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“Less staring, more reaction. Come on, Daria.”
They walked. It wasn’t that big of a temple when they reached the top of the staircase, but the polish of the marble floors and cloud-wrapped columns reminded Charlie of the man’s gleaming eyes: powerful, even when in a slumbering state. He felt that power humming in the compact body, belying the innocent bald head and pleasant, ordinary face.
No one trusted a face like that except Oscar, who was quick to offer a hand. Sona marched forward and snatched it back. The man looked at them, then glanced at Fluffy. Like a trigger, it had the giant creature lumbering forward and lunging toward the man—
“Malifeskos, it is nice to see you too, my friend.”
Shock punched through the space as the man touched the creature’s head and the creature transformed into a man before their eyes: large, tall, and sturdier than his animal form. The newly formed man bowed his head and kissed the bald man’s hand, then took Oscar’s and kissed it, too. Oscar’s mouth dropped open while Charlie glowered when Daria’s hand was kissed next.
“So, this was your guard?” he mused.
“Am I to assume the creature turned into another creature?”
“A hot, big man,” Sona offered.
“I see.” But Daria didn’t seem perturbed, white orbs fixed on the bald man. “I see you. But only you.”
“Yes.”
She lifted her chin. “Next time, maybe it’s best to give a guard a companion so that it or he doesn’t end up getting hurt.”
“It was an error on my part. Malifeskos was there to be taught a lesson, not to guard. He is the most innocent in his animal form.”
“What lesson did he need to be taught?” Oscar asked.
The bald man smiled at him.
“You have come from a long journey. Some of you didn’t ask for it, but you are all here now in my humble abode. Safe.” He stepped towards Charlie, who tensed when a thumb was pressed against Diego’s forehead. But the protest died from his lips when Diego stirred and some of his wounds faded. The bald man nodded, satisfied, and turned to Daria next. “And you have questions.”
“Yes.”
There was no missing the tremble in her tone.
“The moon is in dominance. Perhaps we can answer what you seek when that cycle passes.”
Evil lurked in the darkness and at night, as far as Charlie was concerned. Maybe that was in everyone’s mind, too, as they accepted the man’s invitation to spend the night in his temple and finish business later.
Daria spent dinner with Charlie, but they eventually moved on to Oscar’s table, where Malifeskos sat and tried to acquaint himself with the more delicate process of eating on a plate. The man didn’t speak much, was still slightly disoriented, and was oddly shyer around them than his animal counterpart.
“Do you know when he will be back? The healer?” she asked when he was halfway done through his meal.
“Light,” was the brief reply, which had Daria’s brows furrowing.
“I guess he means when the moon’s gone,” Charlie said. “This is the second full moon in….”
How many days had they been stuck in the mountain again?
It occurred to him that maybe while time was slow here, it was different in his original world, and the second full moon had indeed come. That jarred. It made him briefly think of his abandoned work before he brushed it off.
“Anyway, Malifeskos.” The same flinty eyes peered at him. “What did you do that earned you that…animal form?”
“Dark.”
Dark. Evil? The man was exasperatingly mysterious, but it wasn’t any different from the other creatures they had encountered here. When the man was done eating, he watched Oscar and Daria still engage Malifeskos in conversation, seemingly determined to get him to say more than one word.
“How old are you?”
“Old.”
