Book 7, Chapter 35 - Connections to Gods and Demons (1/2)

Book 7, Chapter 35 - Connections to Gods and Demons

Cloudhawk led Dawn to an octagonal building where their targets were hiding. They were understandably shocked to see him, at first thinking it was some new monster.

“Clodhawk? It’s you!”

When they saw who it was, the prisoners stared with strange expressions.

He smirked back at them. “Hey there Dumont. Here you are. Tough man to find.”

There were nine people holed up in total. One of them was Dumont Cenhelm, captured and sent here by Cloudhawk like all the others.

In days passed he was an instructor for Hell’s Valley with Eckard Skinner and Natessa Windham. Instructor Skinner was no more, but Natessa had been sequestered here along with him. She was nowhere to be seen now, however. Neither were the two Masters.

Dumont looked his former student over. There was no sign of animosity in his stare. “Ah, this young troublemaker. It’s been quite a while indeed. This here must be your girlfriend, young Miss Dawn Polaris, yes? Wearing my armor, no less. It makes you look quite fetching, young lady!”

Indeed the armor she wore used to belong to this old wretch. She never had a good sense of the man, but when he called her Cloudhawk’s girlfriend she found herself warming up to him a bit.

Of course that was lip service, a way to ingratiate himself.

“You sure can talk can’t you, old man. Don’t think I won’t cut your ass down right here!” Dawn stomped up to him, her enormous armor clanging noisily like a walking fortress. “Now what the hell are you all up to down here? Spill it, and maybe I’ll go easy on you. Resist and you’ll learn the meaning of pain!”

Dawn glared at the others then looked around at their surroundings. It was a large area, maybe two hundred square meters, with all kinds of slates piled up. Some were murals or other remnants and all looked like they’d been moved here. By the look of them, they didn’t seem to have come from this city.

“Dawn, don’t be rude.” Cloudhawk didn’t pay the group any mind. He asked a simple question. “Where are Phoenix and Bruno? And why isn’t Natessa with you?”

A handful of the people here were members of the Cloude family. They, unlike Dumont, surely had a bone to pick with him. However as they moved in they were stopped by the old instructor. It was a laughable thought that this handful was strong enough to threaten Cloudhawk. He could slap their heads right off their shoulders.

“The two Masters led the rest of the party deeper underground to see what they could find. I don’t know what they might have run into.” Dumont was honest and forthcoming. “Now that I think about it, they’ve been gone for several days. We haven’t heard a thing since they left. I imagine if there’s anyone with the skills and strength to bring them back it’s you, Cloudhawk.”

He scowled. “A deeper level, huh?”

“Heh, did you bring us here so we would explore these areas?”

Cloudhawk’s scowl deepened. That had never been his intention.

“Well judging by that look on your face, it seems you had no idea all of this was here. This whole city is just the beginning. It wasn’t built all that long ago, in the grand scheme of things. We’ve been exploring the underground city for a month or so already. Besides the strange beasts everywhere, this is a perfect home.”

“How is it perfect?”