50 Back to the

The Avatars disappeared one by one as I led the prince away from the village.

"What's going on Thorn! Why can I see you but they can't see me? "

"I used one of the Avatars spells against them. Not even they can track us. " I said, smiling at him. "I am proud of you Olaf, you have done well. "

"Thanks man, I am only doing what makes sense. A lot of what you told me made a lot of sense, but I didn't want you caught up in this, I should go back."

"No! Absolutely not! You are gonna come level with me for a while. "

The prince shook his head, "You don't understand , those people are powerful they are like Gods. You won't be able to run or hide. The things I have seen them do...You must let me return.."

"Just shush with all that bull-shit Olaf. " I said bluntly. "I didn't waste my one time use Avatar spell on you for you to be whining about going back. Now I don't care if you are a prince or a damn king, you are coming with me and that's that! Now come on!" I said harshly as I turned and walked in the direction of the hidden temple.

He smiled at my brashness and shrugged his shoulders, "Geez I'm coming, hey would you slow down! Where are we going anyway?"

"To a secret dungeon that the Avatars wont be able to track us too, as long as Tide got out safe. " I said as I remembered that Tide could not have seen my message.

"Tide?" The prince questioned.

"He's my friend, if all goes well you will meet him soon. We are going to the Temple of Archanos. "

We picked up the pace and arrived at the temple entrance after an hour of brisk walking, though a variety of mountainous and forested terrain.

With selective invisibility still active, we drew zero attention and could travel with ease.

I called out as we arrived, "Tide are you here!"

Tide dropped his invisibility spell and materialized in front of me. I allowed him to see me but waited before revealing the prince. Selective invisibility was useful for dramatic effect. As Tide saw me appear he immediately began talking non-stop.

"Holy Crap! What is going on! Why is Hades after us! I overhead people talking about Hades looking for the temple! They need the magic that's inside to assasinate the prince. We are so screwed! We can't fight Hades! How did they find out its us! I got your message and I knew they must have found out!"

His words took me off guard. Hades wants the magic in the temple to kill the prince, what kind of crazy coincidence was that?

"Hades isn't after us. " I said simply.

He had a look of confusion written across his features, "What? There not?"

"Listen it's far worse than that, the big five guilds and their avatars are after us. "

"What!?! Why?!"

"I'll just show you, so I would like to introduce you to the next King, this is Olaf. " As I said this I allowed Tide to see the prince and he appeared like a magic trick.

I had forced Olaf to dispose of the medallion Naxila had given him and dispel the magic of illusion while we were walking, so he appeared as his normal self. He had on proper armor and had grown more muscular than I remembered, a side effect of his apparent training.

Tide was shocked as the prince shook his hand.

"You stole the prince! Holy crap this is some crazy shit! "

"If you want to back out, now is the time to do it. " I said with a serious tone.

"Hell No! This is awesome! Let's get in the temple and get our revenge! Haha!"

I nodded and quickly activated the four runes that were marked - M-E-T-A, one upon each pillar.

The floor opened and revealed the stairwell leading down.

Ding!

You are now entering an event instance!

The only way to leave is through completion of the event or through death. Are you sure you wish to enter?

"Wait what about the prince? It's an instance dungeon won't it just create a different version for him if hes not in our group?" Tide questioned, stopping me from moving further. "He's not a.....you know..."

"A player! " Olaf interjected, " I may not have a consciousness that is anchored to a fleshly body on earth like you two, but I am indeed a player. "

Me and tide were both struck silent. Wtf did he just say?