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You Bastard stopped His ears turned like radar aerials He stared at the rock wall, rolling his eyes Then, as Teppic grabbed a handful of hair and pulled himself up, the camel started to trot

Think fractals

'Ere, you're going to run straight-' the sergeant began

There was silence It went on for a long tieant shifted uneasily Then he looked across the rocks to the Tsorteans, and caught the eye of their leader With the unspoken understanding that is shared by centurions and sergeant- the length of the rocks and stopped by the barely visible crack in the cliff

The Tsortean sergeant ran his hand over it

'You'd think there'd be so,' he said

'Or blood,' said the Ephebian

'I reckon it's one of theht, then'

The two e,' said the Tsortean, helpfully

'One of theull, too'

'Daft, isn't it You don't get thehed politely, and stared back at his men

Then he leaned closer

'The rest of your people will be along directly, I expect,' he said

The Ephebian stepped a bit closer and when he spoke, it was out of the corner of his mouth while his eyes apparently re at the rocks

'That's right,' he said 'And yours too, may I ask?'

'Yes I expect we'll have to et here first'

'Likewise, I shouldn't wonder Still, can't be helped'

'One of those things, really,' agreed the Tsortean The other man nodded 'Funny old world, when you coer on it, all right' The sergeant loosened his breastplate a bit, glad to be out of the sun 'Rations okay on your side?' he said

'Oh, you know Mustn't grumble'

'Like us, really'

''Cos if you do gruet even worse'

'Just like ours Here, you haven't got any figs on your side, have you? I could just do with a fig'

'Sorry'

'Just thought I'd ask'

'Got plenty of dates, if they're any good to you'

'We're okay on dates, thanks'

'Sorry'

The two hts Then the Ephebian put on his helain, and the Tsortean adjusted his belt

'Right, then'

'Right, then'

They squared their shoulders, stuck out their chins, and marched away Athe rin, headed back to their own sides

BOOK IV

The Book of 101 Things A Boy Can Do

Teppic had expected-

-what?

Possibly the splat of flesh hitting rock Possibly, although this was on the very edge of expectation, the sight of the Old Kingdom spread out below him

He hadn't expected chilly, damp mists

It is non to science that there are many more dimensions than the classical four Scientists say that these don't nore on the world because the extra dimensions are very small and curve in on themselves, and that since reality is fractal most of it is tucked inside itself This means either that the universe is more full of wonders than we can hope to understand or,

But the multiverse is full of little dimensionettes, playstreets of creation where creatures of the i knocked down by serious actuality Soh the holes in reality, they iive rise toDrunk and Disorderly

And it was into one of these that You Bastard, by a trivial ot it nearly right The Sphinx did lurk on the borders of the kingdoend just hadn't been precise about what kind of borders it was talking about

The Sphinx is an unreal creature It exists solely because it has been iined It is well-known that in an infinite universe everything that can be iined s that ought to exist in a well-ordered space-tio soh any creature created with the body of a lion, bosole has a serious identity crisis and doesn't need ry

So it had devised the Riddle

Across various dimensions it had provided the Sphinx with considerable entertainment and innumerable meals

This was not known to Teppic as he led You Bastard through the swirling h essential detail

A lot of people had died here And it was reasonable to assume that the more recent ones had seen the remains of the earlier ones, and would therefore have proceeded stealthily And that hadn't worked

No sense in creeping along, then Besides, some of the rocks that loo shape This one here, for example, looked exactly like-

'Halt,' said the Sphinx

There was no sound but the drip of theto extract moisture from the air

'You're a sphinx,' said Teppic

'The Sphinx,' corrected the Sphinx

'Gosh We've got any amount of statues to you at hoht you'd be smaller,' he added

'Cower, mortal,' said the Sphinx 'For thou art in the presence of the wise and the terrible' It blinked 'Any good, these statues?'