I handed it to him, flashing it so the others could tell it was blank as well. If he liked a map with no lines, he could have a map with no lines.
“Was that the map the cartographer did?” Harold asked. “The one that got you here?”
“Sure was,” I said.
“What happened to it?” Harold asked.
“It got us here,” Tanda said.
“Oh,” Harold said.
“Tanda,” Aahz said, “do you know how to do a mapping spell?”
Tananda shook her head. “Beyond me, I’m afraid.”
“Glenda?”
“Nope,” she said. “When I needed a map I went to a cartographer’s booth on Deva and bought one.”
“Same with me,” Harold said.
Aahz turned and looked at me. “Guess it’s up to you, apprentice.”
“Okay,” I said, “but don’t you think I need a little practice at this spell first?”
Aahz held up the paper. “This is the only piece of magik paper we have. You only get one shot at it.”
“No pressure,” I said.
“If I didn’t believe you could do it,” Aahz said, “would I be wanting you to try?”
I didn’t think I should remind him he had offered the job to everyone but me to start with. No point in ruining the mood when he was trying to boost my confidence. He did that less often than he complimented me.
“We’ll be back shortly,” Aahz said to everyone as he motioned for me to follow him, “I hope with a map.”
“Yeah, me too,” I said.
Aahz headed us across the carpet of grass. We had to sidestep around a pile of cow droppings on the way. I guess that Harold didn’t have a man with a golden shovel standing behind him at night. At the hidden entrance to the skull room Aahz stopped and turned back to Tanda.