11 Chapter XI - Journey Through The Desert

A loud scream from within the Lushwood Forest caused a devastating shockwave that shook Niðavellir to its core.

"Ah, the voice of a Dragon. I wonder why she's shouting though, doesn't she know the strength of Dragons makes humans seem like fragile glass?" Ultio said with a small chuckle, answering Eric and Jourgen's question even before they asked.

The three gentlemen stood outside the forge, as Eric and Ultio were about to depart to the south, where the eye was located.

"How do you know all these things?" Eric asked in a frustrated tone. It was quite infuriating to be within close proximity of someone who seemingly knew everything.

Ultio shrugged as he summoned Wyvern and jumped onto the draconian shadow's back. "I don't know. I know a lot of things about a lot of things, yet I don't know why I know these things, nor do I know how I learnt these things,"

"For example, I know that touching the reverse scale of a Dragon would make them really angry because it actually makes them incredibly hypersexual," Ultio said lazily and rose an eyebrow at Eric. "Are you not getting on board?"

Eric looked at the large shadow named Wyvern with a worried look. "Is it... Is it safe?"

"Safety is an illusion, Mister Midas. A meteor can fall from the sky right now and end your life, or a divine being might just decide to kill everyone with a certain name out of boredom, or a more literal example; you might sneeze wrongly and get mucus stuck above your windpipe, and then you'll suffocate and die. The possibilities are endless, Mister Midas, try not to be limited by your fear,"

"Uh... Okay?" Eric said uncertainly and slowly climbed onto Wyvern's back.

Ultio nodded, seeing that they were now ready to begin their journey. "Ah, Mister Hreidmar, next time I see you, I hope to get a nicely forged weapon out of you,"

Jourgen chuckled and put his hands into his pockets. "Depends on if you've got the materials and the funds, of course,"

Ultio chuckled lightly and patted Wyvern's back, causing the large shadow to begin flapping his wings.

"Till next time, then. Do not worry, we wouldn't be too long," Ultio's voice echoed as Wyvern shot through the night sky.

Jourgen nodded as he watched the rapidly shrinking dot in the bright night sky illuminated by one of the many moons of this world and a sky full of stars.

*****

Blood slowly dripped onto wooden floorboards as a lean man sat at a small, round table, getting his wounds stitched shut and treated.

"Damn, you really got your ass handed to you out there," A tall woman dressed in a red dress and white coat said to the man as she treated his wounds. She paused and adjusted her glasses, before running a hand through her black hair. "You're really strong, though. Tyrian, on the other hand, can barely walk right now,"

Veryn chuckled slightly and winced immediately after, as he aggravated his wounds. "I told you, I'm much stronger than everyone else in this guild,"

"Almost everyone," The dark haired woman corrected with a laugh as she stitched up the last wound on Veryn's body.

As soon as she finished, the woman placed two fingers against Veryn's head and closed her eyes. A warm, light green glow covered her fingers and spread onto Veryn, healing the rest of his wounds and speeding up the healing process of the stitched wounds.

"There, good as new. But you should be careful with your arm, it might still hurt a little," She said cheerily and clapped her fingers.

A skeleton suddenly materialised beside her with a metal tray. Then she placed her sewing kit and the other first aid materials she had used onto the tray.

"Alright you can go now," She said, prompting the skeleton to turn around and leave the room.

Now that they were alone again, Veryn turned to the woman and asked, "Veronica, do you perhaps know anything about the family of the Paladin Sono?"

Veronica placed a finger to her chin thoughtfully as she stared up at the ceiling while trying to recall anything relating to that in her memory. "Uh... He lives in the Church of Weisst, and he has a wife and daughter– they live in the not far from the Southern Desert. He has achieved-"

Veryn rose a hand to interrupt her. "Sorry for the interruption, but did you say he has a daughter?"

"I did. Why?" Veronica asked cautiously. Veryn was known to be a very ruthless person, and when he asked about someone's family... There was nothing good coming out of that.

"How old is she?" Veryn asked, directly ignoring Veronica's question.

Veronica seemed worried, but she trusted Veryn. "Eighteen. But there has to be a good reason for what you're going to do,"

"The bastard was a pedophile, rapist and a fucking prick. I think my reasons would make the cut," Veryn said as he snatched a jacket from a coat rack and left the room.

Veronica sighed and took of her glasses. "Boys will be boys," She said and sat by a window in the room, watching as the golden sands outside rush by at an astonishing pace.

"Best hundred thousand gold coins ever spent," She muttered, referring to the large humanoid-shaped building she was sitting in, which was currently running across the sandy terrain with loud booming footsteps, leaving deep craters behind.

*****

"So where are we going?" Eric shouted to get his voice across to Ultio through the wind blowing against them on Wyvern's back. He had resorted to sitting of Wyvern's back to balance himself and reduce the likelihood of him plummeting to his death.

Ultio smirked and replied, "To the Desert, Mister Midas,"

Although Eric was quite unstable on the draconian's back, Ultio seemed at home and didn't even seem to feel neither the wind nor imbalance when Wyvern tilted to get between narrow rocks.

"Oh," Eric said simply and looked down. He gulped slightly and shook his head. 'A journey that would take weeks on a carriage, we've already covered half of it within a day and half,' He thought as he saw the green of the forest slowly fading out underneath Wyvern's large frame.

Unlike Eric who seemed fascinated by everything occurring below Wyvern, Ultio seemed bored and couldn't wait for the journey to end.

However, an hour or two after they had reached the true desert region, they discovered an anomaly on the way which piqued Ultio's interest.

"Uh... Ultio, do you also see... That giant building... Walking?" Eric asked in a very worried and uncertain tone. It was quite impossible for so many emotions to be present in one statement, but Eric managed to sound confused, fascinated, intrigued, frightened and worried by the sight of the large humanoid-shaped building running ahead of them.

Ultio shrugged his shoulders and put his hands into the sewn-in pockets of his coat. "Of course I do. It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"What?! How is something so... Terrifying beautiful?"

"I... Was genuinely asking, Mister Midas," Ultio said, awkwardly rubbing his nose.

"M-my bad,"

Ultio waved the apology off and turned his attention back to the large anomaly ahead. "It matters not," He said lazily and narrowed his eyes as Wyvern increased his speed to move past the building.

As the large draconian shadow flew past the building, Ultio felt a stunned gaze fixed on him from within one of the windows of the building. He turned and faced his observer with a smirk.

A raven haired lady stared back at him with her mouth slightly agape, transfixed by his otherworldly appearance. Her purple eyes followed him as his figure disappeared into the distance.

"What was that?" Eric asked, looking between Ultio and the building behind.

"Some random lady. I believe we should not be bothered by such things on this journey, Mister Midas, as we would most definitely meet a lot of interesting individuals on the way,"

Eric nodded and stretched his arms above his head. "Damn... I need to sleep,"

"Indeed you do. You have been avoiding sleep for a day and half, if I'm correct," Ultio said and smirked darkly, "Are you afraid of me?"

"Well yes," Eric replied casually like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "But that's not why. It's just... Whenever I use Needle, I get these weird dreams,"

Ultio nodded and turned to face him. "Contrary to what most people believe, most dreams are meaningless. Except perhaps prophetic dreams, and dreams set up by divine beings," He said and added, "Those are just as pointless, but it's best to get something out of them,"

"Divine beings can set up dreams with mortals?" Eric asked curiously. He had indeed heard cases of such, but he had refused to believe that it was possible.

Ultio scoffed. "Those bastards are too lazy and arrogant to just show up and tell their champions or enemies whatever they want to say. Rather, they would expend a great deal of energy to set up meetings in the dreamworld,"

Eric seemed shocked by Ultio's reaction to his question. He couldn't detect any emotion from Ultio, as usual, but he could sort of... Feel the anger and hatred in his words.

"You seem to have a grudge against the gods and immortals,"

"Indeed I do," Ultio replied, almost surprised by his own reaction.

Eric smiled and crossed his arms. "Aren't you afraid of Divine Retribution? You know, the wrath of the gods?"

Ultio smiled darkly as he stared forward and his eyes turned red. A dark, corrosive aura of pure evil began to seep out of his being.

"Somehow, I know they're afraid of mine,"