When the Moon Lies ✓

Ch.24: Tricks and Tangles

Whatever page Daero flipped to, it was just blank parchment. Pinti bristled and hissed. "We were carrying a blank book all this time?"

"How did we never know about this?" Daero smacked in down on the seat next to him. "We should have checked!"

Lalina pushed up her red-rimmed glasses. "Galag planned to return to the Ulk Pyne house, but I woke up, not as dead as he thought I was, the careless culprit," She scoffed, "and then I ran off with the real one." Lalina smirked.

"Here, see for yourself," Thereanbold said. "Lalina, you're such a brave one, aren't you?"

Pinti leafed through the book carefully. This was the one. She recognized the little tears on the edges and the way the old paper felt under her paws. Then she took the fake copy and compared the front. It was the exact same thing down to the scratches and the wear and tear on the pages, at least, from the outside.

Didn't even doubt it, did we? Pinti laid the fake on the table. "We could've gone on without even knowing. What does he want with the scepter if not for Kathula?"

Thereanbold cleared his throat then. "Before we get into that, which will lead into the where and the when, why don't we wait for the food and then get into serious talk? So," He turned to Daero, "one soul is weaker than the other, eh? And you probably want to help the little one, eh?"

The sudden change of subject, Pinti wasn't ready for. In annoyance, she flipped open the fake book and scratched all over the stupid blank pages. That's what she would do to Galag if she ever saw him again. He lied to their faces! But for what? When she threw it on the floor, Lalina picked it up and chewed on it, tearing the pages out from the bind.

"Hecklebees!" she said at last. "I trusted him, too!"

He's going to feel my wrath when we meet again. Pinti growled.

"You suppose there's a way?" Daero said eager tone, leaning forward in his seat.

"If the original body was still intact," Thereanbold said, shaking his head. "Maybe? But it's a bit impossible now that one grew up. A side-effect of irreversible magick that even I, a skilled Sorcerer, can't reverse, though, you see. That's why such magick must never be tampered with in the first place."

He gave a stern look and wagged his finger. "Galag fake Gorn really done it this time," he said, and a lizard-tail came out from under his cape and just hung there limply off the chair as though it were not attached to him.

"So, there's no way? But Deel might disappear!" Daero bit his lip. "I don't know if I can—"

"I'll try and see if I can find something," Thereanbold said with a tight smile, "but don't have your hopes up."

"Come to find, he's a notorious prick!" Lalina said with a growl. "Galag, that is. Just fraud after fraud. Horrendous! Too many aliases to keep track of, too."

"Alias?" Pinti felt a bad feeling churn in her stomach.

"Galag Gorn is one of them." Lalina gave a firm nod. "Thereanbold has spoken."

"How do you know about it?" Pinti pursed her lips at Thereanbold. Was he working for Galag and because dissatisfied, so he was going against him now? Was he actually not nice and going to use Pinti's vulnerability against her at some point?

Or am I just paranoid? She grimaced at herself. Sometimes she trusted too quickly and sometimes, kindness eluded her and all she saw was someone trying to use her. At this point, Thereanbold was still a stranger to her, even though he was being nice and she was taking a risk, giving him a chance.