NOVEL NEXT V12 – Chapter 147 Rory Past
***
--- Schwarz Forest, Roldom Valley, Mount Tube ---
February 9th, 2026
It took two hours to get to the base of Mount Tube for Vanguard-7. The other two teams are busy helping Yao people evacuate from their village while they look for their missing war party.
"This is your lands, Yao, where would they go," He asks.
Yao walks ahead and then kneels. She looks at the ground and studies it. "They have been here."
Frost walks over and looks down at where Yao is looking. "I see nothing. How can you tell?"
Yao looks at Frost annoyed. She slaps him on the leg. "You are standing on a footprint you Tawff."
"Hey!" Frost said as he backed away.
"What is a Tawff?" Andrew asked as he looked over.
Lelei looks at Andrew. "You know how you call people ass, relating to your backsides. Well it is related to when a Tawff urinates on its pray to-."
Rory reaches out and grabs Lelei's staff. "Don't continue that please. I don't think they can handle it."
He can hear some of his Rangers have this gagging or this disgust look after hearing that. Everyone picturing what Lelei was saying or filling in the gap after Rory cut her off. Even he felt his stomach turn hearing that, wondering why an animal would do something like that and decided he doesn't want to know.
"Thank you, Rory," Alicia said.
"That's fucking disgusting," Sofia said. "This planet is fucked up."
Tuka walks over and looks at what Yao was looking at. "I can confirm. I see dozens of footprints leading inside. But I also see these strange layouts on the ground."
He looks at Tuka confused. "Explain Tuka."
"I don't know," Tuka said. "These are not tracks or patterns I am accustomed to."
"I do," Yao said. "These are not footprints, but the dirt has been moved around from the air, a flier that was low to the ground."
"Dragons?" He replies.
"No," Yao replies. "We have many different flying animals that come here to mate. They like how isolated this valley is, so they come here. Hmm." She then looks towards another direction. "It seems a second group went this way."
He looks to the direction Yao is looking at. "Why would they split up?"
Yao stands up as she brushes her hands off. "The Elbe Fiefdom sometimes conducted raids in the valley. They have a fortress east of here. If attacked, we use it to hide in Mount Tube for safety. There are other entrances so they could have used them to flank the dragons, assuming they are in the mountain."
"Hmm," He looks around as his gut is telling him something is wrong. He can see there is a missing piece to the puzzle but can't find any clues on what that puzzle might be. "Randy, take your team and follow the new tracks. Everyone else with me."
He watches Sergeant Major Randy Dodson take his team back to the JLTVS and take one of them. Everyone else, Harvy Frost, Alicia Moore, Andrew Steele, Lelei La Lalena, Tuka Luna Marceau, and Yao Haa Dushi. They start to gather their gear and ready to move out.
"Now everyone rolls out," He said and then looks, Rory Mercury. "Rory. I need you to stay back and watch our six. I don't want us getting flanked from the rear."
"Yes sir," Rory said in a nervous tone.
Rory is the most powerful Human he has ever met. There is almost no one he wants by his side when going into battle and she has become a close friend. It is rare to see her get scared by something. The only time he has ever seen her genuinely afraid was when they are going underground(1).
He noticed this during the first time they went to Earth. They were going on a subway to get around Philadelphia she became terrified of going down into the tunnel. The whole trip she handles onto his side like a scared child.
He didn't want Rory to feel humiliated by asking him for her not to go. The team has a high opinion of her, and he knows she cares about her image. As the Girls keep stating he is a bit overprotective and he knows it.
As everyone heads into the caves, he hears Rory call his name. He stops and looks at her. He can tell she wants to say something, but he sticks out his index figure to stop her. "It is all good Rory. We got it. You don't have to go through it."
"… really?" Rory asks
"Yup," He replies in a cocky tone. "What's the worst that can happen." He then winks.
Rory giggles and rolls her eyes. She then grabs his hand and then bits it.
The sight of her biting his hand baffles him and then this sudden sharp pain moves up his nerve system. At first, he tries to retract his hand, but she prevents him from doing so. He can see this strange look in her eyes as she looks at him.
After a second pull she lets go of his hand. He holds his hands and sees blood all over his hand. He grabs it with his other hand and then looks at her. "What the fuck Rory?"
Rory stands there, ripping off his blood from her mouth. "I am sorry Jackson. Where I was born, in the Kingdom of Eden, we had this tradition. We bit the hands of the one we love, so our souls protect each other. It is a tradition that you rarely use, which you are the first for me."
His handshakes as he takes out a bandage to wrap his hand. He looks at her confused by that. "You didn't have to eat my hand."
"You spill blood to protect the ones you love so why can't I?" Rory replies. She then reaches and grabs his hand again. She takes the bandage and wraps his hand.
He lets her bandage his hand wondering why she did it. Sometimes the woman heart completely baffles him. "Yeah, but as a rule, try to spill the ones who are trying to kill us. We'll talk about this later."
"I bet we will," Rory said.
Once his hand is bandaged up, he starts to leave. "Hold down the fort."
Then they catched up with the rest of his team.
"What took you so long boss?" Alicia asked.
"What happened to your hand?" Lelei points out.
He was about to tell them that Rory bit his hand because of some ancient tradition about souls. He wonders if it is some Emroy religious things, something like Selina has with her goddess. He decides against telling them what Rory did. Everyone needs to focus on the task at hand.
"I cut myself," He said in his commanding tone, hinting them not to follow up on the topic. "Frost take point."
Because they are in a cave, he had Frost grab the M590A1 shotgun with slug rounds and take points. He gets everyone into formations as they head deeper into the cave. He also has Lelei use her staff to light the way, so they are not in the dark. Normally he would use night vision or thermal but not everyone in the group has that.
---
Rory is sitting on the ground while leaning against Sharpe JLTV. She is holding her legs close, head leaning against her knees as she cries.
She is angry with herself, sitting back while everyone else goes into danger in a scary cave. She is an Apostle of Emroy, the god of war, death, darkness, violence, and more. She is a powerful Apostle and has fought many battles and wars over the nine-hundred and sixty-one years old.
She has no fear in battle, generally able to overcome to win but this is too much. She is thinking about all the worst-case scenarios that could happen in the mountain. They all could die because they needed her there, being that extra muscle. But no she is here crying outside like a coward.
While these Other Worlders have powerful weapons and strong characters, they don't understand the brutality of this world and the many threats that lurk in the shadows. That is one of the reasons why she decided to stay with these people(2). She wanted to help them win, guide them through her world so they could learn to stand on their own two feet.
But the other part is that she felt drawn to Sharpe. To an extent he reminded her of Taylin back during the early days of the Empire. Young, passionate, idealistic, brave, and other key traits they both have. But she quickly discovered there was one key difference and that is what she saw why he is so different then Taylin.
Taylin is motivated by his design to bring stability to everything around. That resulted in him committing genocide of all types forcing her to leave his side.
Sharpe on the other hand is motivated by love, regardless of how much he wants to deny it. Everything he does, how hard he fights, how far he is willing to go, the opponents he is willing to face, he does it because he wants to protect what he loves.
While he couldn't show it early one, she saw it from his actions. Saving villagers, saving Selina, saving Italica. She thinks back to the Siege of Italica and remembers him rushing into battle just to take her out of the line of fire from their helicopter(3). While the helicopter chain gun would have torn her apart, she would have easily put herself back together and he knew it. He could have just let her be like everyone else would have done but no, he ran out and took her.
She even remembers that he accidentally had grabbed her breast after picking her up and running away. She remembers smiling at him and then smacking him on the head. Thinking of that silly memory she forces a smile. "He's such a stupid idiot."
That baffled her so much at first, wondering why he would 'save' an Apostle and putting his own life at risk. If it was Alicia that would have made sense but her? Then she found out that to him she wasn't an Apostle but an equal member of his team and that he would never treat her differently like that, being a demi-goddess or human.
As she holds her legs close as she tries to stop herself from crying, scared that she is breaking her promise in protecting him. She vowed that she would never allow anyone or anything to take his life from her.
She desperately wants to go with them into Mount Tube, to be by her man through thick and thin, but he went somewhere she cannot go, underground, Hardy the goddess of the underworld and hell.
For centuries Hardy has been wanting to marry Rory by force. Going underground is Hardy domain and she knows if she goes underground Hardy will take her.
"I am so sorry…," Rory mumbles as she cries, holding her legs tight.
***
--- 565 years ago, North of Rodon Mountains ---
August 23, 1462
Rory Mercury moves closer to the fireplace she created. She is in a moist cave deep into the mountains that lead north. She is holding her legs right as she cries.
She feels her wounds healing after one of the most intense fights she has ever had. She looks over to her Halberd, broken in half.
She reaches down and grabs her mug of ale and drinks all of it in one go. "I thought he loved me. He was just using me. All for his project."
She thinks back on the past couple of days. She just broke up with Taylin, the Apostle of Idos, the god of Stability and Tranquility. For the past two hundred and thirty years they have been working together to build a new nation on Falmart, all ruled under one Empire Republic.
The battle lasted for hours as she tried to make her escape. Taylin refused to accept that she wanted to leave. When she told him that she was leaving his side, she saw Taylin go into a rage she has never seen before.
They both agreed that the Republic of Sadera would be the best choice to lead this grand new project, to transform them from a City-State Republic to an Empire Republic. They had some strange traditions and customs that she never has seen before and they seem promising. The ideas of rule and law, strong military tradition, discipline, and honor. The legend has it that they are the descendants of the Grand Human army that put an end to the demonic rage that destroyed the old Dwarves and Elf Kingdoms.
Taylin was the one who came to her for help, asking for her powers of war to help bring stability to Falmart. At the time Falmart was being ravaged by bandits, the Dark Races, lawlessness, and worse.
While she is the Apostle of Darkness, Violence, War, Insanity, Love, Crime, Execution, and the Warrior Death, that never meant that she was evil like Siflis. It is easy for people to think Emroy is evil because of what he represents but the fact that he represents Love changes everything. All of those jobs Emroy represents can only be caused by love and that is how she chooses to see and represents them.
She thought that was why Taylin wanted her out of all of the other Apostles. At first, she almost rejected it, but she had to admit, she liked his idea. Apostles normally are distinct from politics and the world at large. They only answer their worshippers and spread their god's influence.
He wanted a peaceful Falmart that was under one rule, so all religions could be safe and debated in peace. A Falmart that ended the senseless bloodshed. Besides all these smaller independent Kingdom and Counts always fighting against each other for the scraps of these lands, he wanted everyone to work together. Two Apostles working together this long and on such an ambitious project has never happened in record history.
She accepted his proposal and then fell in love with him over the coming centuries. They worked together to build this new experiment, this grant Empire. During that time, they get closer together, even considering marrying and try to have children.
Two Apostles getting married has never happened before and she didn't care. Apostles can't have children; all the gods prevent that when choosing an Apostle but that didn't stop her from dreaming.
Over the last few decades, she started growing more suspicious of Taylin. The Republic Empire that they built seems to be going from a guardian of Falmart to an oppressor. Innocents are being slaughtered and she notices Taylin asking her to do more and more questionable things. Having to betray many old allies like the Hinregs, assassinate and execute many people she now regrets like Queen Nefara, Famulis’ mother.
Now she learned that he was just using her. She doesn't know if he never loved her or that he changed but she can see now that all he cares about is the Empire and that she was just a tool to make his project successful.
At first, she tried to explain to him her concerns but more and more she notices he just ignores her opinion. Over the final decades, before she left, she noticed the Empire changing, leaving its Republic roots to an Imperial Empire. Besides saving and protecting people they started to oppress and slaughter anything who resists its rule. They started with the villages who were loyal to the Empire because they saw them as a threat to their hegemonic rule.
The Empire was built to protect all the Common Races against being oppressed and slaughtered, but then they see Elves, Dwarves, Cat-people, and others as lesser races, subjects and second-class citizens. The point of the Republic Empire was to be an alternative of the Dark Races, to be a light in the darkness. Now the Empire is doing the same if not worse than the Dark Races did during the Dark Age.
That is when she realized they were not equal partners trying to make the world better, but that Taylin saw her as his. He thought he could use her as he pleases, that her arm belongs to him, that she is a vassal for his will.
They had an intense fight in Sadera and she barely escaped with her life. While she is just as strong as Taylin she couldn't fight him and the Imperial Army, a force she helped train for hundreds of years. He did not want her to leave and fought hard to prevent her from leaving.
She learned during the fight that Taylin believes that Rory belongs to him and no one else. That her place is by his side to do as he wishes. Her wish to leave is misguided and a crime that deserves to be punished.
"Why…" She asks herself as she holds her legs right, crying as she tries to make sense of what happened. As she looks back trying as she tries to figure out what happened, she wonders if Taylin was also this possessive boyfriend or did something turn him into that monster.
She wonders if she missed something and allowed him to be corrupted into the man he just fought. If something corrupted him then it is her fault for not seeing it sooner and trying to save him.
"There, there, there."
She suddenly feels this light touch on both of her shoulders. She glances up and then sees this beautiful Human woman. She glances around wondering where she came from.
"Do not worry Rory you are in safe hands."
She looks back at the Human woman. She feels her hands massaging her shoulders.
"Just relax, everything will be ok."
She closes her eyes enjoying the comfort. She takes a deep breath and then looks back up at her. She wipes the tears out of her eyes and looks more closely at who it is. "Hardy?"
"Yes, my dear," Hardy said.
She is confused about why Hardy is here, but her mind is full of all these different emotions pulling in different directions to think properly. "Why are you here?"
"I saw what happened with you and Taylin," Hardy said. "Men can be horrible beasts, tricking the heart of a woman."
"I know…," She replies, and she sniffs again. "I don't understand why he did this. We were a family. I finally belong somewhere."
"There, there, there," Hardy said. She moves her hands from her shoulders and moves them down her body. "I know what happened to you in the Kingdom of Eden. How they betrayed you and lost your home. A lost soul wandering around looking for a place to belong. I understand."
She then feels Hardy’s hands move to her waist. "What are you doing."
"Comforting you in your time of need," Hardy said. "Come with me back to Bellnahgo. You will be safe there from Taylin and the Empire."
She again wipes the fresh tears from her eyes. Her mind feels fuzzy, but she looks at her. "Ok."
--- 2 weeks later, Bellnahgo, Hardy’s Temple ---
September 3rd, 1462
Hardy is laying there with Rory next to her while at her temple. It is her private chamber where her priests cannot bother her. She has one hand on Rory's arm and the other groping her as she makes out with Rory.
"Stop it!" Rory yells as she falls to her knees as she holds her head with both hands. "Get out of my head!" She then gets up wanting to get way.
She looks down at her prize, Rory Mercury. She has found her to be an interesting Apostle, doing things she never has seen an Apostle do before. It has interested her in her long and dull life. She has been having sex with Rory for the past two weeks hoping that would spark something inside her, some feeling besides the emptiness of a goddess.
Miritta, the Goddess of Fertility and Birth always mentions sex and how that is the most powerful force for a mortal. That it brings much love and joy to the two souls who engage in it. She assumed this would work with Rory and doesn't understand why Rory continues to reject her.
The gods and goddesses of this world tend to be emotionless. For her she has struggled to find anything that piques her interest. Most of the time she stays in her temple and minds her own business, ignoring the events happening around her.
Then she noticed Rory and Taylin, natural enemies but worked together to forge something new. More importantly she took interest in Rory, finding her different than most other Apostles. She protects people even though they are not her worshipers. She is willing to work with others and value the needs of the common people. She even has shown a new side of her god Emroy. She finds all that interesting.
She sits up onto her knees beside Rory and moves her hands between Rory's arms. One hand wraps around and touches her cheek. The other reaches around and massages her breast. "What is wrong Rory? If you just accept life with me it would be special."
She can feel Rory struggling and weakly push her back. If she was a normal Human, Rory’s push might have killed her, but she didn't feel a thing. "The more you resist the more I have to punish you. All you have to do is say you love me, and all will be well."
She then begins massaging Rory's body, trying to make her feel comfortable. She knows if she can convince Rory to say she loves her, not even Emroy could bring her back to his control.
Rory cries and then grabs her hands. "Ok… I… I… I lov-…. No!" She then bursts out of Hardy arms and looks at her. "I do not love you. I never can. I am into men, not women. Why can't you just accept that and leave me alone!"
She stands up and looks down at Rory. She did not like hearing that. While gods are emotionless, there is always a defect. Sometimes a god can become psychopaths when they deal with a situation they can't process. It is a cure or curse for being emotionless and the gods believe it is a balance by the one who created them.
She can see Rory backing away as she gets scared of her reaction. She is not pleased with that and gets angry. "I will not accept that. You choose a man after what they have done to you? Over my beauty?"
She holds up her hand and Rory drops to her knees, holding her hand again. If she can't convince Rory to accept her love and marry her, she will break her until she accepts her marriage offer. One way or another Rory will be hers.
"Stop! Please!" Rory cries out and she rolls on the ground. "Please don't. Stop hurting me!"
Seeing her on the ground she walks over to Rory and gets on her knees. She helps Rory back up and then plants a kiss on her lips. She pulls back and looks down at Rory.
"I was hoping a kiss would be more," She said. She was hoping that kiss would bring some life into her body but nothing. She wonders that is because Rory is still resisting. "Just say you love me, and it will be over."
"No…" Rory said as she cries. "I am not a lesbian. I can't love you."
She moves her hair away and then picks Rory up. "I thought you were the Apostle of Love. I want this feeling that you mortals and demi-goddess call love. Let's head back to my chambers and let's experience love again. I know you will accept my offer in time."
"Stop Taylin, please stop!" Rory said as she struggles in Hardy’s arms.
She tilts her head and then realizes what Rory is dreaming. As punishment she is forcing Rory to live a horror memory of Taylin. She wants to break Rory and assumes it is related to their breakup.
She has been wanting Rory for almost two hundred years, but she knows Rory is too smart to come here or lower her guard. That night in the cave was her only chance to influence Rory to come to her temple and she took it.
As she carries Rory to her chambers, Rory breaks free. Rory falls on her knees and then gets up, moving around the temple room.
She stands there watching, finding it strange and interesting on how Rory is walking. While she doesn't understand why Rory is resisting, she also doesn't understand why she finds her resistance interesting. She wants to see what this interest in her goes and see if it leads to other wonders.
She starts to head back to Rory. Once she gets back to her, she places her arms around her again, wanting to comfort her.
But then she stops everything and looks to the entrance. She glares with anger and holds Rory tight. "What are you doing here, Emroy?"
She watches this Moon Elf man walk down the steps and stops at the base. He is in ancient looking armor, being the warrior he is. It is Emroy himself.
"I am here for my Apostle," Emroy states.
"This is my temple," She replies. "You have no place. Rory willingly agreed to come here. I play no tricks. She wants to be my wife."
She watches him stand there, staring at her. Both he and she have waged war many times as each has tried to claim their domains in the past.
"We both know that is not true," Emroy said. "You tricked my Apostle here by emotionally manipulating her. That doesn't count."
She looks at him knowing he is right. She was hoping Rory would have accepted her marriage proposal by now, but she has proven to have a stronger will. Still, she has no interest in giving up Rory without a fight.
"I won't let you take her," She said. "She has to be mine."
"You have your own Apostle," Emroy said. "Do as you please with your own Apostle but leave mine alone." He then looks to Rory and waves his hand.
Rory stops holding her head and the falls to the ground, passed out.
Emroy looks back to Hardy. "You have been manipulating Rory's mind? Hardy you are the Goddess of the Underworld, but you are acting like Siflis. She will not be pleased that you are acting like her."
She was about to respond but stops and think. She has been mind raping Rory from the very beginning, putting everything she loved and experienced against her. She was hoping that this would convince Rory to love her back and show her that it is a cruel place out there and she will be safe with her. But what Emroy said about Siflis is correct, she is starting to move into her domain, and she has no interest in going to war against her.
"You are correct Emroy but I will not surrender her," She said. "You were the one that allowed her and Taylin to work together. Now they created an Empire that is subjecting Falmart. The role of an Apostle is to maintain balance and yet she broke that balance forever."
She knows Emroy is more distant with his Apostles. She knows he rarely gets involved, which helps keep the balance between the gods. Most of the time his focus is on the other continent to the southwest and the brutal wars going on there.
"Rory is indeed an interesting Apostle," Emroy said. "While she walks close to that line, she has never broken my ways or misleads anyone. Now hand her over or I will take her."
"You are in my temple of power, not yours," She replies. "You have no power here. You are the guardian of warriors. Their souls travel to you for their protection."
"The answer is no," Emroy said.
She knew he was going to say that. Like all gods, Emroy collect the souls of his fallen. However, the difference with him is that he collects all souls who died in battle, the ones his Apostle deems worthy. While she doesn't care about her souls, she knows he does.
"Then Rory is mine and leaves my temple," She said.
Emroy stands there and thinks. "I have a trade."
"A trade?" She asks.
"I promise to give you all the Amazonian souls that I have," Emroy said. "They are key warriors and more importantly they are female. That is what you want?"
She looks at him surprised that he is willing to trade some of his most devoted worshippers for Rory. Having the Amazons would strengthen her position on the south of Falmart, on the west of the Avion islands.
"You have a deal," She said. "The Amazon souls will belong to me from now on. I will send Giselle to convert them."
Emroy remains quiet for a moment. He then looks at her. "It has been done."
Emroy then walks over to Rory and then picks her up. He looks over to Rory’s broken Halberd. Both pieces hover and fly to him, attaching to the back of his armor.
She watches him walk away, wondering what feelings she would have if she was mortal right now. She knows when you love someone you are supposed to say goodbye or something. She struggles to find the proper words.
While today she knows that she lost Rory, but she knows she will be able to chase after her. Underground is her domain and if Rory ever enters that region she will go after her. She doesn't understand why but she finds her interesting, the first interesting thing she has felt in two thousand years when the Roman Army came through the Gate and saved Falmart from the Demons.
"Goodbye Rory," She said and waves her hand. She then looks to her hand to make sure she is waving right. She has seen mortals wave like this and has wondered if there is a meaning behind it besides a greeting and goodbye.
"I will see you again Rory, and Emroy can't keep you from me forever."
***
--- Schwarz Forest, Roldom Valley, Mount Tube ---
February 9th, 2026
Rory sniffs as she leans against Sharpe command JLTV, trying to control her emotions. In her hand she is holding Sharpe's small Optimus Prime figure that he keeps on the dashboard. She always thought it was silly that he had it but later learned why he does(4).
The cartoon figure was a father figure growing up for him. Being something to model off of, something to inspire when he was young. She has caught him looking at it during drives as he thinks or feeling confused. He gets some basic comfort from looking at it, something she doesn't fully understand.
She looks at the figure as it looks at her. "You are always strong and brave. I don't want to lose him. I don't want to lose another. I finally found someone who cares about me for me and not as a tool."
She notices that her hand is bleeding. It is the same spot where she bit Sharpe. She wasn't lying to him when she explained why she bit him, she just left out key details so he wouldn't fully understand what it does.
It is a Blood Pack spell. It allows her to trade her regeneration abilities to the person she bit. His soul now fully belongs to her. She didn't know it would work as she never used it before and doesn't know anyone who has. It is an ancient spell that she only heard about from past Apostles.
From what she understands if Sharpe gets hurt, she will absorb the damage. However there are ways around it and if they do face a Flame Dragon she doesn't know it if it will be effective.
She thinks back on what led her to this path. After Taylin and Hardy Emroy threaten her that if she was taken again that he would not come for her. It was costly for him to save her. There is one thing both Taylin and Hardy had in common, both of them were extremely possessive of her. They both thought they could just have her to do as they please, for different reasons of course.
As she looks at the Optimus Prime, she couldn't help herself from chuckling, a break from crying. Sharpe confuses her at times, he has shown to be somewhat possessive like the others, but the motive is different. She loves that he loves her and wants to protect his heart.
She looks back to the cave entrance and starts crying again, feeling weak. "I am sorry Jackson. I'm sorry I am so weak. When you need me the most. I… I just can't…"
"You don't need to worry about your pain anymore Rory."
She sniffs and looks around after hearing that. "Who said that?"
She then looks to Optimus Prime. "Did… I must be hearing thins." She then holds it close to her chest, wanting the comfort of Sharpe's most favorite toy.
"I can't believe this sight. Look how far you have fallen Rory."
First, she looks to the Optimus Prime figure but then looks up. "Giselle?"
"Hello sister," Giselle said.
---
"Fuck it is hot in here," Alicia said as she wipes the sweat off her forehead.
Sharpe looks to Alicia and the rest of his Rangers. They are all sweating because of the heat. Going into a mountain you would assume it would get colder.
"Yao is this proof this place was turned into a dragon den?" He asks.
"Somewhat," Yao replies. "This Mount Tube is unnaturally hot but not like this."
He then looks to Lelei to see if she is struggling. He normally doesn't have her use magic continuously, understanding it drains her mana. He is glad to see that she is holding up without problems.
"There is an opening up ahead. I think it will give up more breathing room," Yao said. "Frost man, take a left there."
"It is just Frost, ma'am," Frost said.
He points to Andrew and Alicia points to them to rush up. Both of them move ahead of the group to check if the new chamber is clear.
"Everything is clear, but it looks like someone has been living here," Alicia said.
"Roger," He replies over the radio. He points to everyone around him and orders them to move forward.
When they get up to their position, he sees this large chamber room. He sees supplies there, some looking ancient while others look fresh. He sees some straw beds laying around and an old fireplace.
He then hears Yao scream and rushes out into the chamber. She heads to the other side of the wall where he sees this wooden door.
"Geua!" Yao yells.
He looks to his Rangers. "Secure the area. This is a trap so keep your weapons at the ready."
Everyone moves up, looking around as they make sure no one is around.
In the center of the chamber ceiling is this long hole going up to the top. He looks closely and he assumes the closed off part is the top of the mountain. "I wonder if this was a volcano."
"Legend said that this mountain was once the heart of the Demon Empire, using it as a base," Lelei said. "That is just a legend but all I know is that this mountain has been dead. Yao probably will know more."
"Alright," He replies and looks around. He sees weapons old weapons and skeletons lying around, backing up what Lelei said. He sees his Rangers moving around as they secure the area. He then remembers video games and movies about fantasy worlds that there is always something special hidden in places like this.
"Lelei with me. Tuka helps Frost and sees if there's anything worthwhile here. I don't want to come back here." He orders and then rushes to Yao's position.
He sees Yao talking to some Dark Elves. He sees a lock on the wood door showing that they were forced in there.
"Who did this to you? Where are the others?" Yao said.
He looks inside the cell and sees only a dozen Dark Elves inside. He knows Tuka and Yao said they split up outside the mountain, but this is far less than he expected.
"We’ve been here for days," Geua said. "The rest are dead."
"What do you mean dead?" Yao askes as she starts pulling on the lock.
"Don't bother," Geua said. "We already tried breaking it. It has been enchanted. The door is like a stone."
He looks at the door and then at Lelei. "Ideas?"
"My sister specializes more with enchantments," Lelei said.
"But she isn't here. I need someone for you, or I am going to plan B." He replies. Plan B is blowing up the door.
Lelei thinks and then realizes what he means by Plan B. "Why do you men always want to blow something up."
"How else are we supposed to impress the ladies Lelei," He replies. "Would you rather have us have manners?"
Lelei smirks and then focuses on the door. "Tell her to get out of the way."
He nods and walks over to Yao. "Yao, move out of the way. Lelei will try and open the door."
Yao looks at him and takes a step out of the way.
Lelei’s staff glows and then she shoots this beam at the door. "I am trying to cancel or weaken the enchantment so this might be a few."
"No rush Lelei," He said and then looks at the Dark Elf named Geua. "So, what happened here? How did you end up here?"
Geua looks at him. "I am sorry, but I don't know you Human."
"And I don't know you Frenchie but that didn't stop me from trying to break you free," He replies.
He sees Geua look at Yao and Yao looks confused.
"Ignore him," Lelei said. "He likes to provoke people when he first meets them. But you can trust him."
"Well he did come here to help," Yao said. "And I do want to know what happened."
Geua takes a tired breath. "We wanted to retake our lands. The Draconian tribe came over to assist us in our mission."
"You trusted the Draconian?" Yao asked in shock. "But the elder didn't mention this?"
"Because they demanded this alliance stay silent," Geua said. "It wasn't the tribe but a small group. They said they were worried what the Flame Dragon did will make their tribe look bad. They were not allowed to assist but a small band of them wanted to help."
He looks at Geua. "Doesn't that sound strange? That's not normally how things work."
"That crossed my mind but we were desperate to reclaim our lands," Geua said. "We were lured here and then Giselle appeared here."
Yao suddenly smiles with joy. "Our prayers finally have been answered. Where is Giselle?"
He knows who Giselle is and hearing that name did not sit well with him. Rory and Lelei explained a few of the other Apostles of these lands. Rory once said that she was shocked that NATO has not run into her yet since this region is her domain. Giselle is the enemy of Rory just like every other Apostle it seems.
"It was not a blessing Yao," Geua said. "It was a trap. Giselle is not on our side."
As Geua explains how Giselle betrayed them and trapped them into this cell something clicks in his head. He realizes that Geua mentioned there are other Draconian that led them here.
He looks to Lelei. "Get them out as fast as you can otherwise, I am blowing it." He then walks away and heads to his Rangers.
"Form up," He orders. "Alicia, fire flare up the cave vent."
"Ahh that hole in the ceiling?" Alicia asked.
"Yes, hurry," He replies.
As he watches as Alicia fires a flare. As an ex-Delta operative, he has always learned to keep an eye on his surroundings. If there is going to be an ambush by flying Humanoids, he assumes they would attack from there. There is another tunnel that leaves out of this chamber, but he doesn't expect them to charge through them.
Tuka rushes up to him. "What is going on?"
"I am hoping I am overreacting," He said.
The flares travel up and then explode, lightening up everything. That is when he sees seven figures hanging against the walls.
The seven Draconian stretch out their wings and start flying down. This long spear is thrown by one of them. Tuka fires a wing blast and deflects the spear.
He didn't have to give the order. Frost, Alicia, and Andrew aim up and open fire at the new threat.
Reference:
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(1) Chapter 50
(2) Chapter 11
(3) Chapter 19
(4) Chapter 43
(5) Chapter 46
(6) Chapter 66
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