V5 Chapter 7 Luxtorious

*Hoot Hoot*

Amon immediately hid behind Philomel.

" What was that?! A jaguar??"

He whispered into her shoulder as he pointed his spear at the hooting tree.

" No, it's an owl."

Philomel answered with a sigh, feeling slightly annoyed at Amon's questions and jumpy state. But she understood that he was new to the environment and was trying to get his bearings like this. Even so, it doesn't make it any less annoying! The only time, she found herself mildly at peace was when they broke camp, half an hour ago. Her tummy was extremely delighted at that roasted rabbit. She was happy that they have some food for this journey. She was urged out of the catacombs so fast that she didn't even have time to prepare supplies. All she had with her were her weapons, armor, some copper coins, and a sack full of wool, that she was supposed to deliver to her mother.

"Oops guess mum has nothing to weave into yarn then. Why did I even bring this along? Meh, at least I have a fluffy sack pillow. "

She thought to herself with a shrug. She swung it back over her shoulder, forgetting that Amon was hiding behind her. Amon received quite the shock of his life when the sack came out of nowhere over him. Hitting him on his blind side and pushing him to bang against Philomel's back.

" AH! DEATH HAS CAUGHT ME!"

He yelled so loudly that it sent nesting birds to zoom out of their nests and other wildlife to scatter like wildfire. Such a sight, brought a sudden smile upon Philomel's lips as laughter bubbled in her throat.

" *Laughing* I'm... So sorry *Chuckling* I forgot... You were... *Giggle*."

She wheezes in between words at Amon who was clinging to her back, as tightly as he could. Amon soon noticed what had happened and frowned at Philomel.

" Not funny, not funny at all."

He huffed under his breath as he pushed the soft sack of wool away and started walking by her side with a huge pout.

" You know wendigos breed in places like these!"

He suddenly added as if to make a point but that didn't lessen Philomel's laughter at him.

" I should have *giggling* told you these parts *holds back laughter* are the blessed lands of the High Priestess Haldir. There's nothing *laughing* of the sort here."

She finally clarified as she laughed at his reaction.

" You could have told me sooner!"

" How would I know you would believe in those silly tales?! There's no human that changes into half-beast form lurking about the woods, waiting for their next victim to prey on by sucking up all their blood. Leaving their bloodless corpse behind."

Philomel rebutted as she playfully raises her hands to represent the lurking beast, moving behind Amon just to grab both his shoulders. Amon just continued marching onward without giving any reaction to her. He was not amused, not amused at all but that didn't stop Philomel from giggling about it.

Moonlight creeps beneath the clouds,

its shimmering light reaches out,

past the dark green blankets of trees,

past frightened birds and wildlife.

Toward a soft flowing,

gurgling river that travels

from the highest peaks of the north

down a winding path towards the east.

A river that completely vanishes from sight

when its flowing clear liquid

came close to the desert.

Alas, the curse that halted this once-connected river.

Doing all it can

as it reaches out to the moon

begging the goddess above

to let it reunite with its long-lost lover.

Let it reunite with its vast ocean.

A prayer from a nymph

that fell upon deaf ears.

But even that didn't stop this heart-yearning spirit.

*Bang Bang*

The sound of a hammer to a nail echo throughout the peaceful forest pulling the attention of our two determined travelers. Amon at the sight of so much water, thanked all gods. For such a glorious thing to even exist upon the earth before drinking as much as he could. Philomel smiled at Amon's funny strange ways of the mere sight of a river before she as well joined a refreshing drink.

Amon after quenching his thirst, only then did he notice a dark elf sealing a barrel of water. He gently nudges Philomel, his head jerking toward the elf hammering away without a care in the world.

" Huh? Oh, that's just, Adrian. Hey Adrian!"

She greeted and quickly add, under her breath.

" Adrian here descended from a dark elf that made a deal with a water spirit by accident. He mistook the beautiful spirit for a demon, for he thought such beauty was impossible to be unless it was actually an evil demon trap. "

Philomel whispers to Amon informing him.

" Hmm."

Adrian grunted as some form of reply as he continued his work.

" Still doing the ritual?"

Philomel asked as she splash water onto her face. Adrian nodded without turning, unaware that no one could see his nod at that angle.

" Ritual?"

Amon tilted his head.

" He transports this river spirit to the ocean and back. In return, it gives him all the fresh water our tribe needs. The kind that doesn't suddenly vanish into thin air after a while."

" Ah... Wow, this curse sucks that much, huh?"

Amon commented with an annoyed tone.

" Ha! Tell me about it."

Adrian suddenly replies with a grin.

" Hey, Mel didn't you finish your weekly duty just yesterday? What are you doing here? Who's your friend?"

Adrian questioned like a floodgate had just been opened and everything came pouring out.

" I'm on a chosen mission, today. This is the support I kidnapped along for the quest, Amon."

" Ah, unlucky you. "

Adrian breathes out as he focuses back on his work.

" You know me and my wonderful luck! Well, we best get going, we're on the clock right now. Cya in 2 weeks!"

She chimed silently hoping this mission goes well. A sudden fear grabs at her heart, what if this is the last time she sees Adrian? Or anyone else? A rush of panic fills her as everything she was ignoring during their journey hits her. Fear, doubt, and panic spread throughout, shaking her to the core. A hand touches her making her notice Amon's worried glance.

" Are you alright?"

She lets out a shaky breath as she nods, not convincing anyone, not even herself.

" Have a good run."

Adrian wished completely oblivious to Philomel's state.

" Yeah... I will."

Her voice was shaky and cracked but even so, she stood up and forced herself to march up toward the City. Within her heart, she kept repeating a question that she had no answer to. Can she really do it? Can she save her tribe? Can she throw away her humanity and become the Villain her people need?

Amon silently follows behind a shaking Philomel, the sudden change in her personality made him nervous. Many attempts he made to speak, many lines he thought to say but none made it past his lips. He assumed the change in her personality was her creating a plan for this mission. When this thought occurred to him, he feared that asking her would break her train of thought but then, he was uneasy. Not knowing anything, or what they were up against. Going in so blindly on such a mission could even make the great Commander Julius quiver in his boots.

Amon took in deep breaths trying to calm himself.

"We're just going in there to slay a fearsome beast. Trust Philomel, she's a scavenger, and she knows the area better than anyone... (Well probably not better than the people who live there.) "

Amon bit his lip as he started to doubt in his mind.

"Just go in kill the beast, don't die, come out. Easy peasy, plain and simple."

Amon repeated in his mind, even though he knew, it was nothing like that. Hoping that the more times he repeated it in his mind, he would come to believe it. But in one single instance, he forgot all about it.

The tiny flickering sparkle of orange basked an entire cobblestone city in a glittering torchlight. The tips of the castle could be seen in the distance along with a wide variety of rooftops. Each rooftop was neatly sectioned and placed, forming the streets in between. Color, patterns, highs, and shapes all clashed against each other yet they still stood side by side, on either side of streets, in some sort of incoherent harmony. Winding streets that connected and interlaced with one another looked like a giant spider web from afar. Well, a spider web that has very thin lines of web in places, here and there from wooden street vendor stalls. It was quite a sight, however, the most, imposing feature of the City Luxtorious, that really disheartened Amon, was the pure white towering wall that ran around the entire city. Or the fact that from this angle, Amon could only see one way in and one way out. And that was the huge wooden drawbridge that leads up to a metal spiked gate.

" *Glups* Oh, boy."

He softly muttered to himself.

" You... sure this is the right place?"

He asked as he turns to Philomel just to find her already 10 feet away from him, tracking up toward the nerve wreaking city.

" *Sighs* Of course la. Why couldn't this beast be in the desert, like all the rest of them?"

Amon grumbled to himself as he quickly rushed to catch up with Philomel. It was quite a distance but the closer Amon got, the higher the wall towered over him and made him more nervous. It got to a point where he even started begging the sky before him not to disappear behind the wall. But unfortunately the inevitable happened and just to see the sky he had to arch his back and look direct upwards. Philomel started leading Amon through the shadows of trees, keeping her back to it as she signaled him to stop. Her gaze was glued to a patrolling guard waiting for them to pass. Amon could feel his craning neck hurting, from gazing at such a long time at such an angle. Now that they were just a few meters away from the wall, he felt like an ant gazing up at a white giant. She led him to a gap between a watch tower and the outer wall.

" *Soft whistles* Now what?"

He questioned as he lean against the wall but upon seeing Philomel's pale expression and shaky hands, he immediately stood straight.

" Mel, you alright?"

Philomel gave him another shaky nod as she takes in a deep breath. She moves closer to a corner in between the guard tower and the outer wall. Place one hand on either side of the corner, she leans forward toward the gap in front of her then bends down. With the strength of her legs, she launched herself upwards, her legs immediately pushed against the tower and outer wall. Standing spread out like a starfish between the corner, then she repeated the action until she was at the top, in no time.

" Wa. .. What is she a spider monkey?!"

Amon exclaimed softly to himself, as he watches Philomel signal him to climb up. Amon's gaze from the top where Philomel hung, drifted all the way to the bottom, trying to comprehend how to go about climbing up, all that. He places a hand on the outer wall.

" Nope! Just no."

He decided as he backs away from the corner. There was no way he would be able to climb up the same way she did but still, he needed a way up.

" Deep breaths, deep breaths."

He muttered to himself as he patted his stomach, inhaling as deeply as he could. His maroon eyes let out a brilliant glow as fangs extended from his teeth. His own shadow moved against the light gathering at the soles of his feet, clawing its way up his legs to his knees, and suddenly stops.

" Inner demon, don't fail me now."

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