Cally was in a good mood. It wasn?t exactly the nature of her errand that made her so cheerful. She didn?t really believe in digging up dead people, because they were not nearly as much fun as living people. Really, there was almost nothing amusing that you could do with dead people, except for that time she?d made skeletons into scarecrows. She never played the same game twice. But Mother Mary, her sweet Mary mother, had asked her very nicely to do her this favor. Cally liked feeling useful ? it happened so rarely ? and so she hummed a cheerful tuneless tune as she went about her grave robbing.
It didn?t take her long to find Wrath?s grave. Mary had told her about the Obelisk, and after Cally had remembered that an obelisk was not actually a small spotted cat she easily located it. (She didn?t know why there would be a gray-and-black marble feline in a graveyard, but stranger things had happened. Recently.) Someone had even conveniently labeled it with Wrath?s name; since Cally tended to avoid graveyards, she assumed it was marked for the convenience of people like her.
As she looked at the plot, trying to figure out how to get to the body, she sensed a familiar looming figure from the corner of her eye. It was Senor Gallo, who seemed attracted to death. He had also shown up that day in the Marketplace, after she had talked Gabriel into slaughtering a dozen innocents. She had been disappointed with Gabe that day, who by killing all those innocents had failed her test. Senor Gallo, however, had enjoyed several beakfuls of still-warm human. Since then, he associated death with a sort of fiesta.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE DESTINED TO FAIL, said the voice of Senor Gallo in her mind, booming and terrifying and without the slightest trace of a Spanish accent.
?Shut up,? she muttered to the evil giant bird-demon. ?You don?t know what I can do!?
The look on his cunning avian face was mocking, his serrated venomous beak seemed to be grinning at her. FAIL! YOU WILL FAIL, gloated Senor Gallo. IT IS RIDICULOUS TO THINK YOU COULD MOVE A STONE THAT SIZE. YOU ARE RIDICULOUS! WHY DO YOU EVEN EXIST?
?Shut up!? screamed Cally. ?I made you, I did that right! I did that SO right that I can?t get rid of you! And I will not be told what I can and can?t do by my own hallucination!? She marched to the stone and tossed it out of the way. ?There,? she said to Senor Gallo. ?I told you I could do anything. Now make yourself useful and dig up this grave.?
YOU NEVER FAIL TO SURPRISE ME, said the twenty-four foot venomous razor-quilled rooster. He made quick work of the grave, scratching up the stone sarcophagus as if it were a worm in a farm yard. Cally noted with little surprise that his talons had become steel during one of his many reincarnations. She jumped lithely into the open grave and went to work with her crowbar. The crowbar was very useful, Cally had found. But it definitely lacked style as a blunt instrument. All it could do was bash and pry and ? here was the body.
FEED ME, boomed Senor Gallo. His black ink eyes were ravenous. AS YOU CREATED ME, I THINK YOU WILL AGREE THAT YOU HAVE SOME RESPONSIBILITY FOR ME.
?Cunningest and most diabolical of birds! You may have the body, but the head is spoken for.? She stepped to the side so Senor Gallo could take his meal. Two pecks, and all that was left was the skull, the neck and a ragged bit of bone.
Cally judged she only needed the head, but she took the whole chunk anyway. She climbed out of the grave quick like a squirrel monkey. ?Now fill this back up,? she said. ?It doesn?t do to leave messes.?
She glanced over at the fallen obelisk. There was really no possible way to right it, and that was a shame. She decided to take it with her to leave everything tidy. It would make a lovely new blunt instrument, she reflected. If only it weren?t so large. As she put her hand to it, it shrank until it was the size of a baseball bat. Cally had not been expecting this. But she was sometimes pleasantly surprised by the bounty of the universe. She danced around swinging her new weapon, making ninja sound affects under her breath: ?P-chah! Sheee-ow! Haii! Hyah!?
IF YOU ARE QUITE DONE PLAYING, WE HAVE A DATE WITH DESTINY. COME TO THE FOREST AND KILL ME IF YOU CAN. His mental voice was impatient; he looked forward to these duels to the death.
?You are right, we must battle; there is no way around it,? Cally replied. ?But first I must drop off this piece of dead person. There are people who are waiting for it.? Clasping the crimson orb that hung in its setting between her breasts, she sidestepped into the Castle in the Sky. She quite liked the cloud-castle; she thought she might move in.
It didn?t take her long to find Wrath?s grave. Mary had told her about the Obelisk, and after Cally had remembered that an obelisk was not actually a small spotted cat she easily located it. (She didn?t know why there would be a gray-and-black marble feline in a graveyard, but stranger things had happened. Recently.) Someone had even conveniently labeled it with Wrath?s name; since Cally tended to avoid graveyards, she assumed it was marked for the convenience of people like her.
As she looked at the plot, trying to figure out how to get to the body, she sensed a familiar looming figure from the corner of her eye. It was Senor Gallo, who seemed attracted to death. He had also shown up that day in the Marketplace, after she had talked Gabriel into slaughtering a dozen innocents. She had been disappointed with Gabe that day, who by killing all those innocents had failed her test. Senor Gallo, however, had enjoyed several beakfuls of still-warm human. Since then, he associated death with a sort of fiesta.
YOU KNOW YOU ARE DESTINED TO FAIL, said the voice of Senor Gallo in her mind, booming and terrifying and without the slightest trace of a Spanish accent.
?Shut up,? she muttered to the evil giant bird-demon. ?You don?t know what I can do!?
The look on his cunning avian face was mocking, his serrated venomous beak seemed to be grinning at her. FAIL! YOU WILL FAIL, gloated Senor Gallo. IT IS RIDICULOUS TO THINK YOU COULD MOVE A STONE THAT SIZE. YOU ARE RIDICULOUS! WHY DO YOU EVEN EXIST?
?Shut up!? screamed Cally. ?I made you, I did that right! I did that SO right that I can?t get rid of you! And I will not be told what I can and can?t do by my own hallucination!? She marched to the stone and tossed it out of the way. ?There,? she said to Senor Gallo. ?I told you I could do anything. Now make yourself useful and dig up this grave.?
YOU NEVER FAIL TO SURPRISE ME, said the twenty-four foot venomous razor-quilled rooster. He made quick work of the grave, scratching up the stone sarcophagus as if it were a worm in a farm yard. Cally noted with little surprise that his talons had become steel during one of his many reincarnations. She jumped lithely into the open grave and went to work with her crowbar. The crowbar was very useful, Cally had found. But it definitely lacked style as a blunt instrument. All it could do was bash and pry and ? here was the body.
FEED ME, boomed Senor Gallo. His black ink eyes were ravenous. AS YOU CREATED ME, I THINK YOU WILL AGREE THAT YOU HAVE SOME RESPONSIBILITY FOR ME.
?Cunningest and most diabolical of birds! You may have the body, but the head is spoken for.? She stepped to the side so Senor Gallo could take his meal. Two pecks, and all that was left was the skull, the neck and a ragged bit of bone.
Cally judged she only needed the head, but she took the whole chunk anyway. She climbed out of the grave quick like a squirrel monkey. ?Now fill this back up,? she said. ?It doesn?t do to leave messes.?
She glanced over at the fallen obelisk. There was really no possible way to right it, and that was a shame. She decided to take it with her to leave everything tidy. It would make a lovely new blunt instrument, she reflected. If only it weren?t so large. As she put her hand to it, it shrank until it was the size of a baseball bat. Cally had not been expecting this. But she was sometimes pleasantly surprised by the bounty of the universe. She danced around swinging her new weapon, making ninja sound affects under her breath: ?P-chah! Sheee-ow! Haii! Hyah!?
IF YOU ARE QUITE DONE PLAYING, WE HAVE A DATE WITH DESTINY. COME TO THE FOREST AND KILL ME IF YOU CAN. His mental voice was impatient; he looked forward to these duels to the death.
?You are right, we must battle; there is no way around it,? Cally replied. ?But first I must drop off this piece of dead person. There are people who are waiting for it.? Clasping the crimson orb that hung in its setting between her breasts, she sidestepped into the Castle in the Sky. She quite liked the cloud-castle; she thought she might move in.