Book 4 - Chapter 18 - Secret of the Mausoleum (2/2)

She was leading two young woman. The first was petite and quite fetching with her curly hair. She followed in Claudia’s footsteps shyly. The other stood proudly as she stomped through the underbrush, with a personality as fiery as her short red hair.

Gabriel welcomed Claudia with a smile. “It’s been a while.”

“Not so long.” For better or worse Claudia and these two men had a history. With their shared experience in Hell’s Valley she was at least cordial. “I heard sounds of fighting. I guess it was you.”

Barb recognized Claudia as a fellow demonhunter and introduced herself. “I am Barb, a member of the League. His Excellency right here is-“

“AHEM, ehm….”

Cloudhawk loudly coughed, cutting her off. Barb got the hint. If the old drunk’s identity got out it was only going to cause more drama. Since there was no reason to burden these two young women with the old man’s troubling story, better just to keep it quiet. The drunkard just smiled at them, unperturbed by the sudden and obvious silence.

Rei, upon seeing so many people together, felt her anxiety wash away. This whole place was uncomfortable for a girl who’d never before set foot outside of Skycloud. While she was lauded during her time in university, those tests were about theory and mental acuity. In a real fight she was the weakest link so far.

Her sergeant, Claudia, was a tried and true demonhunter, but the enemies they’d faced so far were very strong. Hell’s Army and the other wastelanders that had attacked them put real fear in Rei, and only now that she was back with Cloudhawk did she start to feel safe again.

Cloudhawk was… a strange man. His name bore a dark smear back in Skycloud, and almost every mention of him was laden with curses and ill-wishes. ‘Cloudhawk’ had come to be synonymous with scum.

Claudia had also looked at him disdainfully at the beginning. But after the fight on the Condor, and in the canyon, everyone’s opinion of the Warden had changed. He took such care of the little girl, taking her everywhere with him. How could such a person be called ‘scum’?

Her senior demonhunter was surprisingly strong, quick, and experienced in a fight. Those were qualities you only learned after looking death in the face several times and coming out the other side. He had more ability in his little finger than people like her, fresh out of university.

“Greetings, seniors. My name is Belinda.”

Belinda took the initiative, stepping forward and introducing herself to the others. Cloudhawk, Gabriel, even Barb, they were all senior members compared to her. She ignored the ordinary-looking old drunk and the pretty girl in the green dress.

Cloudhawk fixed her with an expression of ridicule. “I seem to remember pretty recently you threatened to have me court-martialed. Now all of a sudden you come to your senses.”

Belinda’s cheeks reddened from the shame. Who was she to make such a threat? As the first in her class at university, Belinda was understandably cocky. But recent events had shown her pretty quick how insignificant she was in the grand scheme. In a real fight she wasn’t worth much.

Cloudhawk never made any attempt to explain his bad reputation or change their minds. To him, fame and respect didn’t matter. But how could someone who reputedly had no sense of honor become Warden of a military unit? How could such a person repeatedly sacrifice his own safety for his men and mission?

He was a contradiction. Belinda didn’t know how to deal with him.

“You showed up just in time. We need help.”

Cloudhawk quickly explained the situation to them, to which they were understandably shocked. None of them could have guessed there was an actual god buried somewhere in this place.

But it was more than just that alone.

Elysians were pious people, the same as Valites. The only difference was that the people here followed a rebel god.

It was a staggering blow to what the Elysians knew of the world. To them, the word ‘god’ was equivalent to ‘perfect’. Their bounty was given freely to the faithful, and they asked for nothing in return. Only, now they were confronted with the possibility that even the gods could be in conflict. If that were true, what did it mean for them? The possibilities confused and frightened them.

Claudia and her two squad mates weren’t strong enough support for what they needed to do. Cloudhawk needed to gather more people.

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than Crain and Tigron Sutherland walked into their small clearing. They were dragging a body drenched in blood, and gravely wounded. “Rei, we need help!”

Rei fumbled with a delicate crystal bracelet as she slipped it onto her wrist. The jewelry was capped with a hexahedron-shaped gemstone which sparkled with internal power. When that light fell upon the open wounds, they began to heal before everyone’s eyes.

Cloudhawk was taken aback by the power. “This…”

Claudia explained. “The Benediction Cuff. Rei has a rare life-energy talent, giving her the ability to use curative relics like this. As you can tell, she’s very effective.”

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