Table Of ContentOrc's Opal
Piers Anthony and Robert E. Margroff
Kelvin of Rud, book 4
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHARACTERS
PROLOGUE
Chapter 1. To Another World
Chapter 2. Megapolis
Chapter 3. MegaCon
Chapter 4. Children's Suite
Chapter 5. Changing Time
Chapter 6. Adventuring
Chapter 7. Growing Magic
Chapter 8. Flight
Chapter 9. Disruption
Chapter 10. Ophal
Chapter 11. Zady
Chapter 12. Castle
Chapter 13. Castle Break
Chapter 14. Little Fish
Chapter 15. Brudalous
Chapter 16. Lester
Chapter 17. Opal
Chapter 18. Dragon's Tail
Chapter 19. Ultimatum
Chapter 20. New Boots
Chapter 21. Godparent
Chapter 22. War
Chapter 23. Kid Stuff
Chapter 24. War's End
Chapter 25. Glow's Return
EPILOGUE
INTRODUCTION
This is the fourth novel in a fantasy series in which the inhabitants of
alternate worlds are distinguished by the shape of their ears. In the first novel,
Dragon's Gold, young roundeared Kelvin and his pointeared little tomboy sister
Jon managed to kill a golden-scaled dragon and later save the kingdom of Rud
and their father John Knight from the clutches of evil, seductive queen Zoanna.
In the process, Kelvin found love with roundeared Heln, and Jon with Lester
Crumb.
In the sequel, Serpent's Silver, Kelvin's half-brother Kian discovered an
alternate world where most folk were roundeared, but it wasn't John Knight's
world of origin, Earth. Some folk had flop ears, and many folk were similar to
those of the pointeared world, except that their characters were reversed. Here
good king Rufurt was evil king Rowforth, and evil queen Zoanna was good
queen Zanaan. Instead of golden-scaled dragons there were silver-skinned
serpents. Again the forces of evil were finally thwarted—but the mysterious
Prophecy of Mouvar had not yet ran its full course.
In the third novel, Chimaera's Copper, evil queen Zoanna teamed with evil
king Rowforth to cross frames and take over Kelvin's home frame while Kelvin
was away. Heln's developing baby was enchanted to become a chimaera, but the
adult chimaera Mervania provided magic to fission the monster into three just
before birth: a boy and a girl and a dragon. Zoanna was defeated and killed, and
things settled more or less down again.
This fourth novel opens about six years later. Because the large number of
characters carrying over from the prior novels may be confusing, this
introduction is followed by a listing of the characters, approximately in the order
of their first appearance or mention. They will be identified in the text, and some
background provided, but that may not be enough. When you encounter one you
don't recognize, flip to this list. Meanwhile, if you have ever wondered exactly
what a fantasy convention is like, this novel will show you.
There will be one more novel to complete the prophecy: Mouvar's Magic. So
don't throw away the prior volumes, unless you happen to like fumbling through
a summary like this to get your bearings. One of the interesting things about
those prior volumes is that through a fluke of magic the cover intended for this
book, Orc's Opal, appeared instead on the hardcover edition of Serpent's Silver,
two novels ago. So those who experience a mysterious déjà vu when reading the
scene in Chapter 8 about Charles and Merlain and the great flying dragon-bird
need be mystified no more; it simply means they made the mistake of reading
these novels in order, in hardcover. Those who read Dragon's Gold in hardcover
were in a different frame, because in this frame it was an original paperback.
CHARACTERS
Mouvar—fabled Roundear who made the Prophecy and set up a chain of
scientific transporters linking the frames
Zady—ugly, evil old witch, Zoanna's aunt
Queen Zoanna—beautiful, evil former queen of Rud, now dead
Professor Devale—demon sorcerer and educator with a taste for beauty and
mischief
Chimaera—monster with three heads: Mervania, Mertin, and Grumpus
Kelvin Knight Hackleberry—the unlikely hero of the Prophecy, and thus of
all the novels of this series. Son of John Knight, but his surname was changed
when his mother married Hal Hackleberry, and not changed back when she
remarried John Knight.
Heln Hackleberry—Kelvin's roundeared wife
Charles—Kelvin and Heln's son, age six
Dragon Horace—Charles and Merlain's sibling
Helbah—old sorceress of Klingland and Kance: a good witch
Katbah—Helbah's houcat (or "cat") familiar
Lester "Les" Crumb—Jon's husband, son of Mor Crumb
Jon—Kelvin's younger sister, whose ears are pointed
Charley Lomax—neighbor, formerly one of the king's guards
Cutie Lomax—Charley's cute kid sister
Charlain Knight—Kelvin and Jon's mother, wife of John Knight
John Knight—roundeared traveler from Earth, stranded in the magic realm,
father of Kelvin, and of Kian, by Zoanna
King Kildom—boy-king of Klingland
King Kildee—boy-king of Kance
Zatanas—evil magician, Zoanna's father, now dead
Old Man Zed Yokes—river man who ferries others across water
Whitestone—convention wizard
Zudini—master illusionist and escape artist
Zally—Zudini's daughter, majoring in pedimagic
Fredrick—handsome young warlock, Zally's friend
Brudalous—king of the orcs
Glow—Charles' dream girl
St. Helens—familiar name for Sean Reilly, Heln's father from Earth, once a
soldier in John Knight's Earth platoon.
Man—messed up Jon's loaf of bread
Policeman—picks up Jon
Desk Sergeant—recognizes the problem
Toastmaster—of banquet where Helbah is feted
Loopey—a drunk man in the form of a stargen
Phenoblee—Brudalous's orc wife
Phillip Blastmore—former boy-king of the kingdom of Aratex
Morton "Mor" Crumb—former leader of a band that helped Kelvin
Miss Pringle—attendant at children's suite
Ebbernog—little fat boy
King Rufurt—figurehead king of Kelvinia, a gentle and somewhat
ineffective man
Mosday—orc officer, a general under Brudalous
Krassnose—resident orc wizard
Dawn—the sunwitch, Glow's mother
PROLOGUE
Night
The ugly old witch with beautiful warts on her face had an air about her. A
bad air. It wasn't merely physical; it extended well into the supernatural realm
and was almost artistic in its awfulness. Leaning there in the study on her
artfully crooked stick, she could have stepped right from an ancient woodcut
which had soaked in the foulest of sewers for a few centuries.
Professor Devale rubbed his polished horns, wondering who she was and
why she had come. She was obviously competent in sorcery, or she would not
have found him here.
"You do remember me, Professor?" Her voice grated like bone against
gravestone. Her breath as she spoke staggered him. Her rheumy eyes cleared for
a moment and glowed with the intensity of coals from a funeral pyre.
He thought rapidly, searching his memory, annoyed that his precognitive
ability was weaker than it should be. Let's see—several centuries ago a witch
such as this had brought a really beautiful girl to him. A girl named Zoanna, and
it hadn't been entirely her fault that she hadn't wanted to study, then. With beauty
like that, she had been able to have her way without magic. Later Zoanna had
learned the limits of beauty and had come to him for help, as they all came
sooner or later. What a joy she had been, when she wanted his favor! He had
known exactly what she was up to, and that she cared not a pennycent curse
about him personally, and she had known he knew. That was the way he liked it:
proper understanding. There could be much pleasure in a business romance. But
Zoanna was gone now, destroyed in the frame of dragons by another type of
witch and that witch's amateur helpers. Helpers such as Kelvin Knight
Hackleberry, the claimed Roundear of Prophecy, and his mother and sister. The
frames were in a sorry state when louts like these could interfere with the
projects of legitimate practitioners of magic. Vengeance was in order for
somebody. Yes, yes, and so this had to be Zoanna's old aunt, who was as
vengeful a creature as he could remember.
"Why of course I remember you, Zady," he said in his familiar manner. It
wouldn't do to have anyone think he was other than completely sharp, and
verging on omniscience. Especially a stinking crone like this! If she was so
powerful, why didn't she make herself beautiful?
