Part 5 - The Proposal

- I want him.

- What? – Lara screamed.

- I want this adorable little boy to make me company. This place can be very lonely.

The gang knew that wasn’t the real motive, but they couldn’t understand what it could actually be.

On the floor near Igor’s feet, in-between the blue grass, it sprouted a flower. An orange fur ball held to the floor by a green stem, with big blue leaves near the grass. When Igor caught the flower, grubbing it from the floor and leaving the blue leaves behind, it released an yellow dust.

- Spread this dust over the field and there would be no more plaques and shall the plants grow big and strong. Therefore, there won’t be any more bad years… don’t worry that it never end.

The group got their heads together to think about it, and for a second it looked like they were going to resign, but Lara stepped aside.

- No! We can’t!

- I know that we can’t. – Jean replied harshly. Lara’s interventions were becoming a little annoying.

- Why so? – They all turned to Igor again.

- Well… because… - John started – because it’s wrong… and dangerous?

They all stared at Igor without knowing what he was going to do next. However, Igor just smiled and tilted his head again.

- And what about he getting into my domain? Isn’t that dangerous? A dead plain were nothing grows? And force him to do it, wasn’t it wrong?

- That was… different. – Jean started, but Igor wasn’t listening.

He kept talking and he looked pretty amused with the gang’s discomfort.

- Where lives a witch who destroyed an entire plain just because she wanted… and that was ready to do the same to everything it showed in front of her?

- That’s different! – Like John had tried to help Jean, Teófilo tried to help him.

- Yeah! We were going to pull him if something went wrong!

Igor laughed. This time was different again. This time it was obvious he was laughing at them. That he was making fun of them.

- So pull him! Pull the rope! – And he laughed again.

Teófilo tried to pull it, but he couldn’t find the rope. It had disintegrated itself when Igor snapped his fingers. The confused stares between the gang only made Igor laugh again.

- Someone has to go get him! – John said scared.

- I go. – Suggested Jean.

- It's not like we were expecting something else – Lara stated, and, although John and Teófilo had gave her reprehensive looks, none of them spoke.

- There is no need for such thing. – They all looked to Igor, surprised. None of them had forgotten that he was there, that's something indeed impossible, but they also hadn’t thought that he was going to be part of that conversation. – If you don’t wish to trade I’ll return the little boy. After all, I am no monster.

Everyone blinked at the same time, speechless. With a twisted joy in his face, it was hard to tell if he was being serious, but there was something in his voice.

- Really? – Jean was the first to react and her question was as surprising as Igor’s proposal.

- So you’re going to return us Igor, just like that? – Lara gave a step ahead and stood looking to Igor. His tilted head and his hands behind his back were giving her the creeps. Mostly because of that welcoming, but cold, smile.

- What’s the catch? – John asked, and then his nervousless came back in the form of regrets. – Is there any catch?

- Of course. – Igor kept smiling, like that was a battle he had already won. – if I return him, all your work will be for nothing. – Igor opened his arms and waved his hand, making a new flower appear on it. The other one had just disappeared between the blue grass, that kept growing and expanding – you won’t bring this flower home and your village is doomed. – His smiled got bigger.

- He’s right – Full of regret, Jean turned to her friends. – I think we should consider.

- You can’t! – Lara screamed. She had hated that plan since the beginning and she hated even more every minute. - We don’t even know if that plant works! This can all be a trick!

- I know that I can’t! I know that you hate this plan since the beginning, but can you, for the love of god, shu up?! – Jean couldn’t hold it even more. The time for Lara’s scepticisms and Jean’s passive aggressive replies to those was over. It has been like that on all their adventures, but now it wasn't the time. Jean took her hands to her hair while she fell on the floor crying, down due to despair. John was looking at Jean terrified. That wasn’t Jean. He new Jean and she never cried and always knew what to do. – I also hate this plan. How can you think that I don’t? Do you think that I wanted to put Igor in danger? You know how’s everything on the village. On every villages and cities. The plagues last for years. There is no more food! We had to do something! And we had to use him! For some reason the book says it must be a person with skin as white as snow and hair dark as raven feathers! Or else it would be me on that place and all this would be avoided… - Jean slowly turned to Igor with a painful face – Can’t we switch. Me for him?

- Me too. – Lara joined Jean. – Both of us for him…

- No.