<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> A bit shorter once again, but not so short as Tuesday's portion. -LurkingWolf ___ <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> The sun had set hours before the last torch was extinguished and the occupants of the room left the ermine to his rest. They had made no progress as every poke and prod, whether from Balrog or Lucy, had revealed nothing more than what they could see at the surface. They had continued their work well beyond the point of exhaustion, but they had finally been forced to admit defeat. They hoped, perhaps vainly, that they could find the missing piece in the morning.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Nathan followed Balrog at a distance as the man walked slowly through the halls. The human scratched at his chin and twirled the braids of his beard around his thick fingers. Nathan was unwilling to0 shatter his contemplation in most cases, but he had detected something in his friend’s manner that made him decide to violate that tendency.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> “You have an idea, don’t you?” he asked pointedly.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Balrog turned halfway, still walking, as though he had forgotten that he was not alone in the halls. After seeing his commander he turned his attention once more to the path of his feet. “I did not see anything foreign amidst the weaves of the spell,” he replied.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> “That is not the answer to the question I asked,” the wolf noted.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Balrog sighed heavily. “You read me too well, my friend,” he admitted.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> “And you avoid the point like the—like a priest avoids a brothel.” Nathan winced at how near he had come to making a comparison in bad taste. Balrog clearly detected his change of direction, but he was not inclined to mention it. He had other inclinations.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> “They do?” He snickered. “I’m happy I never considered the occupation.” Nathan was about to deliver a scathing retort when the human raised his hand to forestall him.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> “Yes, I am avoiding the point. You are, of course, correct.” He sighed as he made the admission, but continued on. “Although I cannot see any evidence of tampering in the curse, the effects are clearly identical to those of a fetish stone. I would surmise that the shaman attempted to cast the spell held within the stone as a last defense, evidently a successful measure. My only questions are how it worked, and why there is no evidence of it afterwards.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> “No progress on those answers, presumably?”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Balrog sighed with a shake of his head. “Logically, there should be no way it would function. A fetish stone should be necessary as fuel for the spell, much a pyrock is required to kindle a fire spell for more than a few moments. That would explain the second question, as the spell simply should have dispersed after a little while, but that leave me with no answer to first. How is it possible for a spell to function after the weaves of magic are gone?”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Nathan shrugged. “Well, as you said, a pyrock is needed to magically sustain a fire spell, but only fuel and air are necessary for a fire to spread after the spell has been cast. The actual spell is gone, but the fire continues.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Balrog stopped in his tracks as his commander spoke. He turned with an odd look on his face. “Sir, that is a fascinating comparison,” he said, a hint of admiration in his voice. “’If fuel is present…’ What sort of fuel could this spell consume, though?” He shook his head, pacing the short distance from one wall to the opposite in contemplation.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> “Well, as fire burns wood, so magic burns mana, or so I’ve heard. Perhaps he was simply near enough to a magic nexus for the additional mana to further the spell?”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> “No.” Balrog shook his head and increase his pace. “If that sort of thing could happen, any spell cast near Metamor would have the same inexplicable properties. Using a nexus requires conscious effort, and if this was a dying last defense as I have postulated then he wouldn’t have had the time to perform something that complicated.” He paced a few more steps before turning to look at the wolf. “Keep talking, though. You have at least made some interesting observations.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Nathan shrugged. “I think I played my trump too early, I can think of no theory more suitable.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Balrog chuckled quietly, slowing his pacing as he turned back towards the black wolf. “There is something there, I think. At the very least, it gives me a place to start.” He sighed. “You are correct about one thing; mana is the fuel for magic. How this bears significance is the elusive point.” He shook his head and kicked at the stone of the floor in annoyance. “Unfortunately, I don’t think that pacing around the area is likely to provide us with the answers.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> “We can try again tomorrow,” Nathan advised. “I think Victor has been left to his own devices for a little bit longer than I would generally advise. I would like to check on him before it gets too much later.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Balrog nodded. “I hope he has found the baths and a good meal or two. And, hopefully, he has managed to keep himself calm. The plague certainly had him shaken this morning.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Nathan nodded. “I often miss them, but times like these I am happy that my family stayed in the Midlands. It gives me less to worry about in the meanwhile.” He waved to Balrog and continued down the hall. “Come; let’s go find Victor and get some rest. Perhaps the answers we need will come to us over the night.”<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Balrog stood still for a few more moments, but he finally nodded and followed after his patrol commander. The two of them were already under suspicion from Lois’ patrol. Even if he thought he had some revelation about the spell which his friend was suffering, returning would only result in more suspicion, if not outright hostility, from their hosts. He would have to renew his efforts in the morning.<o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language: EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA">At least he had been able to maneuver around Nathan’s probing for now. <meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 14"> <meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 14"> <link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CNathan%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml">  <link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CNathan%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"> <link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CNathan%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml">  <style>  </style> </body> </html>