"You read it too, didn’t you?” she asked.
“The stats of the guy? Yeah, we need to work together,” he said.
“Correct. I've had something up my sleeve for a long time. Something to beat him with. But I don’t want to use this until it’s time. The spell is very dangerous, and I know that if someone is in the way, they will get hurt,” Alina explained.
Kek looked at the witch. She was serious about doing this.
"What is it?” he asked.
“The weakness this serpent possesses is electricity. He’s in water, right? But the problem is, water conducts electricity, so if we do use this, we have to all be out of the way. If not, we will die. I don’t want that, Kek, but I worry one of these girls is going to bite off more than they can chew, and I don’t want to be responsible for it,” she said.
Kek looked at Rita, who was fighting off the serpent as it got closer and closer to Bre. Alina was right. They needed to stay the fuck away.
"Let’s use your plan,” he said.
Alina looked at him as if he had three heads. "You’re serious?”
"Dead serious. I don’t want this to stop us from moving forward. But we need to get these two out of the area. If they die, I don’t know what I'm going to do with myself,” he said.
Alina put a hand on his shoulder.
"Let the foolish ones not listen. I want to do this. I’ve been waiting all this time. But I do need a distraction. When you see the clouds darken, I want you out of the way. Got it?” she asked.
Kek normally didn’t like to take orders, but it was obvious that this was only going to get worse with time if he didn’t heed her words.
"I’ve been waiting for this fight for far too long Kek. If we do this, we can press forward,” Alina replied.
Kek nodded, getting himself ready for whatever would happen next. "Fair enough. Let’s do this,” he said.
Alina motioned for Bre and Rita to come over. They did so, and Alina explained the plan. But Bre was against it.
“There's no way your attack will work!”
“Says who? The girl who jumped headlong into an attack, not actually doing the smart thing and assessing the weakness?” she asked Bre.
Bre growled at her, but Rita nodded.
“She’s right. Let’s just try this. Where are Val and Faye?”
Kek turned over there, but he saw Val was right beside the creature, hiding behind the log. Faye was over there, trying to use her fairy magic, but each attack was too weak. The serpent continued to deflect them. Alina grimaced, looking at the sight.
“She needs to stop. She won’t win like this,” the witch admonished.
"I know, but how do we stop this?” Kek asked.
“Get them out of the way,” she said.
Kek raced over there, getting the two of them away from there, and it was just in time too. The creature soon started to launch yet another attack, and soon he pulled them against the tree.
"What are you doing? I had him!”
"No you didn’t. Come with me.”
They walked over, and Alina explained what she had planned. There was doubt, but Rita and Kek were on board.
"Alright, give me time. Create a distraction for me,” Alina explained.
The group did as they were told, with Alina getting her book out. She turned to the one spell she’d been planning on using. Faye looked at the magic, her face agape.
"You’re that skilled?”
"Yes. But I don’t use these spells all the time. Just when it’s necessary,” she said.
The battle soon became heated, with the serpent launching attack after attack. Rita continued to deflect them, and Kek started to use the iron sword to deal small blows. But it wasn't enough, and each of the attacks barely touched it. Rita had rope in her hands, though, and she had an idea.
“Kek! Grab this and tie!” she explained.
Kek grabbed the rope, feeling the silky texture in his hands. He then brought it over, tying it, and as he saw that, the clouds darkened.
He knew that Alina had the spell ready. It seemed like she was going to do this soon. He had to be careful, for he knew that if things went sour, they would all be in danger.
"Fuck!” he cried out.
He quickly tied the snake, getting out of the body of water and over to the side. Val and Faye stood near Alina, both of them watching as the witch continued to cast the spell.
“Get out of the way!” Kek said with a scream.
Rita tried to, after she tied the snake down, but the clouds came in quick. Kek watched as she struggled to get out of the water, but as she started to do this, the lightning struck.
"Begone!” Alina said, the final words of the enchantment echoing through the air. Kek watched with horror on his face as the lightning came down, striking the creature. It burned him to a crisp! The terrible bolt of raw power spread too far, the dazzling fingers of white magic encompassing Rita in its wake. She was not fast enough to dodge out of the way and went to the ground in a blackened pile, laying immediately still the moment she landed.
“Rita!” Kek cried out in disbelief. He felt tears start to form and practically wept openly, unable to reconcile his mind with this sudden tragedy. He knew that Rita really cared about him, and had been a loyal comrade since the moment they had met. But she’d been struck by the lightning, hit immediately.
"No...” he whimpered, wanting to lash out at the one who did this, but knowing it was an accident that could not be undone with any amount of anger.
He raced over, looking to see if there were any signs of life—completely hopeless in the attempt, knowing that the chances of anyone surviving such a direct hit from lightning like that were zero-to-none. And there was nothing, no signs of life. He couldn’t believe it.
He knelt by the body, being careful not to step in the water. Alina and the rest of them came over. Bre hobbled over, holding her arm as she looked at them.
"Is she...?”
"Yeah, Bre. She is,” Kek said. “She’s dead.” The words felt unreal, hollow.”
Bre began to cry as she looked at the sight, and Kek couldn't blame her. He didn’t expect things to go this way, to lose the one person he’d cared about through all of this mess. He watched as Alina sighed, looking at the body.
"I’m sorry, but it was all I could do,” she said.
"It’s okay. I know you aren't to blame,” he told her.
"Are you sure though? Bre looks ready to kill me,” Alina said.
He looked over, and he saw the hate in Bre’s eyes.
"But did you know it would kill people in the vicinity?” Bre asked.
"Yes, which is why I told you to stay away once you saw the clouds. She didn’t listen, so this is her fate,” Alina said.
Rita was gone, and Bre was upset. Kek knew this balance wasn't going to work. But then, Val came forward, looking at them.
"Alina saved us. She defeated the serpent. She knows what she’s doing. I trust her,” Val said.
Alina smiled, and Kek nodded.
“She’s studied this. She’s ready to save us,” he told them.
“Can you really trust her though?” Bre said.
Kek nodded. "Yes. She’s saved us before. I think it’ll be okay,” he told her.
"Whatever you say, kobold. I'm not going to fight you,” she muttered.
Kek could practically sense the animosity that oozed from her body. He hated that they were already fighting, but this was the fate they shared. He knew this wasn’t going to be easy for anyone, mostly because he knew that Alina had done something that upset the general group. But Kek couldn’t let this get the better of them. He looked at the serpent, which was now just a skeleton with a shining crystal. He walked over, grasping it and holding the scale to his face.
“This is it. Let’s go,” he said.
In front of them was a door, and he saw that they had all leveled up twice, but at what cost? Rita was gone forever and nothing was going to change that. He chose the ski
ll Rush which gave him a +2 speed, and the rest of them chose their skills. He pocketed the scale and the gold, and when they got to the door, Alina looked at it.
"It’s in ancient elven language,” she said.
"Oh, and how do you know that?” Bre said with a scoff.
"I’ve studied the language a lot. Back off,” she told the young wolf woman.
She did so, and Faye also looked at it.
"It seems like...we need something to open it,” she said.
Kek looked at the scale. Could this be it? He put it in the door, and then, like a magic key, it opened the gate. Soon, the heat of the desert could be felt by everyone.
"Well, I think we found it,” Kek said.
"Yeah, no shit,” Faye told him.
"We should get in there,” he told the party.
They closed the door, about to move onto the next part of their lives. The desert was dangerous, but they could see in the distance the next door, one that led to a huge fortress, where they needed to go.
13
When they all stepped into the desert, the first thing Kek noticed was it was hot. He could feel everything heating up. He wanted to go hide in the woods once again, but Faye and Alina were conjuring spells.
"What are you doing?” he inquired.
“Getting us some protection from the sun,” Alina said.
"Yeah. I'm combining my fairy magic with hers,” the small creature said.
Kek didn’t want to argue with them. In the distance, he could see something tiny. Fortunately, the two casters had some magic left, albeit not much. About halfway to the magical location, Faye started to grow weak.
“This is...too much,” she said.
Alina had sweat prickling her brow as well, falling to her traveling clothes, now mostly discarded. Kek couldn't help but ogle her body for but a moment. But then she stopped.
"We’re here,” she said.
The group looked at the location, noticing just how empty it was. Was there even a well here? Or had they just made this up? Kek stepped forward, looking at the space.
"It looks slightly habitable,” he said. He tried to sense anything off, but it was no use.
Bre looked around, her arm still in a sling as she gazed around the place.
"Nothing here. But I don’t trust it,” she said.
"We have to be careful,” Alina explained.
The group was. They checked every single house, but no dice. There wasn’t a single soul, let alone a single piece of furniture. It was as if the place had been abandoned.
Alina and Faye were near the well, looking down.
"Do you think you can use your magic to grab it?” Faye said.
"I’m very tired and need some rest of a potion to restore my magic, but I'll try,” she said.
Alina began to use her spells once more, a basic gravity spell she had learned a long time ago. However, as she did this, something crept up behind her, and then held onto her face.
"What the--”
Before she could say anything else, the person knocked her out. Faye turned, but then the same thing happened.
Bre looked around, seeing that Alina and Faye weren’t here.
"Where the hell did they go?” she asked.
Bre didn’t want to find the caster, since Alina had been responsible for the death of Rita. The fact that Rita wasn’t here bothered the hell out of her. She had trusted the young girl with her life for a brief period of time, but now there was nothing. However, as she got near the well, something jumped out, pushing her to the ground.
"Hey, back off--”
But she was soon knocked out as well.
Kek checked the final house with Val, both of them unable to find anything. Val turned to Kek, fear present in her eyes.
"Do you think we’ll make it out of here” she asked.
"I believe so. I mean, we’ve done it once before, right?” he replied with a smile.
But Kek had his own worries to think about. On the one hand, he was quite happy with the fact that they made it out of the woods and swampland, but he also had no idea what lay in store for them next. He walked with Val over to the square, not seeing anyone.
“So this whole town is empty, and the well is full. I don’t know what to think,” he said.
"I don’t get it either. Where did the rest of the party go?” Faye asked.
They soon looked around, realizing that nobody was there. This wasn’t good. Kek turned, but he didn’t see a soul. Just as he was about to turn and figure out the source of the sound, something was behind him, but it was in his blind spot.
He tried to turn, but then a cloth was pushed to his nose. The liquid on it immediately knocked him out. He saw Val was in the same state, and then the last thing he saw was some hooded people bringing them all underground to a mysterious location, whatever it might be.
Was it danger? Or might they get some relief?
14
When Kek woke up, the first thing he noticed was the shackles. He was trapped, and the rest of the party was too.
"What happened?” Val asked.
"I don’t know, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Kek said.
They looked about, and they saw that there were other cells here too. It was then that Kek made out the words on the wall.
“Prisoners to send to Prate,” Kek read. He immediately grew pallid.
"What’s the matter?” Alina said, trying to move her arms.
"It’s them,” he said.
"What are you talking about?” she asked.
Kek knew she’d have to explain this sooner rather than later.
“Prate was someone I used to work with. Back when I was with the rebels, he was one of the leaders. I don’t know what happened since then, because I thought we were on the run, but I guess things changed,” Kek said.
“Sounds like he sold out,” Alina said, her voice curt.
Kek knew why she was acting like this. She hadn’t known he was part of the rebellion up till now.
"I’m sorry for not saying anything,” he told her.
"I had a feeling you were associated with them. You’re too feisty for the king’s people. It’s not a problem, though. We’re both from former sides, and I’ll be damned if I judge you based on that,” she muttered.
Kek smiled, feeling gracious that she wasn’t completely dismissing him. But then he sighed, looking away.
"What do we do, though? It seems like this place is guarded,” he said.
"I don’t know. I thought this place was safe, but I think the well is a trap. Trying to get people to join the king’s side,” Alina said.
"Yeah well, we’ll beat the snot out of them,” Bre said.
"With your broken arm? Please wolf, stand down,” Alina said.
"You got something to say--”
Bre wanted to attack, but she was soon stopped by the chains that were around her arms. She grimaced, and Alina spoke.
"Fighting won’t solve anything. We have to get out of here, however hard that might be,” Alina explained.
"You’re right. Let’s try to--”
Then, Kek heard a very small sound; something barely audible. He turned to his left, noticing someone with a hood there, and he immediately braced himself. This figure was dressed like the guards, but it seemed like they weren't associated with them.
"Who goes there?” Kek asked.
The person walked over but they stayed near the wall, and when they got to Kek, they smiled.
"Looks like you need a little help,” the voice said, a feminine one, but one that was lower than the other girls in his party.
"Who are you?” he asked.
“Just a human girl looking to make a deal,” she said.
A human girl? What did she want? Kek knew not to trust humans. The only ones he knew of were the whores that Prate and his men slept with. This was bad.
"How can I trust a human girl?” he asked.
"I dunno, but I can get you out of here. I know you know
of Prate, and I'm bent on getting rid of his ass,” she told him.
He looked at the girl. How did she know all of this? What did she want from him. A part of him wanted to say fuck off and try to figure his own way out of it, but when he looked at the rest of the group, they were all desperate.
"You can get us out of here, right?” he asked.
"Yes. Just say the magic word, sweetie,” she said.
He grimaced at that. But he nodded.
"Deal. I'll help you, as long as we get out of here,” he said.
“Very good. When I open up your shackles, I want you guys to move against the wall. There is a hole to the very right. See it? Take that, and follow the passageway. I’ll meet you there momentarily,” she explained.
Kek didn’t know if it was right to trust a girl like this. On the one hand, he had a feeling that she had answers, but he also knew she was a human, something he couldn't trust. But she did keep her promise, undoing the restraints and freeing them. She put her hand up to signal not to leave just yet, but then, when she hopped on out of there, she told them to go.
"Do you trust her?” Alina said.
“There's something about her that bothers me. I want to trust her,” he replied.
"I see. Well, let’s at least try,” Alina said.
The group escaped, following her instructions. They went through the narrow passageway, and about halfway through, Bre spoke.
“Pretty strange instructions. Escape through this hole in the wall, and then go into the sewers,” she said.
"I mean, definitely not the prettiest instructions,” Faye said.
“She’s helping. I guess we just have to put our trust in fate,” he said to them.
They all nodded, and when they got out, they fell into some murky water. How did all of this water get here? They were in the desert. But the girl was over in the corner, wearing a guard’s uniform, and when she tore off the hat and the top, she looked at Kek, smiling.
“Miss me?”
Kek couldn’t believe it! It was her! He looked at her, wondering how she had escaped, and hoping that the answers would reveal themselves soon.
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