ROTLE- Chapter 237- Loose Rock (Patreon)

“How much farther, Sir. Thompfer?”

Letto tried to ignore the commanding tone in Drax’s voice. These days he’d been spending more time with the soldiers and the change was clear. He didn’t spend time among them but over them. He would lead them one day, King Brandis had said, so they needed to get acquainted to listening to him and not seeing him as one of them.

Sir Thompfer cast his gaze far ahead. “Not far now.”

They continued riding, their jepats walking slowly where they had been at almost full sprint for a while, most of the day really.

Letto’s mind was wandering as they rode. There were questions in his head, questions he had begun asking once more as the fantastical nature of being isekai’d had finally worn off. Questions he had been asking since Sam had killed one of them. He paused at the thought, a slight horror dawning on him as he realized that he could not even remember her name.

His attention moved. His gaze settled on Ariadne as she rode up to him. Beside her, riding at an awkward distance was Jen, the trying son of a powerful lord who had made his name in war and battle and was still making his name. Meanwhile his son was here trying to make a name among the soon to be heroes. The only problem was that making a polite move on Ariadne two nights ago had garnered him the girl’s scorn. Now, there was more than enough awkwardness to go around.

“Let,” Ariadne said, shortening his name more than it already was as she had recently been doing, “did you feel any kind of way when we used the teleportation center?”

Letto shook his head easily. “Disorientation, that’s all.”

Ariadne made a thoughtful sound, her eyes wandering. As they wandered, Letto turned his attention to the front, to Derrick.

Is this all that’s left of us now?

They had been summoned to the world, at least twenty of them. Now there were only three. Five, if Ted and Aiden were counted. But even with all of Aiden’s grand growth, were they enough? Could they, divided as they were, actually stop or conquer whatever it was that was at the end of the rising darkness?

Letto was not delusional. He knew that there was a higher chance that the king knew how to send them home just the way he’d brought them here. However, he clearly had no intention of sending them back.

At least not until we’ve dealt with the issue he brought us here for.

“Do you think they are still looking for us?” Ariadne muttered under her breath, almost as if she was talking to herself.

Letto looked at her, swaying from the movement of his jepat. “Who?” he asked.

Ariadne looked up at him with slightly rheumy eyes. “Our parents,” she said. “Our friends. Do you think anyone’s still looking for us?”

Letto paused, gave her the illusion of thought. “Perhaps.”

It was a kind response. There was a better chance that whatever happened to them had to have at least been caught on camera—whatever it was or looked like.

No one’s looking for us, he thought honestly. But they’ll be mourning us.

It was a sad truth, but there was some comfort in it.

For now, they had a job to do. The king had sent them as envoys to unite two warring nomadic tribes. Apparently, in the fight against the rising darkness, humans had to be united under one banner.

They had to understand that only together could they beat the rising darkness.

If this task turned awry, Letto wondered if there was anyone on Nastild who would mourn them too.

…

“Hold up,” Rometo interrupted before Ted could answer, looking skeptical. “He could’ve used his own lifeforce.”

Aiden shook his head to that. “It was the Order’s poison.”

“The one you asked me about?” Rometo asked, surprised.

Aiden nodded. “And the only race I know that can survive it are demons. For him to save Valdan using someone’s life force, he’ll have to use all of it. That’s the only way a [Healer] can use life force to save him, either theirs or with the consent of another.”

And everyone present knew for a fact that there had been no one willing to give up all their life force for Valdan at the time. He looked at Ted. Everyone looked at Ted.

“You know what he did, don’t you?” he asked. “While I was running around trying to figure out how to help Valdan, the two of you were whispering all over the place.”

Ted sighed once again in resignation. “Yes, you were all over the place and Elami was trying to curry favor. Tasha was the only friend I’ve known you to have and you know how that ended. You were broken. Valdan was a better friend than she ever was. I didn’t know what would happen, and I couldn’t bring his plan to you.”

“What did he do?”

“Remember the loud one from the mercenary group?”

Aiden struggled for a moment to remember the girl. She was the loud one, the one who always had a counter opinion to his own and was rude. He could not remember her name.

“Taeli,” Valdan said in remembrance.

Aiden looked at Ted. “I came out after getting the crystal and everyone was up in arms. Elami had killed the girl with a touch.”

Ted nodded. “It is an ability he has.”

“Magic to drain the life force from another person?” Rometo asked. His shock was definitely feigned because Aiden knew the Order was very much aware of this kind of power, no matter how rare it was.

Ted nodded. “He drained Taeli’s and used it to save Valdan.”

Something clicked into place in Aiden’s mind. “Ted.”

“Aida.”

“How did he heal Fjord?”

“You really won’t let this lie, will you?” Ted asked, sighing because he knew the answer.

“I will not,” Aiden confirmed. “How did he heal Fjord?”

“With a portion of someone’s life force.”

Aiden dropped his head in his hands. He knew there were secrets regarding Elami. What he had hoped against was that there would be others aware of these secrets and were keeping them from him.

“Whose?” he asked.

Ted pursed his lips, hesitant.  “One of the people that attacked us.”

Healing with life force. Healing with only life force.  It solidified everything. Elami was not a [Healer]. It was time to find out what Elami was.

But you gave him your word.

Aiden shook the thought aside. His word was not more important than his team. Was it? He gave Elami his word under duress, and that had allowed a person capable of killing someone with a touch to walk among them, to travel with them. He shook his head. His word was not worth the risk.

“If Elami isn’t a [Healer],” he said, eyes fixed on Ted. “What is he?”

Ted scratched the back of his head. “Please don’t use it against him?” he requested. “He wasn’t lying when he said that you and I have nothing to fear from him.”

Aiden nodded but didn’t really care about all that. “What is he?”

“A [Summoner].”

Valdan and Rometo paused.

Rometo’s eyes narrowed. “A [Summoner]?”

“Yep.” Ted nodded. “A [Summoner].”

Rometo’s head twitched back in the direction they had come from. Aiden noticed it and let his awareness flare out, reaching as far as possible. He sensed nothing. With that, he looked at Rometo. “Are we good?”

“Yeah,” Rometo nodded. “Loose rock.” He returned his attention to Ted. “A [Summoner]?”

Ted cocked his brow at him in a way that let everyone know that Rometo had to be stupid if he thought that he would answer to him.

“Teddy,” Aiden said carefully, walking up to Ted. “How does a [Summoner] drain a life force from a person?”

“He has a skill called [Life Call],” Ted explained. “It summons the life force from a person. If he’s strong enough, and the person is weak enough, he can draw out the entirety of the person’s lifeforce.”

That sounded like a very deadly skill. And Aiden had had such a person walking around Valdan, Ted, and Zen? How stupid had he been?

You didn’t know, he reminded himself. If you had known you wouldn’t have allowed it.

That was true, but he should’ve known.

Knowing would’ve left Valdan for dead.

Rometo’s sigh pulled him from his thoughts. “So what now?” Rometo asked.

Ted grabbed Aiden by the arm before he said anything. “Aida.”

Aiden looked at him. “Yes, Teddy?”

“Do you trust me?”

“Nope,” Aiden answered without missing a beat. “Why?”

Ted blinked. “Because I want you to trust me.”

Aiden wasn’t sure if he’d heard any pain in Ted’s voice. In fact, Ted sounded as if he was currently dealing with his petulant younger brother who was being difficult because he wasn’t happy. The young Aiden who said anything to hurt him because he was angry with him.

“Alright,” he replied in the end. “What are you about to ask me?”

“To let Elami stay.” Ted looked into his eyes. “We need him. I need him.”

“For what?”

Ted worried his bottom lip between his teeth. “You remember that thing about keeping secrets from each other?”

“You’re fucking with me, right?” Aiden let out a dark chuckle. “You’ve got to be.”

Ted gave him an awkward smile and shook his head. “I’m not. There is a secret I am currently keeping from you that Elami is helping me out with. I promise you that he is not a threat to you or me.” He looked at Valdan. “In a day, I’ll make sure he’s not a threat to Valdan.”

Aiden shook his head. “Not good enough. The only person I don’t care about in the group is Telma. I care about Melvet because Valdan cares for her. Feira because Zen cares for her.”

“And Fjord?” Valdan asked.

If Aiden claimed he cared about Fjord as much as the others, he would be lying. “I care about Fjord because he has earned the safety and loyalty of the team with his own loyalty. His safety has nothing to do with my emotions. It has everything to do with him earning it.”

Ted looked thoughtful for a moment. “So you want the entire team safe from Elami?”

“Yes,” Aiden answered, “or he can’t stay.”

“The whole team except Telma?”

Aiden couldn’t care much about Telma. Even her awareness of the mountain was becoming unimportant. All her knowledge of which frosty mountain he needed to go to did was expedite the process. He already knew where they all were. If he dedicated himself to the task. He could get to all the mountains in perhaps two years.

What’s two years to eleven years?

Ted sighed then paused. “Hold up.” He looked at Rometo. “What about him?”

Aiden and Valdan looked at Rometo. “What about him?” Aiden asked back.

“You don’t want him to be safe from Elami?”

Rometo and Aiden looked at each other. They paused in silence for a moment. Then they started laughing. It would’ve been loud if they were not aware of a sapient chimera and a [Life Eater] in the mountain with them.

“If I die to a [Summoner] like Elami, then I am supposed to die to a [Summoner] like Elami,” Rometo said. “It will mean my position in the Order is not deserved.”

“So,” Aiden looked at Ted, “those are the conditions. I will not have those under my protection dying for no reason.”

Ted seemed to think about it for what felt like a little too long before finally nodding. “I should be able to make that happen in maybe two to three days.”

Aiden looked at Valdan, and Valdan nodded. Since Valdan’s safety was as much a part of this negotiation, his opinion mattered. With his nod, Aiden returned his attention to Ted. “Two days works.”

“Or three,” Ted corrected.

Aiden sighed. “Yes. Or three.”

“Alight,” Ted said with a nod. “We should probably head back. The others should be worried sick.”

It was a fair point. A point everyone agreed with as they started walking again, allowing Valdan and Ted to lead the way back.

As they walked, Aiden kept an eye out, taking note of what points and intervals Ted’s tunnel connected to the actual path they were supposed to take. When they reached the others, they would have to come back for the path. There was also the enemy. He still knew the man’s lair, but right now he wondered if the man would allow him to get there. Like the mother of the Immortal, he met end up meeting Aiden halfway, vanishing him to a location that no one knows.

Then there was also his plan for the enemy. In the next eleven years, the enemy would change at least eight hideouts that he knew about. So, even if the enemy changed his current location after their meeting, the location of the enemy would still be a piece of information he could still bargain with when he spoke to the master once more.

The question was what else he wanted from the Order that he would need to bargain.

What else can they offer me?

“While we are on the subject,” Rometo said out of nowhere as they walked. “I’ve got a question.”

“We’re listening,” Ted answered.

“What did you mean when you said that the [Life Eater] followed you?” he asked, looking at both of them. “What’s your relationship to the creatures?”

Aiden latched onto the word immediately. Creatures.

They had spoken of one [Life Eater], yet Rometo had spoken of it in the plural form. He knew that there were more than one.

He has an extensive knowledge of things relating to the [Demon King].

It was no surprise. In fact, he was probably the next best thing to the library of Living Truth on this subject.

Ted chuckled a little. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”