Chapter 35 – The Azure Sect

  It turns out that Elaine and Jack didn’t have to go far to catch up to Bryant and the Familiars. Bryant was stuck before the first tight squeeze in the cave tunnel as the Familiars attempted to get him through it.

  “Zephyr confirmed that this is the way forward,” Jasper assured him. “You aren’t going to get stuck.”

  “Claustrophobia is a real fear man,” Bryant said. “I’m a big guy. How am I supposed to fit through that.”

  “If you weren’t as stiff as a Rekna it wouldn’t be a problem,” Ciao hissed. “Just move your bones around to fit.”

  “Humans can’t do that,” Bryant said.

  “Prove it!”

  “What is the issue here?” Jack said coming to a stop behind them.

  “Your friend is refusing to go through the gap,” Ciao said. “This is trying my patients. I am owed time in the library. You take care of this.”

  Without waiting for a response, Ciao disappeared through the gap leaving them behind. Jack sighed grabbing Bryant. “I’ll shift us through.”

  They appeared on the other side of the gap with Elaine and Jasper coming through behind them. They continued through the tunnels with Jack leading the way, navigating them back to the others. Zephyr was already there talking to Sylvian as they arrived.

  “Welcome back,” Sylvian said. “I see you were successful in locating your friend. I am glad.”

  “Yeah, this is Bryant,” Jack said, introducing them. “But I also have important news to share. Where are the others?”

  “It’s the middle of the night,” Sylvian said. “Most are sleeping right now. Savgar is undergoing the Trial.”

  “Whoa, are you an elf?” Bryant asked, noticing Sylvian’s ears for the first time.

  “Yes, I am a member of the Azure sect,” Sylvian answered in way of explanation.

  “Might need to wake everyone for this,” Jack said. “How long has Savgar been in the Trial?”

  “It has already been longer than we had hoped,” Sylvian said. She looked a little worried about that.

  “I can’t imagine anything in there giving him trouble,” Jack said. “But I got news you and Rayne will want to know.”

  “Let’s wake everyone,” Elaine said. “What have you all done for food while we were gone?”

  “A few of us hunted a little in the cave and brought back some more roukes, mushrooms, and stalkers to eat.”

  “Well,” Elaine said. “We have new stuff now.”

  “Great,” Jack said. “I’ll get Bryant a room while we gather the others. Meet in the community room?”

  They nodded and Jack and Bryant left them. It didn’t take long to find him a room. There were plenty of empty ones to choose from. Jack spent a few minutes showing Bryant the room’s features they had discovered. All Bryant really cared about was the bed.

  “If you’d like to sleep, I don’t think it will be a problem,” Jack said. “You can meet the others tomorrow.”

  “No,” Bryant said. “Something is happening right? I promised your sister that if I found you, I’d look out for you. You might be a lot stronger than me right now, but if there is anything I can do to help, I’m there.”

  “Are you sure?” Jack asked. “This is about to get really dangerous.”

  Bryant nodded. “Just don’t expect too much from me right now. I’m still a newb at this whole System thing.”

  “Don’t worry,” Jack said. “Wait til you meet Savgar. Him and Teresa handle training right now and trust me, they’ll get you into fighting shape.”

  They left the room as everyone was filing into the community room, and they shuffled in with them. The room, spacious as it was, was cramped with everyone in it at the same time. Elaine was at the cooking pot, already starting to cook. Upon seeing Jack, she called him over to pull out some of the food they had gathered. Jack only took out enough for the current situation. So long as the meat was in his Storage, it wouldn’t go bad.

  The others quickly descended into small talk as they waited. Introductions were made as Bryant met everyone. Reuf, Zajowle and Sia surprised Bryant, but more out of curiosity than fear. Elaine and Jack only cooked some of the Rainbow Tigerfish they had caught. Each of the tigerfish was large enough to feed several people, and they required less prep work than some of the other food they had.

  Jack was hoping Savgar would finish the Trial and join them by the time they finished cooking. He would have liked to have the dwarf here before they began, but eventually the food was ready, and everyone was waiting for Jack’s news.

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  “And with that, I am level ten in cooking,” Elaine said as they finished. “As promised, you can take over the cooking for now.”

  “What did you get for your level ten bonus?” Jack asked curiously.

  “A skill,” Elaine said. “Knife techniques, it helps increase my knife skills and accuracy when prepping, but I think I might be able to adapt it for fighting as well.”

  “That’s sweet,” Jack said as they sat down with the others.

  “What is it that you found up above?” Sylvian asked.

  “I think I need to start by saying that the camp above has changed a lot,” Jack said. “Just as Zephyr told us. It will not be easy or even smart to go running into the camp without a plan.”

  “We understand,” Reuf said. “I don’t think any of us intend to do something like that.”

  “Right,” Jack said. “Well, I kind of did. Just to see the prisoners being held there and see if I could try and get them out. I couldn’t free any of them, but I did find out all the people he had in the camp were elves.”

  Rayne and Sylvian tensed at that statement, but Jack continued. “There were a lot of them, but I only got the name of one before I had to leave. The spiders were quick to notice my presence, so I was only able to talk to them for a moment. It was not enough time to free all of them, and none were willing to leave the others.”

  “Who was it?” Rayne asked.

  “Alzona,” Jack said.

  Rayne stood up and made to leave but stopped half-in-motion at Sylvian grabbing her arm. It was Sylvian and Reuf who calmed her down enough to sit back down.

  “Alzona is here,” Rayne stammered. “And Clayton has them.”

  “It’s alright,” Reuf said. “You know as well as us that Clayton isn’t going to kill them. He needs slaves right now, and they’re being held as we were.”

  “We will get them out,” Sylvian said.

  “She did have a message for both of you,” Jack said. “She wanted you two to go and get help from the kingdom of Altur.”

  Daniel grimaced at that. “Altur may be the closest kingdom nearby, but it is not exactly elf friendly. Altur is a Gnome ran kingdom and while they are on good terms with the dwarves and elves, they are not likely to send an army through the Jungle of the Four Lords to rescue a small band of them.”

  “Yeah,” Jack said. “I didn’t know all that, but I didn’t think Altur was an option either. But there are hundreds of spiders and Wenduags up there. It won’t be easy to rescue them.”

  “There is also Clayton,” Teresa said. “I’m sure he took steps to prevent another jailbreak. I don’t know if we are going to be able to launch a full-scale rescue with just the few of us.”

  “Depends on how much time we have,” Daniel said. “Guerrilla warfare has been proven quite effective before.”

  “Guerrilla warfare against an actual gorilla army?” Victor said. “I don’t much like our chances at that.”

  “In small groups we might stand a chance,” Jack said. “We managed to take down a group of three of them.”

  “They were also the lowest rank of the Wenduags,” Elaine clarified. “I learned a little of their hierarchy from when we were in the camp, and those were not the Elites. We caught the three in a sneak attack while they were distracted.”

  “Can’t count on that always being the case,” Reuf said. “And they could just as easily catch us off guard as well.”

  “How can you tell the difference between the different Wenduags?” Victor asked.

  “Typically, the number of belts they wear around their arms and waist,” Daniel said. “Along with the type of weapon they have. Also, if they are wearing armor of any kind, then they are the leaders. But even if we can handle a few of them at a time, we still don’t know what kind of powers Clayton might have now that he has become a Blood Mage.”

  “It might be possible to get the elves out of the camp,” Zajowle said. “If that is the only goal, but once we do, where can we go? Clayton knows about the city. Eventually, all of us going in and out of this place is bound to be noticed.”

  “I’d rather fight the Wenduags here than up in the jungle,” Teresa said.

  “Too risky,” Daniel said. “One cave in, and we would be trapped down here.”

  “I have no doubt they’d be more willing to cave in the whole place than fight down here,” Zajowle said.

  “There is also the issue of the city,” Daniel said. “The more we bring down here, the more people will learn of the place. Are we going to be letting everyone know about Kharzast? That can be dangerous.”

  “I think we have to keep it secret,” Jack said. “At least that is a requirement the Beast Lords will have if we want to make our city here.”

  “You spoke with a Beast Lord?” Reuf asked.

  Briefly, Jack told them about his encounter with the Southern Lord, and its offer to let them establish a city in the southern part of the jungle.

  “I heard the Southern and Western Lords were not the most violent of the four,” Reuf said once Jack was finished. “But I have not heard of any of the Lords ever talking with intruders before.”

  “Apparently they are connected to the Akashic Order,” Jack said. “It was only interested in talking to me due to my standing with the Order.”

  “Makes sense,” Victor said. “We even thought that might be the case. They never leave the jungle and Kharzast is here.”

  “I am more concerned about the price,” Daniel said. “What could a Lord want from us?”

  “There are conditions, but most of them are for me alone,” Jack admitted. “The one that effects all of us is that once we start making our city, he would get to add one person of his choice as a citizen of the city.”

  “That’s suspicious,” Victor said.

  “We could also go north instead,” Jack added. “The Northern Lord might be willing to help as well, but I think it will want things too.”

  “Isn’t the North Lord the spider lord,” Teresa said.

  “Yeah, I rather just take my chances with the Wenduags,” Victor said.

  “I’m just not sure what the best option would be,” Jack said.

  “Do you trust this… Reynard?” Sylvian asked.

  “I trust that it didn’t feel the need to lie to me,” Jack said. “I don’t think it considers any of us a threat. It could have killed me if it wanted to, so I don’t think it intends us harm either, but I’m sure that it isn’t telling me everything.”

  “It would have been stranger if it had,” Reuf said. “Beasts and Beast Lords aren’t known for interacting with the Enlighten more than they need to.”

  “I think we should go south,” Sylvian said. “At least we know what to expect and protection from one of the Lords is probably the best chance we have right now.”

  “That’s what worries me,” Reuf said. “We don’t even understand what kind of creature it is, or what it really wants.”

  “If it means we can save our people,” Rayne said. “Then it is a risk I’m willing to take.”

  “It’s not that simple,” Jasper said. “The rules the System imposes on creatures from the higher realms are not well known, but I can promise that the protection Reynard can offer is not infinite. At most it would only serve to delay.”

  “A delay though might be just what we need,” Bryant said. “I know I am new, but all of you feel very strong to me right now. How much stronger can you be with more time?”

  “He has a point,” Elaine said. “We couldn’t have taken on three Wenduags even a few weeks ago, but I’m not sure if any amount of time will ever be enough to take on the army that Clayton has assembled.”

  “Clayton will also be getting stronger as well,” Daniel said. “As will the beasts he controls.”

  “Then we just need to get stronger faster than he can,” Savgar said surprising everyone as he walked into the room.