Chapter 260: Fly
Lnd found himself sitting on the wagon with Jude and Gelo. He blinked a few times, relimating to the brightness of the sun.
“Where’s Glenny?” he asked.
Jude opened his mouth to answer, but a voice beat him to it.
“Here,” Glenny said, appearing beside them.
The others flinched, Jude staring at his friend with his lips pursed. “How long have you been there?”
“Since we got on?”
“That was hours ago!”
“And I’ve been here the whole time.”
“Dude,” Lnd began, “that ring is scary.” He was referring to Glenny’s birthday present, his mother’s ring. The enchantment was simple but powerful, obscuring the wearer to a degree people hunted and killed the ring maker so he couldn’t create more.
“Yeah,” Glenny replied with a shrug.
“Annnnyway, I found Isobel.”
“What?”
“The Lord of the First Druid was showing me what we are in for at the second Tear. Which is battle, mind you. But that’s not the point. Isobel was there, she assassinated a Witch!”
Jude frowned. As did Glenny.
“Come on guys, she’s not that bad,” Lnd huffed.
“Maybe to you… but to us—”
“She treats us like kids,” Glenny interrupted. “Although, she is a good punching bag.”
“Until she punches back,” Jude muttered.
Lnd rolled his eyes. “We’vee to an understanding.”
“You’ve said that before. What does that even mean?”
“It means, I trust her.”
“Yeah I do as well—”
The wagon hit another bump, rousing Gelo from her nap. She blinked, bleary eyed and half asleep. “Are we there yet?” she uttered, daggering her snout into Jude’s knee like it was a fluffy pillow.
“Almost. You should probably get up. We’ll be moving soon.”
“Okay…” With that, the cub roused her tired head, rising like an undead from a shallow grave. “I’m up. What’s new?”
“Found Isobel,” Lnd answered. “And a new contract.”
“Isobel? Where’s she?”
“At the Tear.”
“And the contract?”
Lnd pulled out his grimoire, reading the new page aloud quietly to his friends.
<strong>Cursed contract of the Lord of the First Druid:</strong>
<strong>Use: Gain ess to the Shamanism spell, Wildfire. </strong>
<strong>Return: Protect the Legacy of the First Druid known as “Elin” until the threat at the Tear has ended.</strong>
<strong>This contract is renegotiable after one year.</strong>
<strong>Shamanism Wildfire: Call upon the First Druid to kindle the mes of a disaster in your hands. Do what you will with it.</strong>
After finishing reading, Lnd got a mixed “<em>eh</em>,” from his friends. He could only roll his eyes. Shamanism spells were unique enough to warrant their own title and field of study. He had to bite at the chance to own one. If it wasn’t good, then there were plenty of other contracts he could make.
And it wasn’t like the spell would take over from Circle of Souls, not unless he could form a particrly powerful script around the spell… which, now that he was thinking about it, may be a route to go…
“Hmm…”
“Hello? Leals, hello?”
He blinked. “Lost my train of thought.”
“Did you finish the Lord of Magic’s contract?”
His eyes snapped open just like the pages of his grimoire.
<strong>Cursed contract of the Lord of Magic (Renewed):</strong>
<strong>Use: Gain ess to the spell Dual Mind Resonance. </strong>
<strong>Dual Mind Resonance: While active, your brain splits in two, offering dual thought processes.</strong>
<strong>Spell’s duration is limited by proficiency and base contract duration.</strong>
A particrly devious chuckle expelled from his lips. “It’s ready now!”
“Eh, don’t do that, Lnd. It’s too creepy,” Gelo whined, the fur on the back of her neck sticking up.
“I want to test it. Do I have enough time to test it?”
“Leals, we’re going to—”
“HO!” the voice of the wagon driver called before the ox pulling the cart began to slow. “We’re here!”
“Fancy that timing?” Jude asked, wagging his eyebrow at Lnd. “Time to go get a blessing!”
He hopped to his feet, jumping out of the wagon andnding in a patch of mud with an audible <em>ssh</em>. Heughed, setting off to speak with the driver.
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“Is he <em>skipping</em>?” Glenny asked, squinting at his friend’s antics.
Lnd and Gelo joined in watching the berserker <em>skip</em> through the mud. “What in the world…?”
“Did he get into the wine again?” Gelo asked.
“No. I took all of the bottles he had in his ring.”
“C-could he just be excited?”
“I don’t—”
“Come on guys!” Jude called. “Mr Hugh says the temple is this way!”
“Maybe he is,” Glenny muttered, jumping from the wagon andnding in the mud.
Lnd did the same, as well as Gelo, but she froze the watery dirt so that her paws didn’t get caked. Lnd cocked an eyebrow, his boots now frozen in icy mud.
“Sorry!” the cub yelped, unfreezing the area directly under his feet. “I’m a bit tired.”
Together they swung around the side of the wagon, finding Jude and Mr. Hugh talking to the ox pulling the wagon. While Jude spoke to the animal like it was an animal, Mr. Hugh talked as if the beast was his best friend.
“Carly says to have fun at the temple. She just knows you four are in for a treat!” the waggoneer said.
“Carly?” Glenny asked.
Mr. Hugh patted the ox. “My pride and joy.”
“Beastpanion,” Jude said, receiving a prompt nod from the man.
“Most of the folks in this vige are Legacies of Beasts. So don’t be rmed if animals are in odd ces. They are living their best lives here.”
While the group knew this vige held a temple to the Lord of Beasts, the connection to the locals had been lost on the three boys. Of course the locals had some rtion to the Lord of Beasts, otherwise why house a temple in their vige?
Jude produced a few gold coins from his inventory ring, thrusting them at the man.
“No thanksd. Giving you lot a ride is the most fun I’ve had in weeks!” Carly snorted, her tail flicking Mr. Hugh in the hand. “Okay, okay. ying you and the cursed <em>Todd</em> in poker was fun as well.”
“Cursed?” Lnd asked.
“Ah.” The man chuckled. “A little inside joke around the vige. Todd is a nocturnal opossumpanion to Mr. Timmy. The two havepletely different sleeping schedules, hence the <em>‘cursed’</em> aspect.”
“Oh…”
Mr. Hughughed again. “Crazy fool won fifty silver from me and Carly even though we were ying together and cheating! I think that beasty can smell lies. Called all of our bluffs!”
Carly punctuated with another powerful snort.
“Try lying more,” Jude suggested. “So when Todd smells a lie, he doesn’t know if it is an actual lie.”
The man snapped. “Good idea!” He and the ox shared a look before turning back to the young man. “Well, you four best be off. Good luck at the temple!”
And with that, the wagon pulled away.
Lnd blinked a few times, then yelled, “Oh! Don’t blow out your birthday candles! The Lord of Mending mes heals people through the mes!”
That got a confused head tilt from the man and ox.
“Well, I tried.”
Glenny snickered at him.
“This better be worth it,” Lnd muttered. “Two whole days of detoured travel to get here.”
“Oh it will be,” Jude sang. “I can practically smell the Beast Lord’s blessing!”
“I think that’s ox poop,” Gelo said, sniffing the air.
“Is it? I think it smells like excitement!”
“No, it’s definitely ox poop.”
Jude deted. “I’m going to go ahead. You three catch up.” And like that, the berserker ran into the vige.
It was a small, warm sort of ce. It reminded both Glenny and Lnd of their home vige, the ce they left and never looked back. There were some in their home vige who were nice and respectable. People like the local Guild Master, Gill. But small viges often held a level of animosity toward the outcasts.
And as they strolled through the wicker and brick houses, that was front and center. Sneers, res, vigers simply ignoring them. From both the animals and not, these people knew each other and <em>only</em> each other. Strangers were trouble, here or everywhere. Even with Gelo by their side, they were unknown. Were they here to swing by the temple or rob the grain supply?
“Good thing we’re not staying long,” Lnd muttered.
“Yeah…” Glenny jerked his head to the side, feeling a pair of burning eyes on him. There, stuck to a wall with its head facing the ground, was a chameleon eyeing him. He gave a short wave. It scurried down the wall,pletely ignoring him. “Well then,” he said, a bit miffed. “That was the first chameleon I’ve ever seen, other than the Lord of Chameleons, and it runs from me?”
Lnd gave him a sympathetic look. Gelo did not. Instead her head craned from one side to the other, staring at the assortment of beasts lounging around. A monkey over there, a bat hanging from a roof, a dwarf hippo gnawing on a pumpkin.
“What is <em>that</em> thing?” she asked.
The boys nced back and forth. “A hippo.”
“He’s beautiful.”
Lnd coughed. Glenny sputtered.
They had to nearly drag the cub from staring, pulling her onto the main drag of the vige. There they found the temple, a mud and brick building three times the size of any other building around. There a statue of a buffalo stood tall and firm, the hardened y that formed it more akin to brown ss than dirt.
“That’s the Lord of Beasts,” Lnd told Gelo. “His presence alone caused rain and life to appear.”
She frowned. “Can my mom do that?”
“Probably not. But she’ll be able to do other things. Ice and space, you know?”
“Yeah,” Glenny said, hopping into the conversation, “she’ll be able to create miniature worlds. Dungeons and stuff.”
“Maybe she’d let us be the first to explore one of her dungeons,” Lnd said. “Can you imagine the loot we’d get from a dungeon when your mom is watching? I’d bet she’d give us only the best stuff.”
Gelo snorted. “Nah, she’d give out what we earn. Mom’s not one to give out gifts for those who can’t prove worthy.” She shivered. “I can’t tell you how many treats I missed out on years ago because I couldn’tnd a bullseye with an ice bolt.”
“Treats?” Glenny asked.
“There was a special type of fruit inside our dungeon that only grew once a month. Mom stockpiled them as incentive for me to practice harder. They were great!”
“What was it called?”
“Palm granted or something.”
“Pomegranate?” Lnd asked.
“Yeah that’s it.”
“We can get you some pomegranates. They sell them in the markets sometimes.”
“Wellllll, mom said these pomegranates were special.”
“Magical?” Glenny asked.
“Not sure. Just that the golden juice could mend wounds.”
“Gold?” both Lnd and Glenny asked at the same time.
“Yeah, gold.”
“Pomegranates are reddish pink.”
“Oh. Then it wasn’t a pomegranate.”
“Or” Lnd supposed, “it could have been a <em>special</em> pomegranate.”
“Or that.”
“Did it have seed things that you ate? Or was it fleshy like an orange—”
The question died in his mouth as Jude emerged from the temple. He carried a hamster, talking to it as if it was a wise, old man.
“Thank you for the hospitality,” Jude said, tenderly, “that was very enlightening.”
“Yes indeed,” the hamster muttered, its words slow but resolute. “Go forth, young one, and fly!”
At that, the hamster hopped from Jude’s hands, plopping onto the muddy ground without a care in the world. At the same time, a set of hawk wings sprung from Jude’s back, pping hastily. Feathers and plumage filled the air at the same time gusts of wind shot forward.
Lnd, Glenny, and Gelo braced themselves from the sudden assault, their berserker friendughing like a mad man. He jumped, his new wings beating like a fledgling leaving the nest for the first time. He took to the air! Climbing foot by foot until he was above the nearest roof.
“Catch me if you can Leal—” his words halted as one wing pped <em>too far</em>, shifting his bnce and causing him to spin.
Then, like a sack of bricks, he fell,nding face first in the dirt.
No one made a sound, not even the elder hamster who had walked Jude out of the temple.
Amidst the silence, Lnd took three steps forward, cing his hand on the back of Jude’s head. “Caught you.”