The last song of the ancestors

The man in the suit held his hands up. He didn't want to intimidate the two young people. He had no children and no babysitting experience. He thought it would be a long journey to the falls. He exhaled all the air in his lungs.

"Calm down, you're very tense. I think now it's time for the round of questions and answers. I'll save you the time. Yes, Yasini asked me to take you to the Masters of Suspicion, they are former members of the Circle of Sages. No, he couldn't come with us and stayed behind to fight the police. Yes, we can't go back. No, I'll go with you."

Akachi and Spin Bomb narrowed their eyes. They grimaced as if they hadn't understood a word. It was as if they were speaking in different languages.

Fenyang appeared and floated towards the hitman. He rested his forearm on the man's right shoulder. He looked at Fadala, then turned to Akachi. The Ori Guardian said:

Are you sure you're going to trust the big man here? He's got military training and the bearing of a mercenary, bro. He's probably trying to steal whatever key you have. Better give him a few kicks.

No, he saved us from Chrome Hill. Yasini trusts him…

Yasini and Zuber tried to steal your key, bro. They only gave up after we beat them up. Who's to say this guy won't put the squeeze on us in the future? It's up to you, bro. I didn't like you at all, bro. You're that nice guy who comes in and steals the show with your big, edgy character nose.

Akachi started biting his lip hard. Fenyang stretched out his index finger and stuck it up Fadala's nose like a snot. The medium had an involuntary fit of laughter. He folded in half from laughing so hard.

"Stop it, Fenyang! I'm going to die laughing."

The assassin raised an eyebrow. He could hardly imagine who it could be.

"Who's Fenyang, Akachi?"

"He's my Ori Guardian. He decided to help me on my journey. He even taught me how to fight. I'm very grateful to him."

"This interaction between medium and spirit is fascinating…"

Spin Bomb jabbed Akachi in the head to stop him laughing.

"Fascinating, my ass! It's weird, all right. There's a fourth person around us, and we don't even see it. I shiver like a cat when they talk to each other. Is there any water in that airplane? Never mind, I've got it. Where are we going? What's your name again? Glup, glup, glup…"

Fadala saw Spin Bomb drink half its water supply in less than a minute.

This one's going to be a handful, it would have been better to leave her on Chrome Hill.

"My name is Fadala, Spin Bomb. The aeromobile has no more power, and there's no portable charger. From here, we'll have to get going. If my tracking skills aren't faulty, there should be a river just ahead. We'll follow its banks to the falls."

"What a shitty plan, huh."

"He's right, Spin Bomb. We can't stay here unprotected. The Ilu Nla military police could come after us. They might even track me down. I don't know if the Masters of Suspicion will help us, but I want to try and get to them as quickly as possible."

"That's good, right. If you think that bald guy is going to help us, who am I in the vaccine queue?"

Akachi rolled his eyes. He started walking with the other two. They were careful not to leave any belongings behind. Fadala kept the gallon of water, he didn't want to die of dehydration along the way.

The surrounding landscape was barren, with gusts of wind whipping dust in different directions. Only undergrowth and shrubs thrived in the dry, clay soil. With every step, a crunching sound echoed. The sun seemed twice as close to the earth. Large clouds moved lazily across the sky.

When one of these sparse clouds formed a shadow, it was a brief relief. The trio moved through it until the winds blew the cloud away. There were few stops throughout the morning. They reached the river after midday. To Spin Bomb's disappointment, they continued upstream. Fadala claimed that it would be safer to camp for the night.

At nightfall, when the sound of the waterfalls could already be heard, Akachi and Spin Bomb collapsed on the ground. They seemed to have melted during the walk.

Fadala, sweaty inside his suit, decided it was time to set up camp. He couldn't even walk anymore. A callus was throbbing inside his shoe. He carefully removed his shoes and moved his toes. He placed his hands on the ground and sat down on a handkerchief he had taken from his jacket pocket.

Spin Bomb checked his supply bag. He grunted and said:

"I'm going to make a fire. Akachi, get that frying pan, I'll see what I can make for us."

"You talk as if we had a lot of options."

"My mother used to say: hunger is what makes food taste good. When I'm hungry, I just don't eat stones because it breaks my teeth."

The medium held out the frying pan to the sword maker. She took a slab of sertão meat as thick as four fingers and cut it into slices. She scalded the meat twice to reduce the sun content. Its consistency became solid and it gave off a golden, watery sheen.

He took a strip of bacon, four cubes in the frying pan. He cut the beef into rectangular strips. On contact with the preheated frying pan, it emitted a low, high-pitched sizzle. An aroma rose into the air. It was inevitable not to salivate at the smell of roasting meat. After that, she removed the meat and put it in a plastic pot.

She used the fat from the frying pan and made a cassava flour stew with just water and salt. When she had finished, she poured the roasted meat into the pirão and dropped three spoonfuls in. The consistency of the pirão was like a viscous, yellowish porridge.

"Bon appétit."

Fenyang looked at the porridge. That was the biggest disadvantage of being a spirit, not being able to indulge in the pleasures of the flesh.

Wow, Akachi, I'm going to possess your body to eat that prion, bro.

If you do that, I'll exorcise you. Don't even come!

Don't worry, it's just so I can taste this backwoods meat.

No way, this is my food.

Let's hope it gives you a stomach ache!

With pleasure, Fenyang.

The trio ate greedily. They had exhausted themselves during the walk. A water and salt stew with backwoods meat lifted even the dead. When they had finished eating, they fell backwards onto the ground. It was simple food, but very heavy. It was slow to digest and made the body very sleepy. Akachi put his hands behind his head and said:

"If the Masters of Suspicion are former sages, then they must be very strong."

"They must have left Ilu Nla when they realized Ojwang's deceit. I hope they're peaceful and will help us, Akachi. You and I are going to need a lot of help from now on."

"I know, Spin Bomb. It's going to be an opportunity to learn more about mediumship. I can't wait to talk to them."

Fadala stood up with his hands on his stomach. He walked in a funny way. He walked slowly in the opposite direction to the pair. Akachi scratched his head, Spin Bomb laughed.

Mediums, sages… right now I just want to know the nearest restroom.