be an arduous one.
“You leave from here, proceed south to the banks of the
Tailaroam, book passage downstream. At its mouth where
the merchant ships dock you, board a comfortable vessel
heading for Snarken. Thence overland to Crancularn. A
short jaunt, I should imagine.”
“Imagine? You mean you don’t know how far it is from
Snarken to Crancularn?”
“Not very far.”
“For someone who deals in exact formulas and spells,
12
Alan Dean Foster
you can be disconcertingly nonspecific at times, Clotha-
hump.”
“And you can be unnecessarily verbose,” the turtle shot
back.
“Sorry. My pre-law training. Never use one word where
five will fit. Maybe I would’ve ended up a lawyer instead
of a heavy-metal bass player.”
“You’ll never know if you don’t return to your own
world, which you cannot do unless …”
“I know, I know,” Jon-Tom said tiredly. “Unless 1
make the trip to this Crancularn and bring back the
medicine you need. Okay, so I’m stuck.”
“I would rather know that you had undertaken this
journey with enthusiasm, willingly, out of a desire to help
one who only wishes you well.”‘
“So would I, but you’ll settle for my going because I
haven’t got any choice, won’t you?”
“Yes,” said Clothahump thoughtfully, “I expect that 1
will.”
II
He wasn’t in the best frame of mind the morning he set
off. Not that anything was keeping him occupied else-
where, he told himself sourly. He had no place in this
world and certainly no intention of setting himself up in
practice as a professional spellsinger.
For one thing, that would put him in direct competition