Chapter 8
Glaston Township, State: Percival, Republic of Shantu, Continent: Barat Year: 2040, Planet: Grimoire
In the end, Thompson never found out where the group went. Instead of doing everything he could to escape, he chose to send his family somewhere else. He knew they despised living in Glaston, therefore, Thompson gave them detoxifying potions so that they could leave this land completely.
He escorted them to the official teleportation portal and made sure that they were able to find a new home. Thompson waited patiently until he received confirmation that they'd indeed left the republic entirely. Right now, Barat was too dangerous for them to live because of the threat the matriarch posed.
Thompson had no wish to allow the matriarch to retaliate against them as petty revenge as she was wont to do when certain tasks were left unaccomplished to her strict standards. He also investigated the history of Glaston most thoroughly and then made a thorough report to his real superiors about what he'd found. Thompson also took the detoxifying potion even though he knew it was merely viewed as an impertinent slap in the face to the Matriarch, but he didn't care. "At least I've ensured that she won't be able to harm my family."
A sigh escaped Thompson. While he could've easily left Glaston now that he was freed from the ties that bound him to this place, he chose not to. At least one person needed to become a scapegoat to distract the Matriarch. Earlier in the day, Thompson and Garic hashed out a plan that would serve to create several probabilities to keep some kind of shield around Davina Glasson and her children.
Thompson's real boss had ordered that he and Garic create a plan that would serve toward that goal even if it meant one of them had to sacrifice their life to ensure the safety of the children if not the woman. Of he and Garic, only Thompson had thought it strange that no one cared about Davina Glasson's welfare at all, and only focused on the children instead.
Garic finally had given him the necessary information to fill in the gaps while they had sat at a small cafe table. "So, you're curious about the deal with Davina, eh?"
Thompson nodded. "Yes, I am." He found the entire situation downright confusing.
"Okay, the short version is that although she isn't technically married to anyone officially in Glaston," Garic shrugged and told him bluntly. "She was married and still considered as such, officially in Montauk shipping bay." He shook his head. "I don't know what the exact details were, but in the end, she never divorced and returned to Glaston with the eight kids in tow."
wow, what a mess, so that is why Davina never married and was considered shameless to a disgraceful degree. Not only that but with this latest pregnancy it turned out that she'd laid with a married man and that activated the death curse on her.
"There is no way out for her, huh?" In the end, though, Thompson had no problems with becoming the scapegoat. He'd chosen to safeguard his family. he'd given his wife the divorce papers she'd requested and merely mandated that neither she nor the children ever returned to Glaston again.
When judging that enough time passed to allow the other families to escape, Thompson reported his failure to the Matriarch and vanished permanently from the planet through her wrath.
*
It hadn't taken long for news to spread about what happened to Thompson and his permanent disappearance. Garic shook his head when he heard the news. He glanced at where his wife and children were sleeping peacefully in the inn where they were living now.
A sigh escaped him because if he hadn't been made aware of just how difficult a choice Thompson faced in the end, Garic might've chosen another path that would've sent his family into the depths of an unknown future. "Sorry that you had to be the sacrifice, man."
Garic on the other hand managed to avoid the same fate. He just never reported to the matriarch. Instead, he just left for parts unknown along with his family.
When he finally sent a report to the matriarch it was very simple and straightforward of what exactly he'd done. Then he left her without a clue as to where he'd managed to escape. "I don't intend to allow that woman access to my family." That would just bring disaster down upon the head of his family and him as well.
Garic also didn't bother inquiring about details relating to Thompson's family. He'd heard the information from other sources that shocked him greatly. As a result, when dawn came, he and his family boarded the first ship that would take them to Netherwell Peninsula. From there they would take a teleport link to another part of the Barat continent. There were other republics out there, it was just that Shantu had been the most firmly proved one out of all of them. "Well, now it is time to join in creating a new republic."
Garic found that notion rather exciting. He had a feeling that his wife and children might be as enthused about the prospect, but they would accept it rather than face the possibility of being bullied as newcomers to empires or kingdoms that were currently in the iron grips of tyrannical rules.
Garic knew that his wife would rather take her chances in another republic than face life under an empire or kingdom where women had no rights at all. That was another reason why he chose to take a chance in another republic that was just starting to form.
His wife, Anna awoke just then. She gazed at him. "Did you not get any sleep at all?"
Garic shrugged. "I was just hammering out the last details that needed sorting." He figured he could get some sleep once they found a new haven elsewhere. "Now we should head out." He ushered his wife and children out to the ship where they would take a two-hour long ride and then reach the peninsula that held the portal to their freedom.
*
In the denser parts of the primeval forest that once provided safety to hunters and denizens of the area, Marcus Whitcombe came to an unnerving conclusion. This area had been turned into someone's private hunting grounds for both humans and monsters alike. Not only that but it was done so in a seriously nasty nature. None of the spirits or elementals wished to remain in that area and they'd chosen to bond with the new children and assist them in becoming stronger beings.
The hardest part now was getting them to safety where they would be nurtured sufficiently to remain independent and not coddled to the point of uselessness.
Marcus glanced at Joan sharply. Her weariness was clear and none of them should be this tired. That meant there was something inimical within the forest that drained them and put their very lives in danger. "I can set up a portal here." He told. "I think we've been caught in some kind of loop that is preventing us from going to the middle of the forest." They should've already reached it by now.
Joan nodded reluctantly. "I was afraid of that possibility." She admitted wearily. "I believe we're rapidly approaching our limits of tolerance for whatever is whittling away at our energy." She shook her head wearily. "I don't know how much longer I can last at this rate."
All of them were at their limits, Marcus exhaled slowly. "All right, let me check and make sure that none of us are carrying tags that could leave traces for that hag to follow our tracks." That was the last thing any of them needed to happen. Marcus made a point of scanning everyone and was glad he had. Several of the resuscitated newborns had ominous black fog around areas of their bodies that showed something was embedded within them. That hag was taking no chances in stopping them from a successful escape. Marcus managed to extract and destroy the deadly energy that tried to bend the babies to the will of the matriarch even from afar. Now there was no way for her to yank them back via deadly energy through a teleportation spell that only she could cast.