trying as best as I could to make my voice a threatening bass.
I had thought of making myself look like a policeman,
but had discarded the idea. With my luck they probably
would have surrendered, and then what would I have done
with them? I wanted them to run … as far out of my life
as possible!
It didn’t work.
I had barely gotten the words out when a large chunk of
brick ripped through the air just over my head . . . passing
through what would have been the chest of the disguised me.
“Disguise spell!” the thrower called. “Go for him like
we saw him before!”
To say the least, I figured it was time for the better part
of valor. Trying to keep my mind under control, which is
harder to do than it sounds with half a dozen bully-boys
charging down on you, I slapped on a levitation spell and
took to the skies.
… At least, I tried to.
I was barely airborne when a vise-like grip closed on my
ankle.
“I’ve got him!”
The grip hurt, which made it difficult to concentrate on
my spell. Then, too, it seemed the day had taken a lot more
out of me than I had realized. Normally, I can, and have,
levitated as many as two people besides myself . . . count
that as three since one of them was Massha. In the scramble
of the moment, however, I was hard pressed to lift myself
and the guy who was holding my ankle. I struggled to get
him into the air, then something bounced off my head and…
118
Robert Asprin
The ground slammed into me at an improbable angle,
and for a moment, I saw stars. The pressure seemed to be
gone from my ankle, but when I opened my eyes, the leader