Chapter 79: Swamp
"Closing his book he touched his ear, so I got one more thing to try...." he said to me the communicator projecting his voice into my head.
"Sure anything...." I replied to him as quietly as I could.
"Sure.... but we'll wait a little longer till we have to leave." he said turning to me with a smile.
"So Emilia are you feeling okay???..." Helen asked.
"Yeah I'm great, why???.."I asked slightly panicked that they noticed I wasn't moving my legs.
"Ohhh... you took a pretty nasty hit from that ogre." she said.
"Yeah I'm good." I replied with a smile.
"How about you Jay???..." Helen asked.
"I think I had some broken ribs... but I'm feeling fine now." he replied.
"Did you guys get hurt???...." I asked.
"I took some heavy hits but nothing too brutal...." Daisy replied.
"Yeah only a few glancing hits here...." Grace said.
"Lucky we had Paul's armour though.... I think I would have died from the direct hit I received..." Jay said.
"Yeah.... a shame we have to return it tomorrow...." Helen sighed.
"Yeah..... Would be awesome if we could keep it." Grace added.
"I mean.... there's no harm in asking....." Daisy suggested.
"I guess so...." Jay added.
"So who's gonna ask him.....???..." Grace wondered.
They all came to the sudden realisation that if there was one person who would have the best chance for it to work, and that person would be me... as they all turned their gaze at me.
"Me?..?" I asked.
"Yeah!!!! Have you seen the way he treats you.... it a clearly something more than just friends." Helen said.
"Why not Daisy???... Daisy knows him well too." I asked.
"Yeah but he treats you in a special way!" Daisy winked at me.
"Nah...." I said in denial.
"You don't think so???.....watch." she said to me. "Hey Paul???..." she shouted to him.
"Wassup?" he replied still reading his book.
"Do you have any more of these I can have ??..." she asked holding up a snickers.
"Yeah sure... in the kitchen in the second cupboard on tour left. Help yourself." he replied.
"Now you try...." Daisy whispered to me.
"I'm telling you it's the same." I replied to them. "Paul???..." I asked.
"Yo wassup?" he replied closing his book.
"You got more of those hazelnut chocolate???.." I asked.
"Yeah sure want me to get you some now??..." he asked.
"No...no....maybe later I replied to him.
Everyone sat back looking at me with the biggest grin on their faces.... but I didn't want to tell them he offered to get it for me because I've lost movement in my legs.
"Fine I'll ask him...." I reluctantly accepted..... "Paul???" I asked.
"Wassup???...." he replied looking into his wardrobe.
"Is there any chance we can keep the equipment you loaned us???...." I asked.
"You'll have to ask Ashley he's the one that keep all our magical equipment to study..." he replied.
"Ohhh.....okay we'll ask him thanks." I replied.
"Anyways if you guys don't mind I'm gonna need to borrow Emilia for a little bit." Paul asked the group.
"You can borrow her as long as you need...." they said looking at me with now even bigger grins.
He walked over kneeling down in front of me so I can hold on his back. "Thank you we won't be long, please stay as long as you need. He said opening a portal walking through it carrying me.
We arrived in swamp bog some reason in daylight... the whole atmosphere reeking of death and decay, I instantly buried my nose into Paul's back to reduce the putrid smell. "Where the hell are we?..." I asked revolted at the location we arrived in.
"We are going to visit an acquaintance of mine.... avoid talking to her at all costs you do not want to piss her off..." He warned me.
"Why would someone live here??..." I asked feeling scared of his warning.
He began walking somewhere, "We are paying someone called Granny Matilda.... she's very dangerous so don't piss her off only answer with yes and no's or silence...." He explained making me feel even more scared.
"If she's so dangerous.... why are we going there?..." I asked.
"Because she's as old as time itself.... if anyone would know what's wrong she would." He answered.
"What the hell?..." I asked.
"Yeah.... she's a worshiper of Old God and has Ancient and Bog Magic.... that even predates the current Pantheon of Gods..." Paul explained.
"What the hell does that mean?.." I asked even more frightened and confused.
"She's older then the Gods themselves worshiping Old Gods that predate the ones people pray to today…." He answered.
"Paul... I want to go back home...." I said to him unable to even imagine such a being.
"It will be okay... whatever you do don't anger her.... she can be reasoned with so it's not too dangerous.... and she is the only person I know who could fix you...." He answered.
"You can't fix me?" I asked.
"Trust me I've used most spells in my arsenal..... And if I was to use another wish spell so quickly will probably do something irreversible to me... I'll never put your life at risk.... it's just best if we didn't pick a fight with her." He replied.
"Okay....." I nervously responded to him.
"Okay..... Great…. There's nothing to be worried about. Don't worry." He said.
Looking around as we walked in the shadows I can see silhouettes of things keeping a keen eye on us, even in the corner of my eyes I swear I could see the trees and vines themselves affected by our presence slowly turning to face us, even the tips of roots and vines seemed to be pointing at us.
"Don't worry, we are safe from them....." He said somehow noticing my nervousness.
"Okay...." I replied still feeling on edge keeping an eye out for us.
Slowly we trudged our way through the thick murky misty swap..... More common than not the sighting of decaying matter or the long dead remnants of something previously living stripped bare to the bone in its final resting place.
"Paul aren't you tired?.." I asked noticing that he has carried me for almost an hour without slowing down or being out of breathe.
"Nah..... You're pretty light, did you lose weight?.." He asked.
"Actually I think I got fatter..." I said to him laughing.
"Hmmm well you feel lighter....." He said he chuckled at my bluntness.
"So Paul.....do you think she will be able to fix me?..." I asked.
"If she can't then I don't think anyone can.... but it's so weird... you should have been healed from my healing spells..." He replied.
"Hmmm..... I'm sorry for causing you all this trouble.." I apologized feeling guilty.
"You know you never need to apologize to me, besides you know I thoroughly enjoy your company...." He replied.
"Well.... I wasn't so sure after our breakup..." I confessed.
"I know I may be a little different.... but I'm still that same naive kid." He replied.
"I know....." I said feeling a little saddened remembering that I called him stupid and naïve during out breakup.
"I'm the one who should be apologizing... you finally get your wish to be a wizard..... And I can't even be around to help you grow....." He said.
"... It's okay.... you're already taking time out to give me some personal lessons... people say that's a really big privilege...." I said.
"Really?..... I still hate being in the lime light though..." He said.
"Yup you're defiantly the same Paul I remembered." I chuckled.
"So on a scale of 1-10.... How strong are you really?.." I asked.
"Hmmm if 10 is uber strong..... Then probably a 9.5 or 10..." He replied.
"Jesus...." I replied.
"I may be strong but there are far more deadly things that roam this world..." He said.
"Like what?.." I asked.
"Well if I'm a 10... Then if Granny Matilda was to ever get serious in a fight she would probably be and 11.5 closer to a 12..." He replied.
"Ummmm are you sure it's safe?.." I asked feeling nervous again.
"It's okay... she's not harmless but she is more of a talker then a killer..." He answered.
"Why do you caller her Granny?..." I asked.
"It's what everyone calls her..... And how she wants to be addressed." He answered me.
"So are you scared of her?...." I asked.
"Nope not really.... but I respect how strong she is..." He replied.
"By the way I met a dragon the other day." I informed him.
"Really?... I thought they were extinct." He replied sounding curious.
"That's what everyone tells me but I saw a sea dragon I swear." I said trying to persuade him.
"Where did you see it??" He asked.
"In a cave.... in some underwater river pool thing." I replied.
"That's weird.... they normally only dwell in open waters..." He said.
"I swear to you Paul I saw one!" I said.
"Okay okay…. I believe you..." He said.
"By the way why are Dragons extinct?" I asked.
"A very very long time ago... Two races dominated over all the rest..... Dragons and Titans.... there was a giant war that spanned over many years eventually they came to a truce but they put each other at the brink of extinction.... then a mighty mage called Solomon banished the remaining Dragons.... and the Titans... well they vanished somewhere." Paul explained.
"Ohhh I seee....." I said extremely intrigued in the history of this world.
"On a side not.... that's why Abbraxsoth is nicknamed the demon..... Story has it that when he was young adult during his adventures he accidentally found himself in the remains of a long dead titan. Exploring deeper he discovered the heart of a Titan.... His lust for power caused him to consume the heart.... I don't know why..... But they say it took him weeks to finish.... and upon finishing it he came back with the Strength and Immunity to magic similar to that of a Titan.... he also gained the ability to grow in size, his strength growing in proportion to his size. He got his Nickname because using his new found powers and his maniacal rage he single handedly in one night killed the current ruler of Eshia his family and all members in his command structure and crowning himself as the new ruler of Eshia." He said.
"He sounds very dangerous..." I said.
"Yup... he is.... also rumours has it no one has ever withstood a hit from him in his Demon form..... So he is very formidable." Paul explained.
"Is it true that Travis hates you?.." I asked.
"Ummmm yeah I guess so... He currently exiled from Eshia till he defeats and takes the number one spot in Atlanti." He replied.
"Is he strong?.." I asked.
"Yes he himself is also a very formidable fighter, he wields two legendary pistols.... and being the son of Abbraxsoth he also has a natural resistance to magic...." Paul answered.
"Do you think he can beat you?.." I asked.
"Hmmmm maybe.... but the reason I'm so feared or respected is no one has seen me serious yet and no one quite knows the extent of my magical prowess." He answered.
"Have you ever gone serious in a fight before?.." I asked
"Only once... and that was when I first met Scarlet... after that we sat down talked and became friends." He said.
"That's so weird…." I said.
"Yeah it's kinda weird but she's family now." He said.
"How about the other two leaders... I forgot their names.." I asked.
"Who Hannah and Egwene?.." He replied.
"Yeah.... You know..... I really do miss this...." I said.
"Miss what???..." he asked.
"The talking and stuff..." I replied.
"Me too.... looks like we have to put this conversation on hold though... we coming up to where we need to be." He said making me look forward.
In front of us stood a small cosy looking cottage with small puffs of smoke blowing out the chimney, with thatched roofing and a bubbling cauldron sitting outside it looked surprisingly peaceful but a small cottage in the middle of a bog of death and decay that could only mean one thing.....
The hairs on the back of my neck and arms stand on end, knowing what is about to unfold.
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