Chapter 283: Factory (1/2)

Ilea cupped her face in both hands, Terok appearing next to her. “You really didn’t want to kill them?” He asked as she groaned again, “Well I won’t blame you, their gear sucks. Well I’ll go collect whatever is left of the Centurions.” He patted her shoulder with a metal arm and walking off, leaving her with the decision on what to do with this group of teenage elves.

Fifty two year old teenage elves. Do they develop slower? The one called Heranuur was watching her intently, his black plate armor basically falling apart. His red wavy hair flowed out from the cracks in his helmet, black eyes looking at her. Maybe he’s from the same domain as Elfie, with his red hair.

“What should we do? The dungeon is yours now human.” He spoke, waking Ilea from her daydreaming.

“Yes yes. You can call me Ilea.” She said, ignoring the fact that human was likely a derogatory term anyway, “I’ll think about it. Maybe Elfie can help me out here. I don’t want to murder you idiots. Why did you even go after the Centurions? Neither of you seem capable of fighting one yourself.”

The elf looked a little confused, “To destroy the Taleen of course. Finding more than a single Centurion is great luck. Perhaps we would have won.”

“You were losing, that one was dying already.” Ilea said, pointing to the brown haired one who seemed to try and make himself smaller as he treated Goldie.

Heranuur huffed, “Perhaps. Though you showed up and we won.”

That was it, as if it perfectly explained their reasoning. “But that doesn’t explain why you…,” Ilea started but gave up on it. She looked at the two meter tall fierce warrior, the two jagged daggers back in their sheaths on his belt. Maybe all the muscle is using his brain power.

“You over there, brown haired. What’s your name?” Ilea demanded, pointing at the other elf. He had been the one to try and solve their issues diplomatically, immediately accepting when she had punched some of her frustration into the golden idiot.

The elf scrambled up and stuttered, “My name is Neiphato. What is it you want?”

Ilea mused, looking at the elf. She shook her head and focused, “Why fight the Centurions? You were losing.”

“A Cerithil hunter does not stop. Our cause is to destroy the Taleen.” He answered. At least he wasn’t as dense as the other one.

“But if you flee and come back stronger, you’ll succeed then. If you die… well, you die.” Ilea said, trying to make sense of their reasoning.

This time he seemed to understand, his blue eyes lighting up a little, “You must not know many elves then human. To flee would be... shameful. Of course by becoming cursed hunters we are tainted already. It is… complicated.”

Ilea sighed, “Of course it is. Well I’m going to bring you to an elven friend, decide what to do with you three. I’ll continue to explore the dungeon with Terok here.” She pointed at the dwarf who grunted and waved, still collecting shrapnel, “Taleen will be destroyed one way or the other. Sound alright?” She asked, trying to imagine them as children.

The elf nodded, Heranuur shrugging as he went to pick up Goldie who was still unconscious.

Ilea led the group back out, finding Elfie sitting on a rock reading. He looked up, his eyes growing wide when he spotted the three elves coming out of the dungeon next to her. “A little early.” He commented, putting away his book.

“Need some advice Elfie. So there’s a lot of Centurions in there and guess what we found?”

The elf got up and took a couple casual steps towards them, looking at each of the three, frowning at the one unconscious. Ilea noted that only Heranuur was meeting his eyes. Of course Goldie couldn’t meet anybody’s eyes at the moment. “I believe you have found three terribly inexperienced elven hunters. Would that be a correct assumption?”

Ilea raised her eyebrows, smiling under her helmet. She noted his lack of mockery nor his mention of cursed ones. “That would be close, certainly. Now I’m not too knowledgeable on elven customs but a human I had saved I might send off to the next town, if they’re being particularly nice I might bring them myself.”

Elfie nodded but stayed quiet for a while, closing his eyes before he sighed, “You won’t persuade them to stand down human.”

Ilea nodded towards Goldie, “Managed to convince that one.” She said, getting a laugh from both Terok and Heranuur. “Well I won the bout and can now decide who goes into the dungeon and who doesn’t, when and for how long.” Ilea explained, “Do you think they will honor the deal?”

She didn’t trust any of the people present, the only thing she knew was that each would follow their personal interests. If she could gauge Elfie at all, then she was somewhat sure he had a soft spot. Otherwise their first meeting would’ve gone differently. The way he had talked about the machines and their eternal war, she was pretty sure he cared about these younglings more than she did. “I don’t know them.” He simply said.

No honor bound agreement or sacred ritual binding them to their word? Ilea shrugged, “Then make sure they do. Don’t let them in, all would have died if it hadn’t been for me.”

“Hey I helped too.” Terok said, waving at the elf.

Elfie looked at her with confusion now, Ilea already turning to go back inside, “What am I supposed to do with them? Trap them until you’re done?”

“Whatever. Trap them, kill them, bring them away or teach them. Might be the most beneficial for your war efforts. As it stands they’re just a hindrance in there.” Ilea said and started making her way back to the entrance, Terok following a moment later. She had done them a favor, had saved them from near certain death. The bout had ended not in death but a new chance. Perhaps too trusting, too nice but she could mop the floor with the lot and Elfie combined, not that he would enter the dungeon anyway.

The responsibility was with Elfie now and their new chance was their own to waste. “You care too much Ilea.” Terok said a while later, the two of them returning to the hall now half destroyed by their battle. “You know… the packs they didn’t have with them? I saw them badly hidden a couple dozen meters from Elfie. Might be he doesn’t want us to see what’s inside.”

Ilea grinned, “Waste of capable warriors. You came to their rescue too didn’t you? And you mention their packs now? Quite unlike what I thought of the greedy dwarf at my side.”

“I owe you Ilea, big time. Just the sensible decision.” He said, his voice neutral.

Keep telling yourself that Terok. She thought, checking the hall but finding no new enemies to fight. If he really hid their packs then perhaps I was right about the old fucker.

“Want me to scout ahead?” Terok asked.

If it had been Eve then maybe but his two meter quite visible form wasn’t exactly stealthy. “We move together. Stay back if more machines show up. When I tell you to run, you go and don’t stop until you’re out of the bloody dungeon.” She could think of more than one thing that would cause such a reaction. “Now shut it.”

Terok shrugged, giving her a thumbs up, “I’ll be the map guy.”

Several hallways later, the dwarf stopped her and pointed at the walls. “Trap.” His description was rather broad but Ilea found it to be similar to those found in Iztacalum, the dungeon under Dawntree. Fire and spikes, the dwarves were traditional at least, or perhaps it was a budget question. Letting the flames wash over her, Ilea simply walked through the thinning hallway, the spikes bursting out of the walls, the mechanisms holding them weaker than her Veil and armor. Only a few even managed to break through the ash.

“You can move.” She said to the dwarf, walking into the next hall. Smoke was still rising from her form when he joined her side.

“Oh, more of the fuckers.” He commented, the words meant for the two Centurions standing motionless at the end of the long room, what looked like an elevator opening up behind them. “Teleport and activate the lift?”

The dwarf looked at her but probably knew the answer already, “I’ll fight them. Wait in the hallway farther back. Try not to intervene. We’ll go with your plan if I can’t beat them.”

Terok joined her again ten minutes later, two detonations having marked the demise of the Centurions. The smaller hall led to Ilea’s armor taking more than just a beating from the explosions. She switched it out with a fresh set of Rose Hunter armor, only three remaining in her necklace. There still were five sets back in Tremor but the flight would take a couple hours out of her fighting time again. “Do you even try to stop the explosions?”