WebNovels

Chapter 41 - Chapter 41: Towards the black planet

Some days before…

Alerya had just reached the room where the seven sages were located. Jarko reached her, she wanted to speak with the sages.

Alerya followed Jarko silently. When they arrived in the room Jarko stopped, then waved for Alerya to enter.

"Seven sages… I have a question," asked Alerya as she kneeled in the middle of the room. She could not see the sages, their thrones were too high.

"What is it Princess Alerya?" asked the Keeper of Silence, the leader of the sages.

"A messenger from Skar'Zhul arrived today, and he told us about the attack that the city received," said Alerya. She then explained to the sages everything that she had heard from the messenger. Many sages were surprised, and Jarko heard everything too, you could not tell if he was worried or not.

"And in the end they asked for some help" added Alerya. At first she spoke with her head down, but now she lifted it up with a very serious expression.

The sages spoke among themselves, Alerya could barely hear them.

"We accept it… and we will leave the decision of who to send to you," said the Keeper of Silence.

"But someone needs to remain here" added the Lord of Stones.

"As you wish," answered Alerya while thinking of who could remain here.

"You may go now," said all the sages together. Alerya stood up and walked away. Jarko remained still, watching Alerya leave.

In the Veilguard's meeting room…

"Mhm, so who are you thinking of sending?" asked Kael. The Veilguard's building had been rebuilt, very similar to the last one.

'Mmmhh… Lara's soul is still shattered, she cannot go. And she alone won't be enough to defend the city,' thought Alerya. Kael and Allocen watched her. Lara was not there, she was working in the hospital.

"Kael… you and Allocen will go," said Alerya after making her decision.

Both of them nodded, and the following day they started to walk towards Skar-Zhul.

"It has been so long, Darian!" shouted Kael. He rushed forward to hug him.

'Ouch, it hurts…' thought Darian, his body was still recovering, and Kael hugged him too tightly. Allocen, as always, walked silently.

"Guys! You are here too!" said Darian as they entered the city.

While walking towards the Shakurn's building, Kael and Allocen were both surprised. Neither of them had ever seen a different city than Therya. As they walked, Darian explained how things worked here, then asked why only they had come and not the other Alterids. Kael explained everything to him.

In front of the building there was Eros. As he saw them he smiled kindly.

"Hello! You must be the Alterids from Therya, right? Thank you so much for your help," said Eros.

"Oh, don't worry," answered Kael.

"Now," said Eros, returning serious, "you know the situation, right?" He started to lead the way towards the meeting room, where the others were, except for Allen, who was still recovering.

Liro and Vane were both surprised to see Kael and Allocen here. They waved at each other warmly.

"Allen will finish his recovery tomorrow. In two days we will go and free Nysira" said Eros. Everyone could only agree.

"I'm scared… what if too many days have passed and they have already killed Nysira?" said Jaune, his whole body shaking.

"Then that means we will simply avenge her," added Eros. "I have created the teams too… we will divide into two groups." Everyone wondered how he had divided them.

The meeting was now over, no one had any more questions. Both Kael and Allocen were tired, so Eros brought them to their room.

"Jaune, I've got a question for you," said Darian, getting closer with his diary. In the room there were still Liro, Vane, and Tauren.

"Oh, Darian? What is it?" asked Jaune, confused.

"I would love to hear a description about the monsters you fought," asked Darian, his eyes shining. Jaune could not say no.

"Ok, the one who could speak looked like a crocodile… but it was standing on two feet. They called him Liztawul, and he had a really strong tail," said Jaune. Darian was taking notes.

"How strong?" asked Darian, lifting his head, his eyes shining. Jaune flinched, scared. He looked over at Liro and Vane, who were like: 'It's completely normal.'

"Well, I was on top of Nysira, and he was able to throw us against the wall. So really strong," added Jaune.

"And how much do you two weigh?" asked Darian, trying to understand how powerful that hit was.

"Well, I weigh like 58kg… and for Nysira…" said Jaune, lowering his voice. Darian was confused.

"When I asked her like a month ago, she almost killed me…" said Jaune, laughing softly.

'Nysira… please be alright… or I won't get my revenge with all the fight we had…' thought Jaune. Now Vane got closer to them too.

"Oh, Vane!" said Darian after seeing him walk closer. "You fought with one who could speak too, right?"

Vane nodded, and started to explain how the Krukin fought.

"This one was called Mantblast… I don't remember much except that he was really strong in battle. His tactics were crazy, but he likes fighting with only one person," explained Vane. He then told Darian that he was full of bladekruk, but they did not fight at first.

While Darian kept writing, many hours passed. It was now late, so everyone returned to their rooms.

As Darian lay in bed, he started to write on another page: Humans.

He was referring to the humans that helped the Krukins, and he wrote the only one they saw.

'Sappho – This woman was really weird. She was half human and half Krukin… how did she become like that? She had this huge black horn on her forehead, her blood was half red and half black. She could summon dead creatures. After everyone died, she could summon them.'

But she could summon humans that she did not kill… thought Darian, trying to find an explanation for her power.

'Maybe she can summon the creatures that died in that single place???' wrote Darian in the diary before closing it and falling asleep.

Two days passed. Now Allen was fully recovered, and everyone was ready to go.

They all gathered in front of the gate. It was early in the morning, so only a few people were watching the departure.

"Let's go," said Eros, leading the way. Darian was next to him. They had to reach Darian's base, it was the safest point next to the mainland, and everyone could use it as a base.

Many days passed. They all walked really fast, so it took only five days to reach it. After they arrived, Rusty was really surprised to see them… especially because now there were more.

"I can see you were able to find more humans," said Rusty. The Veilguards were not surprised to see him, unlike the Shakurn, who wondered how that thing could even work. Darian then explained the whole situation to him. Rusty then did something that surprised everyone.

"Mhm… I thought that you might return with more humans, Master. That is why I created new rooms for everyone," said Rusty. Everyone started to follow him. There was a stair in the house that led right under it, and there was a huge room.

Rusty had created all this by itself in case Darian returned with other humans. The room only had some beds, which were made with harvested plants, but it was more than enough!

Rusty led them down the narrow stair carved beneath the house. The air grew cooler and carried a faint earthy smell, mixed with the sweetness of dried plants. As they stepped into the chamber, a soft green glow spread across the walls, tiny moss and fungi clung to the stone, lighting the space with a gentle shimmer.

The room was wide, hollowed out with surprising care, almost as if Rusty had shaped the earth itself with patient hands. Beds made of woven plants lined the walls, each covered with thick, layered leaves that gave off a subtle herbal scent. The ground was solid but not rough, smoothed out as though Rusty had pressed it flat piece by piece.

It wasn't luxury, but compared to the hard floors and makeshift camps they were used to, it felt like a hidden sanctuary. A place born from Rusty's quiet dedication, prepared for the moment his master might return with others to protect.

There were around twelve beds. They were not very comfortable, but still better than the last time the Veilguards were here.

"This is crazy, Rusty… thank you," said Darian, watching the whole room. He was more surprised than the others.

"Crazy, Master? I know what you were once…" said Rusty. Darian smirked, understanding where Rusty wanted to go. Everyone else was confused, except for Snowy who was more used to this kind of stuff.

When they arrived it was late, so everyone ate some fruit and simply went to sleep, getting ready for the fight to save Nysira.

The following day, after they reached the mainland, Eros announced the teams. These two teams would go in different zones.

"Darian, Liro, Vane, Allocen, and Jaune… you will take this path," said Eros, pointing at a route towards the south on the map. It was a map of the entire mainland.

"While me, Allen, Kael, and Tauren will take this one in the middle," said Eros, pointing to the other route. "We will meet exactly near the black planet, at this point."

Eros pointed at a precise spot, many paths ended there. It would be perfect.

"You're probably thinking why I chose to split the team. While on one hand it would be a disadvantage, on the other it's really great: because it would be a complete mess with all our powers. So splitting is a better choice," said Eros. "If everyone gets gravely injured, the group has to immediately return to the base. The others will keep going. Understood?"

Everyone nodded in agreement. The teams were now ready. They waved at each other and took their separate paths.

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