of the turricula, which swallowed them ravenously, and then, after a series of jingling due to the collisions on the descent, spit them out on the way out.
"Six, four, four... it's your turn."
Pétros, before throwing the dice, tightened them in his fist, blew gently on them and invoked a past love as a good omen.
"Beautiful Planesia, my love, guide my gestures!"
The dice rolled inside the turricula and came out shortly afterwards to be promptly read by the entity.
"One, one, one. It's the Dog's shot: nothing you want will come true. It is not a good omen.
The Bishop's furious look was more than eloquent.
"Traitorous female! Don't worry, master, it was just a warm-up and then his shot is not as good as he wants to make it look, he foreshadows the advice to abandon the elaborate project!"
Without delay the wooden being made his shot of fate.
"Six, six, two: success, but not without difficulty. I made a good shot, you'll have to try harder than before if you want to beat me".
"Mind your own business, you peacock bonfire subspecies, or I'll use those ridiculous little legs of yours as ladles!" Pétros insulted him in order to make himself great, and then he continued his superstitious rituals.
"Be that as it may, there is only one woman who has never betrayed me and who will help me to win: Mother, your son is calling for your support!
The three dice, thrown in unison with an elegant movement, were channelled into the ebony structure by going through the three inclined planes and then they appeared on the doorway, slowly showing each one the face chosen by destiny.
"The stroke of Venus: six, six, six! Take this and take it home, a pile of sawdust gone bad!"
Nicholas himself was incredulous about the result.
"Yes! I knew that Mother would not abandon me!"
The Krampus staged a ridiculous ballet in honour of the result and in contempt of the being who contemplated the point silently, without betraying any emotion.
"I admit the defeat. I will ferry you without compensation, get on."
The Bishop was constrained to take by force the goblin who did not stop dancing.
The river, as big as it was, looked almost like a sea and the boatman skilfully moved the boat avoiding dangerous eddies. From time to time large dark silhouettes jumped out of the water and then plunged back into the abyss with powerful thunders. When the shore was seen in the distance, the boat stopped, leaving the two perplexed. The explanation came with the emergence of some clawed hands that, anchoring themselves to the raft, tried to surrender, while the boatman, stretching his wooden tentacles, had immobilized Nicholas and tried to take away his crosier. From the water, in addition to the webbed hands, also the scaly busts of the beings who were trying to get on board emerged. The heads were those of green fish with large mouths equipped with long and ravenous teeth. A dark slime covered with light-coloured sticky slime dripped from the snout.
Pétros kicked the creatures' snouts, preventing them from getting on board.
"This could also be a fun game, the difficult thing is to find lots of ugly heads ready to be broken!"
"Do something! This vile creature is trying to steal my crosier!" rebuked the Bishop.
"If you haven't noticed, I am doing something too! A little patience and I'm coming..."
The boat, tugged by aquatic beings, waved dangerously.
"The Pastoral is the only chance we have left before those things chew us up!" emphasized the Bishop.
Grasping the concept, screaming, the pixie jumped directly onto the root wrapped around the stick.
"You wretched, scrappy player, let go of the bone!"
With his teeth he began to gnaw the wood until, with a firm tug, he was able to tear it permanently. In doing so he lost his balance and found himself tumbling towards the edge of the boat, risking falling into the waves. Luckily, or skill, he managed to grab the bishop's leg just in time, remaining hovering with his legs immersed that debated furiously in terror of being devoured by the abyssal monsters.
"Ah! Hurry up! I don't want to become a stump!"
"Hold on tight without fidgeting, I'll take care of it now!"
Grabbing the stick with both hands, I will strike a single precise blow to the head of the boatman, detaching it cleanly and sending it far away in the waves.
"I'm sorry, but you asked for it."
The roots that imprisoned his ankles suddenly unwound, giving him freedom of movement.
Nicholas grabbed the panting pixie and returned him unharmed to the centre of the raft, while repeatedly thanking him. Then he noticed five threatening fish heads resurface.
"Get down as low as you can, I'll teach you a good shot for your new game!"
With a single blow, rotating the stick 180 degrees, he hit all the facing beings in the face, pushing them back.
"Damn, in my game you would have surely won! Now do you have any idea how to get to the other side?"
"To tell the truth, yes... ready for the grand finale?" Nicholas winked at him.
As he lifted up the wingman, he dropped him deadly on the surface of the water. At first contact there was a glow, followed by an explosion that generated a tidal wave.
"Hold on tight!" he shouted.
The powerful thrust pushed them on the waves with the speed of an arrow.
The air blew impetuously on their faces, distorting them funny, pulling hair and cheeks backwards and channelling itself between their teeth to freeze them. At the same time, sneaking into their half-closed eyes and clothes, it generated adrenaline shivers throughout their bodies, thrilling them like never before, until they arrived on the opposite shore.
The raft finished its run on the ground, sticking into the ground and shattering into a myriad of pieces.
The two were thrown out with violence, but fortunately they ended up on a soft sandy beach.
Intact, they brushed by the sand that had slipped in a little bit everywhere and they recovered from their sense of bewilderment.
Pétros was the one most enthusiastic about the incredible crossing.
"Wow! That stick will never cease to amaze me!" he commented, staggering again.
Chapter 4
Nicholas and Pétros, moving away from the beach, found themselves in a completely changed environment, shrouded in a bitter cold in the
