Page 78 of Office of the Lost

Crispin felt sorry for his brother, for once.The handsome fae had rarely been away from their mother’s side, and almost never off the Estate.Now he was like an aardvark in an anthill, drinking it all in with an infectious enthusiasm.Crispin could almost forget they were on a dire mission.

They reached the edge of the park, and something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye.He turned to see what it was, and his mouth dropped open.

A patrol of leathery… things—like bats but larger, with great paper-thin wings and long beak-like snouts—were approaching from the far side of the park.

Minkis strained to see them.“Birds.Big big birds!

“Careful, Mink.Don’t want you falling.”Theywerekind of like birds, and as they got closer, their riders became visible: archosaurs in trim blue uniforms with gold embellishments.“The police.”

Leo would have said something charming and human and possibly outdated, like “Damn, the fuzz are here.”Crispin felt a little pang.

Fromlith continued his journey unabated, heading up a broad city boulevard, finding places to put his huge feet between cars and on empty patches of sidewalk, and the screams that accompanied his trek seemed to be more cries of fear than those of the mortally wounded, much to Crispin’s relief.Breaking rules was one thing.Breaking people was quite another.

To his credit, Fromlith seemed to be causing minimal property damage as well, though at least one fire hydrant would need replacing and the center median’s attractive assortment of jungle-inspired foliage would never be the same.

“Giant being, please cease and desist this unapproved rampage.”The lead flyer held some kind of megaphone.

They thought this was a rampage?It was more of a walk in the park—literally.“Sorry, can’t do that.Just going to see a friend.We’ll be out of your hair shortly!”Crispin’s voice couldn’t match the megaphone, but the man seemed to have heard him.He was handsome for an archosaur, with a square jaw and a crest of bright blue plumage that complemented his uniform nicely.

“Negative.Please rein in your giant and return to the park.”The flyer swooped close by, circling Fromlith and bringing him to an abrupt halt.The other flyers joined him, making circles around Crispin and his companions.Residents of the nearby apartment building, including their human-looking pets, gathered at the windows to stare.

Fromlith, his brow knitted in concern, lifted Crispin closer to his large face.“What do we do?”he asked, quietly for a giant.“Should I knock them out of the sky?”

Crispin sighed.He didn’t want to do any more damage or cause any more harm to life than was strictly necessary.“No, we’ll figure out how to deal with this.”

“I repeat, please return to the park, the lot of you, so we can sort this matter out.”The captain of the police seemed to be growing steadily more annoyed.

Crispin understood.How would he feel if his beloved forest was invaded by a giant, hell-bent on beating a path to one of its biggest trees?Still, he was at a loss about how to deal with it without causing more harm.

“Make cold.”Minkis chittered in his ear.

“You’re cold?”It was currently warm on Earth 2, like it normally was; most of this world boasted a tropical temperature.

“No.Make.Cold.”

“Ahhh.”Crispin’s eyebrow shot up.Juzir and his people were cold blooded.“Mother, could you… arrange for a little local snowstorm?”

“A what?”

“They don’t like cold.”He pointed at the flyers circling them.

“Ah.Yes.Of course.”Her voice almost sounded approving.She lifted her hands grandly, miming a sprinkling of snow—not strictly necessary, but Cerillia was nothing if not dramatic.

At first he was afraid it wouldn’t work—she’d seemed to have lost her powers back in Odds—but then the temperature began to rapidly drop.The air filled with snowflakes, sparkling under the tropical sun, and the flyers began to lose altitude, their wings beating in ever-slowing speeds.

Must be more Chaos magic here for her to draw on.Indeed, none of the city seemed to have flattened, just yet.

“Please… desist.Cold….”The leader’s flyer slipped out of the air, falling like a very cumbersome snowflake to land on a five-story building behind them.The steed promptly curled up into a circle, its rider asleep on its back.Soon all of the police force was grounded, and the civilians in the area had slumped to the ground too.

“Nice work!”Crispin let his voice practically shine with approval and was surprised to see the slightest blush bloom on his mother’s cheeks.“Fromlith, take us onward.”

“As you wish, friend.”The giant resumed his careful plodding through the city streets.They made good time, arriving at the shiny white building in minutes.

“What now?A pretty building, but not made to giants’ standards.”He tapped on a window and the glass creaked, groaned, and then cracked.

“Please, Fromlith, try not to break it.We need one of the residents alive and in good shape.”

“Any one of them?”Fromlith brought a giant eye close to one of the windows, looking inside.“We have many to choose from.This one looks particularly delicious….”

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