Chapter 130. The Dead-Quiet Town
Inside Duncan's case, he gathered all the magical creatures on the grassland of the Erumpent area.
"Kray, in a moment you're to patrol the sky, and the instant you notice anything unusual, let us know at once.
Be careful.
Don't look down on those wizards too much.
They're desperadoes who lick blood from the blade, and if you're the least bit careless you might get hurt."
This would be Kray's first real fight against wizards, and Duncan felt a little uneasy, so he added a few more reminders.
"Mm-hmm, don't worry," Kray said, tilting his head back slightly with no small confidence.
"I'll be weaving through the sea of clouds by then, and those people's spells won't even think of hitting me!"
Duncan nodded, his eyes shifting to Mori at his side.
"In a bit, make yourself smaller and stick with me."
"What about us?
What are the two of us doing?"
Before Mori could answer, the Erumpents came bounding up to Duncan, asking in quick succession.
They could hardly wait to use the sharp horns on their heads to have it out with those wicked wizards.
"You two will stay in the case for now.
It's not your turn to go on yet," Duncan said.
Ari and Charlie were far too large.
If he let them out now, it would be like firing a signal flare in the dark of night.
It would call hostile wizards over to kill them.
"Eh?"
Disappointment was plain on both Erumpents' faces.
Their voices fell, and the high ridges of their backs seemed to sag.
"What do you mean, 'eh'?!" Pro, who was sitting to one side showing off his recently acquired treasures to the Bowtruckle, caught sight of the two Erumpents' dejected looks.
"Didn't you understand what Duncan said?
It's not your turn yet!
Which means you two are the key players.
You need to conserve your strength now, so that at the final moment you can slaughter your way through and be the heroes who save everyone!
Such an important task is being entrusted to you, and you're still going 'eh' here!"
Ari and Charlie blinked blankly, exchanged a glance, and a question rose in their hearts: "Is that what Duncan meant?"
"Pro's right.
Go get ready, and I'll call you when it's time," Duncan said with a smile, striking while the iron was hot to dispel the two beasts' doubts.
"Boss is wise!" the two Erumpents cheered, heads thrown back as they trotted off.
"Duncan, we'll go eat a bit more, and when the time comes we guarantee we'll bowl those people over.
None of them will be a match for us!"
"Alright!" Duncan called back, giving Pro a big thumbs-up.
Pro really did have a way with those two.
"Small matter, not necessary!" Pro puffed his chest out high, in complete contradiction to the modesty in his words.
Duncan shook his head with a smile and led a shrunken-down Mori towards the workshop.
Once they were out and had confirmed it was safe, he would send Kray a message, and Kray would take a different passage to get outside the case.
Otherwise, with Kray's bulk, one stretch in the workshop and his little cabin would turn into a pile of rubble.
...
On a street littered with broken stones, Duncan hid inside a ruined shop along the road, his eyes straying outside from time to time as he took in everything around him.
All kinds of magical contraptions lay scattered on the ground.
Among them was an enchanted ballerina figurine, standing barefoot amid splinters of wood.
Though there was no longer any pleasant music to accompany her, she kept dancing tirelessly.
Duncan bent down and carefully picked her up, brushed off the dust, and slipped her into his pouch.
Misk liked this sort of figurine very much.
If he gave it to him when they met, he would certainly be overjoyed.
As he pushed the pouch back into his robes, he caught, out of the corner of his eye, a shadow flicker along the wall — a small snake, as thick as two fingers.
"Is that you, Mori?" Duncan asked in a low voice, gripping his wand warily.
"It's me."
A familiar voice sounded as the little snake, tongue flicking, coiled itself around Duncan's neck.
Feeling the cold touch at his throat, Duncan whispered, "What's it like in the surroundings?"
After coming out of the case, Duncan had found a spot to quietly send Kray into the air, then took Mori to make cautious inspections place by place.
Along the way they hadn't seen a single person, not even any creature of slightly larger size.
Within sight were only collapsed houses, broken verges by the road, bloodstains long dried to black, and the marks left after violent spell explosions.
The entire town was shrouded in a deathly hush, chilling one's courage and making one involuntarily tense.
"I didn't see Newt, nor did I find anyone else," Mori said.
"But I did smell some traces over there, like someone had been active there not long ago.
Do you want to go have a look?"
"Alright."
After a brief thought, Duncan used a potion to turn invisible and, moving carefully, stepped out of the shop, following Mori's direction.
After about ten minutes of walking, Mori, curled inside Duncan's clothes, gave a slight twist, signalling that this was the place.
Duncan halted and observed.
This seemed to be a residential area of the town.
In the little yard to the side, he could see many bright flowers pressed flat beneath huge stones, as well as some shattered bowls and plates, with filthy food scattered on the ground.
"They seem to have fled in a great rush.
What on earth happened at the time?" Duncan thought to himself.
Although Newt and Alec the Demiguise had arrived here quite early, the town had already been reduced to ruins by then.
So they didn't know the specific cause either.
Duncan took a few steps forward, wanting to go elsewhere for a look to see if he might run into the person Mori had mentioned.
Just then, a low voice sounded behind him, the speaker forcing his voice down.
"Don't move.
I can see you.
If you put your wand down now, I might consider not blasting your head apart!"
Duncan's brows drew together.
He stood where he was without moving and did not put his wand down as told.
He didn't believe the man could see through his invisibility.
Most likely he had heard footsteps and was saying this on purpose to blast him out.
Mori slid off Duncan without a sound and, after a brief moment, quickly crawled back, whispering against Duncan, "He's directly behind you, square on your back.
He probably hasn't noticed you.
He's hidden in the dark, and his eyes are darting about, searching."
Duncan gave the faintest of nods to show he understood.
"Want me to finish him off for you?" Mori asked.
"I guarantee it in a single strike."
Duncan gave a light shake of the head.
Whether the man was good or bad, he might know the information Duncan currently needed.
"Go make a noise on my right," Duncan instructed under his breath.
"Draw his attention."
"Alright..." Mori, a little disappointed, slithered off to a more distant spot and stirred the stones on the ground.
Hearing the faint murmur of spell-casting begin, Duncan whirled about, his wand snapping toward the man's position.
At his summons, the rubble on the ground instantly piled together into a cage, burying the man and locking him fast.
Only one arm, unable to move, stuck out, holding his wand level.
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