“What happened next?” said Twoflower breathlessly, glancing toward the misty universe.
“I froze solid,” said Tethis simply. “Fortunately it is something my race can survive. But I thawed out occasionally when I passed near other worlds. There was one, I think it was the one with what I thought was this strange ring of mountains around it that turned out to be the biggest dragon you could ever imagine, covered in snow and glaciers and holding its tail in its mouth—well, I came within a few leagues of that, I shot over the landscape like a comet, in fact, and then I was off again. Then there was a time I woke up and there was your world coming at me like a custard piethrown by the Creator and, well, I landed in the sea not far from the Circumfence widdershins of Krull. All sorts of creatures get washed up against the Fence, and at the time they were looking for slaves to man the way stations, and I ended up here.” He stopped and stared intently at Rincewind. “Every night I come out here and look down,” he finished, “and I never jump. Courage is hard to come by, here on the Edge.”
Rincewind began to crawl determinedly toward the shack. He gave a little scream as the troll picked him up, not unkindly, and set him on his feet.
“Amazing,” said Twoflower, and leaned farther out over the Edge. “There are lots of other worlds out there?”
“Quite a number, I imagine,” said the troll.
“I suppose one could contrive some sort of, I don’t know, some sort of a thing that could preserve one against the cold,” said the little man thoughtfully. “Some sort of a ship that one could sail over the Edge and sail to far-off worlds, too. I wonder…”
“Don’t even think about it!” moaned Rincewind. “Stop talking like that, do you hear?”
“They all talk like that in Krull,” said Tethis.
“Those with tongues, of course,” he added.
“Are you awake?”
Twoflower snored on. Rincewind jabbed him viciously in the ribs.
“I said, are you awake?” he snarled.
“Scrdfngh…”
“We’ve got to get out of here before this salvage fleet comes!”
The dishwater light of dawn oozed through the shack’s one window, slopping across the piles of salvaged boxes and bundles that were strewn around the interior. Twoflower grunted again and tried to burrow into the pile of furs and blankets that Tethis had given them.
“Look, there’s all kinds of weapons and stuff in here,” said Rincewind. “He’s gone out somewhere. When he comes back we could overpower him and—and—well, then we can think of something. How about it?”
“That doesn’t sound like a very good idea,” said Twoflower. “Anyhow, it’s a bit ungracious isn’t it?”
“Tough buns,” snapped Rincewind. “This is a rough universe.”
He rummaged through the piles around the walls and selected a heavy, wavy-bladed scimitar that had probably been some pirate’s pride and joy. It looked the sort of weapon that relied as much on its weight as its edge to cause damage. He raised it awkwardly.
“Would he leave that sort of thing around if it could hurt him?” Twoflower wondered aloud.
Rincewind ignored him and took up a position beside the door. When it opened some ten minutes later he moved unhesitatingly, swinging it across the opening at what he judged was the troll’s head height. It swished harmlessly through nothing at all and struck the doorpost, jerking him off his feet and onto the floor.
There was a sigh above him. He looked up into Tethis’s face, which was shaking sadly from side to side.
“It wouldn’t have harmed me,” said the troll, “but nevertheless I am hurt. Deeply hurt.” He reached over the wizard and jerked the sword out of the wood. With no apparent effort he bent its blade into a circle and sent it bowling away over the rocks until it hit a stone and sprang, still spinning, in a silver arc that ended in the mists forming over the Rimfall.
“Very deeply hurt,” he concluded. He reached down beside the door and tossed a sack toward Twoflower.
“It’s the carcass of a deer that is just about how you humans like it, and a few lobsters, and a sea salmon. The Circumfence provides,” he said casually.
He looked hard at the tourist, and then down again at Rincewind.
“What are you staring at?” he said.
“It’s just that—” said Twoflower.
“—compared to last night—” said Rincewind.
“You’re so small,” finished Twoflower.
“I see, said the troll carefully. “Personal remarks now.” He drew himself up to his full height, which was currently about four feet. “Just because I’m made of water doesn’t mean I’m made of wood, you know.”
“I’m sorry,” said Twoflower, climbing hastily out of the furs.
“You’re made of dirt,” said the troll, “but I didn’t pass comments about things you can’t help, did I? Oh, no. We can’t help the way the Creator made us, that’s my view. But if you must know, your moon here is rather more powerful than the ones around my own world.”