SWNOVELS Chapter Chapter Forty-One
Dorian and Gary dialed down their frantic twisting and turning. With calmer heads prevailing getting untangled became much easier. Once free of the mess Dorian ran to check on Leslie.
“Her eyes, I’ll never forget the look in her eyes,” Leslie exhaled. “I promised her that I would never let her go.”
“You did what you could, which was way more than any of us could have done,” Dorian said reassuringly. He reached down to take Leslie’s hand and felt something warm and wet.
“Are you injured? Are you okay?” Dorian asked.
“I’m a little banged up. Otherwise, I’m fine.” Leslie stood up and stretched his arms over his head.
Dorian looked up at Leslie’s arms and then down at his hand which was holding another hand by its bloody stump of a wrist.
“Cadence!” Dorian shrieked. Repulsed by the sight of the severed hand he instinctively let go of it. A wave of guilt hit him when he realized that he had rejected a piece of his best friend. He bobbled it as he tried to grab back onto it, bouncing it off of Leslie’s chest and then back at him, spraying blood onto both of them. It repeatedly slipped through Dorian’s blood-soaked hands as if it were a fish trying to escape capture. He managed to lace fingers with the appendage and pulled it tightly to his chest.
“Oh God, Cadence, I’m so sorry!” Dorian gasped. He spun and confronted Lenny. “What do we do now? We can’t just let her go!”
“If he would have let her go, she would still have her hand,” Shorty poked at Leslie. He took a step forward but was halted by Lanky’s raised hand.
“Uncalled for, man.” Lanky shook his head in disbelief. “How would you feel if that were me? Apologize.”
“Sorry,” Shorty gulped. “Really, I am.”
“I know this looks really, really bad,” Lenny began, “But there is probably a way to retrieve her.”
“Probably?” Dorian yelped. He slumped down onto the edge of the dais and cradled Cadence’s hand. Lenny sat beside him, placing a hand on his back.
“Dorian, do you know the story of Pandora’s box?”
“She opened the box and released evil into the world, or something like that.”
“Truth be told, the real story has changed as it was reinterpreted through the centuries. Pandora’s pyxis became a box. Its contents morphed as well.” Lenny explained.
“So, the contents weren’t evil?”
Lenny repositioned himself on the edge of the dais and motioned for all to draw near. Everyone took a seat, including Gary after circling his spot a few times.
“The pyxis held access to evil. It held waters from the five rivers that surround the underworld. They were used as a means to open a doorway, just like we used them. The true evils that were held below were released into the world. Over the centuries we have made a concerted effort to find and contain them. Unfortunately, our plans for this portal didn’t go off as we hoped.”
“So, you three were going to destroy this portal?” Dorian pointed to Shorty and Lanky.
“Oh, goodness! No!” Lenny shook his head.
“They got me the access I needed, but I wouldn’t trust a mission of such importance to the likes of them.”
“Hey!” Lanky objected.
“Look how well this turned out!” Lenny gestured with a sweep of his arm, stating the obvious. “The ‘we’ I referred to is the Pandorite bloodline. We are dedicated to fixing the problems our sister created. I have spent more years than any of you have existed righting the wrongs that tie back to that horrible day when she tainted this world.”
“Today’s screw-up doesn’t look quite so bad compared to your sister’s,” Shorty huffed.
Everyone glared at him.
“I’m just sayin’,” he shrugged.
“What were you planning to do?” Dorian continued to press.
“The ritual required three coins. One coin for the time we wanted to access, one for the current period, and one as payment for the ferryman. A little sleight of hand was all that was needed.”
Lenny dug into his pocket and withdrew a small double-headed coin attached to a length of beads. He showed it to the group.
“That would have saved us from all of this . . . a keychain?” Leslie uttered in disbelief.
“It is hardly a keychain. It’s a doorstop, Janus’ Trammel to be exact.”
“Oh, good, that explains everything,” Leslie replied sarcastically.
“Janus is the ancient god of gateways. He sports two heads, one looking to the future, the other the past. He is the god of beginnings and endings. These amulets, or trammels, were bestowed upon his most loyal followers. It allows its possessor to control passage through any doorway, whether it is literal or figurative. I planned to use it to seal this gateway. Unfortunately, the ritual was underway, and I could not deploy it. Now we will need the gateway intact if we hope to get Cadence back.”
“How can we do that?” Leslie asked.
“One aspect of the story of Pandora’s box hasn’t been addressed. After the evils were released unto the world one thing remained. Hope remained.”
All eyes turned to the large urn still seated on the wagon.
“Yes, the central vessel once contained the waters of Hope. The vessel is now empty, but you need not despair. The waters still exist within the walls of this mansion. I believe that we can use them, along with the amulet, to get Cadence back.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes!” Dorian offered.
“Count me in!” added Leslie.
Gary extended a “WOOF!” which was taken as his show of support.
Lenny looked to the henchmen who looked at one another. They argued in muffled whispers back and forth until they agreed.
“We will help,” Shorty said through gritted teeth. “But if we die, I’m going to be really pissed!”
“Very well, then. There are items we need to gather above ground. I can explain what we need to do as we go. Dorian, bring Cadence’s hand. Leslie, please assist Gary with his clothing.”
“About that,” Lanky interjected, “are we going to talk about the whole turning into a dog thing? I mean, I know a lot of crazy shit has happened today, but first, that guy turns into a dog and then the other guy turns into a dog and then one guy turns back into a guy, but the other guy is still a dog. What the hell?”
“Let me handle this, “Leslie stepped forward. “Gary is actually a dayhound. That’s a dog that turns into a man, not visa-versa.”
Gary nodded and wagged his tail.
“And Dorian is…well, he’s a…I guess I don’t know. . .”
“I recently acquired this ability to clone people’s outstanding attributes,” Dorian explained. ” I don’t know where it came from. As long as I touch someone, I can do what they do best or be whatever they may be.”
“DeLeon could do that,” Shorty offered. “He would brew up a special tea. After he drank it he could mimic just about anyone. It was a preshow ritual with him. Some nights he would want to play lead guitar. He would chug down a tea and . . . BAM . . . suddenly, he’s friggin’ Van Halen! By the time we were back on the tour bus, he couldn’t strum a chord to save his life.”
“That tea, though . . .ugh! “Lanky convulsed a little. “I’d never drink that stuff even if it gave me superpowers!”
“Why not?” Dorian asked. “What made it so gross?”
“Bug droppings and body parts.”
“It isn’t bug droppings,” Shorty corrected, “They’re larvae.”
Everyone winced.
“And fingers. Pinky fingers.”
“Why pinky fingers?” Leslie asked.
“You know the phrase He’s got more talent than you in his little finger? It’s true. That’s where most of your talent is stored.” Shorty looked at Leslie and down to his bandaged hand. “Sometimes he needed to look buff for photoshoots and stuff like that. Sorry.”
“He’s got hundreds of ’em stored upstairs. Musicians, dancers, artists. Fingers for whatever he fancies on any given day,” Lanky added.
Gary barked an acknowledgment stating that he had been in the room and seen the larvae and fingers.
“Oh, and don’t forget the feather! The potion must be stirred with a tail feather from that infernal bird!” Shorty mimicked stirring a cauldron whilst speaking in a witchy voice.
“Are they big red feathers?” Dorian asked.
“Yup.”
“Do the larvae come from things that look like pebbles?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I think I kind of know where my ability came from. I just don’t know how it happened.”
“But now that you have it we can put it to good use!” Lenny said. “And I’ve got an idea of just how we might do that.”