Chương 23: A Strange Quest

Ch. 23: A Strange Quest One floor below me, George, Kayla, Billy, and Franz fought for their lives.

"Where's Drake!?" Kayla asked, "Has anyone seen Drake?!" A flurry of arrows released toward them. Kayla slammed her hammer against the ground and the vibrations stunted their trajectory, dropping them to the ground.

"Kayla." She looked over at Franz who did his best to look like a normal human with a normal expression of grief, "Kayla, he fell. He fell into the pit."

"What!?"

"He's probably dead soon. If he somehow survived the fall, then how could he even hope to survive the snake?" Billy kept his back to the pit as he charged and attacked some of the early pawns the enemy sent after them. George backed up Billy with range attacks. Kayla took the brief second to peek into the pit. There was the glowing snake far below… but no sign of Drake anywhere.

"I don't… he can't be." A stone golem attacked Billy. Their fingers interlocked with each other. Billy's herculean strength matched that of the stone golems as they wrestled.

"We have to get out of here!" yelled Billy, "Let's make an exit."

"My fire doesn't work on stone creatures," said George.

"Neither would my axe," Franz said"I've got it," Kayla swung her hammer and smashed the left arm of the golem. It broke the arm clean off and Billy swiveled to place his body in front of the beast and toss him. The stone golem fell on his back and Kayla golf-swung her hammer to knock him into the pit.

"What happened to Drake!?" Billy asked.

"Franz said he fell into the pit," Kayla responded.

"I saw it with my own eyes. Maybe the wasp scared him or something. He was an asshole, but I'm not sure if he deserved to die."

"He did not deserve to die!" Kayla said.

"Exit and regroup!" Billy commanded.

"Can we even get through!? Feels like we're pinned," George said.

"You all go ahead. I'll cover the flank," Franz yelled. The archers had quelled their waves of arrows. The monsters from all sides had started to rush in. In front of them was the South gateway. It was blocked by gnoll soldiers and one gnoll priest. The gnoll priest gargled an incantation to create a bolt of fire.

"I'll make an entrance!" Screamed Billy as he pointed his horns down and commanded, " Bullrush!" He ran toward the gnoll soldiers. They reached at him with their spears but he ducked and dove and rammed his horns directly into them. One horn going to each of their chests. Then he craned his thick neck, lifting them and tossing them to the right. Kayla and George did not want to lose the advantage. They charged behind Billy.

Kayla jumped over Billy and as the gnoll priest finished his incantation, she hammered him in the neck, cracking it and dropping the priest to the ground. George ran forward and began to flare before falling forward and sliding in front of another Gnoll warrior. As the gnoll attacked him, he quickly sliced the gnoll's thigh. Billy grabbed the gnoll and punched him in the back of the head. He picked George up and waved at Franz to follow.

"That was weird," George said to Billy.

"What?" Billy asked.

"Something tripped me." The archers at the far end of the temple lit their arrows and slung them toward the champs escaping the south gateway. Just before the arrow was about to strike George, Franz sliced it out of the air.

"We have to move!" Franz yelled. The group turned down the corridor and ran as the heaps of monsters followed.

"Did you see who tripped me?" George yelled to Franz.

"What? No. I thought you just slipped. Let's go," Franz said. They ran down the corridor, the monsters chasing behind until they took enough rights and lefts to temporarily lose them. The group holed up in a small room. It had papyrus of crude drawings as well as benches. Billy grabbed one of the benches and used it to barricade the door. The party took a minute to all catch their breath. Franz opened his system to examine something.

"Fuck," he whispered.

"What?" Kayla asked.

"W-what do you mean, 'What?' Drake's dead," Franz exclaimed. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"We don't know if he's dead," Said Kayla, exasperated, "He's… good at surviving. I've seen it." Franz imitated a sympathetic look.

"Kayla. I just want to say that no matter what happened, it's not your fault." The poisoned grace he extended stung Kayla. A brief moment of cringeworthy silence ensued before Billy placed his hand on Kayla's shoulder.

"Let's focus on next steps."

"Is a retreat possible?" George asked. Franz shook his head, "No. No, look. He wasn't even part of the core group. We have the experience to kill everyone here as well as destroy the monster. We don't have to endanger the mission just because of a… casualty."

"Thought you said he was dead," Kayla said.

"Franz is right. If Drake's alive, he'll come back when the core is killed. So, let's focus on that." Kayla sighed, the knot of guilt turning tighter in her stomach but she said, "I've got heals. Who needs them?" Billy raised his hand, showing a severe wound he'd gotten from the gnoll soldier's spear.

"Franz, why don't you keep watch?" Billy commanded.

"I think I might need heals as well. Something internal," Franz said. George said, "I'm fine. A little scuffed but I'll keep guard outside. You all rest." George and Billy moved the barricade for George to step outside. Franz walked over to Kayla to be healed.

"Where's the damage?" She asked. He pointed to a spot on his abdomen. She placed her hand there.

"Why do you guys hate each other so much?" Kayla asked. Franz shook his head.

"Dude hates me."

"Why, then?" Franz scoffed, "Why the hell do you like him?" Kayla thought for a moment, "No one is saying he's not rough around the edges. Like it or not, when you're talking to him, you feel like it's really him. It's not some mask that so many people, especially in this town, have on." Franz looked over to her, his face darkened by the shadow Kayla's head cast from the torchlight.

"Yeah," He said, "I guess that's pretty admirable. Still a huge dick though." She shrugged her shoulders and said, "He' s a dick. But… it's not like he doesn't have reason to be. The champs don't always have a good reason to fight. And the champs don't have as much to lose. He's in here without powers fighting for his sister." Franz flinched when she brought up my sister. Kayla released her hand from his abdomen, "That didn't use very much mana. I don't think you were that injured, Franz."

"Huh, well thanks anyway. I'll go relieve George of his guard then. Give him a chance to rest." Billy sat down on the bench in front of Kayla. Franz nodded to both of them and removed the barricade for the door, exiting. Once he was gone, Kayla let out a small breath.

"Don't do it," Billy said, "Look at me, Kay. Just don't."

"He would still be alive if I didn't bring him here."

"He knew the risks. Signed the waiver. He wouldn't blame you. You won't get into any trouble."

"Trouble!?" Kayla said, as she buried her face in her hands, "I don't care about trouble. Trouble with the union is the last thing on my mind. I'm pissed that I looked away. I'm pissed I brought him. Billy placed his hand on Kayla's shoulder. With her face still buried in her palms she took her free hand and placed it on Billy's wound, healing him."

"Let's find the body, Billy. Once we tear open that snake. Let's locate the body. For his sister."

"Sure, Kay. Let's get it back to his sis in… as few pieces as we can." There was a clanging sound outside and Franz screamed. Kayla and Billy both turned their attention outside. Kayla got up and walked forward before noticing a weapon on the floor.

"Franz forgot his axe."

"I'll grab it," Billy said, "Get your weapon too." They moved with expert grace as Billy prepared the axe as well as his brass knuckles, and Kayla placed herself in front of the door. She hovered over the handle and looked at Billy. Billy stuck up the great axe as if it was his own. He didn't need to speak. Neither did she. They had trained and fought together on enough raids that their communication was nonverbal. The look she gave him asked, " Are you ready?" His tiny nod meant, " Yes I am. Good luck. Don't die."

Kayla opened the door. Billy rolled out, sticking the axe up. Kayla followed and placed her back on his. They both had eyes on either side of the hallway. First thing they noticed: No combatants. What was on the ground, however, was the crumbled stone pieces of a statue. Billy got on his knees and sifted through the pieces.

"Was that there before?" Kayla asked.

"Jesus," Billy said as he looked, "These pieces…" As Kayla stared at the pieces, the oddness of the statue stood out to her. Which was that, in this desert fantasy landscape, at the statue's feet were two stone Doc Martins.

"Wh-what… what is that?" Kaya asked. Billy did not have an answer. He merely picked up an oblong piece and turned it to Kayla. It was a stone version of George's head, a look of terror calcified in his eyes. Kayla said, "They took Franz."

Fuck. He thought You have to be kidding me. How could he have survived? Franz was staring at his system as he put away the knife in his holster. He slunk through the hallways of the temple. His stone knife dimly glinted as he fed it to his holster. This is no good. If that loser tells the world what happened, I'll be in jail. Good luck finishing Sutra's quest from there. He opened the system again and stared at his quest log. He had already nervously checked it four times but he felt the need to do it again.

The number had changed, but not for me. The quest that Sutra, the Basilisk god had given him, remained incomplete. Franz chuckled before saying, "Well… at least we know George is done." On his system display under quests, his mission read: Kill own party members (¼)