Capítulo 108: Greeting The Convoy
The three of them tantrumed their arms in the air, gathering the attention of the approaching caravan. After a slight adjustment, the mass group of people started heading directly towards Emile and the others.
"Come. We should greet them." Emile said.
"I'm ready," Willow agreed.
Emile looked behind him. Blood was knelt down, closing the lids of his multiple lunch boxes. He summoned the Beaky Box and tossed everything in, but when it came to his blanket, velvety black with red trim, he waited.
"Do you guys happen to know how to get sand out of blankets?" He asked.
"Shake it," Emile and Willow replied.
Blood picked up his blanket and held it up behind Willow. With the strength of an Enlightened, he slammed the blanket up and down. A torrent of sand exploded out, covering Willow's sticky skin in a film of sand.
Immediately, the tension thickened.
"Shake it away from us you idiot!" Emile yelled.
Instead of yelling, Willow turned around and faced Blood. With an oblivious look on his face, Blood began folding his blanket.
Willow patiently waited. Once Blood put the blanket back in the Beaky Box she lunged forward. She grabbed Blood's shirt and threw him into the air.
Blood soared across the sky, but he traveled too fast to hear his screams. He eventually began falling back down, towards the convoy approaching them.
Blood crashed into the sands in the distance. He rolled and rolled, kicking up clouds of sand and finally stopping in front of the caravan.
"He can be our greeting," Willow commented.
***
"I'm sick of you acting like you're the boss of me!" Blood ran across the desert, yelling at Willow just up ahead.
Behind Blood, the caravan finally arrived. A woman hopped out of the leading carriage and followed Blood.
She had a buzzed head, dark eyes, and Emile could see tattoos poking up her neck. Wearing a plain set of robes, she approached the trio.
"I greet Elder Spright and Elder Willow—" she bowed beneath them, "I am Mariah Rottenfeld Eclipsia the Third and I am this convoy's escort. Now that we have arrived, authority has been passed onto you, Elder Spright."
Emile silently watched the girl beneath him give her speech. Behind her, seven carriages were lined in order, each hulling a unique contraption behind them. Beside every carriage, two soldiers guarded, one on each side.
"How many of you are there?" Emile asked.
"We have sixty total members. Forty guards were ordered to protect the carriages and their personnel, ten men specialized for construction, four researchers, one person for long distance communication, one person for scouting, myself, and your party, Sir."
"Bring me the person responsible for communication," Emile ordered.
"As you will it," Mariah bowed once more and returned to the convoy.
"It's quite small," Willow commented.
"I know—" Emile agreed, "I'm sure Fallen Sky is busy dealing with the convergence of all three kingdoms and considering the fact that two Elder's are personally attending, they must assume you and I are more than enough."
"We can't be everywhere at once," Willow pointed out.
"I know, but the researchers take priority. We will personally watch over them and allow the rest to fend for themselves."
"Alright," Willow agreed.
"And we should test the combat power of the guards. I'm curious what Alexander's given us." Emile said.
"I was thinking the same," Willow agreed.
"I greet Elder Spright and Elder Willow," a new man arrived beside Mariah.
He seemed like the classic aristocrat: a black suit, unbuttoned, with a cream undershirt and thin, golden framed spectacles adorned his face.
Oddly enough, though, the man seemed young. Perhaps slightly older than Emile, he had smooth clean skin and a baby face to match.
"My name is Francis—" he similarly bowed, "and I am the Council's representative."
"The Council?" Emile asked.
"Yes sir, I am a means of communication with King Alexander and the Council."
"Who do you speak to directly?" Emile asked.
"The Head of the Council, Sir Simothy."
"Not Alexander?" Emile asked.
Francis subtly shook, reacting to Emile's lack of formality, but he quickly composed himself.
"The King attends every Council Meeting, he will be present, but I am only able to directly communicate with Sir Simothy."
"I see…" Emile trailed off.
'So I can't talk to Alexander myself, it seems like some version of telepathy but restricted to one person for some reason'
'And it also means I won't know the exact words used or the tone behind them, or even if Francis is reporting everything I tell him'
'I shouldn't trust him blindly'
"You may return, notify the Council of your arrival and tell them we will be venturing into the Hollow Mountains immediately," Emile ordered.
"As you will it," Francis bowed and returned to the convoy with Mariah.
"I don't like him," Willow commented.
"Neither do I. Watch what you say around him, and I'm talking to you Blood."
"Bite me." He responded.
"May I?" Willow asked.
"Not too far this time." Emile approved.
"Hey wait—wait wait wait!" Blood started to panic.
Meanwhile Willow shot around and plunged her closed fist into his stomach. Blood's feet were swept off the ground and he was thrown off the mound of sand they were on.
Emile cast his gaze across the mountains. With a group of people that large and with the size of the carriages, crossing over will take a lot longer than he'd like.
But there doesn't seem to be any other way. They waited for Blood to get back up and joined the convoy. For the next couple weeks they'd be traversing the mountain, hopefully this time goes smoother than the last.
Presentes
-- Presente
recebido Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder