Chapter 28

Currently Amy’s mind was reeling from the consequences of the attack the day before. She was hesitant to even look at the Kaito social media platform. It was the glue that held the current draegun and earther society together. It was used by all. News guilds across the tower streamed broadcasts on it; entertainment guilds released their content on it. After the raid industry, the Kaito industry was the next most prominent. Thankfully, the attention was focused on the whole party, rather than just her, due to the discretion of the information guild and raid guild. Still whenever she accessed the app she could not blink while scrolling and not see her name somewhere. She even heard there was a fan page for just her; although, she lacked the courage to even view it. The result was that while her party became overnight stars in the public conscious, she wasn’t the sole focus of both worlds. Yet still, as the only pure human to have magic in history, she received more focus and support than she was comfortable with.

“Amy don’t mind too much what people say about you”, Liam said as he read Amy’s facial expressions.

He was certainly qualified to express such opinions, after being in the public eye for decades, Amy reasoned to herself. It was a problem. As a bona fide target, the less the public knew the better. Still there was only so much that could be done without interfering too much on the freedom of others.

“Just do what you want to do, and let me handle the details. It is my duty as the Arbellonddaryn master so don’t feel burdened”, Liam comforted her worried heart.

Amy felt her left limb becoming entangled in another arm, as Glyn cheerfully relayed her sentiments, “We’re a party after all, and you’re my sister from another mother!”.

Lorenn grabbed the other unoccupied limb, “And the party never stops!”.

Osgur shook his head at Lorenn with a smirk, and Gwynyveve smiled warmly.

“Hmmph, someone still needs to wipe your ass for you”, Shatira said gruffly.

Satrianna nodded, and Sean was quiet, engrossed in improving the functions of his multitude of charms.

Glyn released her hold and smacked Sean’s head, to which he replied, “OWW! Oh sorry, yeah Amy. You’re as much a part of my family as William and Glyn”.

Amy’s heart was soothed, and her burdens were lessened by the support of her friends and teacher. However, she had noticed that Jeremy was out of contact again. With one problem coaxed away by the goodwill of her companions it led to the rise of her original issue. An issue she very much wanted to escape from emotionally. Thus, causing her to delve into the problems of her new reality even more so. Ian told her he would continue looking for him until he was found and his safety verified. But not a trace was found. Liam had explained, that avoiding being seen was a skill that many had, but to disappear entirely was rare magic, especially for a pure human.

“If your fans unruly become, punish them I will”, Minerva struck out at imaginary foes, emphasizing her helpfulness and conveying her willing heart.

Amy patted her dwarven head fondly Minerva’s red hair caressing her skin, “I can depend on you”.

The party and Liam emerged out from the room they had gathered in. It was a quiet inn in the city of Llanduil, as large of a city that can be maintained so close to the borders of the dungeon Dduraduum. There were many visits and well wishes from the Llanduil Ddyllewech dragons that had exhausted Amy the night before. It was a stretch to call it an inn; and though it was smaller compared to the hotels of the capital Arbellon, its size was still comparable to a larger motel on Earth.

It was a new day, a new assignment. They had all flown to the city Llanduil during the prior day, a twelve-hour flight that crept into the nighttime hours. Amy walked down the carefully crafted wooden staircase in the middle of her group. She tried to keep her thoughts bent on the exploration quest, rather than worry about the exposure of walking out the door into the public. At least at the ruins that mysteriously appeared overnight, there would be no person there to bother her. As her foot hit the lobby floor, she was expecting a rush of people and reporters. However, that did not happen, instead the inn management kept the throngs of people away. Those who wanted to wish good fortune to the new super star raid party, interview them, or those just looking to get a glimpse so they could brag about it in their own social circles, were left with Liam who was appearing in front of the inn, while they exited via the rear door.

With Osgur leading them, they silently navigated the city streets of this very different domain. Amy was once again amazed as she looked around her, it was like the first day she arrived in Arbellon. The city Llanduil trickled from the summit to the foot hills of the lone mountain of Dandwy. Instead of towers piercing the clouds, the city was built into the mountain and underneath it. The stone streets, the structures hewn in the dark gray rock ran down the mountain like streams of water. Unlike the mixed streets of Arbell, most of the residents here were mostly dwarves who had delved deep into the mountain for generations along with the dragons who protected them likewise for generations.

A gust of wind swept up the dust on the chiseled roads, as dragons flew overhead. They perched upon precipices that stood out, some crafted by dwarven alchemy, while others were natural. Amy looked up to see swarms of dragons circling the great mountain, while navigating the winding roads. Away from the crowd and searching wandering eyes they could relax a little bit as they meshed with the crowd becoming anonymous. A conversation broke the tense atmosphere.

“To be home again, I don’t know if I am happy or hesitant”, Minerva remarked with a complicated expression.

“Why?”, Amy asked wanting to relieve her friend’s troubles.

“Well dwarves do alchemy, mining, and crafting”, Sean responded.

“Yes, and very stubborn, my people are”, Minerva spoke, “‘Mining, building, and crafting with the help of alchemy is what a dwarf does; little need we have for anything else’ or so my father says…They weren’t happy I joined Arbellonddaryn, always my mother says, ‘Learn alchemy, create a home, have more babies so we can dig deeper into the mountain and mine more diamonds, jewels, and precious metals like orialchum, and mithril”.

“My mother says something similar”, Amy said with empathy.

“My own path I wanted to take. I love magic, not rock and stone”, Minerva responded with a sigh.

“You’ll get your own adventure with this trip little sister”, Lorenn uttered as he ruffled Minerva’s hair.

“I’m expecting we’ll have to fight at some point, and you don’t have to give a fuck about what your people say, just do what you want”, Shatira remarked.

“Thank you!”, Minerva expressed her gratitude.

Amy smiled along with most of the group.

Meanwhile Glyn had a dejected look, “Liam barely spoke to me…”.

Heads shook amongst the party, but they all had a smirk. Amy was excited now and her heart felt light as they drew further and further away from the public eyes. Exploring ancient ruins in a magic world. Her other cares and concerns faded into the depths of her subconscious as her fantasies were becoming reality, and her prior reality was becoming less real, and more distant. Her enthusiasm was conveyed in the firm steps she took down the mountain.

“At least we only have to go downhill”, Satriana commented, she was surprisingly practical and very restrained for an orc.

To which everyone nodded in agreement.

Liam sighed as he stepped out the door.

“This is sooo much work”, Liam grumbled to himself.

Yet he was steadfast and did not shirk his duties as guild master, mentor, and protector.

As soon as he opened the door to join the crowd and go about his way, cameras flashed. Liam clicked his tongue at the hungry faces before him. The many fans and reporters gathered before him to extract information. He had to oblige them to delay and avert their watchful eyes as the party descended the mountain.

Another laborious sigh escaped his lips, as he began an impromptu press conference to buy time for them to escape the public eye. ‘Now I know how earthers feel when Ian interrogates them’, Liam thought to himself as he remembered his eternal brother fondly.

Although they had relaxed, Minerva led the group down the city slopes with a surety and swiftness that only a local possessed. They were like faces in the crowd that would disappear when one looked back for a second glance.

“Finally, left we have”, Minerva gave a sigh of relief as her footing turned from stone to soft earth.

“Aye that was a bit tense”, Sean remarked as they spread out, with Osgur taking the lead.

Amy looked back up the mountain, swarms of dragons circled in the air. And although, the city was above them, the mountain was tall, and they were still very, very, very high. The large shoveled road down the still snowy slopes gave way to a pine and cedar forest. The smell of fresh pine needles filled Amy’s nostrils. The nondescript hiking clothes she wore were covered with a coat of unidentified leather. It was enchanted to keep the cold out that still bit at her face. Her face was red, as the heat traveled up her back, and suppressed the cold trying to sneak its way down her neck. Then Amy looked down the mountain; in front of her the snow was melting; the landscape would change from craggy rocks, snowy precipices to a lush budding forest that greeted them after a few miles. The sky was clear above on this bright spring morning bursting with life and vitality. Amy felt she was on the same level as the clouds she spotted off in the distance, as they hung over the grasslands of the foothills. She stopped mid stride to admire the view.

By the afternoon the party had descended into the heart of the forest. Away from the road that led west away from the dungeon.

“Shhh”, Shatira said as she had her hands out feeling the vibrations in the air.

The party had stopped. Shatira’s lineage was a pixie, they looked very similar to wood elves like Gwyn with wings, but they were maybe closer to nature than wood elves. As such many pixie earthers became rangers and hunted the different creatures that would threaten the security of the roads. Without their wings due to love born from amidst the mixing of different races, they still possessed excellent agility and senses of a woodland creature.

“Goblins”, Osgur confirmed a presence as he sniffed the air.

“There must be a cave nearby”, Satriana said as she withdrew her pike from her inventory.

Lorenn armed himself with his glaive a greedy look in his eyes.

“Keep it tight”, Osgur spoke quietly glaring at Lorenn who nodded.

“Xp”, Sean whispered his magic hand cannons ready for slaughter.

“Time for a hunt”, Shatira sported an enthusiastic expression as she readied her bow.

Amy took out her wand. Goblins with their current strength was nothing but fodder, nothing but experience that would benefit them later. It was also a duty as the road filled with sojourners would be threatened. Goblins preferred mountains, and caves; once they bred enough and gathered strength they would descend like a swarm upon the closest inhabitance. Most likely a few travelers had already fallen victim. This is what life was like in the wild lands of Arbell, if there weren’t monsters there were dangerous wild creatures.

Sounds of grunts, metal colliding and voices chanting words quieted as the party soon emerged unscathed. It was only a small nest of goblins. A notification was sent to the raid officials. Soon another party would visit this area and search for more nests. But monster hunting was not their objective.

After checking themselves they continued on until nighttime. Gwyn used her elven magic to create a nest in the trees for them to rest, as Amy began to prepare food for everyone. She wanted to thank them for their support. She made a Vietnamese hot pot for everyone. Only Ian could have gathered the ingredients she needed. There was only one person who knew the ingredients for Lau De, only one person she knew that was studied enough in the ways of human cuisine, and that was him. Still even so far from her he was thinking about her. Her vision flashed with a notification as she read a text from Ian. He had often sent her texts congratulating her on each step of her journey. She put more effort into making the perfect soup that they all enjoyed.

“What do you call this dish?”, Sean asked as he devoured another bowl of rice noodles and the goat soup.

“It’s pronounced Lao Yee”, Amy replied.

“Humans sure know how to cook!”, Glyn exclaimed as she patted her bloated stomach.

As the days progressed, and the miles travelled grew they repeated the same routine. Hunt monsters they found which were mostly goblins hiding in the crevices and hidden places of the mountains, eat, sleep, and wake up to travel another day. These were some of the happiest days she had experienced since she arrived in Draegoch. The warm fire in the still frigid spring night air. The faces of her friends and adopted family. Even Shatira became less belligerent, and warmed up to the rest of the party.

Then the air became warmer as their elevation decreased, exiting the foot hills. A warm gust of air caressed Amy’s face as they looked down on the grassy plains before them. Then on the fifth day of their journey, suddenly the ground became bare before the dungeon of Dduraduum. It was a vast forest that stretched to the horizon. It was not a healthy forest no. Not a single leaf could be found. A light mist permeated, shifted, and swirled amongst the rotted trunk, twigs, and branches.

“This forest is polluted”, Gwyn apprehensively spoke as she pressed her hands upon a withered oak that was gnarled and twisted like some giant had tried to wring the life from it.

They were about to pass the boundary into this forsaken land.

“From here we travel south east a full day, then directly south”, Osgur said as he read the map on his tablet.

Amy had her eyes closed as she stood facing the forest. A feeling, like a morsel of food stuck in her teeth was nagging her as she breathed the air of the forest.

“We need to be careful”, Amy cautioned, as she opened her eyes, “I feel this forest does not want us here”.

They relied on their map instead of their vision. The way became hard as if the lifeless trees, and the barren earth conspired against them. Yet still unphased, they drew into a tight formation and journeyed on.