The Acolytes of Crane (Theodore Crane, #1)(81)

Pike jumped in on the merciless pillorying. ‘Ha, Theodore, the title of Messiah was given to you, but it isn’t a rank as you have been misled to think,’ he said, placing his hand on my shoulder. ‘You not only are said to be the one that can change everything, but the true one that can kill Odi—’

‘Pike, stop it now-za.’ The slender plant woman pushed him aside as she strode up to me. ‘Theodore, you can be courageous in carrying a sword as majestic as yours.’ She admired the blade right by my side, yet sneered at me. ‘But, let’s suppose Odion is not only before you, but has taken your sword from you. Would you run like a baby, Theodore, or will you fight for what’s right, no matter what? Ha! Your courage has been blind obedience thus far, am I correct?’

‘Yes, but I know I want to protect Sephera. I have decided that I would do this, even if I have to do it by myself,’ I said.

Jezra looked at me as if I was just a poor lost turkey and laughed, ‘Ha-ha, you cannot save a planet alone, Theodore-zzz. You need an army, but first, you need courage. Why do you think this is about only saving Sephera? My boy, sit down-na-na,’ she said, pulling a moss-covered rope attached to a series of pulleys that pulled up strategically concealed blinds everywhere on the walls. Light poured in through more windows randomly located throughout the cave dwelling. She glanced in the direction of her husband. ‘Okay, Pike, the boy has stood up to us. He has demonstrated moxie.’

Pike nodded.

She sat before me, her face softening in the brightened atmosphere. My heart leapt with joy at her change of tone.

‘Theodore. The multiverse is in need of you. Let Zane worry about Sephera.’

‘Why do you say that?’ I asked.

‘Ha! We have been in conference with King—’ Pike said, before he was interrupted again by his mate.

‘Will-zz you stop with your drama King? Trazuline is of no concern to us now. Boy, this is between you and me. Two demigods, with egos too large for the multiverse, are what have brought peril upon us,’ she said.

‘You are right. That makes sense,’ I said. I knew exactly the two demigods of which she was speaking. Odion and Zane, fighting in their little sandbox. Only that it wasn’t a sandbox—it was the multiverse. The querulous woman said, ‘Now, one step at a time. For us to help us, you must free us from the evil Quasikeum, Dark King of Jaakruid. Then, after we are freed, you can take our army to go on to fight Odion.’

‘Whoa,’ I said, confused by the onslaught of unfamiliar names. ‘What is this Jaakruid?’ I badly mangled the pronunciation of the strange-sounding city.

‘Jaakruid is the key city of our planet, and is close by. It is now under the tyranny of the Dark King.’

‘What was his name again?’

‘Quasikeum. You must defeat him.’

Before I could protest, she waved off any objection I could sputter off my lips. She put the back of her leaf hand to her head and stumbled back to her rocking chair, ‘Pike, show Theodore to the dining area. He must be starving, and Theodore,’ she paused, ‘I have always believed in the Messiah. I just had to be sure it was you.’ She seemed weak, and her body was withering and turning brown.

Pike and I went into the other room and there was a bulging feast on a tiny table. Pike proudly said that it was all for me.

Jezra popped her head into the kitchen and said, ‘I have to leave and rest.’

‘I will be there soon my queen,’ Pike returned.

In front of my gleaming eyes, sat a cornucopia of fried insects, vegetables, and succulent fruit. The ralua leaves had a subtle crunch and crumbled on my tongue. They released a complexity of flavor-confetti. I buried my teeth up to my gums in the nova fruit. It was so sweetly aromatic that it lulled me into a daze, and its sugary juices drizzled down to the tip of my chin.

There was no bread or meat, but the crigulean beetles were each the size of a goose. Their savory legs had a firm crunch like fried chicken, and in the center, there was a sweet pudding that titillated the inside of my mouth. The meal was an exotic arrangement. I abandoned all fears of strange and new inter-stellar food as I ravenously chowed down on the delicacies. Pike was eagerly munching away too, while Ed looked on politely.

Pike said, with a shred of meat bobbing up and down one his bottom lip as he spoke, ‘When I saw your ship drop into range of the forest canopies, I knew if the crash could not kill you, the king would. And if I didn’t get to you soon enough, who knows what would have laid its leaves on you.’

I was now heavily confused. I thought Trazuline had possibly been an ally all along. ‘You mean King Trazuline? You spoke of him earlier.’

‘Ha!’ Pike muttered. ‘No, not King Trazuline. No, our own Dark King, the one that Jezra just spoke of. The King of Jaakruid reigns from the mile-high canopy city, a fortified plant structure that houses an entire population of Elons under siege to their Dark Majesty. Your first worry should be of the giant plant beast that will surely be guarding it. It is called a Morlorian’ he said.

My eyes widened in fear. ‘What is a Morlorian? Isn’t there a way I can avoid that thing?’ I asked.

‘Theodore, there is no avoiding a Morlorian. They are the largest sentient plants in Tritillia, and this one is the deadliest of all of them. Between the Morlorian and the evil Elon King, you will have your hands full.’