Free Jinx On The Divide by Elizabeth Kay

after?"
    "A scientific icing that doesn't go granite-hard. A way
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    of blowing up rock -- drilling spells take forever. We're rebuilding our capital, Tiratattle, way to the south, and we need a lot of stone. We're somewhat behind on production because we had to shut down one of the quarries."
    "Why?"
    Squill looked evasive. Then he said, "Safety issues," but it didn't ring true somehow.
    Rhino put his hand in his pocket. The firecrackers were still there, and so was the cigarette lighter. He suddenly felt that his luck had turned; he could bluff his way through this. "I know a bit about blowing things up," he said. The only time he had ever paid any attention in chemistry was when there were loud bangs involved, and he still had enough firecrackers to make something fairly destructive. Once those were gone, he'd have to think again.
    They dressed him in japegrin purple. Although he felt silly at first, he could pass unnoticed when he wanted to. But he didn't want to -- he kept his head bare so that everyone could see his ears. He was famous just for being human, and it felt good when people turned to stare. The only times he'd made an impression in the past were when he'd smashed a window, or spray-painted his name on a wall, or beaten someone up. He decided to hang on to the brandee's cloak. Although it was black -- and consequently unfashionable -- it was very lightweight and astonishingly warm.
    Squill wanted a scientific demonstration right away, so Rhino packed three of his remaining firecrackers into something
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    that looked a bit like an oversized walnut shell. Squill selected a target -- a little ragamucky shack by a rocky outcrop just outside Yergud -- and hid behind a tree. Rhino lit the fuse, and then ran like crazy.
    The bang was much bigger than Rhino had been expecting, and he narrowly avoided being hit by flying debris.
    [Image: Rhino.]
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    Dust rose into the air like a mushroom cloud, and a flock of birds lifted out of the trees and wheeled around, dazed and confused. How the heck had three cheap firecrackers managed to produce a result like this? Then one of the birds tumbled out of the sky and landed dead at his feet. Then another, and another. The dust cleared, and he could see that nothing remained of the shack except a few pieces of charred and splintered wood -- and two halves of something that looked remarkably like a crystal ball.
    Squill turned to Rhino, his emerald eyes bright and intense in his soot-blackened face. "You are a gifted scientist, Professor Rheinhart, that is quite clear. Perhaps you can also show me how to make those talking-together machines. What did you call them? Cell groans?"
    The ragamucky suddenly appeared from behind them, carrying a bag of groceries, her face twisted with fury. "That was my home you just razed!" she yelled. "How am I supposed to rent out perching rocks if I don't live on the premises?"
    "Slum clearance," said Squill.
    The ragamucky's expression darkened. "I demand compensation."
    "Only japegrins get compensation," said Squill. "So I suggest you pick up the two halves of your crystal ball -- which, clearly, failed to warn you that your house was about to be demolished -- and go back to wherever you came from."
    ***
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    That night, Rhino was put up in what appeared to be some kind of hotel, which had once been called the Yergud Valliton, at least according to the sign lying on the grass. The food had all been foreign, of course -- no hamburgers, or fries, or hot dogs. His room had been ... well, different, although the view of the twin volcanoes was magnificent. Hot water came out of the faucet when he clicked his fingers. The carpet was made of moss, like all the other carpets, and the wallpaper was made of birch bark. His bed had asked him if he wanted a lullaby, his mirror had told him he needed a haircut, and his toothbrush had informed him he had a small cavity in an upper right molar. He had some trouble getting to sleep, since the bed had a mind of