She stuck her tongue out at him but produced a small cloth sack from her belt.
“First off,” she began, “I thought we could use a little flash powder. It never fails to impress the yokels.”
“Flash powder,” I said carefully.
“You set fire to it,” Aahz supplied. “It burns fast and gives you a cloud of smoke.”
“I’ve got about a dozen small bags of it here,” Tanda continued, showing me the contents of her sack. “Various colors and sizes.”
“Can I try one?” I asked. “I’ve never worked with this stuff before.”
“Sure,” Tanda said. She grinned, extending the sack. “They’re yours to use as you see fit. You might as well know what you’ve got.”
I took the sack and carefully selected one of the small bags from its interior.
“Better toss it to the ground, kid,” Aahz cautioned. “Some folks can set it off in their hand, but that takes practice. If you tried it that way now, you’d probably lose a few fingers.”
I obediently tossed the bag on the ground a few feet away. Watching it curiously, I focused a quick burst of energy on it.
There was a bright flash of light accompanied by a soft pop. Blinking my eyes, I looked at where the bag had been. A small cloud of green smoke hung in the air, slowly dissipating in the breeze.
“That’s neat!” I exclaimed, reaching into the sack again.
“Take it easy,” Aahz warned. “We don’t have that much of the stuff.”
“Oh! Right, Aahz,” I replied, feeling a little sheepish. “What else do you have, Tanda?”
“Well,” she said, smiling, “I guess this would be a piece-de-resistance.”
As she spoke, she seemed to draw something from behind her back. I say “seemed” because I couldn’t see anything. From her movements, she looked to be holding a rod about three feet long, but there was nothing in her grasp.