“Took your time,” Djince whispered as I came upon him at the edges of the tall grasses on the east side of the encampment. In the dark, I could just make out the royal blue messenger bag across his chest. Another belt was wrapped around its body, constricting it to to the courier’s torso so it wouldn’t swing as he went. “Kill ‘im?”306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwA37gRrJ3y
I shook my head slowly.
Djince followed after me as I made my way into the woods. He tapped me, but I shrugged him off. “I need to be alone right now,” I told him.306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFYkJErwMuX
“No,” he said, gripping my shoulder and pulling hard. He was pointing before me and I took a step back from the drop, bumping into him. A pitfall. Looking out into dark, I could faintly see others like it. Traps? Craning my head, I could see the moonlight glint off damp wooden poles. Spike traps. “A parting gift,” I said, letting out a shaky breath. “Thanks.”
Djince squeezed my shoulder. “Come on.” I followed him carefully through the brush. The trees themselves were thin, spindly gray things that reached up twenty feet into the air. Instead of leaves, they were laiden with a vibrant green vine that clung to them and created a sort of canopy overhead. Djince seemed to know where he was going, even in the dark. His eyes really are something else, I thought to myself. I’ve never encountered his like… at least not in humans.
“I got my ring back,” I said quietly. The bird sounds of the marsh were transformed. I could hear the chirping of insects in the brush, and sometimes the rustling of some larger creature, but I never caught sight of anything bigger than a silver dollar in size.
Djince grunted in reply.
“Chalice had it. She’s a god working with Mordis now… At least, she was a god. I’m not sure what any of us are anymore. She said we will outlive people. That we heal faster. It was her Cradle I woke up in at the beginning… I don't know how she ended up mortal.”
He gave me a grunt of feigned interest, pushing a branch back so I could pass. After he let it go, he took the lead again.
“I saw the chronophage,” I said quietly. “It was… sad…” When he didn’t react to that, I said, “She told me Mordis wasn’t there. He’s the one who killed Ethis. That man that was made out of smoke… is Mordis. I… I had forgotten.”
I almost ran into Djince and he turned around. He said, “Mordis?”
“Yes… Man’s God Himself… or what’s left of him, anyway.”
Djince sniffed. I heard him resituate his gear and let out a breath. Then he said, “Good.”
“Good?”
He grunted in confirmation and took off into the forest once more.
“What is good about any of that? Don’t you want your revenge? How do you plan to kill a god?” He didn’t reply. I shook my head. “I don’t understand you sometimes.”
Djince chuckled at that. Then he stopped and gestured for me to take the lead. I almost tripped over my gravbike saddle. Brushing my jacket off, I laughed a little. “I thought we were abandoning them.”
“You took long enough,” Djince said and I heard him mounting his own bike, taking care to pull off one glove before tapping the ignition. The blue glow of the hologram filled the clearing, casting everything in a cold, ethereal light. Djince was watching me as I mounted my own bike. He nodded to me and said, “I will kill Mordis, Papyrus.”
“I believe you,” I said.
“I don’t care what he is or isn’t. I don’t care what you are or aren’t.”
I smiled, grateful beyond words. I wanted so badly to believe him.
“I will kill him,” he reiterated.
I nodded to him very deliberately and said, “I’ll help you.”
He seemed surprised. He matched my smile. “Good.”306Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfDdhnnw6cx
