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thrown there.
It was not true that ogres always blundered noisily when they moved; they could act quickly and silently
when they had to. They seldom had to, as it was normally easiest simply to bash something into
oblivion. But Okra, being the least of ogres, had learned more of silence than was useful. Her hand went
soundlessly to her knapsack beside her and her fingers closed about the handle of her skinning knife.
But she didn't stab the tick; that was a minor pest.
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Click here to buy
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She wanted to be ready for the major one she knew had to be near.
Then, carefully, she turned her head. There was an awful figure standing over Mela's still form. There
was the smell of fresh blood. She had thought it was from the tick, but now she knew better.
Okra recognized the figure. It was a geek. They were lesser humanoid monsters, smaller and weaker
than ogres or trolls, but they made up for it by being nastier in personality. No geek was ever up to any
good; that was in the big book of monster rules.
Okra's arm moved. She threw the knife at the geek. But the geek, with the evil cunning of its kind,
turned to flee the blade. He was too slow; the steel of it buried itself in his back. But of course he didn't
die; geeks had no hearts, so stabbing one in the heart wasn't properly effective. But the puncture did
cause some discomfort, and the creature fell out of the tent.
Okra leaped to her feet to pursue him, for if she didn't finish him off he would only return for more
mischief. She strode out of the tent, and paused in dismay. There was a slew and a half of geeks
climbing all over her oxblood boat, and luna-ticks were trying to suck the ox blood from it.
Outraged, Okra advanced on them. She had forgotten to recover her knife, but her fists would do. "You
ridiculous geeks, what are you doing on my boat?" she demanded.
They looked at her. "We want to talk you into coming with us, of course," one said. Geeks were not the
smartest of creatures; in fact some were rumored to be almost as stupid as ogres. So it didn't occur to
them not to answer a question. "Once we have you, we will tie you up and hit you, for no reason at all,
until your willpower is gone and we can start work on your won't power. When you finally give us the
pleasure of dying, we will feed your carcass to our hungriest luna-ticks. " He had an oily, stinky voice
and the smell of a dung beetle; those were his better aspects.
"But you geeks don't know how to row a boat," Okra protested, for the moment being almost as stupid
as they. It was expected of an ogre, after all.
"We will make you row it to our hideout, where there are many more of us. We will take the merwoman
along too; she looks luscious enough to give us some pleasure before we take all her blood."
Okra didn't know quite what he meant by that, but was sure it wasn't anything nice. She had heard
enough; it was time to act. So she waded in, forming her best emulation of ham fists and knocking geeks
every which way. She was the smallest and weakest of ogres, but these were only geeks. Soon she had
scattered them to a suitable degree; they would not bother her for a while.
Then she picked up her knife and returned to the tent to check on Mela. The geek had set several ticks
on her, and they were already gorging. There were scarlet ribbons of blood on her face, hands, and
breasts. The worst of it was that she remained asleep; the bites of the ticks were painless, so Mela didn't
even know how she was being drained.
"Mela, wake up!" Okra said urgently.
Now the merwoman woke. She felt the ticks on her body, looked down at them, and exclaimed
"Yeeeech!!!! "
Okra was startled. She had never before heard a four point exclamation, but the exclamation points were
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Click here to buy
Click here to buy
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definitely there, just like little clubs. Then she got into action, pulling the ticks off Mela and squishing
them with blows of her mini-ham fists.
Then Okra donned her knapsack and led Mela out. The merwoman remained weak and dizzy, having
expended much of her remaining store of energy in the production of that excellent exclamation. She
would need further attention, but first they had to get to a safer place.
Mela blinked as she stepped out and looked around.
"Ek," she said, managing a quarter point scream that was hardly audible. "What are those things doing
draped across the branches of trees, and with their heads rammed through knotholes, and with their feet
sticking up from the mudbank? "
"Those are geeks," Okra explained. "I asked them to get out of our way."
"Oh." Then Mela's eyes fastened weakly on the boat.
"Eek." That scream was a little better formed and more emphatic than the last, but still not in the same
universe as the first exclamation.
Okra picked up the boat and shook it, dumping the luna-ticks into the water. Mela relaxed.
They left the dangerous bay behind them, going out onto deep water. There was no sign of Fracto,
fortunately; the late afternoon was beautiful.
Okra shipped the oars and dug in her knapsack for her medical kit. This was yet another unogreish
artifact she had picked up; most ogres took no note of pain and less of injury. She dabbed at the tick
bites with unguent, but didn't accomplish much. Mela had lost too much blood.
Even the twin firewater opals she wore on the chain around her neck looked listless.
So Okra did the best thing she could think of: she rowed back to the island. There she avoided the sand
trap and hauled Mela to the hot pool and washed her off. Then Mela began to revive, for a hot bath had a
magical effect on any woman. Her listless straw hanks of hair began to turn to golden tresses, which
turned a pretty green under the water.
Okra found a timely thyme plant, and a medicinal mint herb. She dipped them in a mug of the hot water,
concocting first one tea and then two teas. She gave these to Mela to drink, and these teased her into
further improvement. Then Okra set her on pillows and sang ogreish songs until Mela faded away to
sleep. Unfortunately the only one she could remember was "Happy Birthday."
A rare blue moon came up. Okra admired its color; this was the first time she had seen this hue on the
moon. She wished she could get some blue cheese from it, but couldn't reach that high. Then she slept, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl szamanka888.keep.pl
thrown there.
It was not true that ogres always blundered noisily when they moved; they could act quickly and silently
when they had to. They seldom had to, as it was normally easiest simply to bash something into
oblivion. But Okra, being the least of ogres, had learned more of silence than was useful. Her hand went
soundlessly to her knapsack beside her and her fingers closed about the handle of her skinning knife.
But she didn't stab the tick; that was a minor pest.
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
She wanted to be ready for the major one she knew had to be near.
Then, carefully, she turned her head. There was an awful figure standing over Mela's still form. There
was the smell of fresh blood. She had thought it was from the tick, but now she knew better.
Okra recognized the figure. It was a geek. They were lesser humanoid monsters, smaller and weaker
than ogres or trolls, but they made up for it by being nastier in personality. No geek was ever up to any
good; that was in the big book of monster rules.
Okra's arm moved. She threw the knife at the geek. But the geek, with the evil cunning of its kind,
turned to flee the blade. He was too slow; the steel of it buried itself in his back. But of course he didn't
die; geeks had no hearts, so stabbing one in the heart wasn't properly effective. But the puncture did
cause some discomfort, and the creature fell out of the tent.
Okra leaped to her feet to pursue him, for if she didn't finish him off he would only return for more
mischief. She strode out of the tent, and paused in dismay. There was a slew and a half of geeks
climbing all over her oxblood boat, and luna-ticks were trying to suck the ox blood from it.
Outraged, Okra advanced on them. She had forgotten to recover her knife, but her fists would do. "You
ridiculous geeks, what are you doing on my boat?" she demanded.
They looked at her. "We want to talk you into coming with us, of course," one said. Geeks were not the
smartest of creatures; in fact some were rumored to be almost as stupid as ogres. So it didn't occur to
them not to answer a question. "Once we have you, we will tie you up and hit you, for no reason at all,
until your willpower is gone and we can start work on your won't power. When you finally give us the
pleasure of dying, we will feed your carcass to our hungriest luna-ticks. " He had an oily, stinky voice
and the smell of a dung beetle; those were his better aspects.
"But you geeks don't know how to row a boat," Okra protested, for the moment being almost as stupid
as they. It was expected of an ogre, after all.
"We will make you row it to our hideout, where there are many more of us. We will take the merwoman
along too; she looks luscious enough to give us some pleasure before we take all her blood."
Okra didn't know quite what he meant by that, but was sure it wasn't anything nice. She had heard
enough; it was time to act. So she waded in, forming her best emulation of ham fists and knocking geeks
every which way. She was the smallest and weakest of ogres, but these were only geeks. Soon she had
scattered them to a suitable degree; they would not bother her for a while.
Then she picked up her knife and returned to the tent to check on Mela. The geek had set several ticks
on her, and they were already gorging. There were scarlet ribbons of blood on her face, hands, and
breasts. The worst of it was that she remained asleep; the bites of the ticks were painless, so Mela didn't
even know how she was being drained.
"Mela, wake up!" Okra said urgently.
Now the merwoman woke. She felt the ticks on her body, looked down at them, and exclaimed
"Yeeeech!!!! "
Okra was startled. She had never before heard a four point exclamation, but the exclamation points were
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
definitely there, just like little clubs. Then she got into action, pulling the ticks off Mela and squishing
them with blows of her mini-ham fists.
Then Okra donned her knapsack and led Mela out. The merwoman remained weak and dizzy, having
expended much of her remaining store of energy in the production of that excellent exclamation. She
would need further attention, but first they had to get to a safer place.
Mela blinked as she stepped out and looked around.
"Ek," she said, managing a quarter point scream that was hardly audible. "What are those things doing
draped across the branches of trees, and with their heads rammed through knotholes, and with their feet
sticking up from the mudbank? "
"Those are geeks," Okra explained. "I asked them to get out of our way."
"Oh." Then Mela's eyes fastened weakly on the boat.
"Eek." That scream was a little better formed and more emphatic than the last, but still not in the same
universe as the first exclamation.
Okra picked up the boat and shook it, dumping the luna-ticks into the water. Mela relaxed.
They left the dangerous bay behind them, going out onto deep water. There was no sign of Fracto,
fortunately; the late afternoon was beautiful.
Okra shipped the oars and dug in her knapsack for her medical kit. This was yet another unogreish
artifact she had picked up; most ogres took no note of pain and less of injury. She dabbed at the tick
bites with unguent, but didn't accomplish much. Mela had lost too much blood.
Even the twin firewater opals she wore on the chain around her neck looked listless.
So Okra did the best thing she could think of: she rowed back to the island. There she avoided the sand
trap and hauled Mela to the hot pool and washed her off. Then Mela began to revive, for a hot bath had a
magical effect on any woman. Her listless straw hanks of hair began to turn to golden tresses, which
turned a pretty green under the water.
Okra found a timely thyme plant, and a medicinal mint herb. She dipped them in a mug of the hot water,
concocting first one tea and then two teas. She gave these to Mela to drink, and these teased her into
further improvement. Then Okra set her on pillows and sang ogreish songs until Mela faded away to
sleep. Unfortunately the only one she could remember was "Happy Birthday."
A rare blue moon came up. Okra admired its color; this was the first time she had seen this hue on the
moon. She wished she could get some blue cheese from it, but couldn't reach that high. Then she slept, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]