Volume 01: Start Again
Chapter 20: Through the Ashen Night
Standing back up from the pond Louse motioned for us to follow after him. Walking off to the other side of the pond he walked back into the forest.
Seeing this I looked down at the prince and nodded to him. Following Louse back into the other side of the forest that was lightly lit like the night sky.
"It's beautiful isn't it." Louse spoke out as he caught one of the falling leaves that littered our surroundings playing with it with his fingers.
"It is," I responded back.
"Nothing like those fake trees back home eh." Tossing the leaf to the side Louse continued forward not saying another word for the rest of the time as he sniffed out with his nose.
*sniff*
*sniff*
Directing us through the forest we once again did not see any creatures in the forest as we followed Louse's directions.
"We are almost out." Louse said.
*sniff*
*sniff*
Holding up his hand in a fist Louse stopped his movements.
"I smell two men of the Frogolians coming from behind us. They just entered the forest from the direction you came from." Louse said as he turned to look past the prince and me.
Hearing this I also turned to look in the direction we had just come from.
"We should get going." Saying only this I urged Louse to keep going.
"Two more gold pieces." Louse said aloud as he looked at me with his hands behind his back as if whatever I answered did not matter to him.
Not hesitating at all I instantly responded, "Deal."
Smiling Louse turned and began running in the direction he had been walking in before.
Seeing the sudden increase in speed by Louse I also joined him in running and not too far behind me was the young prince who was now fully sprinting with his short legs trying his best to keep up with us.
Not even three minutes had gone by when we finally reached the edge of the field zone.
[Exiting Field Zone | Starry Under Trees | Level 2-10 Zone]
Stepping out from the shimmering tree line I once again felt my body go through what felt like the edge of the zone as it always gave that slight feeling of passing by a magnet.
"We need to continue for another thirty minutes north that way we can hit a rather large NPC town. Only in this way we can lose the two behind us. So, someone should carry the boy as it seems he is running on fumes now." Louse spoke out quickly looking back at me.
In turn, I looked over to the prince who had his head down and hands on his knees. 'Dammit, I forgot he is royalty and has probably never done too many physical activities.' Nodding back to Louse.
"I got him. Just lead us." Saying these words, I grabbed ahold of the prince and threw him onto my back like a backpack.
"I wasn't offering to carry the boy he is your problem I was merely giving you my strategic advice." Louse responded as he turned and began running again.
Not worrying about the words of Louse I just followed after him quickly. As I was running, I noticed Louse slowed down a bit as I am sure he assumed I would struggle to carry the boy and keep up with his quick movements.
"Don't worry about me. We can not get caught so just lead as fast as possible." I called out with an unhampered stream of breaths to Louse.
As if acknowledging my words Louse dropped to the floor getting onto all fours and began running again but this time his speed was almost unfollowable.
'Shit, I didn't know he was this fast.' Watching the newfound speed of a rat man, I could not help but sigh to myself as I knew this journey would age me more than standing against the wyvern.
Sprinting after Louse I could feel the clinging hands of the prince around my neck. Luckily, I did not have a throat because if I did, I am sure I would be gasping for air due to the death grip this boy had me in.
Running like this for another twenty minutes we finally saw the bright lights of the large town Louse had been speaking of, but as I got closer, I noticed that the lights seemed a little odd in the upcoming town. Trying my best to analyze the upcoming town as I ran, I noticed something that put me on edge instantly.
The overhanging moon became ashen in color.
'Fuck!' Turning to Louse I noticed he did not seem to be surprised by the sudden change in atmosphere. Noticing this I turned to my right to see the large army of creatures in the distance standing like a well-prepared army. Undisturbed they stood in a large open field just outside the large town.
"Oh no." The tired voice of the prince sounded from over my shoulder.
"Why are we here?" I called out carefully to Louse as I tried my best to stay hidden from the large number of creatures that were beside our position.
Not responding right away Louse made an instant directional change making a hard left to now go in the opposite direction of the beast tide that was formed to our right. Following the movements of Louse, I also changed directions and began moving right behind him.
As we got to a more appropriate distance from the beast tide Louse slowed down allowing me to catch up right beside him.
"I did tell you this was the best way to lose those two that were coming from the back as I assumed they probably had someone with them that could track you like myself. Hence, I had to bring you to an area where they could lose you in the many different sounds and scents." Louse answered while directing us along a separated tree line so we could keep the beast tide in our view.
Thinking about the words of Louse I began nodding as they made sense. I knew this was a rather risky route to take but was by far the most effective as there was a high chance the frogmen would not step anywhere near the beast tide in fear of being drawn into a species war if they killed any of the beasts present.
*RRRROOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRRR*
Hearing this roar, I immediately turned in the direction of the beast tide just in time to watch a large black bear-like creature step out from the back of the beast tide. Getting onto its hind legs it stood up to tower over all the creatures before it.
I gave a slight glance to Louse to make sure I was still following him but could not take my eyes away from the beast tide for too long as arches of lightning drew my eyesight back to the large bear creature.
Smacking its paws together purple lightning began to rain out from the large black bear's claws igniting the rest of the creatures around it.
The lightning must have acted as a buff in some way as the creatures that were struck by the arching lightning all began to have purple crackles of lightning emit from their bodies as well. Seeing this I could not help but feel a bit shocked as I had never heard of such an ability from such a large creature.
*ROARS OF THE BEAST TIDE*
The roars of the best tide in the distance rang aloud for all to hear as the large army seemed like it was now ready to attack.
Now passing further along the town's large walls I was starting to lose sight of the army of beasts as we made our way along the trees line. Now only being able to hear the roars of the creatures behind us I could not help but think about if this town would be able to handle such a beast tide.
Shaking my head, 'I need to take the boy.'
As I was having this thought something wet seemed to have fallen onto my shoulder through a torn portion of my tattered shirt. Noticing this I turned my head back only to spot the teary-eyed prince on my back trying his best to muffle his cries.
"We can't," I whispered to the prince.
Without any hesitation, the prince replied through a choked cry, "I…know."
Turning his eyes away from the city the prince buried his head into the back of my shoulder no longer looking off at the city or the beast tide.
Feeling the wetness continue to increase across my shoulder I chose to just ignore it as I followed behind Louse.
*RRRRROOOOOAAAARRRRR*
*THUSH*
'It had begun.' Listening to the sounds that came from the other side of the town I knew that even a town of this size stood no chance against such a beast tide with such a support creature inside of it. This town would have had to have been at least a city level to even think about holding its own.
Leaving the town in our wake we made our way onto the road that lead out the opposite way of the town.
"We will follow this road as it should be connected to the closest player city with your requirements." Louse slowed down to a walk now as he spoke out to me.
Seeing this I also slowed my steps and reached over my shoulder to tug at the prince but as I did, I noticed he was now fast asleep.
'He must have had a long day as well.' Pulling my hand back I just allowed the prince to sleep on my back.
"How long until we reach the city you think?" I spoke out to Louse who was walking before me.
"Not too long maybe another two hours maybe. Luckily you wanted to go to a player city because if it was an NPC city the cities' gates would have been closed by this time and we would have had to wait outside the city till they opened." Louse spoke to me as he continued to sniff out the surrounding air.
Nodding my head, I knew Louse was right as NPC cities were always strict when it came to curfews because of the beast tides. While player cities could afford to not close their gates as they had players who were always coming in and out of the city at all points in time. Also, with players not really dying in the game, this allowed player cities to just throw large amounts of numbers at any beast tide. Eventually killing all the beasts off.
More time passed as we walked down the dirt road not really talking as Louse spent most of the time just sniffing at the air around us.
"We should be arriving soon." Louse spoke out to me.
Not even five minutes went by when I finally saw the bright lights of a city off in the distance.
'Finally.' Following Louse towards the city, we were able to pass by several groups of players who seemed to be hurrying down the road in the opposite direction as us.
'They must be heading towards the town to aid with the beast tide for some quest.' Watching the passing players, I was able to see a couple of silver and gold pendants.
'Impressive but I still think it is not enough seeing that large bear using that purple lightning ability.' Shaking my head at the many teams running out I just continued behind Louse.
Now approaching the city's large metal steel gates, I could spot the gates guards as they all wore the familiar white armor. I watched on as a constant stream of people walked in and out of the city as the guards watched them from the side.
Before we could get too close to the city's gate Louse stopped in place turning towards me, "My job here is done so I will be accepting the rest of my payment now."
Seeing Louse holding out his small rat hands I dug out the remaining gold I owed him. Placing the extra four gold pieces into his hand he smoothly tossed the gold pieces into his pocket before bowing to me. After doing such he turned around and began taking off in the direction of the road we had just come from.
Turning to watch Louse run down the dirt road I could not help but smile to myself as I knew he was about to go make a killing on those other players we had seen pass us. Watching his figure disappear into a mere shadow I turned back around and began walking to enter the city.