Chp.10: Departure

By dawn the next day, Haku, Rhaegal, and Arethar were already at the edge of the oasis, waiting for the rest of the ambassador group to arrive. The two dragons had already said goodbye to all their sisters and their only remaining brother, and then had almost dragged the arachne away from the cave despite the fact that the latter was willing to wait for Tikka and Teramon; however, Haku and Rhaegal couldn't let him stay there, since their sisters had to swap places with avatars without the arachne noticing, and therefore using the excuse that the dragonesses wanted to get ready in private they had left waiting for them somewhere else. In this way Arethar wouldn't have known that two of the four dragons who were with him were actually a fiction and in case of a trap they could have taken him by surprise.

"So, how long will it take us to reach the passage you indicated?" Haku asked the arachne as they waited. When Arethar had proposed to Haku to go underground, and even later during the Council meeting, he had revealed that there was another passage to go down to the underworld that didn't contemplate having to risk suffocating or being crushed by the pressure of the lake's water; he hadn't used it when he'd come because the one from Thul Oasis was faster and he couldn't wait longer than necessary to learn about dragons. But now that they had to go back they could take their time, and Arethar obviously didn't want the higher creatures he revered to take any risk, so they would take the safer route. "It's not far from here. We'll reach it before the sun even reaches the highest point in the sky"

"If it's that close, then it's strange that we missed it. We've basically explored this entire sector of the desert" Rhaegal commented. "Is it hidden somehow? Maybe there is a magical spell that hides it?"

"That's right" Arethar nodded. "A special combination of water, earth, air and fire magic that allows you to refract light in a way similar to a mirage. You see, these combined spells create several layers of air over a very large area, which reflects the sun's rays in such a way that it completely hides the passage. We use it for pretty much every surface access there is in the desert, or at least the ones we've discovered. Fortunately, there are just few of them, they form mainly on rocky ground due to erosion due to the underlying water and they disappear within a few years thanks to the continuous influx of sand due to the wind which ends up covering them..."

Haku let the arachne continue speaking, taking great care to memorize every word. So that was why no one had ever discovered the underworld… while there were few people willing to venture into the Yuthia Desert, it was strange that none of them had ever noticed the existence of the great cave system that lay directly beneath the surface. This was a question that had plagued Haku for a while: newcomers were perhaps a bit slow on the uptake, but it seemed impossible to him that in thousands of years no one had ever noticed anything. But if there existed a civilization that wanted to remain hidden in that underworld, and therefore for obvious reasons didn't want anyone to discover this underworld, then everything was explained: such a civilization would in fact have hidden well every natural passage and it wasn't impossible that it would have also killed the unfortunate ones who had managed to discover the cave system. The only passage that probably wasn't carefully guarded or given many warning signs was that of the Thul Oasis, because no one expected that anyone would be so resourceful as to dive so deep and hold their breath so long. The harsh conditions of the desert and a lot of attention from the arachnes had allowed that people to remain hidden from the world for twenty thousand years, and with them the underworld was also hidden. Now everything made sense.

While Haku was reflecting on this, heavy footsteps announced the arrival of Tikka and Teramon, who emerged after a few moments from the bush. They both looked identical to normal and there was no sign that they were using avatars... just like Haku wanted. "Welcome, sisters" he greeted them as he approached them pretending to be cordial, when really he just wanted to get away from Arethar; the arachne tried to follow, but Rhaegal stopped it by asking more questions about exactly how the magics that protected the passages to the underworld worked. As soon as he was far enough, he whispered to his two sisters: "Have you got everything ready?"

"Sure, did you take us for fools?" Tikka grumbled. "We checked every detail of our avatars. We made sure that the invisibility rune created a perfect illusion… as we always have, for that matter, so there's no reason to be so apprehensive. We even scrubbed our bodies on these avatars to fill them with our scent, in case the arachnes have sensitive noses or something..."

"Yes... sorry, I'm too apprehensive, you're right. Forgive me" Haku apologized, realizing that his question had been inappropriate: his sisters knew exactly what to do and doubting them was ridiculous. And indeed he could find no defect with their disguise. "Did you really add your scent too... isn't that a bit excessive? I mean, I doubt that arachnes have our sense of smell..."

"Well, we can't know for sure. I mean, they're such a strange race" Teramon said. "I mean... Arethar doesn't have a nose, apart from those two little holes just above the mouth that he needs to breathe... but he has all that hair similar to spider hair... what if they functioned as the antennae of insects and could they pick up smells, or something like that? Considering how little we know about these creatures, I think it's best not to assume anything"

Haku shrugged; indeed the sisters were right. In such cases it was better to be ready for anything, even the most improbable hypotheses. "Okay, I admit you're right. Come, let's get back to Rhaegal and Arethar before he gets suspicious… although I doubt he would, I think we could ignore him for hours and he'd assume this is normal for higher beings, and indeed that it would be arrogant of him even to wish to know the subjects of our conversation". Tikka and Teramon nodded in response: to them, too, Arethar gave the impression of someone who would cut off his hand to atone for his sin even if he only had barred the way for one of them by mistake.

The four dragons and the arachne didn't have to wait long before the other members of the group arrived too: soon a small handful of people appeared in the middle of the bush and came towards them. The most recognizable, and the one that immediately caught the eye, was of course Zamor, while behind him came Isaac and…

"Atelas? And... Efren!?" Rhaegal exclaimed seeing them, especially the human. "What are you doing here, man? I didn't think you were coming... aren't you part of the Council?"

"Zamor and Haku are part of the Council too, and yet they are here" Efren replied. "I certainly can't miss this adventure! The stories you told me about what lies underground made me too envious, so this time I'm coming too. Zamor asked me as he believed that having an experienced adventurer among us could be useful, so... who am I to say no?"

Rhaegal smiled. He was happy to have his friend to accompany him, but was a little confused about the political dynamics of the newcomers. "And does the Council agree?"

"Well, no one objected when I called a meeting early this morning and proclaimed my intentions... also because no one was present since everyone was at home sleeping" Efren said with a smirk. "Therefore my vote was the only one, I signed the document and left a copy on the table. When they find it they will know too. They can't accuse me of anything, I acted according to protocol"

Rhaegal burst out laughing. He could imagine the faces of certain members of the Council when they found the message left by Efren. Even though the man had acted according to protocol, in this way it seemed that the message screamed: 'fuck politics, I'm going on an adventure'. Which had more or less probably been Efren's thinking, he just hadn't expressed it out loud. "What about the adventurers' guild? Weren't you two contending for the position of guildmaster?"

"FUCK THE GUILD!" both Atelas and Efren screamed in unison, this time not even trying to hide their true intentions and shouting their thoughts to all the world. "We don't give a damn about that, they can take care of themselves. I left a message for Sarah saying she could take care of the guild herself in our absence, or pass the job off to someone else if she didn't like it. The important thing is that now it's someone else's problem"

Rhaegal couldn't help but giggle like a fool. "I want your written and signed statement confirming that I had nothing to do with any of this" he told Atelas and Efren, making them laugh in turn. While it wasn't entirely ironic… he was pretty sure that when he got back he would have to spell that detail out very carefully, because Sarah and probably many other people would be trying to skin the two backsliders alive, and he didn't want to get involved in the fray.

Haku glared at Zamor, who returned a look that implied that Efren's presence was not accidental. It wasn't hard for the dragon to understand why the lizardman had arranged for the human to be there: because Rhaegal cared about him, and therefore would stay behind to help him in case they got into any trouble. In practice, he was a sort of insurance that the dragons wouldn't abandon them to their fate. A clever move, he had to admit. "Well, are you all here? Because in that case we could go and..."

"Not yet" Zamor stopped him raising his hand. "There's still one person missing from my group. She's a little late... I told her the right time, but evidently she must have lost some..."

"Here I am, sorry!" Misune exclaimed in a rather breathless voice as she came out of the bush dragging a huge backpack on her shoulders. From the blush on her cheeks she must have been running. "I'm sorry... I wanted to do one last bag check and I lost track of time. Sorry everyone"

Haku seemed to freeze when he saw the half-elf appear, and was silent for nearly ten seconds before looking down at Zamor and saying in a voice that sounded like a whisper, "I need to talk to you. It'll just take a minute". The lizardman nodded, as he clearly expected that reaction, and no one tried to stop them or ask any questions. The two moved away for a few steps, then Haku put a paw on Zamor's shoulder and shook it; he didn't use all of his strength, since otherwise he would have shattered it, but he used enough that a pained grimace appeared on the lizardman's face. "What are you playing at?"

"I'm not playing. I'm just making sure of my survival" Zamor replied trying not to reveal how much pain Haku's paw hurt him, who at that moment seemed almost on the verge of sinking his claws into his flesh. "We don't know what we're getting into, and I don't want to risk you leaving me or anyone else to die. I needed someone you sure wouldn't abandon, someone who would make you wait until we were all safe. Efren is already a guarantee, but he isn't your friend but only your brother's, and then he is an adventurer and therefore he could be able to escape with you. Misune on the other hand... you care about her, you would not abandon her to her fate. I know this for sure, i knew that from the moment you had that rapist bastard kill her and then you threw his corpse on the wall. For her, you would be waiting. And even if Misune is certainly not to be underestimated, she is still the weakest among us, so if you'll wait for her, you will all wait as the others will surely be faster"

Haku let out a puff so loud that Zamor's face was hit by a jet of hot air. "Never again dare to endanger the people I care about for your own purposes. Believe me, you don't want to know what happened to the last one who did" the dragon growled, then he fixed the lizardman in the eyes with a glacial gaze. "I warn you: if on our return Misune is injured, or has scars on her body, or is ill, or has a cut on her arm, or has lost an ounce of weight, or even if she is disheveled... I will deem you directly responsible, and then you'll beg me to kill you. And don't assume I'll grant your wish"

And having said that Haku let go of Zamor and looked at him for one last moment, then he turned and motioned him to go back to the others. The lizardman nodded and tried not to show his emotions, but the truth was that in that moment he felt as if death itself had come to visit him. And maybe, given Haku's words, it would have been better.