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but it looks like we are in the Direwoods-naturally we couldn’t come through in the Happy Sunny Meadows. We head south-southwest and we should hit the South Way, which is a road. Follow it north and we come to a city-state.” Shad passed the map to Fred. “Lacking any other options, I figure we head to the city-state and see what we can see. Hopefully Yorrian is a good example and we can speak to the locals. Any objections? OK, Fred, you’re the wilderness guy, so lead us out of here.”
    “You know, this could turn out to be pretty cool,” Derek ventured.
    “That’s what you said about that bar in Dubai,” Jeff reminded him. “And we ended up having to fight our way out in order to retain our rectal virginity.”
    “I thought we agreed never to talk about that?” Shad snapped.
    “I still don’t think that guy you hit with the chair died,” Derek reassured the Jinxman.
    “For the hundredth time, his survival wasn’t what I am concerned with, but rather getting charged with murder in that freaking armpit.”
    “They don’t have an extradition treaty with us, and in any case they were foreign workers-the city leaders care less about them than they do about litter in the street,” Jeff shrugged. “And besides, the whole thing was Derek’s fault.”
    “Why are we still talking about it? Ruck up and let’s get some distance behind us.” Shad shook his head disgustedly.
     
     
    Chapter Two
    Fred held up a hand and the group froze; after listening carefully, he swept a finger in a circle and held up all five fingers: take a break.
    Sitting on his pack, Shad took a drink and passed his canteen to Derek. “Here.”
    “Thanks.” The slender Radio Shack Assistant Manager turned Shadowmancer took a long drink. “That hit it.” He handed the canteen back. “I took the robes because they always look cool in fantasy art, but first money I get I’m spending on real clothes. The robes suck.”
    “Heh,” Shad stowed his canteen and raked his foot across the ground, bending to pick up two lengths of branch. After examining both critically, he discarded one and stowed the other in his pack..
    “Last break you were picking up junk. You take a level in pack rat?” Derek kept his voice low.
    “Jinxman. I make charms out of ordinary stuff. Only thing I have to buy is ribbon, thread, and twine, and I started with a lot of those.” He drew a charm from a drawstring bag. “I got some to start with.”
    Derek examined the charm, which was three pieces of twig each two inches long fastened in a triangle, with a wisp of red ribbon attached to one twig. Frowning, he leaned in to study it closely. “Wait-there’s nothing holding it together. The ribbon…is it glued on?”
    “No, apparently I use the bits and pieces to trap a little knot of magic, a specific knot. Say the word and touch the target and the knot unties into the effect, which also consumes the physical material. See all the tiny nicks on the twigs? Those aren’t accidental-I’ve got a bunch of little picks, knives that look like scalpels, all sorts of tools. If I mark with twigs right they trap the magic, and the magic holds the pieces together like iron filings to a magnet.” He carefully stowed the charm in the bag. “Different shapes, different nicks, different combinations of twig, twine, ribbon, and string, and you get different effects. Not as aggressive as your stuff, but the only limit on how many I can have is how many I’ve made.”   
    “Cool. Damn, that sky is blue.”
    “Yeah, I think we’re at a much more northern latitude than Texas. From the looks of things its early summer here, but it can’t be much more than seventy degrees, seventy-five tops. You recognize any of the trees?”
    “Sure. Pines, a few cedar, some white oak.”
    “Normal stuff?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Well, that’s something, anyway.”
    “We’re really here, aren’t we?”
    “You mean in an alternate dimension or world or place where all the beasties