The Rules of Blood-Volume Two ; Chapter 65 (281) - Under the Rocks, Under the Covers
“HYAAAH!” the man rushed in, sword at the ready, eyes filled with rage.
He swung downward, trying to cut the bastard in two. But the bastard in question moved to the side, the sword missing him by mere inches.
The man took too large a swing, tumbling forward straight past the bastard he just tried to kill.
“Are you done?” the bastard asked.
“Not until you lie dead,” the man hissed, regaining his footing, “You just had to pay the toll and be on your way, instead you-”
“Oh, shut up already,” one of the women dashed behind the man’s back, dragging her dagger across the man’s neck, plunging him straight into the darkness.
“Maybe he had more to say, Velakia, dear,” Blanc sighed, looking at the blood on his shoes.
“More useless banter, like the rest of them,” Velakia argued, “Three different bandit groups in twenty miles, what in Vita’s name is happening?”
“Well, the guard at that fortress warned us, but yeah, this is bad,” Blanc scraped the sole of his shoe on a flat rock, removing some of the fresh blood.
It was late in the afternoon of the fifty-seventh day, the sea of rocks around them looking as if it had no end.
But reality was that they were making good progress through the Domain of Blood Zaitan.
The only annoyance was the constant bandit camps that occupied many of the roads of the Domain, forcing people to pay tolls to pass.
And since Blanc wasn’t up to paying them, they were threatened and attacked.
However, the reason why Blanc chose to go through this new hurdle instead of walking on the less-walked roads, as he said he would, beyond the time lost by walking a larger distance, was that they were unsafe.
Bandits were the least of his worries on this Domain.
For what hid beneath the rocks, or pretending to be rocks, was far more dangerous than any bandit could ever hope to be. Luckily, they did not cross paths with any such things yet, which allowed them to advance quickly.
“Let’s move on, then,” Blanc said towards Velakia.
With a nod, the four moved away from the corpses nearby, leaving them to the Vita’s will as they began walking again.
“Say,” Velakia ran towards Blanc, slowing to a walk once she got by his side, “Will you, one day, visit Iskahul?”
“Quite a sudden question,” Blanc chuckled, “But, perhaps when everything is over, if I live, I don’t see why not.”
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“You will live, stop speaking as if you are sick or dying,” Velakia slapped his shoulder, “You can bring your wives and children as well, I want to meet them.”
“Why are you speaking like that?” Blanc frowned, “That sounded like you were on the ship, saying your goodbyes before leaving.”
“No, you misunderstand,” she shook her head, “It was a genuine question. It would be nice to show you all around.”
“I can’t have the First Princess give me a guide of her Kingdom, my head would be on a pike by evening,” Blanc chuckled, “But why not, sounds fun.”
“I will have to make sure your head will be elsewhere then,” Velakia whispered.
“With my wives there?” Blanc laughed, surprised by her words.
“Why not? Would they say no? After all you wrote in the letter?” Velakia grinned, teasing him.
“That… is actually a great question,” Blanc muttered, “But speaking of the letter, it should be there by tomorrow if it didn’t get there already.”
“Are you afraid of how they will react?” Velakia asked, her grin now a comforting smile.
“Somewhat,” Blanc shrugged, “I know Celine would not have that much of a problem with you as much as she would have with who you are, but Miyanna might have with both, and her anger is hard to contain.”
“And how do you contain it?” Velakia asked, curious.
“Well, you know,” Blanc muttered, “The same thing that I see calms you as well.”
Velakia giggled, a hint of embarrassment in her smile as she shook her head lightly. “Then she’ll be fine.”
As Blanc opened his mouth, a low rumble echoed in the far distance, drawing all of their attention. One of the rock hills miles away to the west seemed to become undone.
Hundreds of boulders fell from the top to the bottom, smashing on impact, sending dust and small rocks in all directions.
And as the rest of the hill slowly crumbled as well, a cloud of dust hid what was happening from Blanc’s sight. Yet the low rumble continued, shaking the ground lightly around them.
Luckily, they were far enough away that nothing else besides the sound seemed to come their way.
With that worry out of the way, the question of what had caused such a thing to happen soon replaced the initial panic in the minds of the four.
But a man who puts his hand in every burrow will one day feel a python’s bite.
“We move,” he said out loud, eyes still on the dust cloud in the distance, as a bad feeling took over his instincts, “And do not stop until nightfall.”
He didn’t have to say it twice or translate it, for all four understood that they were in danger.
So they faced northeast and began walking as fast as they could for the rest of the day.
For the wilderness in the Domain of Blood Zaitan was not in Forests, Lakes, Gardens, or Mountains.
It was underground.
By midnight, they decided to stop and rest until dawn, not having slept in a few days and not planning to test their limit again. Still, they had to sleep in turns as the events of today, and all the bandits roaming around, did not allow them the comfort of a good night’s rest.
And after a bit of arguing in Iskahese, at the orders of Velakia, the first two to sleep were Tahreni and Lendros.
From the way Tahreni looked at Blanc since leaving Prida, it was obvious she knew something was happening between Blanc and Velakia, but midway, she gave up trying to change Velakia’s mind and instead helped Velakia to convince Lendros.
Lendros, in his cluelessness, couldn’t accept the fact that his princess was staying watch while he slept, but with a few words, ordering him to obey her, he was inside his tent in less than five minutes.
Blanc and Velakia stood in silence outside Blanc’s tent, waiting for the two to fall asleep.
Once enough time had passed, they began their watch in the dark, moving inside Blanc’s tent, straight into the bed, straight under the covers, where they made sure to keep watch only halfway through the morning.
Volume Two ; Chapter 65 (281) - Under the Rocks, Under the Covers
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