Interlude
Morikan sighed as he took a dragon token off the playing board, which had been forged of silver and oddly tinted red. Tiny little rubies glinted in the place of eyes.
"Playing both sides is extremely unorthodox, brother," Shoshuna smiled at him. "And it means you will never win - or lose, at that."
"I am supposed to be neutral, sister," Morikan snapped his fingers. The dragon token disappeared. The look he gave one of the tokens on the board - a human dressed in a trenchcoat, smoking a cigarette - was strangely smug. Around it were two tokens that seemed to be somewhat insubstantial - the blurred outlines and the transparent quality gave them a sense of unearthliness, of pure magic - both were intrinsically different, and yet inherently alike.
"There's no use trying to persuade him, sister," N'avsh advised with a wicked smile, "You know what they say about dragons."
"What do they say about dragons?" Morikan demanded suspiciously, glancing up sharply.
"Oh, nothing." N'avsh said innocently. Morikan glared at her, but it is a well-known universal fact that no one could outstare a feline, except possibly a basilisk, so he looked away, ostensibly because he lost interest.
"Hat'yet, it's your turn to roll the dice," Shoshuna passed the dice to Hat'yet, who accepted them with reptilian grace.
The dice clattered onto the playing table.
"Hmph," Hat'yet snorted. "A bad throw."
"Rykvaz, yours." Shoshuna nodded, and the dice appeared Rykvaz, who caught and threw with practiced ease. He eyed the result thoughtfully.
"Ah." Rykvaz smiled slightly, as Hat'yet sighed.
"Well, it's not that high that you lose your playing piece, brother," GrayWolf told Hat'yet, rather unnecessarily, with a wide grin on his face. "Though it's possible, and you still have to make several life-rolls, inertia modes and some scalar quantifiers." He was feeling better towards having lost some of his own tokens.
"Quite." Hat'yet said curtly, placing an ominous-looking, heart- shaped marker carved from black obsidian streaked with red next to a token of a humanoid female sporting ram's horns and a slender lion's tail. "Do not rejoice this early, brother. You soon have a life-roll to throw, as well."
"Yes, well.what harm can come of it?"
"The last I heard thee speak such words, brother, thou didst lose all thy tokens," Belnarath said sonorously, with a totally straight face.
"Why brother! You might actually be developing a sense of humor!" N'avsh's eyes sparkled, as GrayWolf sputtered.
"'Tis a failing one hath observed in oneself - perhaps the fault of my brethren," Belnarath replied, still poker-faced.
"All right, all right," Shoshuna broke in before the World-Makers decided to engage in yet another of their eons-long debates (read: arguments). "It's GrayWolf's turn."
GrayWolf threw the dice, and grinned at the results. "My token gets unharmed for the next round."
"Yes, but it's not the life-throw yet," Hat'yet muttered.
"Oh, don't tell him," N'avsh smirked. "It's so much more amusing when all his illusions come down at once. Don't break them slowly."
"Always a pleasure playing with you, sister," GrayWolf stuck out his tongue at his relatives.
Morikan sighed as he took a dragon token off the playing board, which had been forged of silver and oddly tinted red. Tiny little rubies glinted in the place of eyes.
"Playing both sides is extremely unorthodox, brother," Shoshuna smiled at him. "And it means you will never win - or lose, at that."
"I am supposed to be neutral, sister," Morikan snapped his fingers. The dragon token disappeared. The look he gave one of the tokens on the board - a human dressed in a trenchcoat, smoking a cigarette - was strangely smug. Around it were two tokens that seemed to be somewhat insubstantial - the blurred outlines and the transparent quality gave them a sense of unearthliness, of pure magic - both were intrinsically different, and yet inherently alike.
"There's no use trying to persuade him, sister," N'avsh advised with a wicked smile, "You know what they say about dragons."
"What do they say about dragons?" Morikan demanded suspiciously, glancing up sharply.
"Oh, nothing." N'avsh said innocently. Morikan glared at her, but it is a well-known universal fact that no one could outstare a feline, except possibly a basilisk, so he looked away, ostensibly because he lost interest.
"Hat'yet, it's your turn to roll the dice," Shoshuna passed the dice to Hat'yet, who accepted them with reptilian grace.
The dice clattered onto the playing table.
"Hmph," Hat'yet snorted. "A bad throw."
"Rykvaz, yours." Shoshuna nodded, and the dice appeared Rykvaz, who caught and threw with practiced ease. He eyed the result thoughtfully.
"Ah." Rykvaz smiled slightly, as Hat'yet sighed.
"Well, it's not that high that you lose your playing piece, brother," GrayWolf told Hat'yet, rather unnecessarily, with a wide grin on his face. "Though it's possible, and you still have to make several life-rolls, inertia modes and some scalar quantifiers." He was feeling better towards having lost some of his own tokens.
"Quite." Hat'yet said curtly, placing an ominous-looking, heart- shaped marker carved from black obsidian streaked with red next to a token of a humanoid female sporting ram's horns and a slender lion's tail. "Do not rejoice this early, brother. You soon have a life-roll to throw, as well."
"Yes, well.what harm can come of it?"
"The last I heard thee speak such words, brother, thou didst lose all thy tokens," Belnarath said sonorously, with a totally straight face.
"Why brother! You might actually be developing a sense of humor!" N'avsh's eyes sparkled, as GrayWolf sputtered.
"'Tis a failing one hath observed in oneself - perhaps the fault of my brethren," Belnarath replied, still poker-faced.
"All right, all right," Shoshuna broke in before the World-Makers decided to engage in yet another of their eons-long debates (read: arguments). "It's GrayWolf's turn."
GrayWolf threw the dice, and grinned at the results. "My token gets unharmed for the next round."
"Yes, but it's not the life-throw yet," Hat'yet muttered.
"Oh, don't tell him," N'avsh smirked. "It's so much more amusing when all his illusions come down at once. Don't break them slowly."
"Always a pleasure playing with you, sister," GrayWolf stuck out his tongue at his relatives.
