The Prophecy of Water | ✔️ 🎖 [2018 Wattys Shortlister]

CHAPTER 35-The Walker-Between-Worlds

Politeness is just a different word for hypocrisy. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother with it.

LoG, 36

The griffon vulture with dishevelled, mangy feathers, watched Drian intently with one eye. With another, he stared towards a direction unknown to Drian.

Malik hissed to Drian's ear: "You fool! Don't fidget and sit quietly on The Chair of Honour! Don't you see Loko got it for you?"

"Loko?" Drian whispered back acidly. "So you know the names of these ..." he paused, uncertain which word he should choose. "You said this is a society of Curators who can save my father and who will help me communicate with him! This ... Bear just told me they are The Shape Changers like me, according to your words."

"Okay, okay, I deceived you. Do you feel better now when you discovered the truth?" Malik screeched. "Your father wanted to ... Oh. I think it's best not to whisper to each other while a few dozen Shape Changers keeps staring at us, including their Elders." Malik shut its beak.

The bear waddled over to Drian with a stone tray in his paws.

The furry creature stood upright and balanced the tray at ease as it closed in on Drian. It came to a halt right in front of him. As if hesitating, the bear tilted its broad head and blew a puff of steamy breath through its nostrils. Its golden eyes never flinched from a visitor it dwarfed in size.

That reminded Drian of a bear from a travelling circus that once passed through Bronze Cliff.

Perhaps not one of my best associations, he scorned himself.

"Don't you worry," mumbled the furry brown animal. "You aren't wrong at all. It was only temporary, mind you, and I needed the money."

Drian didn't even have time to wonder at what he had heard when the bear placed the tray next to him. On the tray, there were three wooden bowls filled with honey, grapes and insects. The bear grunted quietly, benevolently: "The offer from The One-Who-Crawls, The One-Who-Flies and The One-Who-Swims, Drian, son of Nalon."

So, bear food, griffon vulture food and ... Fish food? Are they feeding that fish with dead insects? No wonder he's in a such a foul mood, Drian thought to himself.

"Don't think much, swallow," Malik advised him through a whisper. "You are showing respect and gratitude for being accepted into their ranks."

"I thought they had to receive me since I was already changing sha ..." Malik pushed Drian with his wing, interrupting his sentence. 

Drian leaned forward. He spoke, his mouth full of honey and grapes.

I hope this speech won't turn out to be as stupid as the previous one in The Bronze Cliff Wells.

"Thank you for the offer, The-One-That-Crawls, The-One-That-Flies and The-One-That-Swims."

Drian gulped down the insects from the third bowl, secretly trying to mix them with the honey from the first.