sweet, musty darkness.
There was the creak of a chocolate floorboard outside. Someone said “I heard voices.”
Someone else said, “Yeah, downstairs. I think it’s the Hoodwinkers.”
“I thought you said we’d given them the slip!”
“Hey, you two, you can eat this place! Here, look you can—”
“Shut up!”
There was a lot more creaking, and a muffled scream from downstairs where a Venerable Seer, creeping carefully through the darkness from the broken window, had trodden on the fingers of a Hoodwinker who was hiding under the table. There was the sudden zip and zing of magic.
“Bugger!” said a voice outside. “They’ve got him! Let’s go!”
There was more creaking, and then silence. After a while Twoflower said, “Rincewind, I think there’s a broomstick in this cupboard.”
“Well, what’s so unusual about that?”
“This one’s got handlebars.”
There was a piercing shriek from below. In the darkness a wizard had tried to open the Luggage’s lid. A crash from the scullery indicated the sudden arrival of a party of Illuminated Mages of the Unbroken Circle.
“What do you think they’re after?” whispered Twoflower.
“I don’t know, but I think it might be a good idea not to find out,” said Rincewind thoughtfully.
“You could be right.”
Rincewind pushed open the door gingerly. The room was empty. He tiptoed across to the window, and looked down into the upturned faces of three Brothers of the Order of Midnight.
“That’s him!”
He drew back hurriedly and rushed for the stairs.
The scene below was indescribable but since that statement would earn the death penalty in the reign of Olaf Quimby II the attempt better be made. Firstly, most of the struggling wizards were trying to illuminate the scene by various flames, fireballs and magical glows, so the overall lighting gave the impression of a disco in a strobe-light factory; each man was trying to find a position from which he could see the rest of the room without being attacked himself, and absolutely everyone was trying to keep out of the way of the Luggage, which had two Venerable Seers pinned in a corner and was snapping its lid at anyone who approached. But one wizard did happen to look up.
“It’s him!”
Rincewind jerked back, and something bumped into him. He looked around hurriedly, and stared when he saw Twoflower sitting on the broomstick—which was floating in midair.
“The witch must have left it behind!” said Twoflower. “A genuine magic broomstick!”
Rincewind hesitated. Octarine sparks were spitting off the broomstick’s bristles and he hated heights almost more than anything else, but what he really hated more than anything at all was a dozen very angryand bad-tempered wizards rushing up the stairs toward him, and this was happening.
“All right,” he said, “but I’ll drive.”
He lashed out with a boot at a wizard who was halfway through a Spell of Binding and jumped onto the broomstick, which bobbed down the stairwell and then turned upside down so that Rincewind was horribly eye to eye with a Brother of Midnight.
He yelped and gave the handlebars a convulsive twist.
Several things happened at once. The broomstick shot forward and broke through the wall in a shower of crumbs; the Luggage surged forward and bit the Brother in the leg; and with a strange whistling sound an arrow appeared from nowhere, missed Rincewind by inches, and struck the Luggage’s lid with a very solid thud.
The Luggage vanished.
In a little village deep in the forest an ancient shaman threw a few more twigs on his fire and stared through the smoke at his shamefaced apprentice.
“A box with legs on?” he said.
“Yes, master. It just appeared out of the sky and looked at me,” said the apprentice.
“It had eyes then, this box?”
“N—” began the apprentice and stopped, puzzled. The old man frowned.
“Many have seen Topaxci, God of the Red Mushroom, and they earn the name of shaman,”
There was the creak of a chocolate floorboard outside. Someone said “I heard voices.”
Someone else said, “Yeah, downstairs. I think it’s the Hoodwinkers.”
“I thought you said we’d given them the slip!”
“Hey, you two, you can eat this place! Here, look you can—”
“Shut up!”
There was a lot more creaking, and a muffled scream from downstairs where a Venerable Seer, creeping carefully through the darkness from the broken window, had trodden on the fingers of a Hoodwinker who was hiding under the table. There was the sudden zip and zing of magic.
“Bugger!” said a voice outside. “They’ve got him! Let’s go!”
There was more creaking, and then silence. After a while Twoflower said, “Rincewind, I think there’s a broomstick in this cupboard.”
“Well, what’s so unusual about that?”
“This one’s got handlebars.”
There was a piercing shriek from below. In the darkness a wizard had tried to open the Luggage’s lid. A crash from the scullery indicated the sudden arrival of a party of Illuminated Mages of the Unbroken Circle.
“What do you think they’re after?” whispered Twoflower.
“I don’t know, but I think it might be a good idea not to find out,” said Rincewind thoughtfully.
“You could be right.”
Rincewind pushed open the door gingerly. The room was empty. He tiptoed across to the window, and looked down into the upturned faces of three Brothers of the Order of Midnight.
“That’s him!”
He drew back hurriedly and rushed for the stairs.
The scene below was indescribable but since that statement would earn the death penalty in the reign of Olaf Quimby II the attempt better be made. Firstly, most of the struggling wizards were trying to illuminate the scene by various flames, fireballs and magical glows, so the overall lighting gave the impression of a disco in a strobe-light factory; each man was trying to find a position from which he could see the rest of the room without being attacked himself, and absolutely everyone was trying to keep out of the way of the Luggage, which had two Venerable Seers pinned in a corner and was snapping its lid at anyone who approached. But one wizard did happen to look up.
“It’s him!”
Rincewind jerked back, and something bumped into him. He looked around hurriedly, and stared when he saw Twoflower sitting on the broomstick—which was floating in midair.
“The witch must have left it behind!” said Twoflower. “A genuine magic broomstick!”
Rincewind hesitated. Octarine sparks were spitting off the broomstick’s bristles and he hated heights almost more than anything else, but what he really hated more than anything at all was a dozen very angryand bad-tempered wizards rushing up the stairs toward him, and this was happening.
“All right,” he said, “but I’ll drive.”
He lashed out with a boot at a wizard who was halfway through a Spell of Binding and jumped onto the broomstick, which bobbed down the stairwell and then turned upside down so that Rincewind was horribly eye to eye with a Brother of Midnight.
He yelped and gave the handlebars a convulsive twist.
Several things happened at once. The broomstick shot forward and broke through the wall in a shower of crumbs; the Luggage surged forward and bit the Brother in the leg; and with a strange whistling sound an arrow appeared from nowhere, missed Rincewind by inches, and struck the Luggage’s lid with a very solid thud.
The Luggage vanished.
In a little village deep in the forest an ancient shaman threw a few more twigs on his fire and stared through the smoke at his shamefaced apprentice.
“A box with legs on?” he said.
“Yes, master. It just appeared out of the sky and looked at me,” said the apprentice.
“It had eyes then, this box?”
“N—” began the apprentice and stopped, puzzled. The old man frowned.
“Many have seen Topaxci, God of the Red Mushroom, and they earn the name of shaman,”
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