Chapter 24
Thoughts [https://i.imgur.com/3OwmsTl.png]
Orla sat in front of the entrance of the cave house deep in her thoughts. The young woman looked over the underground city of Fallen Eldritch Priests with a dreamy look.
Despite being located in an enormous cave system, the city had its own night and day circle. Right now most lanterns in the city were switched off and only dim light from some of them barely illuminated many rocks and corners of the city. Statues of Priests were hidden in shadows looking like large black silhouettes of nightmarish monsters.
In the darkness of the city, Orla could sit by the dark entrance without worrying to be seen by a wandering look from somewhere in the city. The city slept, but Orla was not sleeping with it. She should have, but sleep escaped her grasp despite her tired body longing for rest.
“You shouldn’t be here in open, girl. Who knows what Eldritch of this city is capable of? Ability to see in the darkness wouldn’t seem like something too crazy to have in a city of darkness,” a calm voice disturbed her thoughts.
Orla jumped when she heard the man’s voice behind her back, but when she turned and saw who the speaker was, she calmed down and turned her focus back on the city.
“I will take the risk,” Orla said dismissively.
She waited for him to argue and oppose her, but nothing like that followed her words. Jack Mors simply sat down beside her in silence.
Sad silence.
Empty streets and dark cave entrances stood in stark contrast to the activity they saw just a few hours ago. The lively city they saw vanished completely. In human settlements, there was always something happening outside even in the midst of the night, and yet here with darkness taking over the city, every Priest just left the streets.
After some time sitting like that, Orla was the first to break the silence.
“I understand,” she said silently.
“I am sorry,” Jack answered, “I went overboard, and we should have discussed what to do with Eldritch children, first. Discussed together as a team. I kept acting like a leader only because of my age, and that is an act of sheer folly from my side.”
“And after the discussion, we would kill them anyway. You always act with confidence and don’t second guess yourself. That is not the worst trait to have when your life is on the line. I can’t even kill monsters without feeling pity for them.”
Jack looked at her with a mysterious look.
“Softness of hearth is not a bad thing. You have managed to keep your innocence and humanity. I don’t remember having those in the first place. Be sure to treasure them.”
“That is not even the worst part. I attacked you.”
“All forgiven!”
“No, it’s not!” Orla said with passion, “ You did so much for us already, but all my gratitude was backstabbing you. We should be strong and united, now more than ever, and yet I let my emotions loose like a small unawakened girl.”
“You are a small girl.”
“Fuck off, you walking corpse!”
Orla punched his shoulder and Jack smiled in return.
Zaun showed up from the dark corridor behind them and joined them. He brought with him some rations and offered them to Orla with a smile. There was no telling for how long he was hiding behind them in the dark corridor or did he perhaps came to them just now.
Orla smiled a tired smile and started nibbling on the squashed traveler’s ration cube offered by him. Despite losing its form, the ration was completely good and edible. Dirt on the ration was only a minor obstacle for a hungry spearman, some sand, and dirt didn’t constitute something outrageous.
Jack looked at Zaun with a piercing look.
Zaun answered his look with an inquiring shrug and tilt of his head. Zaun seemed to be asking what Jack wanted to say to him.
“Nothing, buddy. Nothing. Just glad to see you all alive and still kicking.” Jack said, “Only Linus is missing from the party.”
“He is sleeping like a log,” Orla said, “You should go and rest too before we decide on what to do next.”
“Yes, ma’am! We all should rest now, if you gonna continue to sit here by yourself you will be just a burden for us tomorrow.”
“Let’s go then,” Orla didn’t argue anymore, “In the living quarters there are exactly five beds. Those ain’t bad at all. The shape is weird, but the beds themselves are quite soft and comfy!”
Zaun, Jack, and Orla stood up and ventured back to the living quarters.
“But for real! How do we engage those constructs?” Orla asked.
“We will discuss it tomorrow. I don't think we should even try to fight them. We are not in a position to take the risks for questionable gain. That place looked like a vault, so It’s probably filled with Eldritch Priest money, and we as humans will not be able to even use anything we find.”
“I disagree.”
“Sure thing, let's discuss it with Linus. For now, I see only two ways. One way is to move back to the ground above through the tunnel and hope that there is a free passage, not covered by the earth. It might be possible that we weren’t chased only because the passage is completely sealed off and we are stuck here inside the beast. The second option is to move out into the city streets during the nighttime. Streets were empty and only some lanterns were still burning. Who knows what we can find there? If there is no other way, we can try to invade a different cave and hope that it also has a passage leading above.”
“Or we can fight constructs and get the magical loot!” Orla said, “You said you have a plan.”
“My plan was to find which of those trinkets in the trinket room goes boom, and then jeet them at the constructs and hope that they all go boom together in one friendly bunch.”
Zaun nodded in agreement instantly, but Orla had to think about it a bit more. She seemed unsure.
“That is a very simple and stupid plan, but it might work. The worst part is that there are so many uncertainties. And didn't you speak of confusing them?”
“We will never be able to control everything. All my words about making them go haywire were just nonsense. You were so angry, I just spoke so you would not shut out completely," Jack laughed, "We can just play the hand we are dealt with in the best way possible. First, we need to scout the tunnel above, just in case we need to retreat through there. If it’s not a possibility and the tunnel is sealed, then we should execute our attack during the next night time. If we have to run out in the city, I would prefer to meet nobody in the streets. ”
“What about the sound? We are in the cave. If we blow something up, the whole city will be on us at a moment’s notice.”
“You didn’t notice it yet?”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“Notice what?”
“Membranes covering the entrances work as silencers.”
“No, they don’t.”
“Yes, they do.”
“We spoke through them normally.”
“They don’t impact silent noses, but loud ones become almost completely silent,” Jack smirked seeing Orla widen her eyes, “ I noticed that when I reached the city exit for the first time. The city of Priests is so large, you can’t see the other side of the main cave, and it is bustling with activity. Those Eldritch are going around and doing whatever these monsters do in their everyday life, and yet we didn’t hear city noises from the inside, did we?”
“You are right,” Orla agreed with him, “We didn’t hear a thing. It might actually work, but we need to be sure.”
They all reached the living quarters and all the rooms were exactly like they left them.
“Goodnight, Orla! Goodnight, Zaun!”
“Goodnight!” Orla said and Zaun waved his hand.
“And Orla,” Jack stopped her before she went back to her chosen room, “I am glad you don’t hold a grudge anymore. It means a lot to me.”
“Who said that?”
“You did?”
“I just agreed that I was in the wrong in attacking you, and I understand why you did what you did. You still are a mentally unstable piece of shit,” she said with a dark look and went to her new room.
Jack Mors
Status Class: Guardian Lvl: 12 Xp: 51% Mana: 0/0
_ Divine grace Language of Empire Race talent: Scourge Tier I talent: Will of Guardian _ CON 12 END 0 STR 0 PER 0 INT 0 WIS 0 _ Perks:
* Recovery II
Orla
Status Class: Spearman Lvl: 12 Xp: 51% Mana: 7/7
_ Race talent: Scourge Tier I talent: Hands of Spearman
_ CON 12 END 0 STR 12 PER 0 INT 0 WIS 0 _ Perks:
* Warrior’s conditioning II
Linus
Status Class: Spearman Lvl: 12 Xp: 51% Mana: 31/31 _ Race talent: Scourge Tier I talent: Hands of Spearman
_ CON 12 END 0 STR 12 PER 0 INT 0 WIS 0 _ Perks:
* Spearman's thrust II
Zaun
Status Class: Silent Watcher Lvl: 12 Xp: 51% Mana: 10/10 _ Race talent: Growth Tier I talent: Eye of the Silent
_ CON 0 END 0 STR 12 PER 36 INT 0 WIS 0 _ Perks:
* Watcher’s sense
* Silent strikes