● Hlret Desert
"Having come this far, I'm starting to ask myself why I decided to come along," Arya said.
She threw herself on the ground and sighed in exasperation then raised her head to look at Syrie.
"So? Anything?"
The group had set out on their quest to find Eryth as the fairy, Danila mentioned that he was in trouble. Having not knowing his whereabouts, they relied solely on the day-dreams Syrie mentioned to have been getting about him.
Syrie shook her head. "Still nothing."
Arya shut her eyes and sighed. "Are you sure you still work? The last time you said he was still in the desert, and that was more than a full day ago, and now you have no idea where he is?"
She groaned. "Didn't you say the visions get stronger the closer you are to him?"
She spoke the words, but they were entirely fueled by exhaustion and thirst.
"He must have already left."
"Guys look," Danila called out, cutting them short. She pointed at a village a few distance away from them.
Arya quickly got up on her feet and started towards the village. "What are you waiting for? Your boyfriend won't find himself."
The two followed her towards the village. But as they got there, they were greeted by a stench and gruesome sight that was left behind by Eryth and the Necromancer, Wendy.
Some of the buildings have been reduced to rubble while some barely remain intact with only a few breaks. The bodies had been utterly turned apart that even a coroner with blessed eyes wouldn't be able to identify them.
"By the gods!" Danila exclaimed. Her eyes widened at the horrifying sight before her.
"What happened here?" Arya probed while looking around. She had seen many deaths especially those caused by Hex and experienced a lot of death herself, but the sight before her made her belly turn. They couldn't believe it was done by a normal being.
"This is the village I saw in my dream, Eryth was here."
Arya turned her eyes to Danila who was carefully asserting the scene, no doubt matching the plate with the visions she's been having about the Dark mage. "Let's get out of here, I can't take any more of this."
Just as they turned to leave, a familiar battle cry to all of them filled the air, coupled with the rapid and multiple heavy steps. Before they could make any move, the three were immediately surrounded by five masked men riding giant lizards each armed with swords or axes.
"Lizard men," Syrie mumbled.
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Eryth set the cup he was holding on the table between them. "Am I going to get killed by the gods?"
The god of wisdom leaned back on his chair and sighed. "You are increasingly drawing the attention of the entire Divinara and the Hecahiyk towards yourself, and that is not a good thing."
"Because of Rapulnu and Kagurath?"
Dun chuckled. "Indeed."
He continued. "The sleeping chaos is about to awaken, and some of the gods believe you are the one who can stop it this time."
Eryth raised his brows. "A task that took the combined strength of the entire High Realm to accomplish, you think I can do it on my own?"
Dun laughed. "First of all, Ruhe took Kagurath down. I understand why the tales are mixed up."
He shifted in his chair and crossed his legs. "Secondly, you my friend, are a very special being," he paused, allowing the words to sink in. "Unlike any other mortal, the gods have noticed that your future is constantly changing, rewriting itself with each passing day."
"If I am the one that'll stop Kagurath then why did the Sword of the Realm attempt a murder on me."
Dun stood up on his feet and walked toward a nearby window in the room. "I mentioned that some of the gods believe you'll be the one to put an end to the Eternal chaos." He turned to face Eryth, his eyes, fixed and his expression firm. "Well the others believe you are what will cause the awakening of the Eternal Chaos."
"So you are here to kill me?"
The god of wisdom put his hands up and laughed softly. "Oh no. None of that," he said. "In fact, I am here to help you."
He returned to his seat and elegantly sat back on it, uttering just a single word that conveyed everything.
"Rapulnu."
"Rapulnu?" Eryth repeated, causing Dun to nod with a smile.
"You are well aware that aligning with Rapulnu is a grave sin."
Eryth folded his arms and his face paled up as he recalled the images and words spoken to him by the goddess of the dead and ghost.
He sighed. "When the gods fail to hear our prayers or stop a brewing disaster, we turn to those who do, those who will see it that we succeed to the final end, those who will protect us."
The god of wisdom smiled. "Do you know why the gods aren't interfering with Hex's ambitions? Why they let him do what he does?"
"Because he currently doesn't threaten their safety?"
Dun chuckled. He filled his cup with more tea before speaking again.
"Because of the amount of Chaos and Undead Energy he possesses. Killing Hex will only give the goddess of the Dead that much energy and facilitate her task to bring back Kagurath."
"What?"
"Rapulnu needs many souls to wake Kagurath, she takes the energy of dead souls that aren't taken after death. So do not resent the gods when you face resistance against killing Hex."
Eryth frowned. "So I am supposed to just sit back and watch him destroy everything... everyone?"
"There is something you could do… go somewhere else and avoid Hex, that way, you won't have to face the wrath of the gods."
Eryth buried his face his in his hands and groaned. "You are all the same," he said before raising his head to look at the god of wisdom.
"All of you, from the OR-DER, to the Chaos gods, all of you are the same, and you all piss."
He rose to his feet, glaring fearlessly into the eyes of the god of wisdom. "Here are some words of mine you could send back to the High Realm." He stepped forward. "I will put down Hex at all cost, and I won't hesitate to raise my sword at anyone who stands in my way!"
Dun laughed and shook his head. "Very well then. I am but a warning."
Before Eryth could reply, his vision got blinded and he suddenly lost consciousness.
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Trippier swiftly jumped out of the way to avoid multiple balls of flame launched by Heyt.
She wasted no time as she swiftly shot another attack in the direction her opponent dodged to.
Trippier ran behind the tree which he had hidden the Utagri Al and picked it up. He exhaled, before gulping down one of the many viles in his belt. His eyes turned completely black and a cold chill went up his spine.
Killing the two was never his plan, all he wanted was to take their energy and be on his way. But he did bet the entirety of his plan on the two not knowing what the Telluria's stone does, now he's paying the price of it.
He rushed out to the open and zipped towards Heyt with his fingers wrapped tightly around the handle of the sword.
Heyt shot a few balls of fire but Trippier effortlessly dodged them all. In a blink of an eye, he appeared behind her and lunged the Utagri Al forward, ready to put her down for good.
But just as the sword was seconds away from reaching its target, a ray of light struck the space between them, throwing both parties back.
The light threw Trippier back, sending him into a tree. He coughed out blood but managed to drag himself up to his feet. He looked up to see Grevla holding the unconscious Heyt whose body had turned back to its normal appearance.
Grevla stood up straight and turned to face Trippier. She reached for her belt and pulled out her sword before making her battle pose.
"In the name of Ruhe," she muttered before bolting forward with a tremendous speed that left Trippier shocked.
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