Chronicles of the Wolf III: Brotherhood of the wolf

Chapter 18

Although I still had no clue where I had heard of Lady Bai, I knew for certain I was at least dealing with someone of equal rank to my father from another batch of tribes. I just could not place from where. If she was over the Krasnyy it could mean that she could be Erika’s mother. But something about her, just didn’t seem right. I couldn’t place it.

I also had another thing that was worth addressing. What was that saying that Walker said. We had to dress the elephant in the room? I looked for an elephant and did not see one to dress…but somehow after one dressed the elephant you were supposed to bring something up that was an obvious situation. So without the elephant in the room did I still have to say it? I felt like I did.

“If I may, my lady that is not something you should trifle with.” I said.

“It is you who should not be trifling with this, my dear boy.” Lady Bai said as she grabbed the medallion and looked at it. “It is like Bordy and H’ereka have said, it indeed the medallion that was passed down through generations of D’Opidiums.”

“Tell me, what do you know about this boy?” Lady Bai asked.

I felt irritated the way this female was treating me. Then I realized I almost got what was coming to me since I had talked in a similar manner to Walker so I bit my tongue.

“Just that a star builder named Methuselah gave it to Lady Kyzl,” I said.

“And you heard this from?” Lady Bai asked narrowing her eyes as she said that. I c****d my head at her, almost everyone I had told this story had agreed with it in some way or another. Even those projections of Damus and Osiris had told me as such.

“Everyone and their mother, has told me that,” I said.

“I sincerely doubt that,” she said.

“Well, those projections of Osiris said this, Damus’s projection, hell even Han…” I started.

“It matters not where you have heard this boy!” She barked. I was suddenly struck with this odd feeling I could not quite place. It was sensation that felt oddly familiar “What I was referring to that your information is incomplete.”

“How so?” I asked.

“This Medallion was not given to Lady Kyzl by Methuselah for one.” Lady Bai said and I almost laughed at that statement.

“That’s right originally Lacia said it was given to her by Lord Brahma,” I said thinking that this must have been what it was.

“It is not that either boy,” Lady Bai said.

“Then?” I asked.

“If you are truly the son of Alqamar you should know this,” Erika said.

“Yeah about that,” I said. “I sort of kind of never really pay attention to all of this stuff when I was younger so…”

“Then perhaps you are Behemet the Dragon bringer,” Erika said from behind me angrily. “Only he would be stupid enough to not know his own kind’s legends.”

“They were only legends until I came across that damn thing.” I said pointing at the medallion. “It has brought nothing but torment and pain to me and those around me. It killed Lacia, it killed my master. That thing is a curse.”

“Wait…my dad is dead?” Sara said sounding shocked.

I looked at her and she turned white when I looked at her. I felt extremely uncomfortable. I thought for sure that Sara would have known her father had been killed, to end his suffering of endless cycles of rebirth and death. I then noticed something she was wearing a belt like everyone else was. It was the first time I had noticed this, I looked at it for a while before I had to say something.

“That damn thing is linked to the Iron Hand,” I said pointing at the medallion. “It tricked me into using it against…”

“My boy, this damn thing as you call it, is not from Lord Brahma, or Methuselah.” Lady Bai said as she suddenly had a brief smirk that made me c**k my head. I was trying to remember where I had heard the name Lady Bai before, I was scrambling my thoughts where did I hear this name from?

“Is that thing Shiva’s?!” I asked looking at it remember what Ares had said earlier when he had tricked me into using it.

I looked over at Sara again she looked nervous and was absently moving her hand on the belt she had. I looked at her and she was just absently looking off in the distance somewhere. I felt bad for her considering that I was the one who had killed her father.

“My dear boy, this is not an amulet of Lord Shiva.” She said I felt relieved for about a second, but I saw that smirk on her face again. It was for like half a second, but I knew it was there. I knew it was there! “This my boy belongs to Samhara Kali, the consort of Lord Shiva, she is the fullness of time itself.”

“Wait…but that means that she is in league with Shiva,” I said.

“By in league I am supposing you are referring to Lady Kali being the consort of Lord Shiva.” She said. “Being someone’s consort does not often mean that someone is in league with the person they are the consort to. Lady Kali helped Lord Hanuman defeat Lord Shiva during the Tandav.”

“Funny…” I said not to sound as if I was very suspicious about what she had said. I have known the idiotic of Hanuman for so long, and Hanuman had showed me that vision of him fighting Shiva, and he never once claimed someone named Kali had helped him. “I…don’t think I have heard of that version of events.”

I decided to word it differently than the way I was thinking about saying it. It was something nagging at me in my mind about this female that I was trying to figure out, was it the small sinister smiles she did? Maybe. That could be it, but I am sure people have sinister smiles that they would do once in a while and not necessarily reflect that person being sinister.

“Everyone knows that Lord Hanuman could have not simply defeat Lord Shiva on his own.” She said it so matter-of-factly that it annoyed me.

“Who is everyone?” I c****d my eyebrows.

“Well we all know this legend,” she answered.

“Or some variation?” I asked.

“Indeed,” she said.

That made me think of something. Wasn’t there a legend of someone named Lady Bai? I thought about that for a moment. It had to be this was the way that I knew the name of Lady Bai? I was thinking hard about this now. For some reason I was certain now that this name was a legend, what kind of legend though, I was uncertain.

“So, if this belongs to Kali as you say it does, what is its purpose?” I asked.

“Tell me Dragon Bringer, what do you know of our brotherhood.” She said.

“Brotherhood?” I asked feigning ignorance on this one. Hanuman had showed me that vision earlier, but I felt that I needed to find out more about this brotherhood thing that Hanuman only vaguely mentioned.

“So, you claim not to know,” She snorted.

“I can’t believe that you would claim that,” Erika said.

“Everyone knows the legend.” Bordy said somewhere behind me.

The handmaiden whispered at Lady Bai vigorously.

“Zhaow thinks you should get executed because of your ignorance.” Lady Bai said smirking a bit more maliciously. “Now that is something I can agree with.”

“Huh?!” I said.

“I think it should be a battle to the death,” Erika said and I shot her a glance.

“Oh, most wonderful idea!” Lady Bai said. “Seeing the one responsible for the deaths of countless millions by bringing the dragons to us get pummeled to death by one our best fighters. It will be most wonderful. Any takers?”

“I’ll fight him!” Sara said and I shot her a glance. She had this sort of look to her that made me wonder what her deal was. I could not tell what it was but there was something about her that was off…not as much as Lady Bai though. “After all this fucker killed my dad!”

“Great.” I sighed heavily.