Read MA02 Myth Conceptions for Free Online

he was staring directly at me. It wasn’t a friendly stare.
    I hesitated for a moment, hoping I was wrong. I wasn’t. The general’s gaze didn’t waver, nor did his expression soften. Ifanything, it got uglier.
    “Aahz…” I hissed desperately, unable to tear my eyes from the general.
    Now the king and the chancellor were staring in my direction too, their attention drawn by the general’s gaze.
    “Kid!” Aahz moaned beside me. “I thought I told you to do something about that pike!”
    The pike! I had forgotten about it completely!
    I pulled my eyes from the general’s glare and glanced behind me as casually as I could.
    Buttercup and Gleep were still standing patiently to our rear, and floating serenely above them was the guard’s pike. I guess it was kind of noticeable.
    “You!”
    I turned toward the pavilion and the sound of the bellow. The general had stepped forward and was pointing a massive finger at me.
    “Yes, you!” he roared as our eyes met once more. “Where did you get that pike? It belongs to the palace guards.”
    “I think you’re about to have your interview, kid,” Aahz murmured. “Give it your best and knock ‘em stiff.”
    “But ...”I protested.
    “It beats standing in line!”
    With that, Aahz took a long, leisurely step backward. The effect was the same as if I had stepped forward, which I definitely hadn’t. With the attention of the entire courtyard now centered on me, however, I had no choice but to make the plunge.

CROSSING MY ARMS , I moved toward the pavilion, keeping my pace slow and measured.
    Aahz had insisted that I practice this walk. He said it would make me look confident and self-possessed. Now that I was actually appearing before a king, I found I was using the walk, not as a show of arrogance, but to hide the weakness in my legs.
    “Well?” the general rumbled, looming before me. “I asked you a question! Where did you get that pike? You’d best answer before I grow angry!”
    Something in me snapped. Any fear I felt of the general and his axe evaporated, replaced by a heady glow of strength.
    I had discovered on my first visit to the Bazaar at Deva that I didn’t like to be pushed around by big, loud Deveels. I discovered now that I didn’t like it any better when the arrogance came from a big, loud fellow Klahd.
    So, the big man wants to throw his weight around, does he?
    With a twitch of my mind, I summoned the pike. Without turning to look, I brought it arrowing over my shoulder in a course destined to embed it in the general’s chest.
    The general saw it coming and paled. He took an awkward step backward, realized it was too late for flight, and groped madly for his axe.
    I stopped the pike three feet from his chest, floating it in front of him with its point leveled at his heart.
    “This pike?” I asked casually.
    ‘’Ahh … ‘’ the general responded, his eyes never leaving the weapon.
    “I took this pike from an overly rude soldier. He said he was following orders. Would those orders have come from you, by any chance?”
    “I ... um …” the general licked his lips. “I issued orders that my men deal with strangers in an expedient fashion. I said nothing about their being less than polite.”
    “In that case ...”
    I rotated the pike ninety degrees so that it now no longer threatened the general.
    “ … I return the pike to you so that you might give it back to the guard along with a clarification of your orders.”
    The general hesitated, scowling, and then extended his hand to grasp the floating pike. Just before he reached it, I let it fall to the ground where it clattered noisily.
    “ ... And, hopefully, additional instructions as to how to handle their weapons,” I concluded.
    The general flushed and started to pick up the pike. Then the chancellor snickered, and the general spun around to glare at him. The chancellor smirked openly and whispered something to the king, who tried to suppress a smile at his words.
    The