Darkness and Hellfire

Chapter 68 I Counted.

‘It’s dead so don’t attack it.’ Isaac told Kahtesh as he got off the dead monster’s back. “What even was that?”

Lenna rose to her feet as well. “A chimera.”

Isaac shook his head. “That’s the stuff of nightmares.”

“Indeed.” Lenna replied.

“How do we prove this one?” Isaac said, staring at it.

Lenna shook her head. “Toss a head in the wagon?”

Isaac scrunched his nose and looked at it. She was right. That was the easiest way. The one remaining head that was mostly in one piece was stitched together and its only injury was the sword wound in the back the exited the front. Sighing, Isaac nodded. “Yeah.”

He held out his hand for her sword. It was enchanted and he didn’t feel like enhancing his own blade. “I’ll get it.” Lenna said and casually walked over to the corpse, cut off its head, then tossed it in the back of the wagon in one fluid motion.

“What monsters was it made of?” Isaac asked as he guided Kahtesh into position so he could be attached to the wagon again.

“Orc heads. Cyclops torso and arms I think. Ogre, maybe hill giant legs. They look too big to be ogre. I don’t know where they found a hill giant though.” She explained.

Isaac helped attach Kahtesh then asked another question: “Are cyclops really that strong?”

“Sometimes.” Lenna replied and pulled the rope taught, firmly locking the dragon in place.

Isaac grabbed his handle and they nodded to each other that they were ready and started pulling. “There’s a lot of things that could kill you down here. Well, I mean you as like general people, maybe not necessarily you you, ya know?”

“You’re rambling.” Lenna replied.

“Yeah.” He admitted. “I was getting to something though. You should tell me about all the dangerous things around here. I’d like to know how to beat things before I find it tracking me through miles of tunnel, in the dark, over half a day.”

Lenna grunted as her side ran over a rock. “I’ll find a monster encyclopedia.” She replied and decidedly did not start telling him about all the violent and deadly things in the Innerworld.

“Worth a shot.” Isaac said more to himself than her after a little while of silence.

He didn’t elaborate and that fact alone piqued Lenna’s curiosity. She didn’t want to ask him however because she felt like it was bait. After a few minutes of silence with no other noise than the rolling wagon and Kahtesh’s claws digging into the stone, which Lenna didn’t mind but Isaac usually did, she couldn’t help herself any longer. “What was?” She sighed.

“Huh? What?” Isaac replied like she had just interrupted him from some deep introspection.

“What was worth a shot?” She repeated.

Isaac smirked. “Nothing.” He replied too innocently.

Lenna narrowed her eyes at him but didn’t push. She internally chastised herself for her lack of self control. She was better than that and she would not let her curiosity get the better of her.

Isaac on the other hand was having just as much trouble not just blurting out what he was thinking. ‘I just like listening to your voice.’ Was on the tip of his tongue. He distracted himself by trying to figure out a way to use his mana to help him pull the wagon.

Eventually Lenna broke the silence on an entirely different topic. “It’s all downhill from here.” She told him.

“What is?” He asked.

Lenna nodded forwards down the tunnel. “The path to Safeharbor is all downhill. This is the last place we can unhook Kahtesh.”

“Shit. It’s still like an hour away.” He cursed. “I guess it’ll be just us for a while. You wanna try the sled idea?”

“What about when somebody finds the wagon?” She countered.

Isaac sighed. “This is gonna suck.”

The pair spent the hour and half in front of the wagon pushing against it to keep it from running away. By the time they made it to the gate and the wagon ran out of momentum they were both completely exhausted.

“I am not going to try to drag this thing the whole way through town, down six blocks at least, with just the two of us. One of us needs to go in to get someone or something to help. Our only other option is leaving it here and hoping nobody takes anything.” Isaac told her.

Lenna thought about it for a moment then spotted one of the gate guards, only about a hundred feet away from where the wagon had stopped, by the gate. “We could get one of them to watch it?” She offered.

“Listen, I’m all for bullying the guards but we can’t pull them off their post. You know that better than me.” He chastised.

Lenna sighed. “I’ll wait. But, you have to travel invisible.”

Isaac smiled. “Anything for you.” He replied and vanished.

His response had surprised her enough that it showed in her posture for a moment before she corrected it. Isaac waited a few seconds to see if she would say anything after he had ‘left’ but she didn’t so he headed off to the Guild Hall to rope Alice into helping, somehow.

‘What kind of response was that?’ Lenna questioned internally once he disappeared. ‘What did he say again? Flattery and roguish charm.’ She was about to shake her head but decided against it. There was no telling if he was still there, waiting to catch a reaction.

Isaac jogged past the guards and down the street careful to not run into anyone. A few minutes later he arrived at the Guild Hall. He smiled to himself. “I shouldn’t. But… I am.” He said to himself and walked inside. He walked up to the counter and unfortunately for Alice nobody else was there but her. With a little hop he sat on the counter in front of her and dispelled his shadows. “Hey Alice.” He said casually.

Alice squeaked like a frightened mouse. “Halya save me!” She exclaimed as she almost fell off her stool. It took her a little while to get her breathing under control.

Once it looked like her soul was back in her body Isaac continued like he hadn’t just scared her half to death. “I could use some help. See I need to sell a wagon but I don’t have any way to move it. It’s parked a little outside the gate.”

After a few more deep breaths Alice composed herself enough to reply. “We, I, can get someone with a horse to go out and help you bring it in.” She shook her head. “Where did you even get a wagon?”

“Killed a merchant and took his stuff.” Isaac replied casually while still sitting on her counter.

Alice looked horrified. “Tha-tha-that’s illegal Isaac.” She told him.

Isaac waved her off. “It’s fine. I even brought back his drow guards’ armor so we can get paid for the open bounty on patrols.”

It took Alice a long moment to process what he had just said and then recover from the mental whiplash. “O-Okay. Yes. I will get someone to meet you out there with a horse. Which gate?” She asked. To which Isaac’s response was to just point in the general direction of the one they used.

“That one. I’m gonna head back now. Lenna gets antsy by herself.” He told her.

She nodded absently while looking for the book that had whom to contact in the current situation. She knew that the guild had enlisted people to help bring loot back in the past, she just had to find who and where. She looked up just long enough to say: “Okay.” And watch him vanish without a sound like he was never even there.

Isaac returned to find Lenna leaning against the wagon tapping her foot. “It was only like five minutes.” He said by way of greeting.

“Twenty three.” She replied.

“How are you so accurate with that?” Isaac asked and walked around to the back of the wagon.

“I counted.” She replied evenly.

Isaac shook his head as he sat on the back of the wagon where the back wall used to be. He brushed some shrapnel off the back from Lenna’s shoulder. “Alice is gonna get somebody to meet us out here and bring it inside. Until then I’m taking a nap.”

“It’s morning actually. She probably just started.” Lenna told him and climbed up to sit on a crate while he laid back and put an arm over his eyes. “Didn’t you say ‘no more naps’ a few hours ago?”

“Oops. Well, if she wasn’t awake before, she is now.” Isaac replied. “Yes, but if we get assaulted by a twenty foot tall creature of nightmares there are guards a hundred feet away.” He then quickly fell asleep. His four hour nap could only get him so far.