Thankfully, rain came before they reached the next village.
The rain was really heavy, thunder was thundering and the water drops were larger than a finger.
Trees waved to the wind's blow and each of their leaves shuddered with the drops' momentum. The air became heavier and the road was soon to wet to let them advance.
Moore's feet struggled to not slip on the muddy path. They had to halt.
The two boys took refuge under an old dead tree. Moore collapsed from fatigue, despite his will he couldn't resist the weight of his own shoulders. Keith lit a fire after he cleared the ground from wet leaves, then he dried Moore's wounded arm, it was swollen.
"Is it infected? How bad is it?"
He asked to Show.
'The bone is broken, but that's a price to pay if you want a docile follower. That's just to remind him what he saw was real, we are a little too fantastic to be believable, you carnivore.'
A beef... Almost a whole one! How was it supposed to go out? Eating so much food could only lead him to endless pain while defecating. But no! Nothing such. Now that he recalled it, it had been a while since he had to let go of his primary needs. He asked Show if he had a problem himself.
'I wouldn't say that. You just don't have anything to poop. You eat great quantities for sure, but once it's in your belly, you and I feed on the the thing. It provides us a lot of energy, most of it is used to restore your deteriorating organs with the consuming tar-like liquid in your stomach.'
"Tar?"
'Tar! That's black sticky matter, it's a good sealer. Try vomiting!'
"I'm not doing that!"
Keith said. His attitude didn't help Show much to experiment on the boy's body. It had mutated and the monster wanted to study it. So he forcibly pulled on Keith's glottis with a hand out of nowhere, and a cascade of black matter came out.
Its flowing speed was slower than honey. It was composed of molten animal corpses and gastric acid.
Smoke came out of the leaves that came in contact with it but the dirt remained unaffected. It was a fascinating new thing even though Keith had throat aches.
Show's hand came from below and moved the matter, fitting its arms like a closed sleeve. He wanted badly to touch Moore with it but he had to keep him alive until they reached the city. His tactic managed to prevent strangers from asking too much until now, as long as it was effective he'd gladly keep him as a pet.
"When can I have Buffy's head?"
'Stop giving it a name, that's food. And... We need it! Horned skulls are useful for magic.' Show answered. Keith wasn't hungry yet, but this answer was unpleasant.
'Once I detach the meat from the skull, you'll have it, but we must keep the skull. You see, horned animals eat plants only, they are preys! Nature gave them horns to defend against predators. Nature was kind to them. To simplify, we need to communicate with it so i makes magic work, preys are better to keep around dead than alive, skulls are good mediums. Why do you think shaman wears them?'
"I've never seen someone wearing a skull."
'Argh! Youngsters nowadays are outrageously ignorants.' He said with a sneer.
They continued to play with the gooey substance until Keith fell asleep. Show noticed something unusual about it, he dipped Moore's new shoe in it and put it back to its place. Then he moved the campfire's wooden structure above it and it caught fire. Its flames grew bigger and slightly turned golden, the temperature it emitted rose until all the black matter vanished.
Next morning, they were back on the track after a breakfast. Moore was too shy to ask for one but his stomach wasn't.
Moore dreaded for the two monsters. He was scared for his life. He pulled the cart with all his strength, not daring to stop. Each time Moore noticed Keith's gaze, any idea he had about escaping withdrew in a remote place of his mind.
Moore began to dream about the shadow, every night.' The Great Shadow must be observing me. They are both faces of a same coin, I can't let him trick me with his so called innocence any more.'
He shivered in his sleep, he trembled woke up at any creaking noise.
They stopped at the next village, 'Nibi' or something like that. They used their last coins to pay for Moore's arm treatment. They had not much food left so Moore proposed to sell the cart and walk up to the city.
The man began to build a story behind 'David' and the Great Shadow. He lost his mind with the sensation at the tip of his fingers. They were demons! He needed help, a rescue team or something... Someone. He thought.
'I need a priest! I'll tell everyone about them and they'll get hunted down. I just need an opening and I'll escape.'
The days passed where his paranoia grew day after day. He couldn't dare to run away when they were daily next to each other. He wouldn't try his chance at night either because of his recent bad luck, it could strike him at any moment. He decided to start his plan the moment they reached the city.
From a far away distance, he could see low ramparts and guards around the city. It was a thick, brown wall with ornaments drawn on. Keith was so impatient he accelerated his pace, and so the man followed his cadence.
Alas for Moore, the sun was already down when they arrived and the city was lit by a thousand torches. It was as described by Picco, a legion of houses stood in front of them. At its centre stood two titanic houses. One had many flowers and statues decorating it, making it the most colourful one. The other was light beige with plenty of guards around.
'The one with people going in is a mandir, just like the temple we've seen before, but ... well bigger. The other is a house, probably the royalty's property.'
Once they entered Varanasi, Moore asked.
"And now what?"
He was supposed to be free from their deal. But now he was a little less receptive to the idea of owning the demonic shirt. The first time he broke a deal he almost met his death, so he asked Keith if he could go. Keith answered.
"Help me find my father, then you'll be free to go. He goes by the name of Lorbe, he's as tall as you, his hair is dark and his eyes too."
The man's description was the closest one to a quarter of the city's population. Moore asked for more details, something more specific that'll help him find Lorbe more easily.
"He's probably thin, has jumpy mood, a beard like yours... and tend to violent behaviour."
'This kid as no idea how difficult it's going to be... And there I am, stuck with them. My mommy was right.'
Keith rejected the possibility of his father being already dead. He supposed his mother's decay was fast due her pregnancy problems. Keith spoke.
'I'll go in here.'
He pointed at the mandir.
"It seems to be popular, then maybe they know my father. You go check the market."
'Chance!'
They finally parted ways. Moore did not miss the chance and went to the other side of the city. He looked for vagrant priests or someone having a powerful position in the temple.
Keith on his side entered the mandir.
Everything from the walls to the pillars was sculpted. And more spectacularly, they were painted. Little figures with plenty of details, beautiful women, animals and plants were represented. There was mainly blue, red and a shiny yellow.
Most humanoid statues were tall. Tall enough their maker had them look down on the worshippers.
The room he was in was about thirty meters wide and long. The ceiling had glass and it let the light enter. People around him were various. Old ones, young, weak, adults with turbans... They were whispering their prayers, kneeling down. Once they finished, they left their seat or spot and exited the building. The movement of the crowd and its density felt suffocating.
He held someone's sleeve and said politely.
"Can you help me, mister? I lost my father."
Show began to dictate his speech, afraid the kid would spill the beans about their long separation.
The man who Keith talked to had a lean body, an orange turban and grey facial hair. He spoke quietly.
"Little one, when did you lose him? Maybe he's still around."
"About a hundred breath ago, he wears white clothes and his beard is well kept."
"Hop on my shoulders, I'll give you a ride until we find him."
Keith had never been on someone's shoulders as far as he could remember. The man was kind even if he wasn't fitted to carry the boy for long, he was willing to help. It was easier to cut through the crowd when someone else did it in your stead.
Once they finished inspecting the crowd, they had a walk outside, shouting time to time 'Lorbe!', letting the man know who they were looking for.
'Come on boy, pretend to be sad, you need this man to pity you. How fast do you want to find your old man? How do you think you can find the second one?'
Moore was already away and Keith was hit by his own naiveness the instant he understood that.