[Lilith]
"So you just need the mechanical arm?" Kale asked Bulrath, who was measuring the blond haired man up and down.
"I need that whole body! That man came to me wayyy long ago, I gave him that arm and I plan on taking it back!" Bulrath then shook the iron gate. "Now open this gate and let me take a look at him!"
"How'd you even know we were here? Or the fact that…Victor was here?" Korbyn questioned him.
"…Would you believe me if I said I came out of the sewers near the bridge for some leftover scraps out of people's trash and I just stumbled upon this?" Bulrath raised a brow at Korbyn. "I was gonna get me some food! Then I heard all these crashing noises and was curious. And lord and behold, The thing I was looking for!"
"You…you search for food in our trash?" Korbyn pondered that answer. "Is that why the guards' trash bags are ripped open? I thought it was a dog or a…hm, Maybe I shouldn't have excluded homeless people in that topic…"
"Food is food! But This big mechanical looking guy is the more important topic at hand!" Bulrath pointed at Victor. "If you manage to bring him back to my place, I'll tell you where he's been hiding!"
"And how could we trust you?" Kale leaned closer to the iron gate. "We're kind of on a time limit at the moment…"
"Look, I've waddled and swam in the sewers long enough to find all the routes in it! This guy, he's been roaming a specific spot in the sewers and I've been hearing things down there from that spot!"
"You sure you aren't…Hearing voices in your head when you're down there?" Korbyn looked at bulrath. "How long have you been in the sewers?"
"The last record we have on someone who worked with mechanical equipment was from a couple of years ago…" Elena said. "…you are that person, aren't you?"
"Anything for the big mounded lady." Bulrath looked at her. His eyes targeted her impressive chest. That caused Kale to roll his eyes as he reached his hand through the iron gate, grabbing the man by the collar and yanking him right into the gate. The old man let out a yelp before bouncing off the gate, falling to the floor.
"Just tell us yes or no! We gotta stop standing around or else we lose both Kota and the Mallory girls…" Kale said to Bulrath, who was rubbing a now red bump in his forehead.
"Ah! Alright, I did disappear some years ago! I used to do mechanical work here in the Market district!"
"Why do you need Victor?"
"He's the last thing I worked on! The man came to me with one arm, so I helped him! Then he went all crazy on me and disappeared! And I've been searching for him ever since! That arm of his has caused quite a ruckus ever since and I plan on removing it from him!"
Kale looked at him confusingly. "So…why'd you hide then? You were afraid he'd come back or something?"
"My shop went bankrupt. So I ran. But…also that."
"We have that on record too…" Elena bluntly said. She had her body turned away from balruth and the iron gate, facing her body towards Korbyn. "He owes a lot of rubees to the Ozoth kingdom."
"W-wait! How about this!" Balruth stood up immediately, walking back to the iron gate and grabbing the bars on it. "Let's make a trade off, huh? I help you with whatever you all are doing and you sweep that debt off my head?"
"Mmm…" Korbyn pursed his lips. "What do you say, Elena? Does the old homeless man that probably ate our leftover meals look trustful?"
Elena pondered for a moment. Though to be honest, I was getting a little impatient with this whole event. Any more time we spend messing around, the more of a risk Kota and everyone will be. I found myself impatiently tapping my feet on the ground, looking at Victor. If I had just ignored the small old man, we wouldn't be going through all this.
"…As much as I'd hate to say it, He's the only one here that'll get us back on track for the kids." Elena finally said. "And that's if he actually manages to lead us to Mandy….I'd say we take that risk." She looked up at Korbyn. "We'll need to let the guards know about this situation and have them handle it and report to Vergis."
"Beg pardon?" Korbyn said, confused.
"With the situation we have in hand with the Mallory household being…well not a household anymore." Elena turned to the building, My gaze eying the now gaping hole that used to be the entrance to the house. The first floor of the house looked to be In ruins alongside the stairs mangled and broken in multiple sections. And not to mention the broken roof that I partook in breaking…
"People will be swarming, and seeing a house in ruins like this will cause quite a stir. We'll let the guards handle it. As for us…We'll start by grabbing the large man and taking him to wherever Balruth needs him." Elena looked at Balruth, disdain in her look. "If all things go smooth and you aren't playing us, we'll sweep that debt of yours away." She then looked at me and Kale. "Are you two fine with this?"
Kale sighed. "I…Suppose. Nothing else to really go off of." He looked at his pouch. "The magical beacon we used ended up being on its last charge. Can't really do much with it now…"
"Then we assist this…Old man then." Elena said curtly.
"Yes! We made a deal! Yippee!" Balruth clapped his hands. He then quickly stopped and pointed away from the house. "Quick, we take Victor and head into the sewers! I know an easy route that I use!"
Kale then opened the iron gate, his face scrunching into a disappointed look. He then looked back at the unconscious Victor, his hands slowly moving towards his hips as he contemplated. "…How are we supposed to carry this hunk of a mess?"
"Hah! What, has age gotten to you?" Korbyn said, he clapped his hands together and rubbed them as he moved towards Victor. "We carry him there, he can't be that heavy!"
"Korbyn, he has a metallic arm and who knows what else is in him. I don't think the two of us can carry him." Kale said, looking on as Korbyn grabbed victor by his leg. "But…see if you can drag him."
"Is that wise?" Elena said, watching as well. "Because even I can tell transporting this man will be…encumbering."
"Pfft! You underestimate me! Listen, when me and Kale were on the road, we used to carry weapon loot and other things out of dunge-Hrrngh!" Korbyn stopped mid sentence as he tried to drag Victor. The large man's body only moved slightly from Korbyns effort, the creak of his metallic arm stirred in the air. "Hrrngh! Haah…Hold on, I didn't get a good grip! Maybe his metal arm is stuck or something!"
"Here, let me help." Kale finally stepped in to help. He moved himself to the upper part of victors body, Grabbing his right arm. As Kale went on to grab Victors left arm, he found himself struggling to lift it.
"Hey…hah…You having some trouble lifting up a stupid arm?" Korbyn mocked Kale, but he too found himself struggling to lift Victor's feet up. "You…hoo…damn, shit. For a dead guy, he weighs a lot!"
"Seems like you're getting to that age too, you old ass elf!" Kale said back to him. "What was that about being able to lift him? Stop shoving his feet up your face and lift the damn guy!"
"Well I would if you actually lifted him instead of fondling him!"
"Argh, he isn't budging!" Kale finally gave up, dropping Victor's arm. He was heavily breathing from it. "We're gonna need some more people to help us."
Korbyn let go of Victor's legs, brushing his hands off with the unconscious man's pants. "Well…I could go find some guards. I know some of them will be coming by to investigate."
As the two men looked down at Victor. I began to wonder…Could I lift him? Maybe not lift him, but perhaps drag him around? I know my strength is quite high for what a person should have, being a dragon hybrid made that possible. And we can't be wasting time…I'm going to test this out.
Clenching my fist, I tried to control my fiery left arm. The fiery aura surrounding my left arm slowly began to simmer down as I took some deep breaths. I couldn't let the anger continue on, especially at a time like this. I just needed to calm down, which led me to remember yesterday night with Kota. Feeling his hands hold mine, and when he pampered me. My left arm soon lost its fiery aura,The scales that appeared on it began to recede, slowly going back to my human skin. I gave myself a nod of encouragement before I walked towards kale. The blonde man gave me a look as he backed off from Victor.
"Lilith? What are you doing?" He asked me.
"I think…I think I can drag him. I'm strong enough." I said, grabbing Victor by both of his wrist. The metal arm he had made a creaking noise from the pressure I gave to it, I was really gripping his arms quite hard. As soon as I had a good stance, I began to lift the large man.
"Woah, hey Lilith! You're gonna hurt…Your back?" Kale sounded concerned at first but ended up trailing his words as I began to hold Victor up.
Though he was on the heavy side, he actually seemed manageable to me. I gave off a surprise look due to that realization, which caused Korbyn to gawk at me.
"Whoah-ho-hoo! The young gal got some muscles on her!" I heard Bulrath call out. "Now that's something!"
"Wha-oh come on!" The dark skinned elf stood up and put his hands on his hip, his mouth open in an annoyed manner. "You are embarrassing me and your old man in front of the homeless mechanic."
"Korbyn, shut up." Elena rolled her eyes, she then looked at me. "Lilith, are you able to lift him any further? Can you drag him?"
Giving it a try, I tried to lift Victor up higher. Maybe I could actually carry him by lifting him over my head? I went on to grab the large man by the waist as he went into a sitting position, lifting him again so that his torso was above me. The problem I was seeing now was that…Well he was just too large, His arms and legs sheepishly stretched and laid on the floor even when I had my arms fully outstretched. And considering his head dropped low enough to block my view…I don't think this was the right plan.
So I dropped the guy. Casually tossing the large man to my left, which caused Kale to look at me with a confused and concerned look.
"What? I don't think he's going to wake…" I gave kale a look back. "See, he's still sleeping." I gave Victor's body a nudge, proving to kale.
"I…I was more concerned about you than him." He said. "But I guess I'm just worrying too much. You can handle it…"
Oh…now I feel like the mean one here…
"I think I can just drag him." I said, awkwardly turning away from Kale. I went back to Victor and pulled him from his arms, pulling him towards the iron gate with relative ease. I heard kale opening the gate, allowing me to pass through and head into the streets of Ozoth.
As I let go of Victor, I heard the three adults moving out onto the street. But there were some other footsteps as well, Multiple.
"Ah! Lady Elena!" A loud male voice spoke down the street. When I turned around, I saw a group of armed soldiers running their way towards us. "What in the hell is going on?!"
Elena quickly moved ahead of all of us, moving Balruth aside as he was in her way. The old man stumbled over his feet and fell to the floor, but not without mumbling happily over the fact that Elena had just pushed him.
"Hoohoo, Love a rough woman!" I saw him rubbing his face as he said that.
Gross.
"Soldiers." The guards' heads perked up at Elena, who looked at them all. "There has been an incident at the Mallory home. A breach made by the wanted Mandy, I need you all to secure and contain the site. Make barrier spells so that nothing leaves the estate, Me and Korbyn have run into some of Mandy's…Horrific monsters and we cannot let those wander the streets of Ozoth. If you see any, kill them."
"Got it! Anything else!?" All the soldiers immediately answered back to her.
"Yes, report this to King Vergis as he'll want to know our current situation. Tell him that we managed to find Mandy and are in Pursuit. That'll be all." Elena watched as the guards took off, running past her as they went right for the Mallory's now destroyed home. However, Korbyn stopped them momentarily.
"Woah, hold on! Make sure this section of the district is sealed as well. We don't want anyone else coming into this area, It still could be dangerous. Also…" Korbyn waved at the guards, all of them huddling together. I could just make out what he was saying. "You guys…Ever noticed food missing from our trash? Or specifically the food from my trash?"
"Uh…no? We don't look at our trash."
"Have you been wasting food?"
"No, no…Okay, maybe I have. Some of the food Elena makes for our dorm is not good, so I toss them." Korbyn poked his head out of the head and noticed the rest of us looking at him, to which he quickly ducked his head back into the huddle. "Don't tell her! Just get to work with sealing this place!"
With countless nodding and agreeing, the group of soldiers made haste to search and secure the Mallory home.
Seeing it was now time to get ready to move, I grabbed Victor again to move. The three adults with me gathered around Balruth, who was waiting near the bridge. The bridge was on the right side of the Mallory home and seemed to split into two roads, Left and right.
"So, Balruth…where to?" Kale asked him, eyeing the old man.
"We take the shortcut I take! Down this bridge and then head down one of the doors that lead to the sewage line underneath." Balruth said as he began to walk. "It's about a thirty minute walk from there until we get to my place! Come on!"
"Where will that take us?" Kale asked.
"Just below the great library, got my whole little place all set up just underneath it!"
The great library? That's where I also need to go with Kota. The girl I saw, Sandra, told me to go there to see her. Maybe…I could see her before I get Kota?
No…She can wait. Kota is more important, his and the Mallory sisters. Maybe when this is over, I'll have Kota accompany me to the Library.
"Time is ticking…Alright, Let's follow him. But you better not be lying with what you know about where Victor lives." Kale said. "Lilith, I hope you can take that man all the way down there…"
Lifting the body of Victor once more, I began to drag the man. "It'll be an easy walk."