Chapter 22
This wasn’t good at all. Now, not only did I have brothers to save in the factory, but I have a village to liberate on the way back! I could only hope Orion was okay.
But right now I had another duty to fulfill: I had promised my help to these sligs. Benedict led me through the dark and into a small chamber. In it, there were two scraggly-looking totem poles. They looked as if they had been hurriedly yanked out of their original posts and replanted here. In any case, they were in rough shape, but I knew that they were genuine. Call it a hunch.
One totem had the unmistakable mug of a slog carved up and down it. There was even drool coming over the lips of the mouths. The second totem was simpler: it bore a remarkable resemblance to a slig riding the back of a meech. His head was to the sky, and the meech was reared back onto its hind legs. It was simply astounding.
Benedict was observing my wonder with delight. “Yes, we found these out in the village. When the invading sligs attacked, we had to preserve their beauty. They were obviously crafted by a wise and wonderful race.”
I only half heard him. I was removing my earring and moving up to the totems. Benedict didn’t seem to notice what I was doing. I approached the slog pole first, and placed the earring carefully into the mouth of the mouth at eye level.
For a second, I could swear the mouth was about to slam down on my wrist, removing my hand and swallowing the earring. But that turned out to just be the flickering light again. About now, Benedict had come up behind me, and asked what I was doing.
So, I told him. It still hadn’t occurred to me that he could be a spy, and I wouldn’t put it past the sligs to do something like this.
“I use this earring to transform into animals, and it helps me navigate through tough situations.” I said it as though it was no big deal, but Benedict was astounded. He obviously didn’t believe me.
And to confirm my suspicions: “I don’t believe it.”
I shrugged. “Hold on a sec, okay?”
I called up Patch and asked for the paramite morph. He happily obliged, and I began to chant. It was the second time I had done it, and expected to go through the entire physical switch. Instead, I felt my body … deflate. It was like I was a balloon slowly emptying of air. And with no warning—poof! I was a paramite.
Benedict watched this all with dumb surprise. I could no longer determine his expression, but I could pick up on the vibes he was giving off. Kind of how some animals can smell fear. He was definitely and completely surprised.
I figured I had proven it, and popped back over to my mudokon body.
Benedict was speechless. I grinned.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get some help.” I turned back to the totem.
‹Patch, it’s me again. Can you do me a favor?›
Silence. I think Patch may have been eating lunch or something; that’s the feeling I got, anyway. Then: ‹Sure, Dante. What’s up?›
‹I need you to send me two guys for the Flash power. I’m getting a slog and a slig morph.›
I sensed Patch coughing on something, and then heard him say, ‹Okay, Dante, sure. That’s a bit … odd. Slog and slig morphs? I mean, yeah, Haste and Branch, but … What good will they do?›
I did a mental eye-roll (or at least I made it clear that I was annoyed by Patch’s ignorant question). ‹Dude, in the factory, don’t you think it would be sweet if I could sneak around and get information?›
Realization crept into Patch’s mind. ‹Oh, yeah. Gimme minute, okay?›
I thanked him and went to the slig totem. It struck me again how beautifully crafted it was. I thought it was amazing how a creature I had grown to associate with hate, anger, and malice could be made to look so pure. I reached up and stuck the earring into the sligs outstretched hand. The dull flash came again, and I again thought that the totem was moving. The hand looked like it was coming forward to grab my face. But the fear passed, and I was calm again.
Benedict found his voice. “That’s … amazing. Really.”
About then, I heard a quiet voice singing, and the flutter of wings. I turned to my left, and saw that same tear in the air. Two mudokons from the village of Oblim came hopping through. One was really tall, and had bluish-white skin and drooping green feathers. The other was shorter, and a bit on the chubby side. His skin was a greenish brown, and his feathers were a dark red.
“Hello!” I said.
“Hello!”
“Hi!”
The two muds looked around, and when they saw Benedict, they began to freak out. They were about to turn and jump back through when I spoke. “Relax! He’s cool.”
The two muds stopped, and I continued. “Well, guys, I’m Dante. You guys wanna introduce yourselves?”
They realized I was that Dante, and suddenly they forgot all about Benedict.
“I’m Aaron!” said the mud with the green feathers.
“And I’m Altus!” was red-head’s introduction.
In tandem: “And we’re …”
The two of them struck a ridiculous pose. Aaron stuck his fists into the air, and did a semi-split. Altus kneeled on his right knee, and pumped his fist downward.
“… The Terrible Twosome!”
I groaned inwardly. Of all the guys Patch could get, I get these clowns.
Ignoring their cheering and whooping, I continued. “I need each of you to reach out and touch one of these totems. It may sting, but it’s gonna be fine.”
The two muds shouted in joy, turned, and froze. They hadn’t noticed the totem poles yet. They were as struck by their detail as I had been.
“What, uh, what do they do?” Aaron asked, a little uneasily.
“When you’ve touched the poles, we will be able to communicate telepathically. And, if I ask for it, you need to give me the power to morph into either a slog or a slig, depending on which pole you touch. Get it?”
Aaron and Altus got it. They each grabbed a pole—Aaron the slog, Altus the slig—and they cried out in pain. It must’ve been brief, because they were soon hooting and hollering again. Teenagers at a party, it sounded like.
Oh, jeez.
Ha! No witty commentary! You deserve no witty comentary!
|