Chapter 25 - Not A Great Start, I Have To Say

The first thing I did after getting out of the cell was to activate xera vision. Mox had said he didn’t know our location, since he was pretending to be asleep.

By this time, a month since I was turned into a potato, I’d learnt a few things. One of them was that I always needed a backup plan. Too many times had I rushed into a situation without a solid plan, let alone a backup one. This led to some rather… embarrassing situations.

Once the world had turned grey, I glanced downwards. Surprise, surprise, a tail of the wormlike creature from before just ever so slightly reached into my domain of sight. It was much closer than before. In a worst case scenario, I could trace that creature back to the clearing.

Alright. Now that that was out of the way, it was time to progress on my mission.

Xera vision still activated, I looked around, recognizing the five figures behind me as Mox, Kearan, Winter, Verity and Rarq. The walls, just as I expected, were tainted green, the mark of magic. The problem here was, the green made it hard for me to see through. I could only see about three to four metres past the wall.

‘Papa, which way?’ Cherry asked, distracting me.

‘Hang on.’ I murmured, and rolled a little further into the corridor. There were two options now. To go left or right.

Activating night vision, I peered down the right hallway. Apart from the occasional torch attached to the wall- not the normal, fiery torches, by the way. These were simple globes that produced light until they ran out of charge. Which was xera, of course. Magical objects, otherwise known as artifacts. As I was saying, apart from the occasional torch attached to the wall, the hallway was empty. Not a single sign of life.

The left side was the same, except I couldn’t see the end of it.

I didn’t think I’d have to separate with Cherry so soon.

Alright. I had no more time to waste.

‘Cherry, which way do you want to go?’ I figured I may as well let her choose, since there wouldn’t be any difference for me.

‘Left.’ She said confidently. ‘I can feel something with ‘Adept Root Control’ over on that side and I want to see what it is.’

Oh, that was right. Cherry had her own set of skills that I had yet to understand. In fact, I quickly glanced at her profile to see exactly what she was talking about.

___________________________________________

Cherry

Level: 16

Type: Gifted/Potato

Xera: 100/100

Class: None (Available)

Path: N/A

Applied Faith: 31

Combat Power: 1403%

Traits: Bubbly, Joyful, Very Hyperactive, Loyal

Gender: Female

Race Skills:

[Potato Battery] (Passive) {5/40}

Unique Skills:

[Inferior Potato Body] (Active) {1/20} [Adept Root Control] (Passive) {2/40} [Beginners Plant Magic] (Active) {7/50}

Misc. Skills:

[Mind Speech] (Active) {4/20} [Super Strong Telekinesis] (Active) {3/5} [Area Of Awareness] (Passive) {4/25}

___________________________________________

Wow, she’d progressed so much since the last time I’d seen this window. I wanted to congratulate her, or even praise her, but I knew it’d be awkward. Of course it’d be awkward. I’d barely paid any attention to her for the past few weeks, but now I wanted to praise her?

Was this… how my father had felt?

Did he feel guilty neglecting me?

I didn’t know.

What I did know was that we didn’t have much time.

‘Ok, you go that way. I’ll go the other way. Stay out of sight. Try not to attract attention. Don’t worry about disabling the runestones- just try and find the key. And don’t ever let them know you’re alive.’

This was the first step. Trust.

I swear her face lit up and she wriggled in excitement. ‘Yes papa! I won’t fail you!’

With that, she bounded away, looking for whatever it was that she was looking for.

Alone and slightly nervous, I pushed my worrying thoughts aside and focused on the task at hand. I crept closer to the end of the hallway - xera vision on. The floor was slightly damp, like the wooden boards had been here longer than they looked. The magic most likely sustained them.

Before I knew it, the hallway had come to an end and I was faced with a large, brittle wooden door. It was much too large for me to possibly open with telekinesis, and I spied a person shaped figure outside it, arms crossed. He had a very murky xera core, unlike the other three highwaymen.

So this place wasn’t run by only those three, after all.

But here lay the problem.

Mox had specifically told me to stay hidden.

Also, I didn’t know what element of magic the man outside used - and even if I did, how was I supposed to take him on? I’d never really fought anyone before. The only so called combat experience I had was either a suicide attempt or tossing exploding potatoes for all it was worth.

And then, just like that, an idea hit me.

‘Germinate.’

A few moments later, a little seed burst out of my body and clattered softly onto the wooden planks in front of me.

‘Sorry about this.’ I whispered to the little seed, and hovered up to the ceiling. Once we’d cleared the door frame, I released my hold of the seed.

Thock. Thock. Thock.

The sound echoed all the way down the hallway.

Just as expected, the door swung open and a bald man entered, swinging around a large spear menacingly.

He didn’t say a word, but his eyes darted around, searching for the source of the noise.

But he didn’t look up.

Not wasting any more time, I lowered myself a little and flew through the doorway without being seen. I was happy that my plan had worked out, albeit a little annoyed. Surely it wouldn’t’ve been hard for Mox to inform me about the door beforehand?

“Must’ve been those damn faulty light bulbs. I keep telling Lando to replace them…” The guard’s voice turned into an annoyed grumble as he returned to his post in front of the door.

Still lost in thought, I almost forgot to drop back down into the short grass to avoid being seen.

Yes, you read that correctly, by the way.

Grass. I was outside. Back in the sunlight.

From where I hid, I had a clear view of the entire highwaymen camp.

I was in a little sunken, grassy clearing surrounded by a hilly ring. This place certainly did not look natural. It also looked like it had come out of a fairy tale. Down the path which led to the tunnel was a small little settlement- you could almost call it a town. There were cute wooden huts puffing out those little smoke clouds lined on either side of the pathway, which in turn led to the camp’s centre- a small gold fountain.

A part of me wanted that in my castle.

As I looked around, I realised the cell and tunnel we’d been in was in the ring of hills. No wonder why the worm creature seemed so close.

But wait a minute. If this corridor led to the outside, the front of the camp, then what did the other corridor lead to?

I traced the outskirts of the camp all the way to the opposite end, and was surprised to find… a metal door with three burly looking guards blocking the entrance.

‘La la la la la la!’ Cherry sang softly to herself as she skipped merrily down the tunnel.

She was excited. It was the first time she’d been alone since birth, and it felt great. She was at that age when she was desperate for a taste of independence.

The corridor seemed to stretch on for infinity, and had begun to curve even further to the left. She was beginning to wonder if she was rolling in circles.

‘If I don’t get the key quickly, papa might get angry with me.’ She thought, and the first trace of anxiousness crept up onto her.

So, she quickened her pace and passed by another light orb when-

Thud. Oof.

A large, brown furry wall blocked her way.

‘Is this the exit?’ She thought and looked up expectantly.

A short, flabby man stared back at her.

“Did you just move?” The man asked drowsily, bending down to pick her up.

‘No.’ Cherry said instinctively, completely forgetting that a talking potato was not normal in any realm or world.

Thankfully, though, Lando seemed too out of it to notice.

“Haha!’ He chuckled and hiccuped. “You’d make a nice snack for Minie.”

And then his burly hand clamped over her, blocking out what was left of the light.

‘Sorry, papa.’ Cherry thought meekly. ‘I failed you.’

All I could do was stare at the door and wait.

Cherry would have to come out of it. Sooner or later.

I’d managed to trick one into letting me out of the tunnel, but with three, the chances of her getting out unnoticed were close to impossible.

The guards each wore casual clothing, though protective. They were clearly made for combat. Each held either a spear or had a sword attached to their waist. Cherry would not be able to deal with them.

“Who’s there?” The guard closest to me called.

Shit. I’d been too busy thinking that I’d forgotten I needed to stay hidden. I didn’t know how, but the man must have somehow noticed me.

“I said, who’s there?” He repeated, and drew out a saber from its sheath.

I remained silent.

“I know you’re there. My familiar can sense your presence.” He took another step forward.

Suddenly, his belt changed colour, revealing a hideous face. The snake-like creature wrapping around his waist had green eyes with a long forked tongue which hissed at me menacingly. If that thing could sense me, I might as well have been human. He would find me for sure.

Just before the guard could peel apart the grass and expose my position, the metal door creaked open.

‘No!’ I almost shouted, and was about to launch myself at the guard. What was Cherry thinking? Coming out in the open like this was practically suicide!

“Darren!” The guards rushed to open the door for a fat man wearing a singlet.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

So it wasn’t Cherry after all.

But as he pushed the men away and staggered in the direction of the town, two things caught my eye. First, a small golden key, hanging from his neck.

And second, a small object the man clutched in his left hand.

Something circular.

Something pink.