She just got unlucky.
I peeked out of the entrance. The new angle didn’t give me any new information. I needed to find a way to open the cage, and soon. Valentine was going to come back any moment now. There’s no way I can find anything from up here, though. I could hardly make out the Gnomes’ forms. Trying to see if one of them had a key was hard, even though I had my Emperor’s Eye skill. Perception didn’t let me pick out a small silver key in a crowd of Gnomes from eight or ninety feet above.
I guess I don’t have a choice, I thought. I tapped on the weaponry I had with me—just the one dagger—and put it in my Equipment Inventory. I walked onto the staircase, and coolly stepped down toward level ground.
Halfway down, I heard a cry. “Get him!”
I kept moving, and when I touched the bottom, ten Gnomes surrounded me, with pointy blades all held in my direction.
I put my hands up in the air. “I surrender.”
A Gnome raised an eyebrow. “You surrender?” He looked around. “Where is the other girl? The princess?”
I shrugged. “I thought you guys got her, too.”
Another Gnome put his spear to my back. “What do we do with him?”
The first man frowned. “Put him in the cage.”
Perfect.
“Come.” A Gnome pushed me and led me toward the prison. The men and women around it parted to let me pass through. One man, an elderly Gnome, remained at the cage’s side. His hand went down his pant pocket and he pulled out a black, wooden key. He twisted it inside the lock and the cage opened.
I miscalculated. I glanced around. I need more time.
“Move.” A spear pushed harder into my back.
“I’d like to talk to Pera,” I said.
“The chief has no time for the likes of you.”
Oh, so he was the chief, I noted. “I think he will be very interested in a proposition I have for you.”
The man’s spear pulled back, just a little. Got you. I smiled.
“What proposition?” Another man asked.
“You see, I may not look like it, but I’m also a bandit.”
Murmurs sounded around me.
“I was travelling with the princess in order to kidnap her and sell her to my master’s clients,” I said. “Last I heard, your chief was trying to find a person to sell the princess to. The whole city of Zevalon is out looking for her. If you contact the wrong man, all your lives might be over.”
Hesitation emerged around their forms. “What … do you propose?” one asked.
“I will lead you to the man who wanted to own her. But I want a split in the profits. Don’t worry, your village will still gain a lot of money.”
The word “money” made eyes sparkle.
“We could try listening to him.” A voice spoke, another Gnome, a woman this time. “If there is money involved, we must consult Pera.”
The man from before looked at me. “Fine,” he said. “Go get the chief.”
You better get here on time, Valentine. I scanned my surroundings. The cage door was still open, for the old man with the keys had been absorbed in what I was saying. Stan and Luna were paralyzed inside, but their eyes were open and moving around.
At least they can hear me, I thought. That’d be useful when the time came.
“I haven’t seen such a scrawny bandit before.” A Gnome gripped my arms. “What kind of money are you making that gives you such little food?”
I chuckled. “I’ve just been saving up a lot.”
“S-Sir!” A voice yelled from atop. Everyone turned toward him. “The chief’s … dead.”
“Levi!” Valentine ran into the village.
A screech echoed from all around us. Shadowy forms darted down to the ground, and the Gnomes diverged out in panic.
Insect monkeys.
You did good, girl. I ran into the cage and removed the rings off Luna and Stan. I grabbed Stan first and threw him past the bars, and then did the same with Luna.
“Pick him up.” I pointed to the vampire. “We’re getting out of here.”
I lifted Luna in my arms—payback for the times she’d carried me bridal style. We shuffled through the village, while the screams of Gnomes and screeches of insect monkeys echoed through the air.
Some of the animals rushed up to us—just four—with their hands and tails thrashing around in the air
“Valentine.” I kept running. “You did it, right?”
The princess nodded. The creeper entrance was only twenty yards away. I looked to the bases of the two trees on either side of our path. A dark, spherical object sat in the soil beside it.
Perfect.
I ran to it, and kicked it behind me with the back of my heel. Valentine did the same, and the two spheres rolled up to the monkeys. Smoke blasted out of them, surrounding the beasts.
Valentine was ahead of me now, and pushed through the curtain of creepers. I ran through after her, but stayed a moment at the very edge.
I glanced back at the village through what I could see past the thick smoke. Screams and screeches echoed out as pain vibrated through the very air. The monkeys were taking the village down, and the Gnomes along with it.
I grinned. “Go to hell, you lowlifes.”
***
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Valentine couldn’t quell her beating heart.
She held her midriff; her hands shivered. The blood on her had dried, and the wet sensation had gone away. They had escaped the claws of danger, and had come out reigning supreme. She was safe now.
And yet she could feel the line that the Gnome’s blade had traced on her. She brushed her clothes until her palms were raw, but she still felt it.
Her finger trailed down the path the dagger had traced. Her heart thumped harder. Two hours ago, it had beat only a thump every step she took, but as time passed, and the realization of what happened sank in, she’d grown more anxious. Now, her heart beat at three thumps a step.
Her hand brushed across her forehead.
She couldn’t help it.
She couldn’t help thinking about what might have happened if Levi hadn’t come for her. Her breathing shortened. For all her life, Valentine had believed she was strong, that she could do anything she wanted, and by herself, at that. She believed she wasn’t a white-lily princess that needed to be locked away, a girl who needed someone else to protect her.
She still believed it. But only partly.
“Having someone to help wouldn’t be so bad.” Her voice was soft. The wind blew past her face, and the words echoed back to her.
“Singer-Lady, are you okay?” Luna’s big eyes stared at her.
She faked a smile, and nodded.
The elf cocked her head, and her eyes narrowed. “Then why is Singer-Lady crying?”
Valentine’s hands darted for her face, and she wiped her eyes. A few drops of salty water coated her fingernails. “I was … crying?”
Luna pouted. “Singer-Lady isn’t okay!”
Levi looked back. “What happened?”
The princess shook her head. “Something got into my eye.” She wiped them again, and got rid of any remaining tears. Why was she crying at a time like this? Had that near-death experience scared her that much?
Levi stared at her for a second longer, and then turned around. Valentine looked at his back, at the nape of his neck, at his dark, silky hair. Was this the man that had scared her?
“I don’t know.” Even she couldn’t hear her voice anymore, nor would the winds carry her faint words.
“Valentine.” Levi looked back at her. “Walk with me.”
She blinked, but didn’t deny his request. She strode up, leaving Stan and Luna, and joining him. She stepped to his side, but her eyes stayed to the ground. Her fingers played with the imaginary line she felt on her navel, and she let them. She could only fight the sensation so much.
“How often have you gone out of the palace walls?” Levi asked. His voice was soft, almost a whisper. Valentin
e couldn’t remember him speaking like that before.
“I….” She began, and then stopped. “A long time ago.”
“I see.” He looked forward. His eyes didn’t even glance in her direction. “For a person who has been to the outside world only once, you’ve been doing many things that put you out of your comfort zone all the time.” He slowed down, matching his steps with hers. “You said before you weren’t let out of the palace. You’ve been preparing all your life for one chance, haven’t you?”
Her eyes widened. How did he know that? She had never spoken on her desires and dreams with anyone. No handmaidens, no family. No one.
He looked at her, and a small smile curled onto his face. “So?”
“I have.”
Levi nodded. “I can see it in you. I can see the work you put in, so that when you got your one chance, you’d be ready to go, ready to seize the day. I can see all that effort streaming through.” His voice turned softer. “I know all this because we’re the same.”
She narrowed her eyes. They were the same?
“Do you want the relic that badly, too?” she asked.
He smiled. “Who knows.”
That was a less-than-helpful answer. She couldn’t tell what this man was trying to say to her. It was all far too vague.
He looked at Valentine. “Back there … what you did with those monkeys was something the Valentine who got us out of the palace would never have done. The past you would have tried to find a way to save everyone and everything. And if such a possibility didn’t exist, you’d try to doctor it with your willpower.”
She grinned. “It sounds like you’re psycho-analyzing me.”
“And what if I am?” His eyebrows raised.
Valentine counted twenty steps before he spoke again.
“To be so close to death…. It’s an experience that can’t be explained,” he said. “You feel the change inside you, don’t you? The helplessness. The fear. The sensations that squirm within your body.”
She didn’t respond. She didn’t want to think about all that.
“It’s always in there,” he said. “Once you feel it the first time, it never goes away. That’s what death is. It isn’t the thought that gets to you, it’s what you felt that does. Don’t be afraid. Understand. That’s how you deal with it.”
Valentine’s eyes stayed on Levi’s lips. His words echoed into her mind, and with each sound, powerful emotions stirred inside her. It was as though this man was playing her emotions like an instrument. He was telling her exactly what she needed to hear, and right when she needed it.
Levi glanced at her. “What?” he asked. “Too deep?”
She stared into his gaze. Sunset-violet eyes looked back at her, and flecks of radiant silver glittered inside them. A smile curled onto the princess’s lips.
“The eyes never change.”
***
I was supremely conflicted.
Valentine had said something weird. And now I was worried.
What the heck does “the eyes never change” mean, anyway?! I didn’t have an answer. Well, an answer I liked, at least.
“Luna sees mountains!” The trees above us shook, and the elf dropped down to the ground. She flashed a wide smile and held her arms out wide. “Only little distance.”
“Thank you.”
“We should only be able to see the first mountain range from here,” Valentine said. “It’s the shorter one. The actual one should be right after.”
I nodded.
“S-So,” Stan said. “How much longer do you think it’ll take?”
“A few hours.” I looked up at the orange rays sifting through the leaves. “We’re going to have to set up camp soon. It’ll be nightfall in an hour or two.”
The vampire nodded, and I heard the sounds of his rough breathing.
“What’s your Stamina level at right now?” I asked.
“Ten percent.”
I raised an eyebrow. “That won’t get you even an hour from here.”
“I know.” He said softly, for only me to hear. “But I can’t set camp and rest. I don’t want to hold everyone else back. I’ll … manage until we get to a camp.”
“First of all, if your Stamina is zero and you’re still doing stupid stuff, your health starts going down. And second of all, don’t you also have a Potion of the Tree Sap with you?”
“Oh.” He blinked. “I forgot about that.”
“Just drink it. You’ll be fine.”
His hand lifted from underneath his blanket, and he summoned his Ga’em menu. I turned around and strode through the trees.
I looked up through the dense canopy. I couldn’t see anything, but I imagined them anyway—large mountains standing miles into the air, the tons of rock holding Aegil deep within. The culmination of ten years of my life was now in the distance, and all I had to do was go get it.
There was no Zevalon Knight in my way. There was no society or social hierarchy, no Henway twins, no Caroline. No one was stopping me now. The Gnomes had tried, but they’d failed. The monkeys had tried, but they’d failed.
No one was pinning me down anymore.
My eyes scanned the three walking behind me. So this is what it feels like to be working with people. It was like I had three copies of me. I could just tell them what I needed them to do—like asking Valentine to bring the monkeys—and it would work perfectly. I guess this is what you wanted me to see, Helen.
We walked quietly for another three hours instead of the original plan. I was hoping to find a stream to camp by, but there was nothing of the sort, and thus our travel extended. In the end, we settled down next to a fairly large tree in the forest.
The nice thing here, though, was we’d made quite a bit of distance, and the trees around us were not as dense now. I looked up, and saw the peaks of the short mountain range rise into the air.
Aegil. The feeling of fire and ice rose up my spine, and a smirk crept onto my face. The relic was so close I could almost taste it.
My heart thumped loudly, and my fingers fidgeted. I couldn’t stop thinking about the relic now. I couldn’t help it. I had planned this for so, so long. And now, it was finally so close. The best part was, the Knights didn’t seem to be anywhere close to this place.
Maybe I’d been wrong about them wanting the relic after all, I thought. Either way, just sitting here wasn’t helping me one bit. I wanted to be up, I wanted to be running.
After being jittery for another five minutes, I stood up, and everyone looked at me.
“I think I’ll go scout out the mountains,” I said. “Just see what we’re playing with here.”
Valentine smiled. “I figured you’d say that.”
I grinned. “How far is the actual range from the one before us?”
“About a hundred miles,” she said. “I don’t know what the terrain is like, though.”
“The short range is about twenty miles from here, isn’t it?”
“More or less. I don’t think you’ll have enough time to go up to the base, though. Maybe go close to it.”
“That’s fine.” I nodded, and glanced up at the peaks.
“Is your Stamina fine?”
I nodded. “I’ll just take that potion I got from Pera. I’ll be okay.”
“If you say so. We should have our Stamina regenerate in three hours or so. So try to come back by then, and don’t waste too much of your Stamina, either. I don’t have enough potions to replenish all of us.”
“I know, I know.” I waved my hand and stepped away from them.
“S-Stay safe, Levi,” Stan said from behind me.
I glanced back, and a smile flashed across my face. “Definitely.”
***
I had no intention of going back.
My reasoning, I thought, was pretty solid. For one, that relic was mine, and I was not really willing to share it with someone else. Actually, I’d be fine sharing it if it meant actually sharing it. If Valentine took it away, like she was planni
ng to, then I’d never obtain it. She’d give it to her father, and even I knew I can’t steal from that guy.
And second, Valentine was starting to bother me now. I still couldn’t shake off the fact that she’d made that statement—the eyes never change.
I frowned. What does she know?
Princesses were weird.
I stepped over a small boulder. The ground sloped upwards, and I followed the incline. The trees grew scarce around me, granting me more space to look around at the gorgeous grey peaks ahead. Tall mountains—I wasn’t even going to guess how high—stood before me, and extended down either side for as far as I could see. I counted maybe seven peaks on my left, and the same number on my right. I couldn’t see any further than that, but there were probably more
Many more.
I wonder if they’ll be sad, I wondered. Sad that I had abandoned them. Stan might be, for an instant. Luna definitely wouldn’t. Valentine would probably just get very angry.
“I never fit into that group.” I chuckled. Sure, I was nice to them, but that was just because it was hard to be demanding if I was a jerk all the time. That was why I was nice.
Wasn’t it?
Either way, it wasn’t like I could do anything about it. This was what I’d decided, and I wasn’t changing my mind.
At the core of who I was, I wanted to get stronger. I had to become powerful again. If there was something that stopped me from getting there, or something that just threatened to stop me entirely, then I was removing that from my life.
Valentine and Co. had had a good run while it lasted, but I knew the closer we got to the relic, they less likely they would be my allies and more likely my threats.
I swiped open my Ga’em menu and tapped on the third icon—the Party Menu. Four names stood on the screen that appeared before me. And at the very bottom was a single button.
Leave.
My finger hovered over it. Is this a good idea? I looked up at the peaks. I had maybe another eight or nine miles to reach the top of the short mountain.
“I’ll do it when I get to the peak,” I said. “It’ll be a nice way of saying goodbye.”
Ascend: A World of Ga'em LitRPG (The Chaos Emperor Book 1) Page 20
