Toga and his partner made it to the base. The priest beside him went into complete silence and just followed everywhere Toga went. To an outsider it would look like this man was his bodyguard. Toga knew better that this wasn't the case. He was in a sense, but his main job was to evaluate how he solved this issue.
The question was, by what method were they grading him? It could be anything. Was it the solution he came to? The amount of lives saved? The amount arrested? Speed? Persuasion skills?
There were two guards. Upon seeing them, one guard lightly tapped the other and nodded his head back. The guard disappeared into the base. The one doing the tapping stayed and waited for them to approach.
"Hello. My name is Toga…"
"You're a dog of the order. I know," The guard said cutting him off.
Toga snuck a glance towards his partner. He was hoping for a warmer response than that, but it didn't seem like it bothered the priest beside him any.
"State your business here. Preferable you do it quick. I get bored easy," The guard said.
Although he was just in the same red color scheme, this man wore an outfit to fit a samurai. It looked nothing like the priest garb they wore.
Toga swallowed the lump in his throat. The man was displaying a lack of patience and open disrespect. To the Skylands, that was hardly any difference from hostility. Such things were met with death up there. For the guard's sake, it was best to ignore it and move on.
He cleared his throat. "I was asked by the governor to deal with banditry in the area. Would you be so kind as to point me to your leader? Toga asked.
"Pttt," The man sneered as he tried to suppress a laughter. "So that's the excuse they want to use,"
Toga blinked. "Is something wrong?" This looked like a nice place they set up, but it hardly looked like a place that could house a guild of bandits. Was it a small group?
"Listen kid. I don't know what kind of bedtime stories they told you up there, but we aint no bandits. Fuck, I aint ever meet none that wouldn't pillage, rape, and kill any unlucky smuck that found themselves wondering about. You think we go around doing any of that?"
"My apologies, I meant you no offense. I'm here to merely investigate. I do not wish to start enmity with you," Toga said.
"Start enmity with us? How do you think everyone got here? By sharing feel good stories?" The guard grabbed him by the collar of his garb.
Toga did nothing. He glanced at his partner again and the man didn't even budge. {He is aware that he's a shining spirit, right?} He turned his attention back towards the guard.
"You must forgive me. I'm afraid there is much about the situation that I'm ignorant of. Perhaps, if I'm given an audience with your leadership, we can work something out that'll benefit everyone here," Toga said.
The man let go of his collar. "The mere arrogance. A priest no older than a pup thinks he has the power to change our situation. I'm supposed to believe they sent you here to help us when they've clearly given you the perfect excuse to wipe us out,"
At that moment, Toga felt the spirit of death lingering over his shoulder. He quickly turned and saw the priest glaring at the guard, barely suppressing contempt. All sense of that lingering death vanished before he fully caught it.
"Hey! What was that all about?" Toga asked. The guard stared at the priest with his mouth hung open. That feeling was powerful enough that even a surface dweller felt it.
"My apologies. I lost myself in my anger a bit. I'm supposed to stay neutral," The priest explained.
The guard put his hand on the hilt sticking out of his sheath. "I knew it. We shouldn't let any of you Skyland freaks up in here," The man said.
"Think about this logically. If we really wanted to get in there, you think a few guards is going to stop us," The priest asked.
He looked up on the post and saw that arrows were drawn their direction. Everyone in the vicinity was on high alert.
"Calm down everyone. We didn't come here to fight. I need everybody to calm down," Toga pleaded. At his nudging, everybody loosened their tension, if only enough to be able to hold a conversation. "Now you might not be aware of this, but I'm not just your average priest. I'm the new shining spirit for the Red Dogs. If nothing else, I really want to best possible outcome for all parties involved,"
It was subtle, but he saw the priest's hand twitch.
The guard that was sent inside had come back out. He ran over to them panting. "Boss said to send them in,"
The guard at the entrance looked at them with skepticism. "Is the boss insane?" He asked. "No matter what, these two are priest of the order. They're dangerous,"
"Boss's orders,"
The guard clicked his teeth. He nudged his head towards the back giving them the ok signal to follow the other guard.
"OPEN THE GATE!" He yelled.
Everything here was merely makeshift in comparison to the city they just left. Their base was wide, but empty with only more dirt to show for it and a mere shack in the middle. {Seriously… what kind of place is this?}
Even if his group were small, this would bring about discomfort eventually.
They were led inside the shack, and it too was damn near barren and empty. What the fuck was going on. Him and the priest traded glances. It seemed he also had the same worries as himself.
{Was this an ambush?}
Toga threw all notion of that aside. There was no benefit in them doing such a thing. Only ruin… The man led them towards a platform with a lever. He cranked the lever from one side to the opposite. Toga heard the churning sound of gears spinning. The platform began descending lower all by itself.
"I've never seen such a thing run on itself," Toga said.
"Our boss built it. He built everything down here. That, is why he's, our boss," The moment he said that, they descended far enough to see an entire town down here. This was where the bulk of the people were. They hid under here to start their own community. Here, only their boss's word was the law.
Toga had to admit, this was nothing short of amazing. Who would have thought to construct an underground town to live in?
There was endless water that spilled out the cracks high above the town itself like an underground basin. He didn't even know this was possible. Nothing in any book told him about this.
He looked up again. From where he was at, he couldn't even see sky's let alone the Skylands. It was the opposite of his world. He honestly wanted to know how such a thing could exist. He needed to meet this boss of theirs. At least to satisfy his curiosity. He had to admit, that there were some talented people in the Loil territory. For some odd reason, he felt pride in that alone.
They finally reached the bottom and the guard started leading them through the town. Everything they passed fascinated Toga to the point he couldn't stop looking around. Glancing at his partner, it didn't seem as if he shared that same sentiment. Nothing in his facial expression told him he even acknowledged where he was.
"Hey you. Have you seen this before?" Toga asked. He'd never get used to referring to somebody like that. Just didn't feel right.
The priest looked at him with indifference. "Nope. First for me too. Never knew something like this could exist,"
The answer pissed him off so much his eyes turned white with rage. {Then why am I the only one reacting to this}
Toga stopped and looked around. Now that he thought about it, everywhere he went, the citizens would either avoid them, or usher their children away.
Their children…
Woman and children lived here. It wasn't just a rag community of ruffians, but entire families living their lives were down here. Shouldn't this count as a territory worth the Skylands protection? He had to see their boss right now.
Aside from that, something crossed his mind. Why did the people here fear them? It was clear after you paid more attention, but wherever they went, they would be avoided like a death plague. Nobody down here liked The Order, or the priest that worked in it. Maybe he could do something about that.
"Welp, here we are. The bosses headquarter," The guard said.
It was the largest building down here. Inside, was a dojo with a stage that took up the middle. The place smelled of sweat and was filled with guys either sparring with each other, or training on random equipment in here. Nothing at all like the governor's place.
The moment they came in, all the bustling activity stopped. All focus was on them. "Boss, here are the priest I told you about," The guard said giving a half bow. Since he was the only one talking, his voice echoed as he spoke.
The old man nodded.
The man in question had Toga's eyes widen. Although his hair greyed, this hulk of a man was far from withered. His beard was long enough to stroke, and he could see every muscle defined.
"I guess I should greet my humble guest," He said.