Chapter 8

The cicadas the young druid had sent had travelled about 4 and a half miles, singing their mating song throughout the journey, feeding reverberatory data back to his router arrow in the ground. ~Noveria? What business does she have there?~

He reached for another arrow from his hip-mounted quiver, placed it in his bow and aimed it at the ground. Rather than penetrating the ground, the arrow bounced off the surface of the earth and went up. Upon its descent, it morphed into a large dragonfly, which Sampson hopped onto and off he went, towards the Noverian kingdom, in pursuit of Ezarin.

-

"Heh heh... heh heh heh... heh..."

"Is that... the queen?"

"Iva Azaylia, in the flesh."

"I see. What happened?"

"Unknown. According to her brother's reports, some millipede-like creature was with her in some derelict cave out in the fringes of the uncharted forest as the kingdom fell."

"Can't say I'm surprised."

"I don't think anyone can."

"Take her to room 64G."

Besides the laughter, Iva was completely docile. When lifted from her seat, she'd simply stand there. Couldn't really follow instructions as it seemed she could no longer interpret language, or possibly even the physical world. If told to lie on the bed, she'd simply stand there until one of the nurses helped her to do so.

In her condition, she was no longer even capable of eating, assisted or otherwise, and it was thanks solely to her immortality -- distilled from vampire physiology by some alchemists -- that she was able to survive for so long without nourishment or hydration.

The nurse took her to the play area of the room she was staying in and surrounded her with blankets and pillows. Until her condition could be understood and rectified, she was being treated as a child with special needs. The nurse sat her down and knelt beside her. The queen wasn't really liked by anyone, but even still, the nurse couldn't help but take pity on her as she'd seen such cases all too many times and could never get over it; being traumatised to the point of docility was a fate she didn't wish upon her worst enemies. She gently patted Iva's head.

"There, there. It'll be alright."

"Heh heh... heh... heh... heh heh..."

--

After about 45 minutes in the air, Sampson reached the Noverian kingdom wall. He wasn't one for barging in the front door and instead decided to find another entrance. It wasn't long before he located the same tunnel Ezarin used for entry and made his way in.

Upon entering the necropolis, he was greeted by a multitude of foul stenches and sights, which made him recoil quite a bit. What appeared to be a junkie lycan approached him. "Hello, there. Um er yeh, hi, so, I was wondering er, do yoouuu..." The druid turned his head slowly to glare at the creature, making it quickly change it's mind and run away, and he continued on.

After about an hour and a half of walking, he eventually reached the other side of the underground city and found another tunnel. Rather than emerging on the side that the rest of the kingdom was on however, he found himself back outside.

~Well, that sucks. Guess I'm barging in...~ He reached for an arrow from his quiver and aimed it at the wall. ~...quietly.~ As the arrow approached the wall, it morphed into a large spider and grasped the vertical surface firmly. Sampson hopped on. Before proceeding, he stretched out his arms to his sides, balled his fists and turned them, forming a yellow hexagram with each fist, then retracted his arms, cloaking himself and his ride. As they reached the top of the wall, they found that they could not climb over it. ~Noveria, you annoying little...~

He aimed his bow at the force field and fired two arrows into it next to each other. He then grabbed the two arrows that were now stuck in the force field, increased they potency and dragged them around, clockwise, creating a hole just big enough for him and his spider to fit through. He disbanded his spider and proceed on foot, still cloaked.

He eventually reached the castle's front door and waited patiently next to it until someone entered or exited. When one elf did enter, Sampson slipped in. He silently made his way up, allowing himself to admire the architecture and artistry the castle's interior possessed. He eventually found himself in what he could only assume was a conference room, or an odd dining room.

The limit on his cloak had almost arrived, so he reach for four arrows from his quiver, aimed them at the guards, then fired. The arrows each turned into a small insect and flew onto each guard's neck, unnoticed. A few seconds later, all four guards fell unconscious and Sampson made his way up, uncloaked. He did not bother knocking on the queen's door and just opened it, finding his quarry.

Open realising who was standing a few metres away from her, Ezarin stopped and jumped to the other side of the bed, having the queen between herself and the hunter. "My queen! He has come for me!" Aljilani, who was sweating and wiping tears away from her eyes after having laughed so much, turned to gaze upon the intruder.

"Sammy! Long time no see!"