Chapter 67 Preferred, But Optional.
“Has it been an hour yet?” Esk whined. He wasn’t the only one having trouble keeping up anymore. Fina was just as exhausted and Shy had the worst stamina on their team. Fable and Mark were doing an excellent job of hiding the building exhaustion but Isaac and Lenna knew it was still getting to them, their steps were less sure and less regular even if only slightly.
“It’s been an hour and a half.” Fina added. “Can we stop yet?” She pleaded. “Mark, carry me.” Mark chuckled and shook his head in the negative. He didn’t bother wasting energy responding.
“Just around this corner.” Lenna told them and the rest of the group shut up for the final few dozen feet until their resting place. Luckily for the Flame Ravens and Fable, Lenna hadn’t been spied on again. With Contantis knowing that they were a good distance away from any human settlements, Isaac and Lenna both assumed that Jallen would be sending them a surprise of some kind or at the very least keeping tabs on them. It had been eerily quiet on the Contantis end of their problems. On the Safeharbor end, the group had killed over seventy stray monsters in total from both their way out and their way back by that point. Almost everyone’s Bottomless Bags were full to the brim.
“Finally, rest.” Esk said and dropped to his knees inside the small alcove Lenna had led them to. He didn’t even bother pulling out his bed roll and just rested his face on his arm instead of the cold stone. Within minutes Esk was sound asleep. The rest of the group was a bit more measured.
—
Lenna sighed deeply. It had been six hours to the minute since the last scrying attempt. Luckily the group had managed four hours of good rest so they could all mostly function again. Lenna flexed her aura and shattered the spell. “Everyone up.” Isaac said with a yawn. He was loud enough that everyone started moving, albeit a bit slower than usual. “We are going to sprint the rest of the way home. Use your magic to get it done.” He added while stretching. “If there are any problems, Lenna and I will handle it. Fable, make sure the kids get home safe.”
Fable eyed Isaac for a long moment before nodding. “That was the plan.”
Isaac shook his head. “Regardless of what problems arise, take the ravens and fly. Lenna and I will handle it.” He explained further.
Fable nodded. “I know, but it is good to have your assent now.”
Isaac fought back the urge to wrinkle his nose at Fable. ‘He could have at least pretended to be on our side. I thought we had become ‘strained allies’ at least by now. Damn he pisses me off.’ Isaac ranted internally.
“Hurry up.” Lenna cut in. She could read Isaac’s mind like it was her own at times so she could almost hear his internal monologue. She decided to speed things up a bit to keep him and Fable from getting into it when they were almost back. “I want something warm to eat and a real bed.” Her words were mostly directed to the Flame Ravens and she got a mix of nods and grumbles but they did seem to pick up the pace a bit. Luckily for everyone involved they made it the rest of the way back without any major issue. The Darkness and Hellfire duo smashed through anything that happened to be in the way for the last stretch with little fanfare.
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“Finally, warm food.” Isaac said and plopped down on one of Celeste’s barstools.
“Agreed.” Lenna added.
Celeste chuckled as she handed them their breakfasts. “This is certainly an experience.” She told them. “You two are my first customers of the day.”
“We just got back.” Isaac explained. “I bet the rest of the group is all face down in their pillows somewhere.”
“You two seem awake enough.” Celeste commented.
“Sleep is optional.” Isaac explained. “Preferred, but optional.”
Celeste wasn’t sure if she should ask him why or not and decided just to let it go. “So how was your crusade against the two legged fish?” She guided the conversation in a safer direction.
“Awful.” Isaac and Lenna said in unison.
Celeste looked shocked. Usually when she asked that kind of question their answers differed at least slightly. “Because you had company?” Celeste wondered. She knew how much Isaac and Lenna preferred it to be just the two of them. There was a certain level of safety that came with only traveling with someone you trusted completely that the duo were apprehensive about abandoning. Adding more members to their team meant that they had to be on guard when it came to their secret abilities that they were usually free to use when alone.
“Honestly,” Isaac began. “they were only slightly annoying compared to the rest. Have you ever heard about a mushroom assassin from the mushroom kingdom being sent after someone?”
Celeste looked deep in thought for a long moment. “Can you describe it for me?” She asked.
“Wendigo meets cyclops but it’s made of mushroom.” Isaac explained. “It moved like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. Faster than Fable, stronger than Lenna, all four limbs were lethal weapons to the extreme. It ignored gravity by just clamping its claws into the stone.” Isaac shook his head. “It was horrifying.”
“Have you gotten it Identified yet?” Celeste asked.
Isaac shook his head. “No.” He replied. “We’ll sort everything out with the guild and have them take care of it.”
Celeste nodded. “When it is Identified, let me know what it’s called.” She instructed the duo. “I have an idea but I am not entirely sure.”
“What do you think it is?” Isaac questioned. Lenna had set her fork down and leaned in.
“A Royal Executor.” Celeste replied. “Who knows how many of them actually exist but they are the reason we are so sure that there truly is a mushroom king. Every now and again someone successfully pisses off the mushrooms and ends up getting torn to pieces. I used to know this crazy wizard who was obsessed with studying the mushroom forests and all of their mysteries. He told me about them.”
“Used to?” Isaac questioned.
“Killed by mushrooms.” Celeste explained simply.
“Understandable. I should have seen that coming.” Isaac replied.
Celeste nodded. “As far as he told me, they are grown within close proximity to the ‘king’. He wasn’t actually sure if their monarch was an actual individual or if it was something like the centerpoint or collective will of the mushrooms. Anyway, their level supposedly equates to the number of decades spent growing there. He also seemed to think that there would only ever be a few active at once. He also said that as soon as one was killed another would take its place and continue its mission. The main difference being the higher level.” She finished explaining.
“That sounds like as much of a horror story as potential fact.” Isaac commented with a frown. “But if he was right then we may have just made our problem a lot worse. That one was hard enough to fight.”
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Jallen V’Nova sat in his throne and listened to the report from his third advisor. Some Captain McNobody as far as he was concerned. The man had only gotten the position because he had high enough stats to be introduced to the V’Nova women of marriageable age. The man was as bright as a freshly snuffed candle. What Jallen was interested in was the information he was conveying. Troop numbers, pecurke numbers, auxiliary mages, and most importantly, the number of available V’Nova’s. Jallen nodded to the man and waved him out as soon as he was done talking. His voice threatened to break through Jallen’s delicate image control by putting him to sleep mid conversation.
“Is she back in Safeharbor?” Jallen questioned his sorceress.
“Yes, my Lord.” She replied with her head down as usual.
“Good. Continue this interval. Inform me as soon as something changes.” He ordered her. The sorceress was instructed to check in on his niece once every six hours in perpetuity. Jallen needed to make sure she was in Safeharbor when he made his move. It wouldn’t do to have a piece out of place during his first major move in over a century. He was going to remind the humans that the drow empire was not to be trifled with. He was going to kill his traitorous niece. He was going to smack his twin for getting herself captured by humans of all people. And finally, once all of that was done, he was going to beat the everhating, godsforsaken shit out of his brother-in-law for not being able to protect his sister.