Chapter 34 Granny Grim Reaper…

Chapter 34

 

Granny Grim Reaper….

 

‘The time has come, Ciar!’

‘I think we should wait, Bai.’

‘You’re too cautious, we need to strike!’

‘You’re too impatient, we need to plan.’

‘Shut up Ciar! We’re going!’

‘Fine, Bai.’

 

Dahrin watched as Selene slept peacefully. He wondered what dreams she had and if he was in them. She tossed and the covers slipped off her shoulders. She shivered in the cold. Dahrin smiled lovingly as he rearranged the cover more securely around her.

Selene smiled in her sleep and she began to glow softly. Dahrin stroked some hair back out of her face then went to his own cot. Sleep didn’t come till later in the night, his head was too full of thoughts provoked from his conversation with Ludd.

 

“I refuse to believe that I would do what she predicted.” Dahrin retorted angrily.

“So you didn’t tell them.” Ludd concluded, his voice still level and smooth.

“Of course not! I love Selene, I would never do anything to harm her.” Dahrin whispered angrily.

“What about Eshen?” Ludd asked quietly.

“I-“ Dahrin stopped then got up and stormed inside.

 

Dahrin couldn’t answer because he had no answer to give. Eshen was a wild card in this game. He was sealed away for now, but the seal could be broken. If Eshen was released, Dahrin would become like he had in Zora’s Domain. Dahrin’s sanity was a time bomb with a broken clock.

 

“Well, it was nice to meet you all, take care heading back to the fortress.” Granny said puffing on her pipe.

The sun wasn’t even thinking about gracing the world with its presence when Granny woke them all up. She hurried their packing and shoved them out the hut door just as dawn started to break. Ludd handed them all a cup of some concoction that bubbled and told them to drink it. They did as told trying not to gag in the process.

“It was good to see you again Granny, try not to work Ludd to hard.” Dahrin said giving them both a bow.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, hurry and shoo.” Granny said waving her hand holding the pipe around. She turned on her heel and went back into the hut.

Ludd smirked, “Hospitable as always.”

“Some things will never change.” Dahrin grinned.

“You take care of yourself, Firefly, things have begun to move.” Ludd said embracing Dahrin.

“I will, you take care as well, and Granny.” Dahrin said softly returning Ludd’s embrace. Dahrin let go of Ludd and picked up his bag. Ludd patted him on the shoulder and turned to the rest of the group.

“It was certainly a pleasure to meet you all. Take care of yourselves as well, and may the spirits guide you to happiness.” Ludd said bowing to them. They all bowed back and picked up their bags.

Ludd took Selene’s hand before they set off, “My dear, please take care of Dahrin. He’s not as tough as he seems and needs a kind heart to rely on. I believe you have that heart.”

Ludd kissed her hand, whispered something in her ear, and then kissed her on the cheek. He smiled at her shocked face, nodded and let her hand go.

“Farewell, everyone.” Ludd called to them as they made their way back to the camel.

“Charming fellow, isn’t he?” Meria teased Selene as they followed Dahrin down the path.

“Yes, he seems to be, but there’s some sadness in him.” Selene mused.

“What did he whisper to you?” Meria asked lowering her voice to not be overheard.

Selene was silent for a minute, “Don’t die.”

 

“Finally they’re gone.” Granny complained lounging back on her cushions in the cool of her hut.

Ludd poured her some tea, “They weren’t so bad.”

Granny cackled, “I guess not. I do not envy their fates though.” She puffed out a smoke ring as she accepted the cup from Ludd. He bowed to her then rose to go do his chores.

Granny closed her eyes and seemed to fall asleep. Ludd was as quiet as a ghost as he went about his chores, straitening everything back to the way it was, when he was done it seemed like they had never had company.

“Ludd,” Granny said in a quiet voice, “are you happy?”

Ludd stopped in his tracks, struck off guard by the question, “I suppose so. I lack nothing.”

Granny looked at him sadly through half closed eyes, “Would you have any regrets were something to happen?”

Ludd thought about the question, he searched his soul for the truth. He set down the pot he was holding and walked to Granny’s side. He knelt down and took her hand in his.

“My one regret would be that I wouldn’t be here to help you.” Ludd answered smiling at her, “My fear would be that I was a disappointment to you.”

Granny smiled softly and put her other hand to his cheek, “You never disappointed me.”

Fear spread across Ludd’s face as Granny plunged the knife into his stomach. He pulled his hand away from the wound covered in blood. Granny stared at him impassively as he fell to the floor gasping for breath.

“Why?” Ludd gasped reaching out for her.

Granny shrugged, “Profit.”

Ludd tried to crawl away from her but blood loss was making him lose his grip on consciousness. Granny stood up slowly and followed him out the hut.

“What profit would you gain from this?” Ludd asked tears streaming down his face. His grey eyes held the pain of betrayal.

“A greater knowledge than I could ever achieve on my own. He has promised me this when he conquers. And he has promised not to kill me.” Granny said smirking.

“Who?” Ludd gasped out clutching his wound trying to stop the flow of blood.

Granny smiled evilly as she squatted down to eye level with him. Ludd shrank back away from her as she leaned in closer.

She kissed him gently on the forehead then leaned her lips close to his ears, “Ganondorf.”

Ludd pulled away from her as she stood back up. He turned and began to crawl after Dahrin and the others. The wound in his stomach bled all the more. Night had fallen and he knew they were long gone by now, but he still had to try. The full moon shone brilliantly on the desert sand, almost as well as sunlight, showing that there was nothing and no one for miles around.

“You won’t make it, Ludd. Besides I need your body for something else.” Granny said off handedly as she lit up her pipe again. The flare from the pipe reflected coldly in her eyes.

“Ooh, is he the one?” A voice in the darkness asked.

Ludd looked around searching for the voice but only saw Granny standing there puffing on her pipe.

“Yes, he’s the one.” Another voice answered.

Ludd’s grip on reality was slipping as he watched the sand next to Granny swirl into a mini-tornado. When the sand fell back to the ground a small girl stood next to her.

The girl skipped to Ludd’s side and stared at him, bringing her face inches from his. Her hair was fire red, her tanned skin a silvery color in the moonlight. What really caught his attention was the fact that the girl, who didn’t seem any older than eleven, had one white eye and one black.

“Is he going to be our new toy, Ciar?” The first voice asked coming from the little girl, high pitched and giggly.

“Yes, Bai, he is. Try not to break this one.” The second voice answered also from the little girl, this one lower toned and calm. The little girl kicked his arm out from under him causing him to fall flat on the ground, before Ludd could sit back up the girl straddled his chest, pinning him to the ground.

Ludd lost the energy to fight back as she placed her hands on his temples. He stared unfocused at her face as she giggled.

“Granny…” Ludd whispered as a tear rolled out his eye.

The little girl let go of his face and began drawing symbols in the air above his head. As his blood slowly soaked the desert sand underneath him Ludd’s hold on the living world broke.

“Dahrin…”

 

“Ludd!” Dahrin screamed as he jerked awake from his nightmare. He shot out of bed reaching for his weapons which were hanging on the chair across the room.  Dahrin stood there shivering in the night as sweat trickled down his bare back.

Dahrin took a deep breath and let it out shakily, “What in the world?” He sat slowly on the edge of his bed and put his face in his hands. For some reason beyond his comprehension he felt that he had lost something and began to cry.

 

“You look horrible.” Gerad commented as Calhan climbed out of bed and wandered to the breakfast table.

“Shut up, sunshine.” Calhan grumbled as he sat down and poured himself a cup of milk.

Gerad chuckled as he munched on the fruit provided by their host. It was only the day after they had returned from visiting Granny and Ludd. Today they had planned to make a trip to the Spirit Temple to check things out.

There was a small knock on the door and at Gerad’s invitation Selene and Meria came in. Both were dressed for the day, Selene in her slacks and blue blouse, Meria in her orange pants and white shirt. They nodded to the escort who saluted and left.

“Morning.” Gerad greeted them as they made their way over to the table.

“Good morning. How’re ya’ll?” Meria asked taking a seat and grabbing a fruit to munch on.

Calhan grumbled something and continued to eat while Selene took one of the remaining two seats. Meria smiled cheerily while they ate in contented silence. Another knock came from the door and Dahrin appeared in the doorway.

“Wow, you look worse than Calhan.” Gerad commented on Dahrin’s haggard face and bloodshot eyes.

“I didn’t sleep well.” Dahrin said coming and sitting at the table, he was also dressed and ready to go, his sabers strapped to his back.

“Understatement.” Calhan said handing him a cup of milk. Dahrin thanked him but didn’t drink any; he just sat there and stared at it in his hands.

“What’s wrong?” Selene asked him putting her hand on his arm.

He shied away from her touch. She jerked her hand back as he stood up abruptly and headed for the door, “I’ll wait for you guys in the courtyard.”

He didn’t stop when Selene called out his name but just ran from there, something was eating at him and he couldn’t figure out what. He ran for what seemed forever and not in the direction of the courtyard.

He finally stopped and glanced around, he had made his way to his hiding place. A small alcove he had discovered on one of his and Ludd’s many exploration trips through the old sections of the fortress. Over the years he had added his own flair to it, as much as one could in a hole in the cliff. The depression in the side of the mountain fortress was natural erosion for some thousands of years made by the small stream that fell through the cracks in the wall and pooled in the middle.

Dahrin still felt like he had lost something, his heart grieved for it but he didn’t know what. He sat down on one of the worn cushions, taking his sabers off his back. He set them on the stone floor next to him and leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees.

A small noise startled him out of his thoughts causing him to grab his sabers and leap to his feet in a fighting stance. Glancing around he didn’t see anyone and he lowered his guard slightly.

“Who’s there?” Dahrin called out.

Nobody answered. Dahrin waited for another minute then shrugged it off. He sheathed his sabers and strapped them on once more. As he headed out of the room he glanced back once more to still find no one around.

‘You’re losing it, Dahrin. Keep it together.’ He thought to himself as he made his way to the courtyard, all the while feeling like he was being watched.

 

“There he is. Are you feeling better?” Gerad asked as Dahrin walked up to them where they waited in the courtyard.

“Yes. You guys ready to go?” Dahrin asked them shouldering his pack.

“Indeed, let’s go to the Spirit Temple.” Calhan said cheerily starting to walk to the desert entrance.

“You guys be careful, there are probably still some monsters roaming around in there.” Nabooru warned as they followed after Calhan. As they were walking to the entrance Calhan stopped in his tracks. Gerad almost ran into him but stopped in time.

“What’s wrong?” Gerad asked stepping out from behind him to see why he stopped. The others fell into line staring at the figure walking through the desert gate entrance.

“Ludd?” Dahrin called out to the figure.

It was Ludd, though something was off about him. He was wearing the same outfit they had seen him in last but it had a blood stain on the front. He was dragging something behind him as he walked. He didn’t say anything just kept walking toward them.

“Ludd, what’s wrong?” Dahrin called out again beginning to walk to him. When Dahrin was about ten feet away Ludd stopped walking.

“Ludd?” Dahrin asked hesitantly, for some reason he couldn’t put his finger on, warning bells were going off in his head. Ludd’s eyes seemed a million miles away as he looked at Dahrin.

Ludd’s lips moved but Dahrin couldn’t make out what he said, “What?” Dahrin moved closer.

Ludd raised the scythe and dived at Dahrin, swinging the scythe in a horizontal arc even with his neck. Dahrin reacted in time to duck under the swing and jump back away from Ludd.

“What are you doing!?” Dahrin cried out pulling out his sabers and blocking another swing. He sliced at Ludd’s leg causing him to jump back.

“Dahrin!” Selene called out to him.

Ludd turned toward the sound and charged, raising the scythe to strike. The group scattered. Ludd pulled the blade of the scythe out of the ground where Selene had been standing and turned to face the nearest target. He stepped forward to attack Meria but was stopped when Dahrin put him in a chokehold from behind.

“What is your problem, Ludd?” Dahrin asked him through gritted teeth.

Ludd continued to move forward dragging Dahrin behind him. He moved his lips again but still no sound came out.

“What?” Dahrin asked using all his strength to stop Ludd from moving. Dahrin managed to maneuver himself into a throwing position and hip threw Ludd to the ground. Ludd let go of the scythe and Dahrin landed on top of Ludd pinning him to the ground.

“What is wrong?” Dahrin asked him again. Ludd said nothing and only stared blankly at Dahrin. Dahrin punched him in the face and asked him again. Ludd didn’t even flinch.

Dahrin was about to hit him again when something knocked him off of Ludd. He skidded across the sand a few feet before he stopped. Dahrin shook his head to clear it as he stood back up now weaponless. He looked to see what had hit him and saw a little red headed girl standing by Ludd, her hair a mass of angry curls floating around her head.

“Don’t touch my toy!” She cried shrilly stomping her foot, “Get up Ludd.”

Ludd reached out and grabbed his scythe then arose like a zombie coming back to life; he stared blankly at the little girl waiting for more instructions.

“Who are you?” Selene asked the little girl.

The little girl giggled as she pet Ludd’s arm, “My name is Bai.” They stared at her in confusion as she continued to stroke Ludd’s arm.

“What have you done to Ludd?” Dahrin called out backing up to the others.

Bai giggled, “He’s my new toy, Granny gave him to me. I like him a lot. He does many tricks! Like this one,”

She smiled sadistically and pointed in their direction, “Slay them all.”