Stone-Calling
Ludo learned to call stones by practicing on pebbles. He kept his voice small--small voices for small stones were best--and persuasive: Only you, he sang. Boulders to ant-hills, mountains to toadwrights. Allured by vanity, they came. He caught a few blows practicing on bigger stones, for reasons became harder to find. Stones got resentful, he discovered, if called to no purpose. Fireys did not count. Then came Sarah, and she needed him. But what dangers appealed to stones in a city? Then he knew, and called: Wall smashings! Catapults! Goblins! Obstacles to confound a flesh and magic king!