Tthor Prayer and the Orffelios' paila

44- The enemy stalks

   "Does either of us know exactly what the paila is?" Asked Tthor, one afternoon at the end of March.

  "No..." Lee-Won and Noel answered in chorus, while they tied pieces of colored cloth to small stakes driven every thirty centimeters into the garden, which was now surrounded by tall poles with braided wires.

   These had proven effective in keeping Byddo away, who watched them from the rough, wagging his tail gracefully. Thor had tried some approaches but the dog seemed to have no intention of becoming friends.

   " And do any of you know why you need to have a guardian?"

   " No...," the two answered again.

   " And do any of you know who I can ask about the paila?" Tthor prepared himself for another negative answer. But this did not arrive immediately.

  Noel and Lee-Won exchanged quick glances. The girl cleared her throat and, seeing that Lee-Won seemed too focused on tying a knot, she answered quietly:

   " You shouldn't be walking around...asking questions about the paila..."

   "Why not…?"

  "Because it's dangerous," Noel answered.

   "And because nobody knows anything," Lee-Won added.

   "And because you would expose yourself to Domtrov and his followers. You're supposed to blend in. If they believe you are not the guardian, they will not see you as a threat."

   Tthor was not very satisfied with that answer. Noel was right in wanting to guard it but if he was truly the guardian, he had to face the danger, instead of running away like a coward. His father had faced danger and he was no different. But he didn't say anything about what he thought. He changed the subject abruptly and, to his relief, his friends listened to him and finished their work talking about the weather, about how well the purslane, Salicornia, and rhubarb had sprouted, and marveling that the currants already had their first flowers, about the weather. and the crying of the squonk.

   That night and once Darius had fallen asleep, Tthor took out his box of “treasures” and observed in detail the mirror that he had stolen from the blacksmith.

   He knew he had to return it. But he had heard so many things about that man that, every time he decided to go visit him, his hands would sweat, his skin would crawl and his heart would accelerate dangerously.

   " You can't be so afraid!" Tthor said to himself that night - It can't be worse than the school band. What is a simple blacksmith going to do to you? Besides, he doesn't even know you...," With these words repeating in his mind, Tthor fell asleep just at dawn.

   When he woke up, he decided that that would be his last night awake, for that reason. Because since he slept there, he had had few episodes of sleepwalking. And it was a shame that, now that he could sleep peacefully, he didn't do so because of something that could be solved with a simple visit.

   Early, then, he got up, dressed and put the mirror in the pocket of his jacket, whose zipper was stuck again. He just stopped in front of Asmodeus's door, opened it slowly and peered inside. The demon was still sleeping, half-covered with a tattered rag, in the same corner as always and hugging his favorite green stone plate. For a moment, Thor forgot about his hurry and watched him sleep. And in a fit of anger at seeing that situation, he kicked the line of salt that was drawn from one side to the other of the door lintel, until it was completely erased. He took one last look at the demon and ran away.

   That day he did all his tasks automatically. He didn't stop to wait for a pelican to appear or to spy on the squonk crying loudly behind the hemlock hedge. He spoke little and had to repeat the walk to the kitchen several times because he constantly got lost in his thoughts and ended up on the third floor landing, looking at the paintings of the “apotheosis of Orffelios” without really knowing why.