Keith moaned in pain and did his best to scratch the itchy spot near his wrist. With his burnt index too damaged to scan his skin, his nails too short to be of any relief and his stress too high to think properly, he started to freak out.
'What now?' Asked Show, not understanding the kid's behaviour.
"It hurts! Take it off, remove it! Pull it out! Do something I beg of you."
Mister Show replied with an order. 'Stop touching. I need it.'
A voice could be heard from the other side of the door, asking. "Is everything alright in there?"
"Yeah, I just hit my toe, don't bother." Said Show with the kid's voice.
Keith was too occupied remember how good Show was at imitating people's voices just by hearing them. The boy licked his wrist, looking for something off or wrong. He palpated the burning spot with his tongue for a few seconds and forgot the pain an instant.
In his mind he compared his skin to the ear texture. It felt like a soft cartilage with no hair on its surface. The idea to open a wound with his teeth abruptly came to his mind.
'Don't you dare or I'll stop you forcefully!' Said Show.
Keith then held his arm and noticed an object inside, as hard as bone, barely covered by a thin layer of skin above his flexor tendons, a few centimeters above his hand. He finally understood the origin of the bump. The gift from Randi, the curio he kept with him until he set himself ablaze.
Now noticing there was a horizontal line marking the bracelet's surface under his fingers. He ticked.
"That's where you hid? You knew those pebbles wouldn't melt and under the sun you escaped everyone's sight."
Show was first silent. He then answered. 'Yes, that's pretty accurate. Is the curio hurting you right now? It'd be weird considering you did not even notice it until now.'
"Feels as if I had a hole between the two forearm bones"
'Just come in the Explanation' Show said, he had no idea what to do.
"How am I supposed to fall asleep with this?" Keith said before receiving a shock in his skull, as lethal as a hammer hit. Show saw nothing, no one outside causing the kid to hurt the floor with all his weight. Thud.
The next image he saw was a high ground. A thick bridge with a hand to each tip. He heard.
"Hey! Give me back my finger!"
Keith looked next to him and saw Mister Show who was holding the ground tight with his ten hands, the monster had his shadow strand extending like the ray of the sun.
He said. "That doesn't sound like your voice."
The light turned to bright red as his eyes emerged from his front when the monster answered. 'That's not mine. It belongs to him.'
Eight meters away from them stood an ethereal body. The space near it was distorted and looking straight at him was an impossible feat.
"What do you mean, is that Foresee? The phenomena is similar to what I saw last time she tried to enter here."
'No. That's an acquaintance of yours, Randi the night patrol. Look at the top of his head!"
Indeed in-between the bent light, the curio was fixed at the top of the man's head with all its shine, waving with each head movement. Keith checked his arm, he was able to see through the unreal hole.
The man had a threatening posture, he was furious and his antecedents as a child abductor heated the mood around them. He cleared his throat and spoke louder.
"Who are you talking to?"
That single sentence allowed Show to understand he was invisible to the intruder, he rushed on the target with all his might. He said 'Come boy, let's ask a few questions.'
The shadow was overwhelmed by few tons of pure strength distributed on enough arms to cover his body from head to toes.
"Say, how did you come here?"
Impossible to tell if the man was surprised or not. It seemed nothing was unusual to him at least. His tone was flat when he answered.
"I walked from Kodra to Varanasi, with the others. I had a little setback, I ended up delaying the others so much they left me behind. Once I felt better I continued to travel alone. Now here I am, after being assaulted at the gates and brought against my will in the palace, I walked a little bit until I found you."
'Nonsense, there was no one in the room when he entered the Explanation. Ask this' Said Show.
"How did you find me?"
"I don't know. Something pulling me toward few directions. Where the wind blew I went. So, planning to give back my finger?"
Show couldn't believe the guy tried to request something despite his uncomfortable position. Never during his lifetime had he seen such fool. The one-sided exchange proposition lacked a counterweight, which was suggested soon after.
"What will you give me in exchange?" Asked Keith.
"You stole from me and you seek compensation?" Randi said.
"I could make you vanish in a finger snap, you should be glad I even accept to let go of your... erm finger was it?"
There was this conflict inside the kid's mind where Show and him argued. One was doubting of their ability to handle the trespasser while the other bluffed his way out of the conflict, insuring the kid of his knowledge on the matter.
'Can we give it back?' asked Keith, he was completely immobile when he spoke with Show, creeping out his guest. 'No, you ate it and it vanished in your stomach. We just need to let him believe so.'
"I can help you get out of the palace. They are too aggressive here, better not last long."
The man's head detached from his body, no one expected that and the surprised head that spoke chocked more than one.
"Eh! It happened again. Don't worry, everything's fine."
"Are you dead?" Keith asked, worried. "Aren't we both? It doesn't seem to affect neither of us."
Back in the main hall, the king gave a soft kick to the body, making the head roll out of the leaf bed.
Because he seemed cooperative, Show let go of the man, Keith saw the monster vanishing into thin air while Randi felt his body lighter. Well it was because of his head, he picked it up and stuck it back in place. 'I'll be right back, keep him busy.' Said Show.
---
In southern quarters, half of the healer team fell ill. Their fever sore to the limit of their body. Amidst their painting, they could barely feel the spot where the rats bit them. Leaned on a bed, their sole patient had fever as well, he was tied up after attempting to amputate one of his limbs. His two companions were dining in the canteen.
"You rememb'er the guy from Seoni? He had a nice family, well I'm talk'ing about his wife, she was a little young but her curves, woah." Said Ned.
Picco was deep in thoughts concerning the attack. Impossible things had happened ever since he helped the odd Raima and Lorbe couple. He first wished for their happiness, but since their relationship got though and violent, he lost one of his friends, exiled from the village.
Not only did he never find his long lost friend but he also made the village chief lose a part of his interest because he abandoned his village for a stupid woman and her child.
The blabbing of his room-mate wasn't his cup of tea and he did his best to understand what had happened an hour ago. He felt lonely without the company of the father effigy he used to walk along, Yotoh.
He went to see the man in his bed but saw the degenerating situation in the healer's tent. Yotoh wasn't here.
Picco decided to alert the captain for the second time of the day. That until he saw a red mark on the tissue. He followed the trail to a rear alley, where only few chicken and their chicks lived, scratching the dirt with their blunt claws for food all day.
The recent rain had softened the ground, making deep barefoot imprints appear nearby.
He kept the track until he found himself in front of a wall, by the time he turned around, Yotoh was both here and away, standing next to him. Picco asked.
"Are you okay?"
The low growling coming out of Yotoh's throat was hard to hear but his bloodshot eyes scared the half-man who ran away on the spot.
On his way back to the main quarter, he saw few chicks, next to their mostly eaten mother. He ran as fast as the wind, crossing the path of the four healers.
The four had an unknown liquid wetting their pant as well as foaming spit on their chin. They were too slow to catch the poor man with a heavy armor.
Night was dominant. The glow of the moon concealed the undying hell spreading in Varanasi.