Spell of Catastrophe
For a change, Max was not actually on the run, which is to say that he didn't think anyone in particular was after him. Of course, his perception (which happened to be wrong) did not materially change the situation. He did indeed have a pursuer, and later that night the pursuer caught up.
Approx. 103,612 words.
but it is a long story. Actually, it's not that long a story, but it's sort of -"
"Karlini."
"All right, all right. You noticed the castle?"
"Yeah, sure. Looks like a nice place."
"Well … it's okay."
"So, what's wrong with it? It have rats? Things?"
"It's not what it has," Karlini said, "it's what it does. It moves."
"Moves."
"Not like earthquakes, I mean, or settling ground. I mean you wake up in the morning and the whole castle's jumped somewhere else. It's been here for almost two weeks, but before that, it was bounce, bounce, bounce. Just enough time to get an idea where we are, and then, poof!, another hemisphere. Last month we spent six days somewhere around the North Pole. We almost froze. I'm just waiting for this thing to head for the open ocean."
"I assume we'll get to the real point when you tell me why you can't get rid of the place. You got a problem with the landlord?"
Karlini looked suspiciously at Max. "You sure you h
