After we talked about it, we decided to head south. Mostly because if we were to go east, we’d pass the islands again.
I didn’t feel like dealing with that mess again.
Humans could be found everywhere, but they were mostly concentrated in the Eastern Hemisphere of the realm, so our walk was pretty uneventful.
For a little bit.
“Blackie dearest…”
I let the corners of my mouth turn up as I calmly replied, “Yes, plague of my life?”
“I would like to say, this is not…entirely my fault.”
“You would like to say that?”
“Yes, I would. However, it’d be a lie…” The woman was trying to look calm and sagely, but there was a twitch on her lips that kept turning into a smirk.
We were currently cornered in a dense forest with a lovely, sheer to the point it was almost reflective, cliff with trees blocking aerial escape and a hostage, Velris, blocking brute force. Direct brute force anyway.
With the wildfire closing in, a suicidal bunch of cultists, (probably unrelated to the ones from the isles since they weren’t wearing dresses) and not to mention the bomb with feathers next to me, my tired brain was slow to work out a solid solution.
“Do you guys have a plan over there?” Velris yelled from the stake he was tied to, looking understandably annoyed. Smoke was drifting in as the wind blew it, and the fire, towards us.
“Do not be afraid, darling dear!” My overgrown pigeon dramatically called out.
“I’m really not.” One or two of the cultists drooped a little when they heard him. They were really trying for the scary look too, with wild feathers and animal skulls and blood.
She took a really big breath to start one of her ramblings. I stuffed a muffin in her mouth.
“I’m thinking a leash.” I called back to him while she coughed the muffin crumbs out of her throat.
“A leash?” Velris shot me an odd look, “How is that going to help?”
“It’d reduce the odds of this happening again.” I pointed to her.
“…I mean right now?”
“Oh. Right. I was going to walk away and let your stalker save you. Have fun boy.” I gave him a quick wave and grabbed the pestilence.
“Wait, what?” His face quickly paled as I turned and walked along the cliff. It was a nice color of black, and probably obsidian. Such a clear cut made me curious, but thanks to someone, we didn’t have time to investigate.
The cultists started whispering among themselves, Aena was still coughing, and Quenloc’s brat was still miles away. So, what kind of rope would be good to tie her to?
I smirked, threw my idiot into the mess of other idiots, and dashed for Velris now that they were distracted and off guard.
“Please, don’t do that again.” Velris grumbled at me when I got to him. I rolled my eyes and cut through the restraints.
“Leash.” I looked over at the wildfire, what I could see through the trees anyway, and estimated we had about…5, 10 or so more minutes before the fire got there.
I had the kid under one arm. My forehead creased a bit.
…something was a bit odd. Though there was a lot of undergrowth, it wasn’t dry since it’d been raining. It was moving weirdly fast…
A deafening series of pops and crashes echoed, but not the ones from Aena dislocating and/or breaking people’s arms. I caught a brief glance at one of the falling trees.
It was hollow.
“…Ah. That would be why.” I relaxed briefly with a slight smile. This area was filled with trees that were already dead. Probably a recent event since the needles and most of the undergrowth were still green.
It was always fun to solve things that were bugging me.
A wall of orange and reds flared up as the tree erupted into flames.
Turns out, we only had 1.
“I wonder how fireproof I am now…”
“Well, I know that I’m not?” Velris shouted, trying to turn to look at me from under my arm.
“Fair point. Aena!”
“Whaph?” She yelled back through her muffin, all ten of the idiots, including the two that I threw to her that were guarding the boy in a pile under her.
“Exit plan?” We had 30 seconds.
She tore open a hole, threw the bodies(still mostly alive), and we walked through as the fire singed Velris’s shoes.
“….Where are we?” Velris wiggled around, with one hand locked in a death grip on the hem of my shirt. He eyes flickered around the darkness unable to see.
I reached over the bodies and grabbed Aena who was standing still nearby. She’d led us to a lighter region near the edge, but they still probably couldn’t see anything.
“Welcome to Hell, we aren’t staying.” I informed him and proceeded to open another hole back to another part of the same continent.
The boy shielded his eyes as we stepped back into light. We were much closer to the southern edge of the continent, skipping over most of the central region.
It was a town that I used to frequent, the largest on this half of the world. I’d gotten quite a few slave followers from here. I had my eyes closed as I braced myself for the swarm.
It was quiet.
I opened my eyes slowly and saw ruins.
Grand Arches that once welcomed travelers were half collapsed and enshrouded with plants, buildings were speared onto trees and lifted off the ground. The streets were uneven and covered with moss. Smoke could be seen off in the distant northern skies, but an otherwise clear blue was the backdrop for soft gold and green leaves.
“It’s beautiful…” Aena muttered. It was. It really was.
“How old is this place?” Velris asked, reminding me to set him down.
“At least 1,000 years old.” I sighed. Humans change too quickly. But it’d probably been longer than I thought since I’d been here last.
Aena hummed, “I don’t believe I have been here.”
“Of course not, it’s still standing.”
“Standing is a strong word.”
“That reminds me…” I tightened my grip on her hand and lifted it up. Bowing a bit, I reached into my bag.
“Oh?!” The boney brat tittered, her other hand covering her mouth for some reason.
“Oh.” She drooped as the twine tightened on her wrist. It was made with a very rare material that I still haven’t found the source for. Highly resistant to fire and even the old monster couldn’t snap it. If I had more than just a long strand of it, it’d make a great armor material.
“We’re about 2 days away from the coast, we should be able to find a port town somewhere down there.” I informed them as I tied the other end to my belt.
“Is this really-”
“Yes.” Velris answered her. He stared her down with all the fury of a mildly inconvenienced dragon.
“And we’ll find a boat.” I joined in staring her down. “If you want to swim though…”
“…Boats.” She grumbled under her breath.
“Boats.” Velris smiled, a twinkle in his eyes.
…Boats are safe, right?
Its alive!
Welcome back! Thanks for the chapter!
Welcome back!
Oh no, i don't want Vel to die