The man used Glax's shock to use the whip against the newcomer. Glax swerved in time, rolling to the side. The wagon rattled a lot, and the Valosian grabbed the wooden surface to keep from falling.
Looking over his shoulder, he noticed they were now passing through a cliff without houses. As soon as he regained his balance, he crawled forward again. He had to reach the driver's seat and get the guy out of there. Reaching out and grabbing the driver's hood, he pulled him to the side, and grabbed the mask mouthpiece with his free hand. The man resisted, and tried to hit him with a punch, while Glax used his strength to pull the man's head back and overpower him.
The reins escaped the masked big guy's hand, and both men knew the consequence. They were on a slope in a wagon pulled by four unruly horses!
"You idiot!" The man pushed Glax's arm now with his totally free hand, but his voice came out muffled, 'mhfhfhidiotf'.
"Mhdhdhdhddhfff!" Glax scoffed, spinning on the smooth surface at the top of the wagon, and kicking out just as the man had jumped to the top of the horse-drawn hearse as well. This brought the other man down, and they were both lying on the wagon.
"What a childish bastard!" With a closed fist, the big man threw a punch where Glax's head was before, but only hit the wood. The Valosian only left the place because of the violent jolting the wagon suffered when passing over a bump on the road.
"What do you want with my wife?!" Again Glax grabbed himself to keep from falling, while the car's speed only increased. This was certainly going to end badly. But he knew he was in front of the guy who had sent the letter. He also had a mechanical prosthesis!
The big guy didn't seem willing to answer, but they both didn't have time for anything else. The harnesses broke, as did the axle of the wagon, and the vehicle spun and skidded for several meters.
The horses sprinted ahead into the dust, while Glax and the man with the mechanical eye exchanged punches and kicks on top of the wagon. Finally, the vehicle hit the railing rail, and was caught between the bricks, half in the lane and half in the air, several meters above the port.
The coffin inside the wagon slid, due to gravity, and both men looked at each other in astonishment.
They jumped at the same time as the wagon leaned further over the cliff's edge
Gasping, Glax barely controlled his heartbeat, and he watched in horror as the wagon went down and down… Until it stopped, precariously balanced, almost all of it off the road, only barely held by two wheels.
"You bastard!" He screamed, furious, and advanced on the man. But this time the man didn't wait, and rushed away. Glax followed him, dashing down the military path towards the port.
Before they reached the next security garrison of the fortress on the rocks, the mysterious man simply jumped over the side, and threw himself into the air, in front of the incredulous, furious and panting Valosian.
"Son of a bitch!" Glax could do nothing but look as the man plunged into the dark waters of the port, in front of everyone.
:::::::::::::::::::::::
"Incompetent son of a bitch! Useless trash!" Nikandros slapped Glax across the face, making sure to hit the unmasked side. The old bastard had a good right and a huge hand.
They were in the main room of Nikandros' house, near the city's eastern gate.
Glax had brought Chriseis here, despite everything, and after his report, that was what he won. The fact that he had failed to capture the body thief, and that no one in Echelion had yet located any clue to the bandit, infuriated the great general.
Glax felt the blood running down his nose, and wiped it with his fingers in tweezers, buying time to overcome his frustration. What almost happened to Chriseis's body was abhorrent, but somehow the old man wasn't focusing on the arrogant sloppiness of the Furies group, but on him.
"You better find that worm, Glax! Now get out of my way!"
"I will do this, General. Now, I need to know why Chriseis is not going to be buried with the other heroes of the clan."
"Do you still ask me? What would have happened if ..." The old man gasped. "I won't believe you as a Delpian with your poor and low customs. What I can do is keep it safe from grave violators."
"I didn't mean to say that, but the arm..."
"Then shut up. Make good use of ancestral advice, and refine your words, you goof excuse. You already brought her to me. Now go back home and DON'T, EVER, SHAME HER MEMORY. I will allow you to keep being a Kroton, I will allow you to have the opportunity to honor your mother. But don't think that you will live under their glory. Not in this house. You will find an army unit and you will serve the clan as any other Kroton."
'Now you're the one talking a lot, father-in-law,' Glax was not at all happy and the old man was not making it any easier, with all that saliva flying towards his son-in-law.
"Right. We'll put Chriseis where she has to be, and I'll be around to protect..."
"Didn't you hear what I said, Glax? Don't you know how to obey orders? I sent you to find the thief! I don't need any more guards! I want you to find him!"
"Staying close is a good way to find him. He had a lot of work and I think if he had the courage to try to steal Chriseis' body, he wouldn't give up so easily. I can stay around and..." Glax insisted, but as before, he was interrupted by the general.
"Did I ask for advice or your opinion? Ah, do you think you are special because you are the son of a woman who was put on a boat and returned on it? Your mother is just too glorified because both Demophon and the Emperor were after her. Don't be deceived by tales or whatever! Remember that even Armoric Games Champions can be made every two years."
Glax stretched his neck to release the stress.
The man could be right in everything he said, but that doesn't mean the words hadn't hit Glax hard. But Glax was not fed with all the haste General Nikandros seemed to be taking to keep him out.
He would resort to the reverse game, in that case.
"My mother was aware of her place, just as I am. If I raise in the clan, it will be on my own merits, not because I am your son-in-law, Chriseis's husband or Kalanthe's son… If it's how the general insisted, I think it will be easier than the task that Chriseis had."
The old man's lips trembled under his gray mustache, he spoke softly. "What are you talking about?"
"I fight my way to be here. I fight my way to be a Kroton. And Chriseis was at the end of that path. The gods chose us for each other. Why would I turn my back on her now, when she really needs me, and for the first time?"
The old general was speechless, and then he murmured, almost to himself.
"Unexpected and annoying. But honored, after all."
Glax pretended not to hear, and said,
"Please father-in-law, bid farewell to your daughter again if necessary. People from the temple came to fix her up again. Then we will put her in her place of eternal rest. Me too, I wanted to talk to you about something, about her, in fact. But it can wait for when we are together to do this."
"Hm. Come back at night. We will do it at night. Find that damn man. He will be the example for body thieves to remember that we are echelians, after all. Not stupid idiots that can't take care of our dead."
Glax agreed and left the old man, still wondering why Stygia had such a strange relationship with the dead. Was it because there was, in fact, the Ascended Hell?
::::::::::::::::: ::::
"What was he like?" Rasmus asked while having beer and snacks on the balcony of Priestess Jolla's house, with a magnificent view of the bay of Twin Victories.
He and Glax were sitting under an awning enjoying the last moments of sun while the widow related the adventures of his day to his friend.
Lady Jolla was near the railing, apparently listening to the conversation, but feeding her two cats. The icy wind coming from the sea was enough forecast of a cold night ahead.
"A little lower than you, with almost the same constitution. One of his eyes was green. The other, as I said, was a camera. There was a lens that could automatically zoom in. The device was embedded in his eye socket, and attached by a frame to his bone, I believe. He had light hair, long as mine. I didn't have a good view of the rest of his face, even when I ripped his mask off. He had many scars on the arm and hand. I would say he was an experienced warrior, considering the scars...
He hadn't commented with Rasmus about the letter he found in Chriseis' belongings. He was sure the body thief was the same person. Glax wasn't sure if he should talk about it in front of Jolla, at least.
So he was surprised when she spoke in her soft voice,
"Lord Glax, the gods say this man was once in Lady Chriseis' past. He's to the north. He wants what you want."
"How ... How can you see that, just standing there, Lady Jolla?" he asked.
She just gestured to the sky. "Astreia shows everything in the sky, Lord Glax. Tonight is decisive for you and for him. I would say that… something important is going to happen that will change the fate of the two… I just can't say more than that. The Goddess does not allow me to see more than I should." She stroked the head of a cat that accepted the affection with a happy purr.
Glax turned to Rasmus as he stood up. "Maybe he is trying to leave the city through the north gate."
"You will need the help of a Rhoas," Rasmus also stood up.