Chapter Fifty-Four: Intermission

Andrea Pender had ambitions. The key word being ‘had,’ she thought to herself wryly. Before falling through a weird portal that had appeared in her apartment, she had been working on studying for the bar. She was going to be a lawyer. That had been the plan. Then this island, captivity, monsters, levels, the whole shebang out of some poorly written LitRPG novel.

She didn’t know where she was going to fit in. She stood with Darren, looking at the building he had just erected with his skill. To her eyes, one moment, there had been a pile of logs, metal ingots, hinges, and nails, and the next, there was a whole house.

They had made one for the kids first, and a couple of adults agreed to live there and look after them. Sidewalks and road construction had also started. The large glade no longer looked like a glade, with much of the grass and flowers being removed.

“I think we’ll put the park over here.”

Darren tapped the blueprints, glancing at the area in question.

Andrea nodded,

“Yeah, I think that’s a good area. Listen, do you have a minute?”

Darren turned his dark eyes towards her, raising a brow.

“What’s up?”

Andrea blew out a breath, brushing her hair behind her ear with a hand.

“Ambrose. I know we agreed to be here. I get that. I also know this is probably the safest area we could be…”

“But,” Darren prodded.

Angie waved a hand to indicate a group of kids transporting resources.

“But what if it isn’t really safe?”

“Ah, what you really mean is ‘What if he isn’t really safe?’ don’t you?”

Andrea's brows came together, and her lips became a worried frown.

“You know what some of the adults said, and I’ve heard the kids talk. He not only brutally killed people, he burnt that town to the ground. They said they could still smell the scent of burnt corpses even miles away.”

Darren crossed his arms, his dark eyes taking on a gleaming edge of satisfied fury.

“Good.”

Andrea shot him a look. Darren let out a sigh, uncrossing his arms and running a hand through his hair before nodding decisively.

“Ambrose is dangerous. We’ve known that for a while. Something happened to him, And. There’s a darkness in him; I think it’s been there a long time. Maybe he had it boarded up, but someone broke it down. Our eyes weren’t closed on this; even if they were, I don’t mind having them open. This new world requires someone like him, And. Like it or not, we need him.”

Darren grimaced, clearly not liking the taste of that last sentence.

Andrea twitched her lips upward, eyes taking on a shine.

“I’ve earned an endearing nickname, now?”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Darren eyed her, a slight flush touching his face.

“Been through the wringer together.”

She touched his shoulder,

“Yeah. We have.”

She bit her lip, looking away.

“I just worry that when it comes down to it, Ambrose will prioritize that goal over us.”

Darren picked up his pencil.

“Honestly? He probably will. I’ve seen it before.”

Andrea blinked,

“What?”

Darren stared at her,

“A man on the road of revenge. Man on a path like that?”

Darren shook his head, a troubled light kindling in his eyes.

“You don’t become an obstacle, And. Not if you don’t want to keep breathing.”

_________________________

Eric Delrosa was grinning. He survived! He crowed to himself, spinning in his office chair like a child who had found a new interesting toy. Ambrose Severen had always been a formidable man. He was a big reason why his competition, back when he was just a podunk drug lord, couldn’t touch him.

Ambrose was a force of nature. You released him, then got out of the way.

However, Eric was a bit of an unstoppable force himself, and he could not wait to wash away whatever Ambrose had built in a tide of delicious pain and destruction. He stood up, pulled the ends of his sweater vest downward, and walked out of the room.

His assistant, a brunette with black glasses, a lovely face, and a business suit, followed after him. She held a clipboard, pushing her glasses closer to her bright blue eyes. She spoke,

“Sir, your ten O’clo-”

Eric waved her off, his veneer of the mild manner professor slipping.

“Cancel all appointments, Melissa. I’m going on a trip. Have Azerin meet me at the Jeep, thanks.”

Eric paused just outside the doors to his mansion and held up a finger,

“Ah, and if you please, fetch me Dannil. I’d like him to come with me as well. Thank you, Miss Carpenter.”

His small group had appeared in his garage less than ten minutes later. Dannil was a blonde-haired, plain-looking man in a mottled cloak that shifted colors. He scratched at the stubble of his blonde beard, his brown eyes bored. A large bow was slung over his shoulder.

“Hey man, I was sleeping. Super rude to wake a man when he’s sleeping, ya know?”

I really wish I could kill him, Eric thought, rubbing his hands. Unfortunately, the ranger was too useful. The large orc chieftain pulled on Eric’s mental leash around him, trying, as he always did, to break Eric’s skill. He growled when he couldn’t, tusks shaking.

Eric gave him a small, malicious, and knowing smile.

“Thank you all for coming. Your presence here on this fine day is a boon. If you’re willing, I would like you to take a trip with me.”

Eric rubbed his hands, cocking his head at them, closing his eyes briefly as he flashed the group a smile.

“Sounds boring, dude. Whatever, I’m in.”

Eric suppressed the urge to murder the ranger right then and there. Azerin grumbled and pointed at the jeep.

“I cannot fit into this…machine.”

Eric nodded,

“I see that. You have D-Grade speed, yes? You’ll run along behind us. I’m very sorry for the necessity.”

Azerin’s chest rumbled like an engine, but he said nothing.

They all headed out, Azerin’s massive green form behind them, staying in eyesight, if not keeping up.

_________________

The scent of burnt flesh and ash hung in the air. To Eric, it was as sweet as milk and honey; he had to suppress the desire to inhale deeply. Dannill looked around at the field of ash around them, the barbecued corpses and the desolation that had been visited here.

“Whoa, dude. These people had a bad day.”

Ambrose Severen’s wrath was clear to see. Azerin raised an eyebrow, grunting.

“Powerful warrior did this,” he uttered.

“This, my dear friends, is the work of Ambrose Severen.”

Dannill looked up,

“Who’s that, dude?”

“I do not know this name,” rumbled Azerin.

Eric waved a hand,

“A former associate of mine. The important thing, friends, is that he has enmity with me. I wish to nip that in the bud.”

Eric looked at the ranger, rubbing his hands.

“I’d like you to use your arcane hunting skill to find Ambrose’s trail, if you please.”

Dannill scratched at his stubble.

“Seems like a drag, dude.”

He held up a hand, and light purple mana washed over the area, before twisting into a rope that snaked forward, around, and down. Towards the beach, over the waters. Dannill’s eyes had gone faraway, shining with purple energy. His lips tugged downward,

“Alright, dude. I honed in on the cause of the violence. Skill is saying it leads to an island out there.”

Eric rubbed his hands, impressed at how far the rangers skill tracked.

He turned to Azerin, a smile plastering itself on his face.

“Dear friend, I want you to take a good look around. Judge this man’s capabilities from what you see here. After that, we shall return to town and build some boats.”

Azerin crossed his arms,

“Why?”

Eric fought the manic grin wanting to spread over his face,

“Because we have an island to raid.”