Chapter 22 Chapter 21 Pikel's Trap

Cadderly paid little attention to the chatter and laughter of his friends around him.He sat in front of the small table next to the Book of Universal Harmony, gathered the clues about the mystery in his heart, and searched for possible information from every corner of his memory.However, the purpose of his meditation is not all just to gather information. Cadderly kept thinking of Avery's spirit, that vision, and that feeling, and the divine joy he knew the dead Master had found.All the doubts that had followed the young priest during his loss of faith could not penetrate the holy barrier of that feeling.Cadderly's logical deduction - derived from information he could see and test through his own rational perception - seemed utterly absurd in the face of the knowing smile of Avery's soul.

The foundations of Cadderly's own existence were greatly shaken, but the young priest felt neither remorse nor loss.Quite the contrary, the mystery of it gave Cadderly hope that he never had.The young priest need not deny what he felt, but simply expand the possibilities of the ground of his being to include this wonderful new revelation. Cadderly's automatic chuckle made Danica and Ivan turn their heads, and they sat facing him on the bed, and their gaze roused the young priest from his thoughts.Cadderly shrugged, not knowing how to explain it. "These people," Ivan muttered, but Danica nodded at the young priest, as if she understood Cadderly's determination to find it.

Dear Danica, Cadderly thought, and he had no doubt that she understood, or that she affirmed him. ※※※ Pikel crept up the first floor of the Dragon's Fig Leaf, slipping in and out of the shadows, looking for the pantry.It was late, and the dwarf was hungry, for he had missed three of his four meals in an exhausting day. "Hee hee hee," the dwarf snickered as he found the buns and sweet dough.He tossed the talisman Cadderly had handed him into a pocket, and rubbed his plump hands together quickly, the innocent dimples on his cheeks revealing his delight. Playing with his arms full of food, the dwarf ascends the makeshift staircase leading to the second floor.With each step up the stairs he and Ivan had rebuilt, he felt more justified in his petty theft.

However, his smile faded before returning to Cadderly's room.A frail human approached him, and half of the bun fell out of his mouth. ※※※ As Danica and Ivan battle it out at the bedside, the young woman proves to an incredulous Ivan that her focus is enough to keep him from beating her in a wrist match.The powerful dwarf, flushed and surrounded by a circle of yellow beard, began to press and yank sideways, but the young woman's arms——and Ivan's had protruding and tangled muscles. The arm was extremely slender in comparison—it didn't move an inch. "You've met a strong opponent," Cadderly remarked to Ivan, but the words only made the dwarf more excited.He jumped up and pushed down with all his strength, causing the bed to move several inches, but Danica remained motionless.

The scratching sound from the bed was sudden and loud, and Cadderly was alerted for a moment.The young priest did not deliberately hide the fact that he and his friends had returned to the inn, but neither did he wish to let the potential enemy know too much. "Hush!" he whispered, and then he remembered Pikel, closed his eyes, and searched for the absent dwarf.He thought he'd find the same feelings—hunger mostly—waiting for him, but his eyes popped open when Cadderly made contact through the power of the telepathic-enhancing talisman.The feeling was as vague as he'd expected, but instead of distant thoughts of muffins and beer, Cadderly saw black shadows bent over their bodies.

It's not Pikel at the other end!Images of dead Brennan and poor Doe mingled with Cadderly's growing panic.The young priest suddenly cut contact and jumped from his chair. "I'll beat you!" Ivan yelled at Danica, not noticing Cadderly's panic at all, but Danica, who was facing Cadderly, didn't miss his action.She withdrew from the meditative state, and Ivan pushed her hands down on the bed, and the dwarf growled triumphantly until he realized Danica wasn't paying him any attention. Danica quickly crawled across the bed, past Ivan.The dwarf turned and saw her and Cadderly leave the room, before realizing that there was trouble that might have involved his absent brother.Ivan didn't even stop to reach for his axe, but sprinted out the door in pursuit.

※※※ Poor Pikel had never felt so weak!He stared blankly at himself, or at least his body, or the monster who stole it from him. Clinging one hand to the frail form's neck, the ghost heard rumbles in the corridor and knew that Pikel's friends would soon find him.The realization caused a wicked chuckle to escape from the lips of the now-dwarf.He slapped Pikel's thin arm away, reached into one of the pockets, and pulled out a small package. "Ooooh," Pikel wailed, nearly fainting, as the ghost held the package between them, and he figured it must be some kind of horrific magical object, and his life was about to end.But the ghost threw the package at itself, on top of what was now the dwarf's head.

"Huh?" Pikel asked, as the impostor dwarf had blood all over his face, blood from the package. Lifting the frail form off the ground with one hand, the ghost flung Pikel across the room, sending him flying into the wall, before sliding down to the floor, where he collapsed in a heap. The ghost also fell back, leaning heavily on the wall perpendicular to the door, and began to moan. ※※※ Once Ivan recognized where Cadderly was leading them, in a rage he grabbed Cadderly and Danica by the back of their jackets, using his strength to push himself past them.The dwarf, without the antler helmet, slammed the door open and burst into the room.

Precariously, Pikel raised a trembling finger accusingly toward the opposite corner of the room, where a thin human was slowly crawling. "My brother!" Ivan yelled, rushing across the room, reaching out to strangle the feeble murderer. Danica followed the quivering direction the impostor dwarf pointed, but Cadderly entered the room more slowly, keeping his undivided attention cautiously on the apparently wounded dwarf. He had let Denier's song sing in his head.He saw the shadow lying on Pikel's—the impostor's! —on the shoulders. "Evan!" he yelled, and, trusting what the song told him, he threw the incredibly hard Frisbee at the dwarf's face.

The dwarf flew back against the wall; real blood mingled with fake blood onto his green-dyed beard. "Ooooh," he moaned.Across the room, Ivan let go of the frail human and turned around to strangle the new target. Cadderly had been gazing at the dwarf with discerning eyes.He watched the shadow break away and sink into Pikel's shoulder. Ivan grabbed his brother with both hands, lifted him off the ground, and slammed back against the wall. "Ooh." Pikel groaned again. "Wait a minute, Ivan." Cadderly said calmly, "Pikkel has returned to his original body."

Cadderly nodded to Danica, who turned to face the killer again, ready to pounce on him at any moment. "You have no escape," Cadderly said to the ghost.He went and stood next to Danica. "I recognize you." "Shouldn't have done that damn Frisbee so well," Cadderly heard Ivan say behind him, echoing Pikel's continued groan.The young priest glanced back quickly and saw Ivan tending to Pikel's bloodied face. When he turned his head, the shadow had disappeared from the weak killer's shoulder.Cadderly's eyes darted across the room, fearful that the man would steal his friend's ego again.His three companions, however, looked undisturbed, looking at him awaiting instructions, and their faces were puzzled, clearly seeing the distress of the young priest's sudden appearance. "Who are you?" Cadderly whispered back to the frail man.He let the song of Denir sing louder in his head, studying the Aurora emanating from the new occupant. He felt a cold wind and pictured a desolate, rocky coast with towering mountains behind him.Huge ice floes strewn the bay, waves lapping at their hard edges.A huge ship was anchored firmly in the calmer sea not far from the shore, waiting for the strong arms that could lift its huge oars. Cadderly stared at the frail man's face, seeing genuine fear and unexpected resignation. Danica sensed that the thin man was about to sneak towards the door, and tensed her muscles to fly to intercept him.However, a whisper reached her ear, a magical message from Cadderly.She looked curiously at the companion next to her. The thin man suddenly ran towards the door.Danica ran after it, as did Cadderly, and the two of them stumbled just enough to allow the man to pass. Ivan let go and Pikel fell hard to the ground, wincing at his brother's ensuing groans. "Stop!" Cadderly called, keeping an eye on the fleeing man.However, he didn't say this to the weak man, and there was quite a bit of magical energy in his words. Ivan stopped involuntarily, and the man rushed through the open door.Danica followed Cadderly's instructions with half-truth and half-fidelity in the chase.She came out of the front door of "Dragon's Fig Leaf" after a while, and saw the man turn and run into one road, and she deliberately turned into the other, and came back empty-handed after a while. Inside the room, Ivan was standing staring at Cadderly in disbelief, one heavy booted foot patting impatiently on the wooden floor. "Wait any longer?" the yellow-bearded dwarf asked roughly. Cadderly nodded, smiling. "Not for long," he promised, and the young priest believed it.The mystery is about to be solved.