"You should not linger here for too long," The old man cautioned him, "The bridge isn't very sure. Moreover, Hermes hates it when travellers take a break." The old man advised Kanito and with his lantern, gestured toward the far end of tunnel. "Let me escort you till there" He said graciously.
"Thank you, sir." Kanito replied.
As they neared the end of the tunnel, the air-pressure or whatever strange force was hindering movement in the tunnel started to dissipate. Kanito now had a much easier time to move and stand in the tunnel. However, the old man always seemed unfazed by this force. A very experienced watchman indeed.
Both of them stood in a dark area, it seemed like a secluded chamber of the tunnel, Kanito heard slight murmurs of the waters, the gulping and gushing of slow, shallow ripples suggested the presence of a water body close by. In the light from the old man's lantern, Kanito saw that beneath his feet were complex green and white designs.
'O my God! A magic circle again?'
But he was wrong, this was thankfully nothing like a magic circle, it only denoted the fathest edge of the tunnel. When the light from the old man's lantern flicked above, Kanito saw an illusive lake floating magically above his head. The lake floated excellently like a waving flag, not even a drop of water trickled down. It remained unhinged by gravity.
"This is St. Lucas' Lake, do you want me to show the way?" The old man asked graciously.
Feeling a genuine urge to not trouble the elderly person anymore, he said, "That is very kind of you, sir, but I will be fine."
The old man smiled and said, "extend your hands above, you will reach the surface of the lake."
He did what the old man said. Upon extending a hand, he felt a sheer, invisible force pull him upwards and the next second, he was floating on the surface of St. Lucas' Lake, the water was cold and totally unlike the warm waters of St. Promius' Lake. Kanito had returned to Bakerheim, Ashfelt.
However, Kanito was stunned. When he was first teleported to the Revolutionary World, it was nighttime here in Ashfelt. He had spent almost seven hours in the Revolutionary World, yet the environment here in the Human-Beast World remained unchanged. Dawn had not yet broken, and the sky remained a deep, foreboding black, still firmly in the grip of midnight.
'So it seems like the time of both the worlds run in different timeframes. The two worlds are ofcourse two seperate planets and there's no landmass that connects them, so the world-connecting bridge extends through space-time? How powerful can such a spell be?'
There was a short, concrete embankment that lined the boundaries of the lake. The city of Bakerheim was in front of him, sleeping on night's lap. Suddenly, he heard footsteps that became louder by each second. The jailors and guards were in the city, searching for Kanito.
'When I was saved from the prison by Fiona, the jailors must've followed the chariot and came into West Bakerheim.'
He saw a few guards at a distance, with a deep breath, he immediately immersed himself into the lake's depth, he could see the tunnel, the dark chamber below and the familiar green and white designs. However, the old man was not there.
Kanito waited in the tunnel and once again, that strange, movement hindering force, came rushing from all directions like an unstoppable ocean. This time, it was even more overwhelming, crushing and painful.
'No, it's just sheer pressure, the kind you'd find at the bottom of a deep lake. I cannot loose to something as natural as pressure!'
Gnashing his teeth, gathering all strengths from his body, he managed to survive the pressure. When the sound of the footsteps weakened, he slightly extended his hand above and ascended back to the surface of the lake.
'Thanking God and Patrick once again for not making me skip swimming classes.'
Driving powerful strokes, he cut through the cold waters and hauled himself onto the embankment.
He backbrushed the wet strands that clung to his forehead and took a small peek from behind the embankment walls to check for the presence of a guard. He found that he was closely resembling a soldier in a trench warfare.
'What's next? A sniper bullet to my head?'
Guards were nowhere to be seen but still, footsteps, curses and yells rang out. The thought of taking a risk resurfaced in his mind again.
'If I don't get out of here, they will eventually find me, and if I get out, they will definitely find me. How I wish Fiona was here to save me.'
Carefully scanning the dark city in front of him, he started to find out ways and strategies to escape. There was one long alley that seperated two clusters of houses. It was seen clearly that after a distance, the alley bifurcates into two narrower alleys on two sides that lead to the two respective house clusters.
'I'm sure the lanes ahead are filled with guards and hence, if I walk along the boundary of one of these houses, entering a less significant lane, I can flank upto a long distance and enter into the heart of the city. There, I will create some kind of chaos and wake people up. The presence of the guards will confuse the people even more and they will halt the guards for some time, that way I will get mixed in the crowd and run away, and then...'
He realized that as a "mobster", he can only run around, trick enemies and dodge fates. In this world, he had no safe haven to call his own, no permanent refuge to flee to. It crunched his heart and wetted his eyes.
'There's no time for drama,'
When he was in the tunnel, his body and clothes automatically dried somehow, but then, appearing in St. Lucas' Lake drenched his clothes again. He hastily dried his cloak and his sandals as best he could and opted to carry the sandals in his hands to avoid noise and wet footprints. After that, he took a deep breath and dashed, out of the lake and into the city.
Following the plan, he carefully tread along the perimeter of a whitewashed building with ornate ironwork and flower-filled balconies. The footsteps of the guards, their clanging armour and spears were very clear, making Kanito's mind contort in anxiety. The wall curved and opened up into a dark, narrow alley.
'I'm not the only one making plans, I better remember this! If they really had to catch me, they could've easily done so with numbers. However, they didn't. Its almost like they are patiently waiting for me to walk in their trap. In front of them, I just a dumb, naive kid. Argh.. only if I had some kind of a weapon!'
When he peeked from behind the curved wall and into the adjacent alley, he froze in fear, there was a spear-wielding guard holding a facing in the opposite direction.
'Let him be guard X.'
Right then, he heard footsteps come from the other side of the building. He saw a beam of light being cast on walls of another house which was in front of him, the light was coming from the same direction as the footsteps.
'Let him be guard Y.'
He was sure that there were two guards in his vicinity, one was guard X who was standing at the mouth of the alley where the house was and another one was guard Y who was on the other side of the house and was slowly but surely, approaching him.
'If I stay here for too long, guard Y will eventually see me and alarm everyone else. I obviously cannot beat them in a direct combat! What should I do!?'
Kanito kept the pair of sandals inside his robe's pockets and took the black cloak in his hands. He dashed towards guard X and wrapped the guard's face around the cloak, using it like a net.
The guard let out a blood-curdling scream, he clutched his head wildly and released his spear. Kanito seized the opportunity and grasped the falling spear. With all his might, he plunged it deep into the guard's waist.
The bleeding guard fell on the ground and his scream alarmed the other guards in the colony, they hurriedly rushed to the scene.
Without wasting a second, Kanito sprinted to the alley's fork where it branched out into two seperate lanes in two opposite directions, while also continuing straight ahead. With the spear gripped tightly in his right hand, he entered the narrower alley on the left.
There was another guard standing directly in his path. As their eyes met, the guard rushed towards Kanito with reckless abandon. Kanito hurled the spear at the onrushing guard and in a second, the spear impaled through the guard's neck, he instantly died a painful death.
Kanito's heart pounded from his actions – this was his first kill.
Kanito decided to pick up the spear from the dead guard. Now possessing two different spears in two hands, his sinister confidence got doubled. He could hear the footsteps from all directions, especially from behind.
Running up to a certain distance, this narrow alley forked again, the neighbourhood was truly a befuddling maze. Kanito devised another move, he took out a sandal from his pockets and cleverly placed it by the side of a building on one alley and quickly rushed to the opposite alley.
The plan was to create a decoy and lure the guards in, while he stays hidden behind the terminal dorics of a large pavillion which stood proudly on the opposite alley. The plan wasn't anything unique, given the short preparation time.
As anticipated, the guards upon reaching the fork, immediately veered to the side of the shoe. Seizing the opportunity, Kanito launched a spear right at one of the guards, expecting a kill like last time.
But he failed, even though it got the armour damaged, it saved the guard's life. This was a bad move as now his position which he hid for so long is revealed. He turned around to escape but right before him was standing a guard with a cutlass, smiling.
"You sly little devil, your tricks are over!"
The guards from the side of the abandoned shoe also rushed towards him, he was wedged from two sides. The guard aimed the curvy cutlass at Kanito's neck, but as the cutlass touched his neck, the guard's entire body was set on fire. The guard lay down on the wide, peristyle, burning in the fierce, golden and sinister flame.
The guards behind him stood in terror, "Ar-Are you a disciple?" They shouted in confusion.
'What.. what happened? When did I learn to use fire magic?'
Not understanding his own powers, he stood as puzzled as the guards. However, not fearing his abilities, one guard had climbed on the the roof of the temple from beforehand, he shot his spear down, but Kanito dodged it by a very small margin, scraping his ankle in the process.
Kanito ran to the other side of the peristyle and found the backdoor of the pavillion. In the heat of the moment, he knocked the wooden door open and entered the temple.
Kanito got flashbacks from the time he was in the Sun Temple. Expect that this temple was even darker. The door was wierdly unlocked and could also allow the guards to enter the temple and catch him, this thought was tensing him. His scraped ankle was not hurting anymore, was it healed or was the pain numbed? He pondered.
'If this temple is built like a church, I am probably standing on the aisle, there must be two rows of seats on both of my sides.'
Kanito was correct, after extending his hand to the right, he did feel a solid, wooden seat. Following the touch, he slowly moved forward in the darkness, but then a yellowish-green light began to emanate from the temple's depth. The light suddenly coalesced into a concentrated beam illuminated a singular region.
'Am I now supposed to witness a protagonist's dramatic soliloquy?'
Kanito comforted himself slightly with humour, but then he saw the "protagonist" in the spotlight.
It was a sculpture, the sculpture of a lovely youth, in the spring of his life. His face was chiseled and handsome, his muscles were strong and defined. His hair was curly and pale yellow, while his eyes were bright blue. He wore a gorgeous, yellow-trimmed, white chiton and a blue, red chlamys was juxtaposed on his right shoulder with a feather-shaped broach. He stood dramatically, facing left, with a winged staff in his right hand and an envelope in his left. His golden sandals and golden diadem were both winged.
Yes, Kanito was right, this was the statue of the divine messenger, Hermes!
When the glow from the statue of Hermes expanded a little, the very first row of the temple became visible. The statue stood on an elevated platform with an altar infront of it, and before the platform was kneeling a figure.
He heard a feminine voice, "Fumigation from Frankincense. Hermes, draw near, and to my prayer incline, messenger of Zeus, and Maria's son divine; prefect of contests, ruler of mankind, with a dove-like heart and a prudent mind."
The prayer was recited in Agloic, the langauge of humans, however it was way more archaic. Kanito didn't understand some of the words, it continued, "Dire weapon of the tongue, which men revere, be present, Hermes, and thy suppliant hear; assist my works, conclude my life with peace, give graceful speech, and memory's increase."
The figure then rose up and bowed before the deity. Without turning back, it said, "So this is the renowned Orphic Hymn 28 : To Hermes. Saints from the Human World were truly poetic."
The voice had amusement.