part of the trip was fairly easy. It took me three more rest stops, and, it was well after the sun had set by the time we got to Baker. The town was buttoned up tighter than anything I had ever seen. In the moonlight the buildings looked haunted and strange, more like monster-boxes than structures. Very little light got past any of the shutters, but the almost-full moon was giving us enough light to see by to stay on the road.
    Baker looked to be about twice the size of Evade, and was spread