Chapter 70: Chapter 70: A (Welcome) Snake in the House

“OH!”

Kaline windmills, one leg suspended in the air and the other on the ground. She gazes down at Peridot, who’s slithering around, all the time in the world, exploring and investigating this new environment. An entirely new world from the jungle.

Tongue flicking out, Peridot studies Kaline. [Who is she?]

I pad over to Kaline and stretch out my paws to her. [She’s Kaline, my Young Miss. My Mistress.]

Peridot regards the girl inquisitively. [A lot of spirit.]

“Blaze!” Kaline sounds as if we’ve been apart for ages. “You won’t believe what we ordered. New outfits for the tournament.”

[I can’t wait.] I let my paws rest on her legs beneath her billowy skirt. [But first, you should meet Peridot. I wanted to surprise you. We all did.]

Recovering, Kaline peers at Peridot, charmed by her. “Blaze, this is Peridot, you say?”

Vedette and Minette look equally enraptured, if confused. “A new beast?” Minette asks. “I wasn’t aware we needed one.”

Also mystified, Vedette tries to be diplomatic. “But she’s such a pretty snake.”

Niall speaks up, his huge face-splitting grin not going away any time soon. “Yes, and extremely patient. She likes a tough challenge. You see, Peridot has agreed to put up with me.”

The light goes on for Minette. “OH! How silly of me! Of course. Why, by our ancestors, this is just wonderful, Niall. You must tell us how you tamed Peridot here.”

With enough enthusiasm for a squadron of orcs, Niall launches into his tale, not leaving anything out, including, I might add, smoking a pipe with Maartenwitz. For his part, Maartenwitz practices decorum and doesn’t interrupt Niall with a dozen corrections. The pair of them make one of the unlikeliest bromances I’ve ever seen, except for Lobo standing so close to me wagging his tail.

“And this all sprang from a hunting trip,” Minette muses. “The wonders of beast taming. Where is Master Riddlehoeven?”

Oh. Lamant. Of course. In all the excitement, we forgot about him.

Kaline laughs. “Father probably was happy that he could just hole up in his study and play with his potions for once. And honestly,” her voice drops conspiratorially, “we took care of his old tournament togs. He’ll be getting a brand new outfit. It’s been FOREVER.”

Grinning, Vedette says, “We’ll just have to make a big fuss over him coming to see our outfits when they’re ready.”

I bump my nose against Kaline. [And Gussie wants to come. We all want to come.]

Kaline rubs my head. [Of course, silly, especially after the way you all found Peridot.]

Awww. That feels so good. I wish I could hug her like a human. Softened up, I confess something to her. [We wanted to stay behind so we could scare up a beast for Niall.]

In response, I get crushed by a hug that won’t quit. Kaline holds me so hard it’s a wonder that her arms don’t tire. She kisses my ears. [You are sneaky, Blaze, but I love it.]

“Let’s go and introduce Master Riddlehoeven to Peridot,” Niall says. A command rather than a suggestion. With a grin, Maartenwitz even backs him up.

The trip through winding corridors and up stairs whizzes by. A reptilian sponge, Peridot takes in everything. The endless places to slither and slide and wriggle through. Spots to nap. Corners for catching mice. A whole new world just opened up. Although the statues make her recoil.

Her reasoning is simple. [I don’t trust anything that stands too still like that. It makes me shiver.]

Niall tells her everything he knows about the house, about the family, and how much she will like it here. A good listener, Peridot sways from side to side, following his words and his upbeat voice. When Gussie located her, she scored a real victory. And Gussie is still crowing about it. “I found Peridot. I found Peridot.”

She won’t shut up about that for a long time, if I am any judge.

The door to Lamant’s study is still tightly shut, and Minette’s brow crinkles. “Odd. It’s getting toward dinnertime, He often finishes up before dinner when he’s in his study.”

My entire body feeling charged with electricity. Something is very wrong.

Gussie squawks, “Open the door!” She senses it too.

Lobo, Demos, and I sniff.

Uh oh.

Is that blood? Something smells like blood.

[Kaline!] I growl vociferously until i’m hoarse to get her attention. [Blood! I smell blood!]

Meanwhile, Lobo and Demos are going nuts, clawing at the door, and I join in.

Minette knocks on the door, then pounds on it. Pounding turns to trying to beat it down. “LAMANT! Open the door!”

Nothing.

Kaline stands terrified, glued to the carpet. I fly at her and nip at her hand to unglue her. Finally, galvanized, Kaline turns and runs back down the corridor, calling out, “I’ll get Tomas to give us the master key!”

Maartenwitz looks apologetic. “I didn’t take it with me on the hunt. I feared it would get lost.”

Meanwhile, we beasts are using our magic and our muscle to get past that unyielding, unforgiving door. Come on, come on!

Peridot slithers toward the door. [I think I can flatten myself and try to get under the door!]

Demos growls. [Do it!]

Shrinking herself, Peridot tries to slip under the door, but her coils are too big. Then, she tries inserting her tail…and gets it stuck in the door so that Niall has to pull her free.

Maartenwitz, Vedette, and Minette keep calling Lamant’s name, without success. Finally, Kaline comes flying back down the hall with the master key in her hand. “I have it!”

The key jumps from her hand to Minette’s, and Minette works the lock. CLICK.

Huzzah! The door is open. We beasts rush through, only to be met with the stench of blood. Lots of it.

The first thing I see is Lamant’s hand, with blood trickling out from under it.

My vision spins. The world spins. I can’t even make sense of what I’m seeing.

I’m beside Lamant in a flash, licking his hand to get him to respond, nipping his fingers. They taste warm and metallic, but cold and clammy at the same time.

Kaline’s screams fill the room. “FATHER! FATHER!”

My Healing Elixir! System! Send Healing Elixir to Lamant!

[Done. But he’ll need more than that, I’m afraid. The situation is most dire.]

A glow surrounds Lamant, and he coughs. Trembling, Kaline kneels, holding his hand. “Father! Father! Cough again!” Her hot, wet, salty tears splash on my fur.

“The healers are coming,” Minette says in an unnaturally calm voice.

Some people don’t crack under pressure. They sound too controlled. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Inside, those cool customers feel eaten alive from within by doubt, fear, guilt, and panic. Minette is one of those people.

Vedette scrambles to help, combing the room for something, anything she can use. “Healing potions…healing potions…Father, why are there no healing potions here?”

“What about one of the Pills of Power?” Kaline is desperate.

Vedette doesn’t even chastise her younger sister for her idea. She flings open a box and takes out a pink pearl pill, then kneels before her father. “He’s facedown. Underneath his desk! Somebody lift him up! Beasts!”

We try and prop him up, tugging at his hands. Gussie even attempts to airlift him up, while Minette and Vedette lift his chin.

Primal Beast! It’s a punch to the gut. Demos roars, horrified, and Peridot doesn’t move, mesmerized by horror.

Lamant’s eyes are bloodshot, his teeth clamped together in a grimace of pain. But he’s alive. I smell the sickly sweet odor and feel the warmth of his breath. Ugh, his breath smells like rotting sugar somehow. What caused that? The blood is trickling from his mouth.

Kaline’s hand shakes. “I’m going to drop the pill.”

“NO, you are NOT,” Minette says through gritted teeth.

I beam love and support at Kaline through the link. [It’s going to be fine, Kaline. Just focus on your father. Picture the pill making him better.]

With a steadier hand, Kaline feeds the pill to her father and holds his jaw shut. “Father. Swallow. Your life depends on it.”

GULP. Lamant somehow hears her, and swallows the pill.

A tense, devoted vigil follows as we all cluster around Lamant, with his wife and daughters struggling to lift him until the healers and two guards arrive.

What happens next happens in a blur.

Lamant gets levitated onto a stretcher, or so it seems.

The guards and the healers don’t waste time getting him out of the room.

Minette and Lobo lead the way after the stretcher. Vedette follows them with Demos attached to her. Niall takes Peridot out of the room next. Gussie rides on Maartenwitz’s shoulder. Finally, Kaline clings to my fur while we walk.

“We shouldn’t have gone to the tailor without him,” she wails aloud.

I let out a sorrowful, sympathetic “mrrp” and rub up against her. [This is not your fault.]

She’s beside herself. “Promise me he’ll be fine, Blaze. Promise me.”

Even though it’s foolish, I growl in the affirmative. [I promise! If I have anything to do with it, Lamant will live!

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