Vermin Tide Quest
Chapter 23
As Luka made his way to the beach to help the Mermaid Meia to become married to her lover, he looked at the Ball of Guidance, find it a curious object. It was emitting the green color that was flowing from the river he followed and into the trees. He was now ever curious about these strange... energy? Elements? He wasn't sure what they were, but in the case of the Ball, the green aura was almost woven into it, flowing out and around it, and then back into it to flow out again like an infinite river of water. Alice looked at him, and sighed, bringing Luka to focus on her. Ever since he calmed down from the incident with Lazarus and the new other-worlder in the ranks of Illias Kruez, Luka had been slightly more... crest-fallen. When digging through the rubble, it was discovered some of the Mermaids were critically injured, and taken to the hospital, Alice watched as he was tensed up about, and 'relieved' him last night with her tail. Even so, he insisted on fulfilling the task of taking the Written Pledge Meia gave him to the Sea Queen. While Alice did consider it annoying that they were getting side-tracked, she decided that letting him do so would help keep his mind off of what happened. Even so...
"You do know that if you keeping staring at it every five seconds, you may as well be painting a target on your back?" she said. "What do you find so fascinating about the Ball of Guidance anyways?" she asked. "In fact, you seemed to occupied with the energies that you are seeing ever since the Daemon tried to control you."
"Well, Morr seemed to know, but he was distracted for today. Since he was a God of the Dead, I assumed it was nothing to pry into." Luka said, not going into details this time.
"What about Illias? You generally say her name while waking up." Alice asked.
"Just the general stuff of reminding me of my duty as a Hero and to defeat you, so not much to say on that." Luka replied, though Alice didn't get a chance a chance to ask for more detail. "As for the energies I have been seeing, it is just strange they don't seem to match the Elements. For example, this Ball of Guidance is flowing with the green energy. Green is the color that symbolizes Wind in magic formulas right?" Alice nodded her head.
"True, but this could simply be something else to the energy we are missing out on." Alice pointed out. Luka then nodded, conceding the argument the Lamia gave him.
"That could be so, but plants are associated with earth, so why would it collect within them?"
"Perhaps that is just the water entering their bodies after the roots drink it up, bring this energy in within them." Alice said, and she swore she felt something staring into her back. She turned around, and saw one of the wood creatures staring at her, and shake its head. Suddenly it slicked back into the tree, while Luka spoke up.
"Alice, you see something?"
"No. So, continuing on the topic at hand?"
"Ah yes, well, while that could explain it, that would mean that when rain falls the green energy should be infused with it,but it is not. When we were out at sea, the storm clouds which were raining were suffused with the blue energy, which was like lighting but somehow separate from actual lighting in that I could see move about from one point to another, and when Alma Elma cleared away the clouds, the amount of blue energy was reduced, but still there all the same. The rains were also not infused with this energy, so I think there is some more to them." Alice raised an eyebrow at this.
"You have given this a lot of thought haven't you?" she asked. Luka shrugged, as he put the Ball of Guidance back into its bag. Suddenly a woman screamed in what sounded like blood-curdling pain, drawing the attention of the two travelers. Alice scryed in the direction the screams came from, when a clashing sound was heard. She then sensed that two Monsters were being attacked, and Luka ran on ahead to fight whoever was attacking them, which she realized were something she couldn't recognize. She stayed back to observe the fight, when she sensed something coming from behind. She swiped with her tail, hitting something which made a grunting sound before passing out. When Alice turned, she saw it was a lizard like creature, and then two more appeared, snarling and hissing in anger at her. They had Human limbs, and were covered in blue scales like Dragons, but all over, including their torsos and neck which reminded her of muscular men. They carried strange swords with what seemed to a wooden core with a series of glass blades running down the sides, and shields that were large and bulky even by their large body proportions. "What in the world are you?" she muttered, though to them specifically.
*BGM: COMBAT IN THE RUINS FROM DARKEST DUNGEON*
Meanwhile, Luka ran over to where the screams were coming from, and stopped in shock when he broke through the tree-line after around a minute of running. He saw what were three battered and bruised Monsters, a Sea Cucumber Girl, a Crab Girl with many arms and a Sea Shell Girl with what like to be a broken arm being held at bay by a single lizard creature, wielding a club made of what looked like gold wrapped around a heavy stone at the end who looked just as beaten and bloodied. "What are you doing?!" Luka yelled as he ran forwards at it. Not only that, but he noticed that it was emitting an aura of light that was only visible in contrast to the darkness that Alice and other Monsters radiated. Wait, Light and Darkness are opposites, could it be that this creature is not a Monster, and is attacking them as a result? Luka speculated, before bring Angel Halo up into a guard stance. The Crab Girl then created a bunch of bubbles, and tried to tackle the beast creature from behind. Her carapace was cracked, and Luka noticed that there was a second lizard creature coming out of the water while roaring in anger, drawing the Sea Shell and Sea Cucumber away.
"How?!" the Sea Shell yelled. "We just threw you in the ocean!" the Crab, who was struggling to keep the lizard she tackled on the ground turned to the others.
"Less talk, more fight!" she yelled, then turned to the Human with several of the many Human arms she was planning to put the beast in Critical Ecstasy with. "Who are you, and why would you help us?!" she cried out. An explosion was suddenly heard, as a third lizard flew out onto the sand, covered in wounds that looked like they were torn into its body. The one that the Crab Girl was wrestling with suddenly screamed, a loud wailing of rage as it suddenly found the strength to lift itself up, along with the Crab Girl. "KKKYYYAAA!" she screamed, as it lifted it's arms held by her crab pincers, and proceeded to twist them so that it grabbed a hold of them, then pulled its arms forward, as Luke realized was an attempt to rip them off when the Crab Girl shrieked once more as they popped. Luka ran forwards, and roared as he performed a Thunder Thrust, getting the first hit into the scaly neck of the creature. It was shocked in some way by the swords' sealing abilities, and released the Crab Girl, who crawled away to the forest in a panic. Alice appeared in front of her, covered in blood as she watched the fight, making the Crab Girl pause in shock. The two then turned, and saw that the Sea Shell and Sea Cucumber were being pushed back by the lizard Monster that they were fighting. As they watched, Luka was also struggling, as the beast was now focused on him, attacking with its bare fists in an attempt to smash the smaller and more agile Human boy. Luka eventually was able to perform a Demon Decapitation on it, and the lizard creature suddenly widened its eyes as Luka finally defeated it. However, instead of being sealed, the beast suddenly fell over and started to have a seizure, whacking the confused Human in the chest, causing Alice to dash towards him.
"Luka!" she cried out in shock, slithering over to him, and placing her tail in between him and the convulsing beast that attacked him. As Luka wheezed in pain, the Monster Lord looked over at the Human boy, then suddenly the lizard that succumbed to Angel Halo suddenly rolled onto its back, arching it up as it screamed in pain, frothing at the mouth as it did so. Then, a tear of light form at its chest, and blasted into the sky, then closed up. The lizard creature then fell still, its tongue lolling out as its mouth gaped open like its empty eyes. The second beast did not seem to feel fear upon seeing its comrade die however, as upon realizing what happened, it let out a roar similar to its companion, and began to finish off the Sea Cucumber Girl by grabbing her by both sides of the Monsters head. As her eyes widened, the Monster reached up and grabbed at the beasts' wrists.
"NO! NOO!" the Monster screamed in terror as she tried to pry the arms off, but her skull was crushed like a overripe fruit before she could do so. The Sea Shell Girl, when it turned and suddenly charged her with a burst of speed the others hadn't done so before closed her shell. Alice, Luka, and the Crab Girl were shocked at this display of violence, before realizing they had to save the Sea Shell Girl. Alices' suddenly glowed, as she threw a handful of sand at it. When the beast turn in response, her eyes flashed, and the creature was petrified into stone.
*BGM ENDS*
As Luka was helped up, he then meditated, and flinched as cracking and popping sounds were heard by the three living monsters present, who cringed as he buckled over. As he got back up and breathed heavily, the Crab spoke up.
"What the hell was that just now?" the Crab Girl asked him, then turned to Alice. "Uh, I'm sorry mi'lord." the monster apologized, kneeling as low as she could without hurting herself.
"No, don't bow, I don't want you to hurt yourself." Alice said quickly. "Just tell me what happened?"
"We were minding our business hunting for food on the beach, maybe even a mate." the Sea Shell said, turning her lower half into a skirt. As she walked over, the Monster gestured to the Sea Cucumber Girls corpse with her good arm, and her voice dropped slightly. "Yume and I were, to clarify. As we were exploring the area, we encountered a old man with a raven on his shoulder and gave chase after him. Somehow, he was using magic to stay away from us, and escaped, though we suspect the raven is some familiar that enabled him somehow. Then, two of these creatures appeared from the forest you came from, and attacked us. We stood our ground, thinking that since they appeared to be male, they would fall easily to our temptations. Instead, well, that was how I got my arm smashed in, along with some broken ribs." While Luka thought she looked perfectly fine, he remembered monsters were tough as nails, hence why he got the Angel Halo sword to assist with defeating them.
"I heard fighting going on, and rushed over when I heard her scream." the Crab Girl spoke up, wincing when she tried to move her sprained pincers. "At that point, I rushed in to help, but one of them struck me good with that club weapon it was carrying." she said, pointing to the weapon in question, which Luka now noticed was covered in blood. "As far as we now, they didn't even communicate in any understandable language. We did make out words, but most of them I'm not even sure I can pronounce." Alice seemed to perk up at that. Luka however frowned, the fact he killed a creature that was likely not aware of where it was and what was going on when the Monsters approached it sinking in.
"I ran into three more, and got rid of them easily as you can see." she said, and everyone looked at the charred lizard creature. "Luka, do you picked up anything about them?" she asked of the Human, who she then saw that he was holding onto his head. "Hey, Luka, are you ok?"
"Alice, I just killed another being! I just committed a murder!" he suddenly shouted, as the other Monsters backed off. The Sea Shell then spoke up. As she spoke, Luka grabbed at his head, and started to hold on tightly to his hair.
"Shall I-"
"No, I'll handle this." Alice interrupted, as she waved them off. The Monsters went their separate ways, while took Luka and pulled him away from the dead. "Hey Luka, that wasn't your fault."
"I was the one who struck them dead!" he cried out in reply, his voice taking on a horse tone. Alice began to feel a sense of multiple eyes staring at her and Luka, and recognized it as the same sensation that she felt when the Daemons of Chaos were drawn to Leopold talking about them. Luka started to grip his hair even tighter, as he started to breathe heavily. However, were she and Tamano felt a sense of Blood-lust and rage, these ones exuded an aura of despair, guilt, and fear.
Shit, are they guilt tripping Luka? Alice thought, her eyes widening slightly. No, I can't sense them whispering to him, but it seems more like they are amplifying his emotions. At that point, Alice grabbed Luka, and held him still so that he was forced to make eye-contact. "Luka, calm down and think about this, they were attacking you right?" Luka breathed in, then out.
"Yes. What are you saying- Gyaah!" Luke suddenly cried out, as one of the Daemons started to forcefully possess him, causing Alice to flinch as she felt several others trying to burrow into her mind. As she turned herself inwards to get them out, she called out to Luka.
"Luka, don't listen to the thing inside you!" she yelled out, before entering her mind scape. When she saw the Daemons that were trying to control her, she was repulsed by their appearance. They appeared as meter tall bipeds diseased with leprosy or some other flesh-eating ailment, having distended bellies and either having a single eye or three arranged in a triangle that were all milky white. Their skins were pale green, and the smell was enough to make Alice want to hurl. Even so, she maintained her composure as they chanted in some kind of demonic tongue as they approached her slowly within a mental image the Lamia had of her castle, as though their withered legs were going to snap. She smiled, and mentally cast Omega Blaze, lobbing a fiery projectile that scorched and burned them to blacken husks. However, they kept moving, and their bodies somehow proceeded to put themselves back together.
"What in the name of the Dark Goddess are you?" she muttered, the hair on the back of her neck starting to raise up, as this was a display of power that they could take the kind of damage unleashed upon them, that or it was the same as the Human Knight that attacked his own kind and committed suicide to prevent capture. Suddenly one of the Daemons smiled, revealing rotted and broken teeth, before walking forward with rusted sword raised. "Oi, back away form me." Alice snarled, then blasted the Daemon with Frost Omza. This time, it struck the Daemon, and sent the creature flying into a pillar. Alice watched as the other two approached, and zipped at them as the block of ice she struck the first one with began to melt into a rancid and disgusting bile like liquid. This was going to take awhile...
**POV SHIFT**
As Alice fell unconscious, Lukas' eyes fluttered. He was in this fog-filled place, gray and lifeless, a void from which he was floating. He was in a state of anguish and grief, hating himself for... something. Why was he so angry to himself? Then suddenly, he remembered killing the creature. As he began to grab at his head, mentally lambasting himself for the murder he just committed, a voice began speaking that he could not place the source of. It was one which had an almost... familial tone to it, like a grandfather speaking to his childrens' children, and it was soothing towards him.
Luka... you do not have to treat yourself like this. Your not an evil man like you are treating yourself to be. The Voice said, as Luka felt his lungs burning with phlegm, and a wave of nausea overwhelmed him to the point of dry retching. As it spoke, he heard someone coming.
"Hey, are you alright?" the voice of a woman he recognized as the Crab Girl he felt rang out. "Hey, what is that- by the Dark Goddess!" As Luka turned, he saw the Monster rushing up to him. "What is happening, where is that stench coming from?" she cried out. Suddenly a Daemon appeared, and proceed to stab in the stomach before she could react with a rusty blade, and the Monster proceeded to gasp at the shock and pain. Luka then realized that this was one of the Chaos Daemons in the area, and his mind began to flow with a thousand thoughts. As the Monster fell over, she started to suffer some form of disease.
"What are you doing?! You're killing her!" he yelled out, as the Crab Girl moaned in pain.
No Luka, she is merely receiving one of my gifts. Her body is simply not used to such power, and will need some time to get used to it. Not like you, Humans are more then able to take on the blessings I give them, because of their weakness, though albeit in your case you seemed to have lost your memories, but they'll flow back to you in time.
"What do you Humans are better able to handle your gifts then Monsters?" Luka asked of the Voice, which laughed boisterously.
You are quite curious. Luka blushed in embarrassment. No no, no need to feel ashamed for that. Imagine a cup that represents a creatures' magical potential with water in it based on how strong that creature is. What I do when blessing my children is merely the same as pouring more water into the cup. With Humans, because the cup is empty, they can handle it better then Monsters, whose cups are almost overflowing, but do not worry, she'll still survive if she has the will to handle the extra power she'll gain.
"Wha, what is happening? I can't feel my face..." she said, as the skin sloughed off her face revealing a cracking skull and eyes melted away into nothingness. The Voice then chuckled slightly, and as Luka heard it, he saw her head perk up in response to it. "Who are you? Where are you, I can't see..."
Well now, my dear children, I'm... Nulgaroth. I have come to you because your despair called to me, and I want to make you part of my family.
"Children?" Luka asked, confused at what was happening. Alice made a grunting noise and twitched, causing Luka to crane his head to her. "What is going on? My thoughts, I... I can't seem to get them straightened out."
"What do you mean make us part of your family?" the Crab Girl asked.
Luka... luka... A voice that Luka recognized as another woman spoke. it was faint and muffled, but it was there.
"Who is that?" he asked, the Crab Girl looked at Luka, drifting in the void like he was.
"Hey, Human, what's going on?" suddenly, the Monster disappeared as Nulgaroth spoke to Luka.
Luka child, do not listen. That was the goddess that made your kind, but she is not someone who cares for you, not like I will... as Luka watched, he found himself at his home, and heard singing. I can give you what you lost, that which the plague that ravaged your village and taken your mothers' life. He then noticed he was sitting at a chair at a table, and Luka watched as his mother Lucifina set a plate of eggs and sausage in front of him. Confused, he then saw he set another plate where a man he recognized as his father. As the two kissed, Luka smiled, and went to take a bite, when he suddenly remembered his quest.
"Wait, you're saying you can bring back the dead? If so, I can't accept that. Not yet, I have a quest to bring peace to the world by establishing coexistence between Humans and Monster."
:What are you talking about?" Luka turned, and saw a Lamia slithering over to him, before wrapping her arms around him and placing her breasts on his back. "Grand Father Nulgaroth is more then able to unite our races, but he can't do it without you." She then picked up Lukas' plate, stuck a fork in the sausage, and offered it to him. "Won't you take a bite, husband?" Luka hesitated, and then started to open his mouth.
LUKA! The womans' voice shrieked, loud enough that he felt like his ears would burst. Suddenly he was overcome with a purple aura lining the edges of his vision, and he saw a woman with whites wings in a cloud of some kind. In it, his mind was suddenly clear and sharp, and he realized it was Illias. "LUKA, GET UP TO YOUR FEET AND STAND HERO!" she screamed, her voice frantic and her outstretched arm pointing down to Angel Halo, pure terror in her face and eyes as the vision suddenly cut off, and Luka was in the real world, and lunged for Angel Halo.
NNNOOOO! The combined voices ofNulgaroth and the copies he made of Alice, and Lukas' parents screamed, and Luka felt a sharp pain in his arms as it began to rot. He ignored it however, and grabbed the Angel Halo out of pure adrenaline. Last time he allowed a Daemon to control him, it killed a Monster, and he can't let that happen again, lest this one do something more. Suddenly, Angel Halo shot a sensation of power into him, and Luka suddenly felt his strength return, as a burst of Holy power shot through him. Nulgaroth made a pain-filled scream of rage, as he felt this thing not only being banished from him, but a part of Nulgaroth that was separate yet connected to him get utterly obliterated. As he turned to go and help the Crab Girl, she suddenly started to panic, before shaking and sending parts of her body everywhere.
"No no! Don't kill me!" she screamed, trying to get away from him. "I did nothing to you!"
Luka, realizing that Nulgaroth was making her panic, then rushed forwards to save her with Angel Halo. However, she got out one last sentence before he could seal her and release the hold Nulgaroth had on her.
"GRANDFATHER HELP ME!" suddenly an arm shot out of the Crab Girls' torso, and grabbed Angel Halo. The Crab Girl continued yelling until stopping as she realized she was saved.
"Guh?" Luka grunted, as the limb began to burn from simply touching it, and a malevolent scream of rage could be heard as he was thrown back. At the same time, Alice began to awaken, and the first thing she saw was Luka being flung several feet backwards, and kicking up sand when he landed with a grunt. She then turned and saw the corrupted Crab Girl, and was horrified. She was like a Zombie, only she was more ruptured and necrotic flesh and organs then dead but still attractive Monster. Alice launched herself into the air while screaming in terror, and sped towards and then behind Luka.
"WHAT HAPPENED TO HER?!" she screamed in fear, clinging to the Human boy.
"CHAOS!" Luka screamed back. "NOW GET OFF ME AND LET ME FIGHT!"
**POV SHIFT**
As Illias fell back on her throne, the frazzled Goddess of Light was sweaty to the point that her dress was visibly damp at the front and under her armpits. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit..." she muttered to no one in particular while breathing heavily, while Morr simply spun a wineglass full of the liquid, and a number of Angels muttering to themselves as they watched the fight taking place at the beach. Illias noticed Morr was looking at her, and while he was still stoic with his mouth, his eyes betrayed a slight hint of amusement.
"What in the fuck is Nulgaroth?" she asked of Morr.
"He is one of the Chaos Gods, and his real name is Nurgle. The Gods tend to go by epitaphs to avoid immediate detection bu those mortals assigned to hunt down their cults." Morr said, then took a sip of wine. "He is fed by the despair and fear of death that all mortals feel in way or another, and spreads plagues and blights wherever his servants go. They celebrate death and stagnation, as for them, and hold the belief that all life must come to an end, so that new life may grow anew." the God of the Dead explained, while pointing at the mutated Crab Girl. "They tend to be an absolute pain to put down, though thankfully Lukas' Angelic heritage seems to leave him immune to the side-effects that usually come from being near them." Illias noticed that Morr was now more interested towards the son of Lucifina then normal.
"Is this something you have seen before?" Illias asked, as Morr turned to look at her. Morr then took a longer sip from his glass, then replied.
"Yes, it is rare in my world, since we don't mate with our servants, but there are those who are immune to Chaos, even repel it due to their nature." Morr replied, then he got up. "I'm going to take my leave, as helping you break through Nurgles' filthy paws was a lot more taxing then I thought." as he started to leave back to his Garden, Illias frowned.
"Liar." she whispered, sensing there was more that was left out... specifically that he had a renewed interest in Luka. As Promestein came over to Illias, she spoke up.
"Goddess." the red-headed Angel said as she bowed, but not out of respect. "We have found that a number of small, (and thus unnoticeable unless you are already looking,) portals have opened throughout the world and have been depositing various peoples form the other world, one of which is currently about to appear in San Illias." Morr stopped, and turned to Promestein and Illias.
"What do you mean?" Illias asked. "Show me." the fight between Luka and the corrupted Crab Girl had ended by this point, and as such she wanted to see what else would be ahead of Luka. He was more then strong enough at this point to take the challenges ahead to the Sea Queen, though Illias would have to see what is going to interfere with her plans ahead of his path. Especially since this was one of the destinations she actually wants him to go to.
Promestein then had a device which showed the city of San Illias from above, specifically one of the neighborhood squares where people were walking about. Morr hovered over Promesteins' shoulders, as a vortex of energy opened up, causing the people there to freak out at the sudden shock as the energies of the Warp screamed in their minds, paraylsing them and making many fall over in a panic. Suddenly, it spat out a number of obvious warriors, one of which was a battle mage of some sort with a staff. They were dressed in resplendent armor, and had ears that were pointed and sharp, giving them away to be Elves. Unlike the Humans like Balthasar Gelt and his troops who were disoriented, these Elves were able to make the trip with their faculties alert and ready. One of the Elves began to approach a women, and was about to speak when she began to back up.
"M-M-MONSTERS!" the woman screamed, and the Elf was visibly taken aback as she ran away in fear along with those who were also there. A unit of guards began to charge the Elves, who were clearly confused at the fact they were being attacked by the Humans. Morr then sighed as the Angels looked at him.
"Before you ask, yes, those are Elves from my world. High Elves thankfully, and you should probably direct them to the nearest exit before their leader blows up half the city." Morr explained, though his tone was one that was of the irritated kind. "I also happen to know who the mage leading them is." on cue, the Elf mage lifted his staff and pointed it at the guards, who were blown back as lighting bolts shot out and blasted them away.
"What's his name?" Illias asked.
"Teclis."
**POV SHIFT*
"Move! Into the building there!" Teclis yelled, pointing at what looked to be an inn. He was supposed to have at least a small army of around two hundred or so of the High Elven army, drawn from the garrisons in Ulthuan to set up a scouting position within the other world and find Balthasar Gelt as well as make any potential allies with the natives of this land to fight against the mutual scourge of Chaos. So, when he and his honor guard of five found themselves within a Human city, one of his men approached a women, only to rebuked as they suddenly ran. Now however, they had to barricade themselves within the inn, and thus ran forwards through the doorway before the owner could close it shut. As the Humans began to panic and babble amongst themselves in whatever language they spoke, one which was not familiar to the well-traveled High Loremaster. His mind was running a thousand mental calculations of what to say, as a banging was heard from the door. One of Elven men assigned to Teclis, a Lothren Sea Guard by the name of Aeclion spoke to him, while the others pushed the Human civilians back.
"Mi'lord, what now?" the soldier asked, spear at the ready in case someone managed to slip through the small four-elf wall, nose cringed at the smell of the taverns' smell. "Gods, I already to leave this place." Suddenly, Teclis gripped his head, and made a groaning sound as he fell back on the door before he could respond. "Loremaster?!" Aeclion called in alarm, before Teclis grabbed his shoulder to steady himself.
"Worry not, I already have a route to go to, thanks to a local deity of this world." Teclis said, pointing at a door in the back. "This way, there's a back entry way. Oh, and don't attack to kill unless all other options are exhausted, we did basically barge into this city as unwelcome strangers.." As the others looked at the two, Aeclion nodded, and the High Elves shoved the Human crowd aside, though it helped that they were clearly weary and paranoid, and thus most back away as soon as they moved forwards. The front door was suddenly bashed down, and a soldier tried to run down the High Elves, only to blasted back by another bolt of energy by Teclis, just enough to knock him off his feet. After that, the troops were hesitant to approach, as the High Elves found the back door they were looking for and left.
An hour later, they fled westwards of the city, and away from the Humans in it to a forest. Best to let them calm down before they came back to talk about negotiations for an alliance, or at least a non-aggression pact. As they gathered around near the treeline to catch a break, Teclis turned to his honor guard.
"Roll call. State your names, and role." he said. He didn't forget, but it was to get them to snap to alertness, which they did.
"Aeclion, Lothern Sea Guard."
"Hyrion, Lothern Sea Guard."
"Malialon, Lothern, Sea Guard."
"Haricorn, Swordmaster of Hoeth."
"Darrius, Swordmaster of Hoeth."
"Alright, so, as we have found out just now, things have already gone to the Realm of Chaos and back." Teclis said. "But, so far as I can tell from what happened on our way over, the portal was much more stable then what the Skaven created at Ubersreik, so there is a, granted small chance that the others got scattered throughout the world, and are no doubt just as confused as to where they are. Nonetheless, we shall press on with finding the Human Supreme Patriarch Balthasar Gelt, as without him the Colleges of Magic are leaderless, and it will be necessary to aide him in whatever problems he has found himself in."
"Why bother, he got himself sucked into this world, so it's not our problem." Darrius said, eliciting a sigh and a eye roll from Teclis.
"Because the Empire is one of our allies, and I will not simply abandon someone who has spent his life working towards the same goal of banishing Chaos from our world, however short and brief it may be. And make no mistake Darrius, Balthasar has more then done that in the magical and technological studies and contributions he made to the Empire of Man. To abandon him without an effort on our part to rescue him is not only spitting in his face, but in the potential successes the Empire made as a result." Teclis explained. as the brush rustled behind him, the soldiers and mage turned their weapons on the spot. As a creature of some kind resembling a spider and a woman fused together came out, it stopped and stared in confusion.
It did not last long, as the Mutant was immediately attacked and slain on the spot before it could respond. With that, the High Elves went on their way to find a settlement, moving southwards.
