Lunation of Fate

Juste started to move the claw with the directional controls.

It was tricky to maneuver as it sometimes wouldn’t budge at the exact place one wanted it placed.

But sometimes, it was sensitive enough that a little nudge would get the claw from going out of bounds.

Juste was studying how he should control it with just the right amount of pressure. The inner ends of his eyebrows met at the middle.

Chastine noticed his struggle with the controls. “What’s wrong, Juste?”

He explained his predicament, hoping Chastine would be able to provide a tip at least. “It’s a bit tricky to move. Sometimes it goes slow, sometimes fast, even if I apply the same amount of pressure.”

“Duke-X, do you think the claw is broken?” Chastine asked the peculiar man beside him.

Duke-X held the brim of his hat and ran his fingers around the its edge. “No, I’m afraid not. It’s just that the level of difficulty for this machine is high.”

“Tough luck, my friend,” Maxill commented these words to Juste.

With nothing else to fix on the machine, Juste prayed for dear luck that he would be able to swing the claw in the right direction to get the book at first attempt.

He groaned at the challenging task. He realized that it was actually harder to do than said.

He closed his eyes and deeply sighed. He recalled what his father taught him when the ax was dull.

“Skill will cut the wood, Juste, even if the blade is blunt.” It was one of the practical advices Lord Abirham told him.

He mustered his confidence in his athletic intelligence and tried the claw to move again.

Juste’s reflex had now amplified. His foresight also gained some momentum, predicting on whether the claw will act normal or cranky.

The claw successfully stopped exactly at the top of The Herb Codex.

Chastine was giddy with delight, while Maxill smirked at the thought of Juste pulling through the challenge.

He grabbed the egg from the receiving bin and handed it to Duke-X.

“Congratulations, chum!” Duke-X carefully opened the egg and handed the book to Chastine.

“How’d you do it, Juste?” Chastine was brimming with curiosity.

Juste explained it confidently at Chastine, “Heh, every 2-inch pace will get the claw to go cranky. So when it gets there, I needed to carefully move it with precision.”

He then turned to Duke-X and said, “Yo, Duke, your crane machine sucks! If you wanted more people in here, you could’ve made things easier.”

Duke-X smirked at Juste. “But then again the reward wouldn’t be that rewarding. Besides, only avid readers are interested in the book you wanted to borrow. Whether it’s easy or hard, they will certainly want to have it. So I choose to make it hard, hahaha!”

Juste just rolled his eyes. Maxill was amused at him.

Meanwhile, Chastine was quite happy that they were finally able to continue with their quest.

Now that they have the codex, she was excited to look for the plants in his mother’s diary.

She held Juste’s hands in hers, and looked at him saying, “Thank you, Juste.”

Juste couldn’t look away at Chastine’s gaze. He also didn’t realize that he was smiling from ear to ear.

“Ehem!” Maxill suddenly butted into their sweet moment. “There are other people in this room.”

Chastine quickly released Juste’s hands from hers and they turned their gaze opposite of each other.

“Now that you have the book, may I suggest that you all go to the reading room.” Duke-X raised his brow while he had a smirk on his face.

“No, we’ll borrow it,” Chastine boldly told the eerie librarian.

“Oh? So then, your library card, please?” Duke-X put out it hand, demanding that tiny piece of paper from Chastine.

She was quickly disheartened. “Uhm, I-I don’t have one…”

“Oh, don’t worry, young lady. You can register your name to get one, right this instant.”

Chastine’s sad expression quickly turned to joy. “Ok, yay!”

—

They have gotten what they wanted from the library.

They were now walking along the empty streets of Makina City, because the citizens were all at the grand bazaar in the center of the town.

“I wonder what last name did you jot down…” Juste asked Chastine.

“None.” She revealed it outrightly.

Juste was surprised, both of his brows raised up and his eyes widened. “Really? Duke accepted it?”

“Yeah, I guess they really needed people in there,” Chastine shared a piece of her speculation.

Maxill was holding the book. He flipping through the pages to get a glimpse of its contents.

As they were strolling by a narrow alley, someone stopped them on their tracks!

The tall and broad silhouette of a man showed up in front of them, blocking their way out of the city.

“Pleasure to meet you again, dear prince.”

Juste quickly recognized that deep and mature voice. It was Scion, the army commander of Lord Abirham.

The werewolf prince immediately told Chastine and Maxill and signaled them to run the opposite direction, “It’s Scion, run!”

But it was too late.

The opposite side had also been blocked. They were cornered by Scion’s minions.

“I won’t hurt you this time, dear prince.” Scion confirmed that he really was the shadow caster back at that small village. “If only you’d cooperate, we’ll treat your dear friend the same way as you.”

Friend? Juste wondered. He then looked around. He didn’t find Maxill anywhere.

“Maxill? Maxill!” He surmised that Maxill left them at that dire circumstance. Juste felt betrayed and furious at the bloodhunt.

“Tsk, damn, traitor,” Juste mumbled under his breath. Maxill left them to fend for themselves.

“Juste, incoming!” Chastine warned the young fellhound about one of the henchmen’s attack.

He dodged it with ease. But as soon as he avoided the blow, there was another behind him, fastening his neck with a special shackle.

Juste writhed in pain. He was down on one knee because the shackle was also quite heavy.

Meanwhile, Chastine’s hands had also been bound. She was easier to be caught because of her frailty over the fellhound henchmen.

Scion had successfully captured the two escapees.

Bound in special chains and without Maxill to help them, Juste thought that it was the end of their journey.

“Chastine, I’m sorry…”

One of Scion’s men pierced a sleep serum on Juste’s neck, right above the shackle.

“Juste!” Chastine was also given the same serum, also in the neck.

They both fell to the ground, while Maxill just watched from a distance while hiding in the pitch black shadows of the small alleyway.