thought I made it clear I have things to see to in Tulan. Do as you wish Dulcan, but your conscience must be clear if I happen to fall in Tulan because you were not part of my escort.’
Delegan thought appealing to the man's conscience was the worst approach to take.
Dulcan shrugged, a gesture of dismissal he seemed to be very fond of. ‘Very well. I have faith in your Excellency. I am sure you can navigate yourself through Tulan.’
‘What is the Mesauwee man's name?’ asked Axiatés suddenly, and just a for a second Delegan wondered if the Goddess was considering talking to the Mesauwee man behind Dulcan's back, leaving him stranded somewhere maybe while the beast handler guided them through the desert. That at least would make Delegan feel slightly better about his present company.
‘I thought you know everything?’ said Dulcan
‘I sometimes dwell the Truth of Everything, yet sometimes without reward,’ admitted Axiatés.
Delegan so wished he knew more about how omniscient this Goddess really was without having to speculate about it. One day, he would certainly try and have a private discussion about it with her. But that time had not yet come.
‘His name is Ibris. As dumb as his kind, as brave as his kind, and as disobedient as his kind. But he has served me well up and till now,’ answered Dulcan.
‘He is a good man,’ said Axiatés, her eyes narrowing as though she had just gleaned something about the man when Dulcan mentioned those qualities about him.
The carriage sprung in the air like it hit a rock and came to a sudden halt. It was strange because the roads in these parts of the world were still very well paved and they did not expect any rough terrain for at least another day's travel. They heard Ibris' feet outside as he probably checked the undercarriage for any damage. Seconds later he came knocking on the little wooden sliding panel
‘What is it now?’ said Dulcan irritably, not walking to talk through the panel, but popping his head out the window again to speak to Ibris. When Dulcan slid back in, Delegan could see there was some puzzlement on his face.
‘We have some... trouble outside,’ he said too diplomatically, which had Delegan worried.
They all clambered out of the carriage, Delegan jumping out just because Axiatés herself wasn't going to sit still and let Dulcan deal with it.
Delegan himself was surprised. Despite his discomfiture with the beasts pulling their carriage he did not expect any trouble before they were well away from the Lord Charlan's Manor.
Delegan scanned the surrounding land, seeing nothing but open plain, and other than the horses that still frightened him, there was not a hint of an enemy.
They all gathered at the back of the carriage, where Ibris was sitting on his haunches, watching the underside sternly.
Seeming frustrated with the rest of them for their ignorance he pointed at the shadows between the carriage wheels. Delegan actually jumped back, even though he was already standing twenty feet away. Something was stuck to the underside of the carriage!
Dulcan walked up closer and looked in under the carriage, almost in a push-up position. The thing gave a deep hiss that had Delegan's tummy twisting. Its almond shaped eyes were at least a foot apart, glowing purple as it hung upside-down underneath the carriage. It made clicking sounds, moving a little bit this way and little bit that way, its dark form otherwise indiscernible in the shadows.
‘It's a fucking crawler fiend!’ said Dulcan as he came to his feet.
The Goddess clamped her ears momentarily in response to Dulcan swearing and he looked bemused at Axiatés. Delegan had to admit that he too found the gesture strange coming from someone who had taken many lives without batting an eye.
‘I guess this is not one of yours, Mesauwee?’ asked Dulcan.
‘No,’ said Ibris simply, as though he had taken Dulcan's question seriously.
‘Am I right in saying that this thing won't budge until it can scamper into the shadows?’ said Dulcan, looking unimpressed with the their surroundings, not even the smallest hint of a tree-shadow visible in the plain that slowly transitioned into the nothingness of the Tulan deserts.
Ibris nodded. ‘Very venomous too, shoots needles from its pincers. Coated with poisons.’
‘Hmm, can we keep on going until nightfall?’ asked Dulcan.
‘No.’
‘Wait it out?’
‘No.’
‘You should really start practising saying yes, I hear they say it brings positive fortunes across one's road.’
The Mesauwee gave Dulcan an indifferent look.
‘It will kill the horses as soon as night falls. And maybe kill us too, it is too dangerous,’ said Ibris.
‘It must've been hiding somewhere in the Manor of Lord Charlan and then scuttled in underneath the carriage when we arrived,’ speculated Dulcan.
A cold child ran over Delegan hearing that. It was bad enough they had to be anywhere near the Madura, but this thing...
‘Can you take care of it your Excellency?’ asked Dulcan.
‘Not without harming the carriage,’ said Axiatés.
‘So how do I get it to leave the shelter of the carriage? Can I shoot it?’ asked Dulcan
Ibris was thoughtful for a moment. Then nodded. ‘It hates the sun, but it will emerge once threatened. But you won't kill it. Not with that weapon. Hard carapace.’
Dulcan turned to the Goddess. ‘If I can pry our friend here into daylight, I assume the Highlady will give us one act of magic that will save the day?’
‘If I have enough time to work with, yes,’ said Axiatés.
‘Well, better get on with it before everyone loses their nerve; and remember, if this thing chases you, they can't run in a straight line,’ said Dulcan with a sadistic grin, pulling a handgun from his waist and opened fire, mostly at the ground right beneath the carriage, bouncing bullets into the creature.
Delegan was pitifully terrified, taking cover behind the Mesauwee man who stood primed for action with a curved knife that was going to prove sufficiently useless against a beast of that nature. Commander Libras also had his rifle at the ready, but even that seemed too meagre for this task. The creature came hissing angrily, first crawling up the side of the back of the carriage, turning around and then coming to ground with its pincers snapping violently.
It was very crab-like, indeed with an oval shaped carapace at least six feet wide, a cloudy blue colour. Contrary to most of its kind however its legs were very short - and plentiful too - thirty-two of them to be exact, looking like claws that moved with the same suddenness as the little hammers on a typewriter, all working in unison to propel the creature forward with great speed.
During all of this a mysterious an emblem appeared in the air, like someone had managed to project an image on nothing but an arbitrary slice of the sky. Before Delegan could make a study of all the dozens of symbols captured in the circle, its light grew to an intensity too harsh to look at. From the centre of the emblem, came blasting a bolt of energy of crackling heat. Delegan closed his eyes for a second and opened them just as the brunt of the energy collided with the crawler. The creature only writhed for a second, being reduced to ash and nothingness within a short few moments. What remained of it were charred remains, its mighty carapace sundered so easily. They all looked at it in silence and awe.
‘You are quite something your Excellency,’ said Dulcan finally with a blood hungry grin.
Delegan looked at the mad cult-man, feeling revulsion, and also so when staring at the Mesauwee man who was more than likely to be persecuted in any country other than the one they were headed, and then finally the Goddess who had more power than any one being should ever have, and he thought by himself: whatever did I get myself into?