OF all the various unpleasant ways to be aroused from a sound sleep, one of the worst is the noise of a dragon and a unicorn playing tag.
I pried one eye open and blearily tried to focus on the room. A chair toppled noisily to the floor, convincing me the blurred images my mind was receiving were due at least in part to the irregular vibrations coming from the floor and walls. One without my vast storehouse of knowledge (hard won and painfully endured) might be inclined to blame the pande-monium on an earthquake. I didn’t. The logic behind this conclusion was simple. Earthquakes were extremely uncommon in this area. A dragon and a unicorn playing tag wasn’t.
It was starting out as an ordinary day . . . that is, ordinary if you’re a junior magician apprenticed to a demon.
If I had been able to predict the future with any 2
MYTH CONCEPTIONS 3
degree of accuracy and thus forsee the events to come, I probably would have stayed in bed. I mean, fighting has never been my forte, and the idea of taking on a whole army . . . but I’m getting ahead of myself.
The thud that aroused me shook the building, accompanied by the crash of various dirty dishes shat-tering on the floor. The second thud was even more spectacular.
