Even though Logiconswere not supposed the have emotions, Aquitain was elated. He hadnot felt so good for years. He could hardly believe what hadtranspired over the past few hours. In his own mind he had shownhis worth as a mind wizard, and he wondered how much of it couldhave been accomplished if he hadn’t been able to change shape. Hisnew ability seemed no longer a disability that he had to learn tolive with, but something that would add an exciting new dimensionto his life.
Zephira walked over tojoin him.
‘Well done Robby. I’mproud of you. All the gateway wizards are talking about you as ifyou are the town’s new hero. The people have been a bit concerned,and even afraid of you. I think that once the word gets around youmight have a lot of new business.
‘Zephira, I am nowAquitain. As Rob I would never have been game to do what I didtoday, or even to talk to that beautiful druid girl. I’m adifferent person. As strange as it may sound, this Logicon body ischanging me, it’s giving me a more positive outlook and moreconfidence. Yesterday I was worried about it, but now I’m not sosure. I like my newman body, but I also like the firm feeling ofcontrol I get from this Logicon body.’
Zephira wasn’t quitesure how to respond to what her cousin had said. It was true; theLogicon body was affecting him. She would need time to decidewhether it was for better or worse. She wondered what would happenwhen he eventually regained his newman body. That would beinteresting.
Later, after a fewhours rest, Aquitain went into the town to see what response therewould be to his show last night. This time the people’s reactionwas different from that of the previous day. Everyone waved andstood around close by, wanting to hear his version of what hadhappened. This caused some problems, as he wasn’t sure how much theHigh Wizard would want him to disclose about what lay beneath theirtown. He modestly said that he had discussed the town’s worrieswith the spirits and had come to an understanding with them not tofight around the town’s fountain any more.
Nobody believed him.All sorts of wild rumours went around. People had seen the flaresoff the headland and thought that there must have been a huge magicfight resulting in the destruction of the spirits. Regardless ofwhat had happened he had done it, and was no longer under any kindof suspicion by most of the people. Logicons were now acceptable inTwin Towers.
Chapter 9 Suspicions
Aquitain spent the nexttwo weeks repairing damaged magical items. Once word of his skillsspread, many people seemed to find and dust off an old familyheirloom that needed to be repaired by the local town hero. Hefound it better to go into a torpid dozy state that the Logiconscalled sleep during the middle of the day, rather than at night. Itseemed his body preferred to be awake during the evening and earlymorning hours, so he adjusted his working times accordingly.
He spent as much timeas he could shape changed to his human form, and each day he grewmore efficient and speedier at changing and could stay in his humanform longer. He accepted Quab’s suggestions about diet, andconsumed a whole dead chicken every second day along with certainherbs, which substantially reduced the odour of his excrement. Healso learnt when it was likely to be ejected, causing less of afloor cleaning problem.
While he was generallyaccepted, he discovered that he had made one enemy. Senior WizardCurbut was extremely upset that the High Wizard had acceptedAquitain’s proposal that they live peacefully with the elementalsrather than destroy them. He refused to attend wizard defendertraining with Zephira, and joked and complained about talking boxesbeing unnatural and inviting trouble from the gods. Neither Zephiranor Aquitain knew what to do about Curbut’s obvious dislike forAquitain, so they did nothing.
When Aquitain had runout of items to repair he again turned to the problem of the ballof clay. He asked Alpha about it, but nothing was recorded in hishidden memory. Jaztrix the gnome had visited him twice andapologized profusely for not being able to spend any time with him,as the High Wizard was keeping her busy. One early morning whenFeatherdown visited him to see how things were going, he showed theHigh Wizard the ball of clay and asked his opinion as to what itwas.
Featherdown was silentfor a few seconds and then suggested, ‘Why not check it out in OldHoary’s Encyclopaedia? It’s in my library near my YithCollection.’
‘You have Yith books?’asked Aquitain, quite surprised.
‘Yes, I have quite anumber of them. It seems that there were Yith on this world at somestage before the Great Storm. The druids occasionally find somevolumes in ruined temples, and they end up here.’
‘I heard the oldelemental mention the Great Storm. Do you know much about it?’
‘Only a little! Fromwhat I’ve heard there was a great magic storm some two to threehundred years ago. It must have raged for quite some time as itdestroyed nearly all the fauna and flora on the world. The druidsarrived not long after it had abated, and began the process ofrestocking the plant and animal life here.
‘They decided early onto use the world as a haven for many endangered species from otherworlds, and consequently there is a wealth of extremely rareanimals and plants here. Unfortunately, this policy has now causedproblems, as there are more illegal hunters and poachers arrivingevery year.
‘To help alert them topoachers and other problems, the druids made a deal with the smallsentient reptilian creatures known as the ‘Little people’. Thesecreatures roam around the jungles in groups, living off the landand informing the druids of any problems they find. As you canimagine, the illegal hunters and poachers are aware of theirarrangements with the druids, and sometimes attack and kill them.It’s a nasty business, and getting worse.
‘Anyhow I’ll be gettingon. Feel free to examine my Yith tomes, but just keep it toyourself that they
