Chapter 32-Southcross.

He woke up with Rose’s naked body laying on him, her face on his right peck.

He pushed his hair up, past his forehead, and looked down at her. She really was stunning, her long black hair flowed down to her curvy waist.

He gently pushed her off and pulled a pillow under her head, thankfully he didn’t wake her up.

He stretched and put on his trousers and headed outside for a smoke.

He sat down against a fallen log and stared into the canopy.

“Hey elf-boy you didn’t leave?” Rose said lifting up the tent flap, still naked.

“Was I the first to stay?”

Rose just shook her head and went back inside.

He flicked his cigarette to the side and headed back inside to find Rose putting on her clothes.

“Hey about last night.”

“What about it.”

“I don’t know what it means.” He honestly said.

“Well it’s not like we are gonna marry each other.”

“Oh ok, I just didn’t know what you wanted.”

“We are still friends, just had a bit of fun.” She said with a wink.

He was glad he got this response.

“Thank you, you’re pretty wild you know.” Morpheus said.

“So I’ve been told elf-boy. You weren’t so bad yourself.”

“That’s a first.” He joked.

Fuzz popped up from Morpheus’s cloak, it’s little eye staring at him.

“Hey buddy, how are you doing today?”

Fuzz jumped up on his shoulder and buried itself into his neck.

He snapped on his vambraces and his leather chest piece, he draped his cloak over himself.

“You ready?” Morpheus asked Rose.

“Yeah, can I have an orc skewer?”

“Sure.”

Morpheus tucked into one as he handed another to Rose.

She packed up the tent and got ready to leave.

“Could you imagine if he swallowed a dragon?” Rose asked with a slight chuckle.

“That would be handy.”

Rose laughed again. “Would you mind carrying me again, I like being in your strong arms.” She sarcastically said.

“Don’t get too attached to me now.”

Morpheus sprouted his wings, Rose climbed in his arm and Fuzz disappeared into his cloak.

“We need to find a bird or something for him to eat. Can’t really have a shadow elemental walking around Southcross.” Rose said.

“Yeah, we can find something on the way.”

Morpheus flapped his wings and they took off into the sky, he did a few flips in midair to scare Rose. It seemed she enjoyed it more than him.

“If we carry on at this pace we should get there by today’s end.” She said.

“I’m hoping so.” Morpheus said with a smile and increased the speed, space weakening as he shot forward.

“Woooo.” Rose shouted as her hair flapped in the wind.

A few breaks later and soon Southcross was in view.

You have levelled up Archaic Wings Level (E) (6)

He paused in mid-air with his wings still flapping.

It was a stunning city, twice the size of Ervos. Huge pillars stretching into the skies around the center. Massive limestone walls surrounded the whole of the city, bordering up to the shore.

Hundreds of ships could be seen around the waters of Southcross, leaving and going. In the center was a castle, with the same look as the Ervos royal quarters.

The sun shone down on the magnificent city, it truly lived up to its name.

“Hey elf-boy, there’s some swalls down there.”

(Swall Long Tail, Level 45)

“Perfect.”

Morpheus landed on the ground and pulled out his bow, an arrow pierced soon pierced the bird's side.

Fuzz popped out his cloak and bounced over to the dead bird. Morpheus yanked the arrow out and cleaned it on his cloak.

“Go on Fuzz.”

Fuzz bounced over and covered it in shadows, a second later a bird appeared.

(Swall Long Tail, Level 74)

Morpheus sent feelings of safety and happiness and it seemed Fuzz understood, as it stayed in bird form.

Morpheus held out his hand and Fuzz the bird flew on his shoulder. Morpheus stroked his beak and Fuzz leaned into it.

“Sweet. Let’s head off.”

The trio began to walk down the stone path way towards Southcross. It seemed ten times busier than Ervos, he saw more races and different kinds of animals. It seemed to be a major hub for all the races, which made Morpheus feel more comfortable.

The two made their way up to the booth outside of the gates.

“Name and business.” A scribe said while looking up. “Oh.”

The scribe looked around to see if people were looking and slid a piece of paper over to them, Rose quickly pocketed it.

The scribe nodded and didn’t even ask for an entrance fee.

“Well that was easy.” Morpheus said while walking through the gates.

“I know, could get used to this.”

“What does it say?” Morpheus asked.

Rose pulled out the paper and put it between them.

‘East side. Store called Larry’s Tales. Ask for a refund for a book on the Ditorian.’

“Somewhat of a sense of humour.” The young chimera said.

“Should we get some food before, I’m sick of eating orc meat.”

“Sure.”

The two walked down the main entrance street, twice as wide as ervos. People selling all kinds of different meats and food.

“Oh bulgur meat, I haven’t had it in ages.”

Morpheus looked down at the price.

‘8 coppers for bulgur meat stick’

“Why is it so expensive, what are they?”

“They're somewhat popular around here. They have a huge mouth for a face, disgusting things. But they taste so good.”

“When in Rome.” Morpheus said.

He bought five of them, two for each of them and one for Fuzz.

“Here you go Fuzz.”

Fuzz extended his beak and pulled off all the meat, straight into his mouth. He chirped in happiness.

Morpheus bit into it, it tasted like a gooey steak.

“This is pretty good.” He said with a mouthful.

“Yeah it is, where’s Rome?”

“A place I remember from my past.”

“Oh, well anyway let’s head to the bookstore now.” She said with a wink.

The two walked the streets in the direction of the east side. The buildings had a Middle Eastern theme, limestone bricks with a mix of wood. He also noticed it had gotten slightly hotter.

“Are we on the equator here?”

“What’s the equator?”

Morpheus pouted, geography wasn’t his best subject. “It’s like the largest circumference area of the planet. Where it’s hotter here than below or above.” He said.

“Well I’ve never heard it before I just know Southcross is pretty hot.”

That sort of answered his question, they soon walked into a large flat area where hundreds of people were walking around. In the center was a huge statue of a sphinx, like the ones in Egypt.

“Woah is that a sphinx?”

“Yeah, this is where Egyptian gods are worshipped the most, some say it’s the birthplace.”

Morpheus stared at the beautiful sphinx, it was in prime condition and painted in a variety of colours.

“Oh there’s the bookstore.” Rose said pointing her fingers across the large flat area.

The trio then weaved in between the crowds and headed over to the shop. It had the same style as the rest of the buildings, except it looked rather rundown.

‘Larry’s Ta’ the sign said, with the end missing.

“You sure this is the place?”

“We’ll find out.”

Morpheus opened the door, a bell sounded.

“Hello youngins, what tales are you looking for?” A kobold said behind the counter.

The store was cluttered with books, piles of them stacking up to the ceiling.

“You sold me a book on the Ditorians, I was wondering if I could get a refund.”

“Ah yes, if you’ll please head into the room on your left I’ll be right with you.”

Morpheus nodded and opened the door on his left with Rose following.

Inside the room was luxurious, the interior was detailed and filled with beautiful silverware.

Rose closed the door behind the two and they sat down at a leather sofa facing another.

A few minutes later someone walked, from another door.

(Warrior, Level ???)

Morpheus stood up followed by Rose.

“Hello, my name is Dion. I’m an informant for the Scarecrows.” The man said and extended his hand.

The man called Dion had two black bunny ears which hung down his face. He was tall, the same height as Morpheus at six foot five and wore a straight black suit.

Morpheus shook his hand. “Hello, my name is Morpheus.”

Rose also introduces herself.

Morpheus and Rose sat down on one leather sofa while Dion sat on the one opposite.

“So what did you find?” He asked,

Rose brought out Tako’s journal.

“We found that they have a hideout in the North. The book does not tell how large, but we reckon it’s the same size.” Rose answered.

Dion picked the book up.

“The hideout, what was it like?”

Morpheus cleared his throat. “It was an ancient dwarven city, built into the mountain. It transformed into a dungeon called Ditorian Hideout.”

Dion rubbed his chin.

“Was there any weapons at all, experiments?”

“We couldn’t find any weapons, only a desolate city, with burnt paper. We found an Abyss node in a cave down by a river, where we found that journal.” Rose said.

“An Abyss node, how interesting.”

Morpheus was debating on telling him about Fuzz.

“It seemed Tako was experimenting on it and probably died in the battle.” The young chimera added.

“Did you manage to find his results?”

“No, he was reading an ancient dwarven journal about the node. In the journal it seemed he wanted to weaponize it.”

Dion flicked through the book.

“Well this is good information, would explain how they got into the royal quarters.” “Did you find anything else?”

Rose and Morpheus both looked at each other, which intrigued Dion. Morpheus slowly brought Fuzz down from his shoulder, he unclipped his cloak and sat it down on his lap.

“It’s ok Fuzz, you can transform.”

He sent the feelings of shadow and safety, which Fuzz acknowledged and transformed back into a shadow.

“By Odin, it’s an elemental!” Dion exclaimed.

“Yes, we ran through the experiments and it appeared. We think it’s from the dark place.” Morpheus said.

“May I hold him?” Dion asked.

Morpheus carefully handed Fuzz over to him.

“Have you made a contract with him?” The bunny man said.

“Yes, I have high shadow affinity.” Morpheus replied.

“That is good. A wild elemental could cause widespread damage.” Dion said while gently stroking the shadow.

Rose felt left out. “We also ran into a Manifestation of Axon.”

Dion raises his eyebrow. “Level?”

“Four hundred, it was disgusting.” She replied.

“As would be imagined from Axon, any other enemies?”

“Golems, all kinds ranging from a hundred to two hundred.” Morpheus answered.

“Oh, and the silver swirling soldiers.” Rose added.

“So it’s more than ancient?” Dion asked.

Rose nodded.

“Well that is certainly interesting.” Dion said while standing up and handing the shadow over to Morpheus.

Morpheus and Rose both followed the bunny man.

“We will contact you in the near future.” Dion said with a hand out.

Morpheus shook it and Rose did as well.

“Thank you for the opportunity.” Morpheus said.

“Well a marked is always welcome.” Dion said.

Morpheus let off a weak smile, it seemed every important person knew.

As they exited he still hadn't realised Fuzz was still a shadow and the kobold’s mouth dropped.

He sent Fuzz a message of safety and bird, to which Fuzz transformed back into a bird.

“That book really sucked.” Morpheus said to the kobold with a shake of his fist.

The kobold snapped out of it. “Ah yes, I’m sorry.”

Morpheus just faked a disgruntled look and walked out with Rose behind him who had a big smile.

“You’re a good actor you know.”

The young chimera chuckled. “You know I used to take drama lessons.” He said sarcastically.

“Want to come see my family friends, they’re stupid rich.” She said while completely ignoring what he said.

“More rich than you?” He asked.

“I mean they have no children, so pretty rich.”

“Yeah kids really do ruin your life.” He said with a Loki grin.

Rose pushed him away.

“Come on, they’d like to meet a chimera.”

“As long as they don’t cut me up.”

The two walked past the sphinx and headed to the apparent rich area of Southcross, which was located in the north side.

“Hey are you sure we shouldn’t change or something, I get funny looks if I’m in cheap armour.” He asked.

“Don’t worry about it.” Rose said with a shrug.

“Sure.”

The two headed through a street packed with giant mansions. Green hedges lined the streets with fountains every fifty feet in the center.

“How rich is this guy anyway?” He asked.

“It’s not just a guy you sexist elf.”

Morpheus rolled his eyes, he told Fuzz through his bond to hide in his cape and the shadow quickly disappeared.

She soon stopped at a mansion with two guards in golden armour posted at a gated entrance.

“Miss Crownwell, your family is not expected to arrive for months.” A guard said.

“I’m on a job, is Celene in?”

“Yes, of course come in.” The guard said opening the gate.

Morpheus followed but a hand on his chest stopped him.

“He’s with me.” She said.

The guard gave Morpheus a stern stare but dropped his hand. The young chimera smiled but without his eyes.

“No funny business chimera.”

“Of course.” He said.

“For Zues sake he’s with me!” She exclaimed.

“Sorry Miss Crownwell, we are on high alert since the Ditorians attack.”

“That’s understandable.”

She pulled Morpheus’s sleeve and yanked him in the mansions courtyard.