A Guide to Kingdom Building - Chapter 179

“Orphella!” Adaloun shouted at the top of his lungs. “Orphella! Are you there?! Orph—bleurgh!” He vomited from the putrid smell of the vapor surrounding him.

To him, the fog wasn’t as it seemed to be. The thick, white blanket of mist had a different behavior from that of a real fog. It was thick and powdery, like dust but had a color as white as snow. It was itchy to the skin and throat. It stank like rotten flesh, it stank of death. Adaloun ran towards a corner where the fog was still the thinnest, tore a piece of his clothing and covered it around his mouth and nose.

He looked around and tried his best to get a visual of Orphella from the thick mist, but it was too much for him to see. However, he couldn’t leave her inside the fog, not with the reaction he had with it. He knew it could be fatal for her if she stayed too long in that fog.

He walked towards the thick veil of unpleasantry, squinting his eyes and braving himself not to vomit at its putrid scent. He unsheathed his dagger and cautiously treaded deeper into the fog. All the while, feeling nauseous and itchy from the powdery substance floating in the air. He tried reaching out his hand to the nothingness, using it as his guide and shield against incoming attackers.

“Orphella!” He called out her name once more, “Orphella, where are you? I am here. Come and seek my voice!”

His efforts led him to nothing. No one was responding to him, and his shout ultimately strained his already irritated throat. He walked deeper and deeper into the hole until he seemingly heard footprints coming towards him.

“Orphella? Is that you?” He treaded slowly and braced himself for what might come his way. “Orph—” Suddenly an arrow of light flew out of nowhere. He was lucky enough to dodge it before it hit him straight in the face.

Orphella emerged from the fog with her bow in hand. There was terror from the looks on her face. It seemed like someone, or something was chasing her from the fog.  Adaloun quickly approached her but was met with her aiming the bow at him.

“Whoa! Orphella, c-calm down!” He raised his hand to show his wasn’t a threat. “Orphella, it’s me…Ada—” before he finished saying his name, Orphella released the bow string.

The arrow surprisingly came slow at him. At the distance of 5 paces, he knew it would’ve been a fatal blow but for some reason, it wasn’t. It was as if the arrow had a mind of its own and controlled itself from hitting him, giving him an ample time to evade it.

He rolled to the side and closed his distance, avoiding further arrows from her. He attempted to grab the bow away from her hands, but the elf proved to be more than a match for him. She immediately grabbed his arm, locking from the elbow and slamming him hard on the ground.

The force winded him and had him let go of both his dagger and the bow. Orphella then stepped on his chest and tried hitting him at a point-blank range on the face. Before she could release her bowstring, Adaloun grabbed her foot flipped her causing her to tumble down and let go of her bowstring.

He immediately somersaulted forward blocking the elf from getting her weapon. He grabbed her weapon and tried to reason with her, trying to calm her down but with every word he spoke, Orphella became more and more disorientated.

She grabbed the dagger and started attacking him with stabs and slashes. He tried his best to block and parry as many attacks as he could, but the elf proved to be more dexterous than he anticipated. He took a few slashed on his arms and shoulders before he heard an order out of nowhere.

“Knock her out!” A gentle, yet strong female voice shouted on his mind.

Without a choice, Adaloun parried her last attack, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards him. As she came close to her, he deliberately headbutted her causing her to collapse on the ground. He caught her before her head hit the hard floor and laid her gently on the ground.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself down, but the voice came once again.

“Don’t you just look at her like that! Leave her for now and find these flowers!” A vision suddenly bombarded his mind. It was a vision of a beautiful large flower blooming at the center of a mound in a clearing far deep in the cave.

“W-what was that?!” He asked. “And…who are you? Are you one of them? Another god?!” He tried to be asked calm as possibly can.

“Don’t you think your asking unimportant questions at this time?!” The voice said. “The flower that you saw is known as Phobos Florica Mandragora or the Flower of Fear. It corrupts the mind of those that takes a whiff of its potent pollen. Destroy it and it will heal her, make haste now!” It added.

“You haven’t answered my other question yet.” Adaloun stubbornly held his ground.

“Fine! I am no god! How I wish I was!” The voice said. “Does that answer your question, now? The more you idle here the more you’re endangering her!” The voice added.  “If something happens to her, I will not be able to forgive you!”

Adaloun had no choice but to follow the voice. It was either that or he risks Orphella’s life, the latter he couldn’t live down. The last thing he wanted was another comrade dying in his arms.

“I will trust you…for now.” He said to the voice. “But the moment you—”

“Oh! Just shut up and go already!” The voice blasted him. “You’re making this very complicated than what it already is! Go! J-just go!”

Adaloun hesitated for a moment when suddenly the bow started lift itself from his hand and pulled him into the fog. He tried to loosen his grip, but his fingers seemed to be stuck at the bow. The weapon dragged him further into the path, while spatting obscenities at him, chastising him for his stubbornness.

“You silly fool, run faster!” The voice said. “We are almost there!” Adaloun followed the bow’s direction until they reached the clearing at the end of the path.

The bow stopped tugging him, “There, at the center of this fog lies a mound where a garden of that flower is currently pollinating. Burn it and you save her and them.” It said.

“Them? Who’s them?” He asked when suddenly the bow dragged him down on his feet.

As he tumbled down, he heard a metallic clink a few footlings away from him. He looked to his side and saw a familiar crescent blade lodged on the ground. Confused, he looked around and saw a hulking silhouette to his right. He squinted his eyes and saw who the silhouette really was.

“U-Urfaal?!” His eyes widened as his comrade glared at him and showed his fangs.

The beastman suddenly run towards him, blinded with fury and began to attack him. Adaloun had no problems with evading the beastman’s claws, afterall, they’ve trained together. Urfaal’s movement was something he studied and worked with, to give him a better chance of surviving the campaign. He was certainly confident about dodging his every movement.

With Urfaal turning into his primal self, it became easy for him to avoid the strong attacks. He bobbed and weaved through the wide swings the beastman gave him and was able to parry a few of it. However, he knew that he couldn’t go on like that forever.

What the beastman lacked in technique, he made up for his ferocity and stamina. It was only a matter of time for him to finally catch up with Adaloun’s movement. Adaloun had to think fast if he wanted to save them.

“Hey, Urfaal its—” He felt the cold hard wall against his back. Adaloun’s eyes were wide-open as he was inches from becoming mined meat. There was nothing he could do to his friend. He knew that his body wasn’t at its fullest potential at the moment and so, even if he tried to hit the beastman, it would simply ignore it.

Urfaal’s claw were only a few inches away from skewering his face, when suddenly the bow blasted a gust of air throwing the beastman a few footlings away.

“Can’t you attack him?” The bow asked.

Adaloun composed himself and answered. “My attacks won’t work on him…not in my condition right now.”

“Pfftt…” The bow scoffed. “Do I really need to do all of this for you? You know what? I’m just doing this to help Orphella!” She complained.

“What does that mean?!” Adaloun said.

“It means, I don’t care about you, but I will work with you to save her.” The bow spat a sarcastic remark. “Come on let’s go!”

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JULY PROMOTION!!!Please read AUX Chapter if you want to join!