Tales of Midbar: Secret Priest
The Strangler Figs - part 2

We used dowsing to track Miandri to the temple steps. It was blue day but the sky was overcast and it was drizzling rain. There was still a lot of police activity at the temple but they weren’t paying much attention to Miandri, in spite of the fact she’d taken most her clothes off and seemed to be building a pile of stuff and a small group of people were watching her.

“... Bet is the second testament, she can only be seen in black night but what secret is she keeping?” shouted Miandri.

Her vibes were decidedly worrying and even from a distance she didn’t look good.

“Utnarata says it is the sixteenth testament you should fear for she will awaken Yoho to wage war on the other gods Miandri daughter of Yoldasia Old Magic prophetess of Utnarata will show you the secret of the sixteenth testament using this divine pyre ...”

“She’s prophesying!” I said.

“I doth not liketh what she art saying,” said Dwenda.

“Utnarata goddess of rocks and water demands more fuel for the sacred pyre!”

“There’s a fair chance she doesn’t mean you or what secrets she’ll reveal will be unintelligible,” I said.

“I wilt not taketh that chance and many art unable to distiguisteth betwixt insanity and divine revelation, which ist how so many dist tragically mistake Nuhar for a prophet when he wert merely a lunatic, but it art illegal to preventeth a prophet from prophesying on the steps of a temple.”

“All the gods look to Utnarata to protect them from Yoho when he arises at the bidding of the sixteenth testament.”

“She’s lost her glass ball,” I said. “She may calm down if we replace it.”

“I thinketh it wert her use of Old Magic that hath rotted her mind.”

“Yoho is the enemy of all other gods. He will come and fight Streculic and then Astrigis and then Utnarata.”

“Probably but I think she’s going to die or something if we just leave her. We can figure out a way to wean her off it later.”

“She hath some spare balls and the chemicals that go in them in our room at home,” said Dwendra.

We teleported into what was normally Attan’s room. It was very untidy but there was a box containing glass balls like the one Miandri normally sucked on. However they didn’t have any liquid in them. There was another box containing several small bottles with different labels on them. The labels said things like, Oil of Adenium.

“How doth we useth these?” asked Dwendra.

“I think there are only two people living who know about this stuff,” I said. “I think Miandri may tell us if we ask her.”

“You doeth that,” said Dwendra. “I shalt asketh the greatest expert on Old Magic I doth knoweth.”

“You hardly know ...” I said as she dematerialized.

As it was still raining, I had to teleport to a public toilet at the bottom of Temple Hill and then climb the hill, in the rain, which was getting fairly heavy.

Miandri was still on the temple steps, looking rather bedraggled, and the cops were taking a body from the Temple.

“Aleph is the first testament! Bet is the second testament! Midbar is the third testament! Sol is the ...”

“Miandri,” I said, holding out a glass ball. “Do you want one of these?”

“Utnerata’s Old Magic,” said Miandri. “The secret of prophecy. The sixteenth testament is coming!”

“I’ve got your bottles as well but I don’t know how to use them.”

I noticed a couple of cops behind me.

“You Clindar?” asked one of them.

“Yes,” I said.

“You’ve got to go back to your hotel!”

“Utnerata has sent you to deliver the Old Magic to me!” said Miandri coming over to me.

“What about Miandri?” I asked.

Just then somebody shouted, “Sordreth moracanti acrulio!”

I turned to see Dwendra running up the temple steps with a large, blue crystal flying from her hand towards Miandri.

“No!” shouted Miandri, diving back towards her unlit pyre. “Tegliatric!”

A ray from the crystal hit Miandri as the pyre bust into bright, white flame.

Miandri held her crystal over the pyre and shouted, “Secret of the sixteenth testament!”

A huge image of Dwendra and Egrindreth holding hands appeared above the temple steps for an instant and Miandri fell on the pyre, scattering ashes.

“No, you’ve killed the magic,” sobbed Miandri. “You’ve killed Utnerata!”

“What the fornication was that?” asked one of the cops.

“Old Magic dispelling spell,” said Dwendra panting as the crystal levitated back to her. “It wast hard work learning that.”

I realized Dwendra looked very tired and I guessed she’d been away for hours, perhaps days, using time travel.

“Have you quite finished prophesying?” asked one of the cops, going up to Miandri.

“Utnerata is dead! Now nobody can stop Yoho.”

“Have you finished prophesying because we’re supposed to get you back to your family,” said the cop.

“Nothing matters now.”

“I think I’d take that as a ‘yes’,” I said.

The police put us in a car, with a blanket draped round Miandri, and rushed us back to the Strangler Figs Hotel. I was still holding Miandri’s ball and bottles but the police oddly didn’t ask me about them. They just chatted to each other about what an awful couple of days they were having.

There was a large unmarked bus at the hotel entrance, parked between the huge trunks of the strangler figs, and several very tired looking police stood around it.

Traivanin came up to us as we got out the car. “Sorry but we’ve received more information. It seems somebody is targeting your family so we’re taking you to a safe house.”

“What?” I asked.

“I don’t know the details myself. I suggest you use the toilets in the hotel before we leave.”

The bus had blacked out windows so those inside could see out but people outside couldn’t see in. My parents and Attan were also in it, still looking rather sick but they were dressed now.

Dwendra and a police woman pretty much had to drag Miandri into the bus and sit her down.

“You were supposed to look after her,” said Mum, crossly.

“Things always seem to go wrong when you separate her from me,” I said.

“Utnerata is dead,” said Miandri. “All is gloom. All hope is lost.”

They closed the doors and we started moving.

“Now you’re probably wondering what this is about,” said a cop I didn’t recognize. “We’ve received a credible threat to your family but unfortunately we know very little about the person who’s targeting you or why they’re doing it. We’re going to take you to a safe house where we can protect you while we replace a more permanent solution. I’m arranging to have some clothing picked up from your house, which is a crime scene so it will have to be processed first. What happened to the young woman’s clothing?”

“I think she burnt most of it,” I said.

“So you don’t know who’s after us or what they intend to do?” asked Dad. “How are you going to recognize these people?”

“It’s Dwendra!” said Attan.

“Ist not!” said Dwendra.

“She has an extremely good alibi,” said the cop. “We suspect this is a female who’s posing as a figure from Yohoist folklore, which few people know about.”

“Dwendra!” said Attan looking at her as if she was the most hateful thing in the multiverse.

“This is a woman called Sixteen ...”

“Dwendra!” said Attan.

“... She’s basically the Yohoist equivalent of Nuhar Zorg so she may be of glildac appearance ...”

“Dwendra!”

“... claim to be a Yohoist ...”

“Dwendra!”

“... use antiquated speech ...”

“Dwendra!”

“... claim ignorance of recent events ...”

“Who won last year’s flingball championship?” asked Attan.

“... be a mage, psychic or both. We do know she can write in both Faharni and Semic.”

“There seems to be lot you don’t know,” said Dad.

“We’re working on that,” said the cop.

“Now do you believe there’s a conspiracy against me?” I asked.

“It’s Dwendra!” said Attan.

“She killed Utnerata,” said Miandri.

“No,” said the cop, “she’s got alibis for all the incidents we believe this enemy committed.”

“What about our sister Egrindreth?” I asked. “Is she being targeted?”

“She’s not your sister any more,” said Mum.

“Does the enemy believe that?” I asked.

“How can we locate her?” asked the cop.

“I thinketh if thou contacteth anybody in Haprihagfen they shouldst be able for to conveyeth a message unto her.”