Zaldizko - Chapter 33 The Lotus Bridge Pt. 2

“Please show us what you saw back at Gat Shiem Small Cap. It’s important. Quickly now!” Death prompted the spider, drawing my thoughts towards their conversation.

“Small Cap, what’d you see? Hang on!” I telepathically asked whilst avoiding hits.

I sensed his uncertainty for a starting point.

“Begin from where you felt things were wrong.” Death gently coaxed him.

“Okay Freends.” Small Cap exhaled deeply.

My mind’s eye watched events that had been troubling him since we had left Gat Shiem, but he wasn’t able to put perspective on them until now. I was doing my damnedest not to be killed in the process. From his memory perspective, I was

Scurrying through the damp foliage and bushes of the glen near the moonstone walls close to the place the two-legs called a Torii, avoiding webs and insects bigger than myself. The bushes there had the fattest and laziest worms, making it a nice feast.

It was dangerous to stay for too long as many bigger insects would have me for breakfast. Plus I needed a new home since I was kicked out of my nest after taking too long to recover from my broken leg.

Those fat females were nasty, using the excuse of no scent to try and eat me. Luckily, my older brothers chased me out before the females had a chance. I was sad I couldn’t see them anymore. My relatives in other barks weren’t welcoming. The females there were just as mean. All the other choice barks were full. It was suicidal to seek shelter in them. I remembered Freend’s face. He was nice.

I hurried under some fallen foliage near familiar bushes close to the Torii’s posts. Strange voices from two-legs caught my interest. Two of them were talking to Freend’s nestmate, the one with bright eyes and shiny hair the colour of the moon.

“Thank you for the information your Shuso has asked you to provide us,” said a deep voice, giving off unnatural vibrations like a web-spinners. “We have some further details we need to confirm.”

I pushed my head out of a pile of leaves and watched them.

“Details? But you only needed to know about the walls, right? I’m not permitted to provide further explanations, nor would I be qualified. If you need magical details, you may discuss matters with our guardian.” The tones of Freend Nestmate’s voice was harsh. He was short for breath. He was angry?

“Even if it meant saving the life of your favourite brother from an imminent threat?” The two-leg’s voice was too smooth.

I scurried up a tree behind the strange two-legs to get a better look.

One of them was almost hidden in dark colours with a thin web covering his eyes. The other had his head covered with a two-leg’s hat. He wore strange cloth that carried an outline of red.

“What? Are you threatening us?” Freend Nestmate’s voice let out a stronger vibration and harsher tone that raised my hairs. He was angry like those females that had wanted to eat me.

“As our thanks for your information, make sure you count to fifty when the day becomes night and you hear the first blast. If you want your brother to live, be gone by then.”

The two-leg’s tones made me shiver. I was worried about freend’s nestmate.

“You are threatening us? I will alert Shuso!”

The bright flash of yellow around Freend’s nestmate body had startled me. He turned to run but his arm was caught by the two-leg’s wearing dark colours.

“Go ahead, it won’t make a difference, but I owe a favour to the family you’ve forgotten. With this, the cards are drawn even,” said the two-legs with the hat.

Freend’s nestmate exhaled a deep breath to calm down. “I will tell Shuso about this conversation. You will leave this place or be forced to do so.”

“Of course, we mean no harm Pestilence,” said the two-legs. “Thank you for your assistance once again.”

Freend’s nestmate was released. The two-legs moved away from him. I watched their bodies walk beyond the Torii and out of sight with a sigh of relief.

“What’s that all about? What is Shuso thinking? Must tell him.” Freend’s nestmate blew aside some nettle leaves as he sprinted up the slope toward a big rock tower

“Goddamn it! Can’t you give a time out?!” I shouted, dodging a claymore swipe to my head.

“This happened? Why didn’t you say anything earlier?” I continued my conversation with Small Cap and Death.

“Also,” Small Cap added.

I saw Adams-san and a man I hadn’t seen before talking before the opening of the sack we had been dumped in. We had travelled in darkness for a long time, but Small Cap could tell that we had crossed a river, over rocky terrain, through mountain paths and underground to reach the entrance of an iron wall. Skrit surrounded the sack. I was able to see the face of Aidoneus and the back of an Evadale Knight with black spiky hair. Their images were cut off when the sack’s drawstring was pulled closed.

“Everything has been cleverly orchestrated.” Death concluded.

“To this very moment? HELL!” I yelped as I dived and did a body roll to avoid another lethal blow.

Multitasking was taxing my energies.

“Seems so. It means, they were counting on you being in the Evadale Knight’s care, to rescue War, and use me to carry out events leading up to this very moment.” Death concluded.

“Eat lead you freak face!” I shouted to Aidoneus, firing rounds of bullets that he annoyingly dodged with great skill.

“So, you were saying, they were counting on you to have the Power of Preservation. Why? I don’t get it or the part I play in all… hang on.” I ducked and fell backwards to avoid another blow.

“Godamnit!” I cursed at the nasty gash to my arm that ended my gunslinging chances.

I replaced my guns with the portspell.

“As I was saying, why do any of this, keep me alive, throw me twenty years into the past?”

“Because you could bring me back! Something bothered me when I was linked to that Banshee. I don’t recall being gifted. Rather, I was taken. Moralta may have possession of my body, it doesn’t carry the perspective knowledge pertaining to tsazcuths. That’s what he’s trying to do here!” Death continued.

I continued fighting off Aidoneus’s attacks, who was oblivious to my conversation with my brother.

The freak’s red eyes were totally fixed on me, not aware of another presence dragged about our fight.

“Aah! I get it!” I muttered.

Everything became clear. I felt certain about our fighting chance since I had realised our enemy’s mistake. I needed to get to Colin and heal him up.

“Small Cap, Death. Do you think you can nudge a few gold coins off their place?”

“Nudge?” Death questioned.

“The bottom ones on the side opposite Colin will do. Make sure you do it when I’m in your line of sight. Also, make sure you are not seen. I’m counting on you.”

“We’re on it!”

Small Cap escaped the belt pouch when I did a body roll to hide his presence from the hiruda and the X-man freak. He went about his task and I went about mine.

It was time to turn the tables.

The platform’s floor vibrated and glowed with intense white light. It was a reaction to the fight between Moralta and Brystagg, which had turned magical.

Moralta called upon water spells that chilled the air as it formed ice balls to hurl at the high prince. The chilled atmosphere became heated from the flames Brystagg had thrown back in retaliation. They were stirring a magical, hot and cold, dance within the air.

“I am absolutely livid! How dare that thing use elemental magic so disrespectfully in my body! He’s violating the water bound codes!” Death complained.

“He’s a villain! Of course, he’s gonna violate codes Death! Focus!”

I ducked and dived about the ground until I was on top of Colin’s unconscious body. The gold coin tree was in my line of sight. Small Cap sprinted behind a shield of twirling coins before the others had noticed.

“I’m gonna need you to see everything once you do this. I’ll bring Colin and myself to the underside.”

“You can count on both of us.” Death reassured me. “Hold that four-eyes tight. For god’s sake, don’t miss.”

I gulped. He didn’t have to spell that out; there was no way I was going to miss.

“Imma slash that pretty face of yours.” Aidoneus gloated over my head with his claymore raised high for a brutal blow. “Your lover won’t wanna see you.”

“Lover?!” I blurted and cursed when my eyes reflectively glanced to Leinard.

“Knew it. You kept giving Sire glances. They do look alike.” He moved away to point his claymore to Leinard’s comatose face. “Wonder how he’d feel if I cut him?”

No, no, no! I cursed at my stupidity. I had to get his attention back.

“Famine, we need to trigger this now!” Death broke through my flustered thoughts.

Improvise.

“I hold the knowledge of the Light Grimoire.” I hoped I had dangled the right bait. If my suspicions of his boyish thirst for knowledge was true. Those feelings were still strong within him.

“What?” The man’s sinew legs took long strides towards me until his near skeletal black clad body was standing over me again. His oversized claymore was a tip away from my head.

“You lie! A dumb git like you won’t hold such things.”

“Got it in Minos. Was gifted by the Sol Mother, you can say.” I faked a nonchalant voice.

“You went to see the Sol Mother, that’s right.” His claymore inched closer to my face. “Where is it?”

“Now.” I gave Death the go and clung tight to Colin’s body.

Small Cap-Death raced over the left ring of coins at the bottom of the tree to stop their momentum and flick them out of their position, so the tree was leaning. The platform gradually tilted, tipping the half containing Colin and myself towards the formless space below.

I steadied the portspell, holding both it and Colin’s waist with my life.

“NO!” Aidoneus shouted as he lost his balance and stumbled off the platform. His cursing voice became a whisper then silence as his body disappeared into the unknown depths.

Moralta and Brystagg had stopped fighting to hold onto something.

Colin and I slid off the floor into the grey space.