I'm exhausted. I couldn't sleep last night, my mind wouldn't let me. Replays of the previous day flashed through the fog. The things I missed, the things I should've realized, what I could've said or done differently.
I could've told her that she looked beautiful as she was so she didn't have to go back to her room. I could've just not told her about Nichdtie and make her uncomfortable. I could've done anything differently, anything, if it meant she wouldn't be gone right now.
Soiclupt didn't seem to be fairing any better. Despite me not getting any sleep, she had even darker circles around her eyes. She came to protect her sister, but she failed. She lost someone who seemed to be the most important to her.
We met up at the eating area once the sun rose. Today was the day that the ship was to land. My three day trip was coming to an end, but I wish we had more time. Cuu was still missing, but she was on the ship still. The captain told us that no exit had been breached so the man was somewhere.
We spent the last few hours of the trip scouring the ship. The different nooks and crannies that could've been used seemed to be infinite. There was another storage closet every four doors, and then other side areas and rooms for the staff. With the size of the air ship, even a month of checking wouldn't be enough for us to search through all of them.
Luckily we had the staff helping, but even then we couldn't locate her. Then came the moment, the moment the ship was due to land. Unfortunately we couldn't stay any longer, so me and Soi, who insisted I call her that while Cuu was missing, had to join the masses as we were to disembark. The giant hangar door opened to reveal the humongous city behind it.
Merchant City, the undisputed, most advanced city in the world. It's buildings were tall enough to leave marks on the sky and it's streets were a sea of people. The different colors of scales, horns, fur, and feathers were scattered amongst the crowds giving the moving currents even more depth.
Our own crowd of passengers start to press forward, practically sweeping me and Soi along. We continue forward while being bombarded by the sea of colors, but amongst them all I could see a purple robe.
My mind froze for a second with hope racing through me. I only looked at Soi with shock on my face before I rushed to where I saw him. The shimmering of purple and shadow taunted me from afar as it seemed just when I got to where I saw it, I would see it again further in the crowd. I could even see that there was space in front of it, possibly meaning that he was still pushing that cart he had with Cuu inside.
But before long I lost it and couldn't find it again. Soi was still right beside me, and she tried asking me what I saw, but I couldn't hear her over the ruckus of the streets. Even though the mutterings of the crowd were excruciatingly loud, there was one voice I could hear above it.
It was a deep tenor voice that's shout seemed to reverberate the entire air. It called to everyone to listen to his words, but once it shared them I lost interest.
It shouted, "The gods may be asleep for now, but they shall rise again. The evils of recent won't stand a chance once they come. So please, ye wandering sheep, come join the righteous and praise the gods. Only then will you find satisfaction."
Once I got close enough to it I could see that the voice belonged to this massive Rhinoherd in the center of the area. He had a stand he was shouting from, but it seemed really hodgepodge for someone who spread the word of the Spell of Gods Matrisect. I didn't know the legend but I knew of the Church of the Gods, the largest, maybe only, religion in the world that celebrated the gods. Inside the religion is numerous sects that worship different aspects. Some only celebrate one god, while others look to all of them.
The Spell of Gods Matrisect worships all gods and uses powers bestowed upon them to heal or bring in more believers. Now, that sort of idea isn't unique. There are countless sects just like it, but what makes it different is the fact that it calls the nonmembers sheep. Because a Dragonborn goes baa baa apparently.
I have no interest in joining a worship committee so I intended to just block out what he said, but then he mentioned something that peaked my interest.
"You all may have heard! Of the cult attacking and pillaging! The purple robes that lead them and their goal!" His voice resounded. "If they are not stopped soon, then eventually only the gods will be able to stop the calamity. Let us not invoke their anger by waking them early! Join me, sheep!"
I may be from a small village, but I never heard of a sect that didn't want the gods to awaken as soon as possible. But what really caught my attention was his mention of the purple robes. I turned to Soi to see if she heard, and from her staring back at me she must have. We nod at each other before heading to the Rhinoherd's stand.
Just as we were about to make it to the front, suddenly, "All, I see one of the purple robes amongst ye. Fear not! I will handle him. You come back here, fiend!" With that, the seemingly eight foot tall Rhinoherd reached behind him and pulled out a wand. The wand was of simple design that was mostly brown. In fact it looked like a twig between his huge fingers.
He held it in front of him as he called out, "Oh gods allow this servant of yours to bring my enemy to the side of righteousness, Tracking Ray!" Man this guy loves yelling.
As soon as he finished his mantra, a light set forth from the tip of his wand towards a point in the crowd. Right before it hit I saw a flash of the purple hood. He found him!
Then the light hit.
And then everything exploded. The ground shook uncontrollably from the tremors as the light blinded my vision. A ringing was left in my ears, but even still I could hear the deep rumble voice, "Darn it not another explosion, but the spell connected, that's all that matters. The evil fiend shall not escape me."
My vision started to clear as I saw the giant man bellow in his victory.
I shout at him, "Why did you blow up the crowd?"
He looked over at me. "Hmm, you recovered quite quickly from that. You and the lady behind ye." I turned and saw that Soi was perfectly fine. Apparently I blocked most of her view of what happened. He then answered my question.
"Well you see, my magic, other than healing spells, tend to blow up no matter the type of spell. So while I was able to successfully tag the purple robe with a tracker, I blew up the immediate area."
This guy seems dangerous. Despite knowing it would cause a lot of injuries, he still uses his magic. But maybe he can help, he just said he was tracking the man.
"I heard you earlier, you announced you wanted people to help you to stop a cult with purple robes. We'll help you if you can take us to the guy you're tracking." I made the proposition to him, and judging by the toothy grin he gave he was pleased.
"Of course!" He bellowed out, "I knew the gods would send the few warriors among the sheep to me. I'm Lennint Arment, the visionary for the New World sect. Now, we should make ourselves scarce, else the task force, or worse, the Church come after us." He started lumbering off in a direction a lot faster than I expected him to move. I almost struggled to keep up with him. Soi easily kept pace.
Now that we had a moment of peace, albeit with running, I had a chance to properly look at him. Lennint was a huge man, like most of his species. Easily surpassing eight feet, his light gray skin appeared smooth, but sturdy. My guess was it got sturdy from the constant explosions he alluded to causing. His nose housed a magnificent horn of over a foot long. Almost made me wish I had horns.
His clothes were mostly made of leather, a cheap material most made use of. And with his humongous size it wouldn't be shocking if he didn't have any other option for clothing. He ran without shoes, probably because his massive feet were calloused enough to take most ground impact. I couldn't imagine torturing my feet like that, and they are literally scaled.
After running in the wake Lennint made for a while, he led us down a side alley into the shadows. He knew where he was going and took us down several turns before arriving at a wooden door. Instead of knocking on it, he pulled a lever on the ground and the floor opened up making us fall. We landed on a slide that guided us at a fast pace downwards until we crashed into a cushion made of pillows.
When I got up, and my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw that we were in a dome like room. A large bed along one side and other living appliances around the rest of the room. The wall, while obviously concrete, seemed to have been made to look like a rocky wall. But the center of the large room was a circular table. Before I could tell what it was, Lennint rose his large body up and spoke.
He flipped a switch as he said, "Welcome to the New World sect headquarters." As he did so torches placed around the room started to give off light as if on fire, but no fire could be seen.
He continued, "This is the area that I gather new recruits and show them the evidence and clues I have gathered."
Behind me I could hear Soiclupt.
"I can't believe the entrance to a sect is a giant slide."
I turn so fast to look at her. "That's what you get from all of that?" She just shrugged in response. Man I wonder what goes through her head.
I turned back to Lennint to see that he was heading to that center table I saw. He pressed the center of it and it expanded. It separated out into two, a lot of buzzing and clicking could be heard as it moved. This must be more technology developed in Merchant City. It's so weird.
It stopped separating and from the chasm it made arose a board with pictures and connecting lines. Lennint turned his focus back onto us.
"Come, new recruits," he called, "I must record my first members' names. So please, do share, and I shall do the same in kind."
"Uh, I'm Dtiedro, and this is Soiclupt. We're searching for her sister who was kid napped by the man in a purple robe you tagged." I figure it couldn't hurt to indulge him, he was helping us after all.
His expression brightened a bit at my response. "Ah, good, I like that about you new recruits. A vendetta against the cult. That's what I need in teammates."
It was my turn to ask him a question. "You keep mentioning a cult, what are you talking about?" The delight he showed turned to a look of surprise.
"Ye haven't heard of the Cult of Cratezt that has been wreaking havoc all over our fair Merchant City and the kingdoms around it?" Soi and I shook our heads no.
Soi was the one to speak, "We are from the mountains so we do not know the problems of the area." Man, seeing these two giant people, I feel short with my five foot six inch self.
"Interesting," Lennint's voice drawled out, "Okay, I'll get ye up to speed. Now sit at the table and I shall share all as promised." The dramatic effect he was adding with waving his tiny wand around was hilarious and intimidating at the same time. The table opened up even more to show a projector of some sorts. It started running and shown on the wall.
It proceeded to explain the Cult.
End of Chapter 7
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