The old, overgrown trail that circled the
city walls was the perfect place to let off steam. Still enraged, Torus stormed
up the bushy path, rugged enough to calm him down by the time he came upon the
Temple turnoff. He hurried through the Laurel gardens and slid into a small
door around the back of the building, hurried down a narrow turnpike, dimly lit
with light from the chambers below.
Below
the mayhem of the outside world, the Underworld was functioning like a well
oiled machine, aside from a few unfortunate delays, dominoes from the disaster
in the Grand Courtyard. The Secure Treasury Transfer was almost complete, all
the artworks and artifacts were safely in storage, now all they had to do was
move the gold reserves.
Torus inspected the record keeping as he broke the latest news to the Foremen. Due to the Lunie Invasion there had been a last minute Security measure put in place; the gold reserves would be shipped to Ebar. Atalon’s orders!
Torus inspected the record keeping as he broke the latest news to the Foremen. Due to the Lunie Invasion there had been a last minute Security measure put in place; the gold reserves would be shipped to Ebar. Atalon’s orders!
"There's
a cargo ship leaving tomorrow, space in the hold has already been assigned, the
crews are awaiting your arrival" He marked up the shipping tablets,
authorizing the change, passed them off to Ra-Ku then pulled Ku aside.
"Listen.
There's one more task I need you to complete..." He reached into his
breast pocket and pulled out a crumpled scroll. "Do this job without
messing it up and you'll grant yourself immunity."
The
Party Crashers gathered their instruments and props, counted the children, some
of them already had a brave aribu by their sides, hearts sold, willing to be
led astray at any cost. Josh pondered his own dilemma as he watched the scene
unfold. He was officially invited to
inspect their nest? He couldn't help but feel this was confirming his hunch
of a Divine Intervention, a gift from Medel, he wasn't imagining these things.
His
pulse quickened as she emerged from the crowds again. If he went there, could he smuggle her back? Did he dare kidnap her? He eyed the maintenance door in the wall,
pondering the only feasible option, knowing, his key to the Underworld would
probably open that door too... He scanned the scene while conducting a
realistic debate... The door was surrounded by a hive of activity, no one would
notice him slip her inside… In fact, the hive of activity screamed of
opportunity to kidnap the beautiful chocolate one! This was it! The time to do
it was right now!
But
then what? Where would he hide her?
Could he really hope to keep her hidden in his tiny bachelor suite? How would
he breed a tribe if he only had his little bachelor suite? Was it perhaps a
better idea to follow her back to Lemuria?
He
followed Tika with a longing gaze as she gathered her baskets of honey buns.
Did this really have to be over? Reality was, Atalon would never approve of
such a trip… He scanned the scene up at the Villa; Atalon was no longer on the
balcony... Was he on his way down to the courtyard? Was he mad?
He
pondered the invitation again... It would likely be a one way trip… There
was no way Atalon would ever let him come back... What would Nolan do?
He
scanned the crowds for Nolan, quantifying the opportunities that had been
promised to him in the New Empire. The gold, the promotion... The truth was,
Nolan wasn't even going to be in Atlan anymore, no one had said anything about
sending him to Ebar, he had no other
connections to the Firmary gods aside from Dion and he lied to Dion
today... He was malfunctioning, too now. Reality was, he was already on
his way over the cliff. He felt like he was over the cliff until he spotted her
again... She was his answer to the cliff… The seeds of perfection....
Did he dare go to their party? Why
not? A one way trip to Lemuria had the strongest argument now. If he was
half-way over the cliff here, then this real chance to compete with the mighty
Malodon, was Medel’s gift and he wasn’t going to turn it down.
No comments:
Post a Comment