The Hall of Heroes

10. - The bells

Horden stood still, his hands stretched towards the dead body of the giant, magically controlling the rusty sword that continued to carve the creature's unmoving flesh. Crefar was breathing heavily and from behind him in the cave, he heard a screech and a thud as though something heavy fell to the stone ground. The "Ouch!" that followed belonged to Duzz.

"Th-th-this stinking body! I-i-it can't take a-a-anything!" she cursed, getting back to her feet.

"You tell me!" Crefar almost wheezed, sitting down on a rock. "All the years of brewing ale sure did this guy Alois well about the waist! Could use a bit of muscle training, though."

Horden made no sound and just continued watching his own sword carve the creature's flesh.

"Hey, I think it's dead, man!" Crefar called out to him. "But I think maybe you'd better make sure!"

Horden stopped moving and dropped his hands. As soon as he did that, the sword fell out of the creature's body and clanked on the ground as though an invisible hand had just released it. Horden stood up and paced down the cave towards the entrance.

"I need some air!" he said, his voice coarse and stern.

Duzz seemed to watch Horden's pacing intently and just as soon as he was safely out of their hearing range, she crawled over the rocky floor crouching like a crab and sat next to Crefar.

"N-n-now what? D-d-do you think h-h-he's g-g-going back?" she said. "You know, b-b-back there?"

"No doubt about that. Seems to me he's pretty keen on being dead again." Crefar sneered.

"A-a-and you're j-j-just tagging along? D-d-do you want t-t-to be dead, too?"

Crefar looked at her conspiringly.

"I... I would like... I don't..." he said dizzily, as though somebody had just woken him up from a rapid succession of dreams. Then he shook his head as though he'd had too much to drink. He supported his forehead with his palm and wiped his closed eyes with his fingers. Then, he remained motionless for a moment, staring into the darkness.

"Do you hear that?" he said.

Duzz tilted her head and looked at him with suspicion in her eyes. "Hear what?" she said.

Crefar looked around him confusedly. "For a minute there, I thought I heard this booming, like... Nevermind."

"It's th-th-those bodies we're in! Th-th-they send you messages r-r-right into your head. Make you s-s-see and hear things that a-a-ain't really th-th-there. Th-th-they catch you unaware wh-wh-when you think the-the-there's no danger. W-w-we gotta get out of them!" Duzz said.

"We need to waste no more time!" the strong voice of Horden sounded in the cave and tore both of them out of their quiet moment. "This world needs to get back to its peace and the three of us are standing in the way! Let's move!"

"Hold on right there, pal!" Crefar raised his hand.

Horden looked back at him. Crefar seemed frozen, his hand lifted towards Horden.

"Well?" the man in Fanda's body demanded impatiently.

"Do you hear that?" Crefar said and put his hand to his ear.

A smile played in Horden's face. He turned and walked out of the cave. Without even thinking for a moment, Crefar got up and followed him. Duzz opened her mouth to try to stop him, but he didn't give her the chance.

Horden took charge and left Honza to go back to town, since the road was now clear of the danger of the monstrous giant. Someone had to go deliver the good news and the three of them still had a different job to do. Then, the man in Fanda's body took off in the direction of the Hall of Heroes and Crefar absent-mindedly followed him. Duzz stayed behind, reconsidering her position, but she followed them at a distance.