NOVEL NEXT Interlude 11 – Trouble or Snacks?
This interlude is meant to be read after chapter 30. I uploaded it the same day, so please: make sure you read that chapter before this
Interlude 11 – Trouble or Snacks?
The instructions of the temples had been vague, and everyone that was moving towards the Line was both aware of (and annoyed by) them…
“Before we cross let’s recap the mission for the newbies” the ‘Leader’ they had was also making things difficult… and not only for how early in the night they had to wake up, to be there at first light…
Only one, of the other ten adventurers hadn't crossed the line before, but that didn’t stopped the older man as he turned to look at the rest near the cliff
“We are looking for a white and purple snake, that the temples are adamantly asking to be delivered alive”
That was a sore point for everyone, live captures were a pain to do (Especially when magical creatures were involved), mostly because the extra risk, often didn’t came with a suitable payment, and when they had gone to the temples to talk about the terms of the request…
Amelia was there, and she personally… encouraged… most of them, to make sure they successfully retrieved the smart snake…
“Snakes don’t like cold, so we might be able to find it sleeping, even if it’s close to evolving” some of the stubborn ones still had bruises… “And since they like heat, we are going to rest, while the sun is at it’s strongest point” none of the present adventurers, was used to sleep during the day, making his words sour everyone’s mood even further “Remember that it is smart, so we might be able to talk to it”
Some of the people there, snorted at that, but didn’t meet his eyes when he looked at them
“Newbie! You also have double duty, if we meet the Fell Destroyer that is around here… remember what to do…”
That made everyone’s mood to become somber… the mission of the youngest was to flee back to The Line, if they engaged the Fell beast at any point… and wait until the group returned, or, wait for backup, to avoid returning to the city alone
“I don’t want to see heroes, or greedy imbeciles here. Killing one Fell cost more money, than what you earn for they corpses. And you can’t eat fame!” he still made some good points, so everyone let him keep the leading position of the group…
He also had been the only one, to not complain about bringing the snake alive, which made Amelia give him that spot… so…
SCREEEEECH!!!
But regardless of what anyone was thinking, or planning at the time, the Ruler gave his warning, and soon he started his rampage…
Flying in their general direction after attacking something, and causing a couple of them to faint with that. The fact that they weren’t his target, gave them some relief…
But seeing it still attacking at something, over and over again for hours, kept them frozen on the cliff…
/////
Nearing midday, was when something happened that made some of them, stop staring at the south. Two robed persons got close to them from the north
“Something riled up one of the Rulers” the leader of the group noticed them, before they said anything “I don’t suggest that anyone crosses The Line for now”
The pair looked at each other, before looking at him again and nodded, before going back to the north… something about them gave him a bad feeling, so he moved close to another adventurer he knew
“You know them…?”
“No… they might work for a noble…?” the answer he got made him worry…
“Then, they might still go south…” he looked back, but they were already gone from his sight
“Don't worry about them…” the other adventurer also saw that they were gone “You remember how they looked…?”
“Ah…” he tried to remember, but wasn't capable of doing that “A man and a woman…?” the other guy shrugged his shoulders
“With skills like that… they might be… nah, my guts are telling me those are bad news…”
And the leader agreed with him, but the people there soon got… a surprise…
…
Dolls failed when they got close to Terror Stones, that is why two of them were moving to the south. One of them was to cross The Line, while the other used the spell focus it had to help the other puppeteer to recover the control of the Doll
The procedure was repeated for the other Doll, they had planned to only send one of them, but the fact that now they knew what had happened, changed their plans
“I still can’t believe this things make the Dolls lose control…” that Doll had a male appearance, but both puppeteers were women
“Shut up” the other puppeteer said “Shut. Up. I’m tired of hearing your voice, both from the Doll and from your body next to me”
They resumed to run towards Miriam’s current location
“I need the practice. Bitch” the other puppeteer groaned “You think that the Spawner was destroyed?”
“Don't know, we only know that the Doll there was destroyed, and that it was that fucking Ruler”
Any more talking was interrupted…
Because from the south, lightning, bigger than the ones that the trees could cause, raised from the ground to the sky, at the same time that a pillar of fire did the same, turning the sky orange for a few seconds while another Ruler roared
“What the fuck happened…?”
But their use of Grudge, didn’t let them figure that…
…
The adventurers on the other hand…
Some screamed, some fainted, some feel terror at seeing the screaming Ruler wounded, while flying south…
But they all knew… they needed to go back to the Shield…
…
The Guardian was unsure about what to do… they were turned towards Miriam, and about to make her body explode… but waited just a moment longer…
[Done. No outsider influence detected]
[Are you certain?]
[Yes. Mother was looking too]
[Ah. Thanks for prioritizing my request]
Until they got that information, they were still unsure about that moment, in which the girl managed to overcome their calculations… but they trusted the result. And with that, they returned to their previous position, their eyes returning to look everywhere around them, but making sure to look at Miriam often
“It’s something wrong?” Mordauntless asked the Guardian, he wasn't celebrating like the others gods, but he still looked relieved at what had happened
They were silent for a moment, but they concluded that there was a chance… were they won’t need to kill four goddesses…
“No outsider influence detected…” but they still decided to not become too close to the gods
Some of their plans were… unlikely to work, no matter how lucky was the girl…
