Chapter 734: Destinations (1/2)

Ilea had him. Funnily enough, it wasn’t a conversation after centuries or the promise of finally seeing another set of walls that convinced the dwarf but instead the mention of a new version of machine Guardian.

He whistled as he leaned back. “Level eight hundred! Now that I won’t believe until I see it,” he said, mood visibly improved. He refilled his mug and downed it. “Ye were with the makers ye said?”

“Well, it’s a little complicated. A lot of time has passed and power has shifted,” Ilea said. “You might find yourself not quite at home if you go back to Iz.”

The dwarf suddenly paused. He glanced down at the table and fidgeted with his mug. Finally he looked up. “I never been.”

“Might be for the best,” Ilea said. “But you’ve protected this monastery for long enough,” Ilea said and stood up. She opened a gate to the Meadow’s domain and stepped through. Her eyes fell on Aki. “May I ask for your assistance? I found a surviving member of the Taleen. Could use your… convincing form.”

The machine stepped over. “Should I mention that my origin was of elven kind?”

“Funny,” Ilea said and stepped back through.

“What in the world… is that a new gate enchantment? Portable?” the dwarf asked, now standing with his battered Centurion at his side.

“Something like that,” Ilea said when the massive Pursuer came through the portal, unfolding like some kind of silver spider before he crouched inside the dark hall.

“Greetings,” he spoke. “I am the Pursuer of Akelion.”

Gretmoor spread his arms and laughed. He looked to Ilea with a broad smile. “And it speaks! Oh how far we’ve come!”

Yeah, about that, Ilea thought. She gave Aki a rundown of what the dwarf has been tasked with.

“An honorable duty. One that I see as fulfilled in this age,” Aki spoke. “Though I do wonder, if perhaps you were chosen as a guardian of a key instead.”

Ilea summoned the piece in question, looking it over.

[The Lead Key – Ancient Quality]

Ten down, two to go. She made it vanish.

“I had no knowledge of it being here, Pursuer,” the dwarf said, shaking his head lightly. “Perhaps I was chosen, though I wouldnae know why.”

“You’re loyal, to an incredible degree. I can see plenty of reason to choose you over someone else,” Aki spoke. “The world has changed while you were gone. The Taleen are not exactly how they used to be. Are you willing to learn and adapt? Or would you choose to remain here, guarding this ancient monastery?”

“What ye offer is tempting,” he spoke. “And tis true. Long have I guarded this place. And still, it has come into ruin.”

“I know someone who could help with your guardians,” Aki said.

“I have failed to keep them maintained, and I will bear the punishment,” Gretmoor spoke with a sincere tone.

“There will be no punishment. As I said, the world has changed. Please take a seat. There are some truths that will not be easy to accept,” Aki said. “I will tell him about the fate of his peoples, though not of the One without Form, lest he thinks it his new purpose to defend it.”

“I’d like to avoid antagonizing a faithful paladin,” Ilea answered. “I think you’re right. The way he’s looking at you, you may as well be his new god.”

“I wish to avoid such declarations of divinity, much like yourself. Factually however, it’s undeniable that both of us are in a very rare minority, when it comes to personal power,” the machine answered.

“Just ignore it, and let the Meadow ground you,” Ilea said. It has been her way of dealing with these kinds of thoughts. That and her very secret identity, the mythical Lilith. Most of her feats she could just push onto that growing legend, bard songs the least of her concerns at this point.

She checked her locator once again and found it pointing westward, neither north nor south. Problematic. The monastery was already located quite far west on the Naraza mountain chain which meant the closest key was potentially within Elven territory. Or beyond. Let’s hope for that.

“I’ll be off. It was good meeting you, Gretmoor,” she said with a smile.

“Good to meet you, maker! Thank you,” he spoke.

She did feel a little bad about lying to him, but with how dedicated he seemed to his cause and peoples, the dwarf would’ve likely just gone into a frenzy if she had told the truth. She could’ve let him here but now he had a chance to adapt, to not rot away in his ancient prison.

There was a lot they could learn from him about the ancient Taleen culture but she didn’t care too much. With punishments, arrogance in terms of their machines, a wish to exterminate elven kind. Well, they seemed like just another faction that may as well be gone forever. Just like the Azarinth. The few bits of conversation she remained to hear between him and Aki suggested he wasn’t exactly involved the the grand plans of his peoples.

She still wondered why the key was here. Sure, it made sense to put it somewhere inconspicuous, somewhere nobody would search for it, but as far as she understood, the keys also meant power. They weren’t just given to anybody, and with what they had learned down in Iz, the Makers weren’t exactly known to share their influence. A last ditch effort then? Where they pressured that much to get the keys away? If she had learned anything from the many rulers she had met in the past years, she didn’t dismiss the possibility of this being yet another way to weaken an enemy faction. Perhaps the Lead Key was supposed to go to someone in particular, and another deemed it better for the thing to vanish into some unimportant monastery.

Not like I’ll ever find out about it. The most important bit was that she had the key in her possession. She formed a portal for the group, the dwarf led through by the Pursuer himself. Aki held the second far more damaged Centurion in what looked like a princess carry. A rather bizarre sight.

The gate shut and she was left in the dark monastery. “Cold and moist,” she murmured, looking at the piles of ancient metal. “And he survived all this time. Bit of a screw loose but maybe the others can help him find some new purpose,” she spoke. Not like he can go to Iz for now, and all the other places he had once known are dungeons by now. That or ancient ruins.

So, what now. Two keys remain, she thought and teleported up and out. Her wings spread before she lazily flew along the partially snow covered mountains. Lightning occasionally lit up parts of the horizon towards the north, a purple tinge to the phenomenon. Forests spread to the south, far below the high reaching mountain chain that provided an impressive natural barrier.