The Time of the Titans

Chapter 17: The Custodians

Zero run downhill to catch up with the two teenagers and the giant. It seemed he wanted to talk to them before they would meet us. Undoubtedly, he wanted to be the first to provide them with his own, self-glorifying version of everything that had transpired. I saw him point at us with his hands and explain, using a lot of body language. The custodians gave me a sharp and suspicious stare, but they also seemed to laugh in amusement to Ze's narration, which no doubt added a lot of colour to our adventure.

"He's crazy, my homie Ze", said Rob to me and smiled. He held the leash tightly as if to make sure he'd get his proper share of the glory of capturing me. I was exhausted, so I didn't ask for his permission when I dropped the lope to the ground and took a deep breath.

When the uneven trio reached us, I got a better look at them. The two teen boys were around fifteen, lean and athletic, of middle height and with rather pleasant faces. They had dark brown robes, as well as cloaks, capes and pointed hoods of similar style that Rob and Ze wore. These two, however, had leather vests under the cloak, and they both carried a sword and a whip. When I looked at the faces under the hoods, it was instantly evident that they were not just brothers but twins. They had dark eyebrows, intelligent brown eyes, and their oval-shaped faces might have looked solemnly serious if they didn't have this ironical smirk on their lips. The jizz about them was artful and cunning. The only visible difference between the boys showed when they pulled back their hoods; namely, one of them had a tuft of dark hair pointing forward like Tintin's, while the other's hair was combed back and to the side.

However conspiratorial the appearance of the twin custodians, they were not the most conspicuous characters in the group. I looked at the giant, indeed an extraordinary sight for a man, and more so in the company of the two boys who were shorter than me and rather slender. The giant was a good more than two metres in height, a towering figure in the vertical sense alone, but he was also robust and rough, and looked quite incredibly strong. He did not look like a fat man, although I realized there was a lot of mass too, hidden by his size. In its rugged severity his face resembled a troll, and I found it very hard to assess his age. I could have sworn he was at least my age, quite possibly older, but it was difficult to say about men of this size. Old he was not, and there was a childish element in his facial expressions, accentuated by his rather dull and plain default expression.

"What have you got here, Brother Robin?" asked one of the sly twins, and the other continued from where the first stopped: "Aren't you going to introduce us to your involuntary guest?"

I paid attention, again, on the fact the custodian said 'involuntary guest' instead of 'prisoner'. The same strange tone of sophistication and sarcasm, which I had noticed with Rob and Ze.

"Sure", said Rob proudly, but it was clear that he felt somewhat territorial about the situation. He turned to look at me, and I couldn't quite decipher the expression on his face: "Take a good look, old man", he said to me, "these guys here are Ricky and Mickey Azurro, the venerable custodians of the Secret Brotherhood, the faithful guardians of its rules, and the renowned champions in defending the Free Boys."

"And the big boy here", Ze pointed his finger at the giant, "is Stocky Tucker, better known as Bro Tuck." Ze was hopping around the giant, and his small figure was truly dwarfed in comparison. "He looks scary but he's just a big baby."

Tuck showed no reaction at Ze's comment. It seemed as if he thought it completely inoffensive that the smallest kid in the group called him a baby. He just stared at me with a half-opened mouth. I had no chance of seeing how I looked myself, but I feared my exhausted expression at the time might not have differed that much from Tuck's.

"Big Tuck does a lot of work and cooks for us, and he's not someone you'd want to mess with", Robin enlightened me. Ze seemed to possess an endless source of energy since he kept jumping and dancing around the giant, then up and down the hillside, making fake strikes with his bamboo stick against his own shadow. I, however, was getting overwhelmed by all the strain and encumbrance of the day.