41 The Adventures of Davion and Meridiana (1/2)
The air was getting colder and colder as the two began to climb further up. Whether it was the carried or the one that was piggybacking her, none of them really felt it. Meridiana was still slightly annoyed by the strong wind blowing on some of her open wounds but it was not hurting her. It has been a few hours since they left the rest of the group and in front of them were standing some very tall mountains.
They knew that the western part of the Massalia Kingdom was riddled with mountains and snowy peaks and the reason why the Republic of Avenio couldn't really attack them. There were only three passages that an army could really use and the only one that was taken by the enemy army was the one in the North. At the same time, the closer one was from the fallen Kingdom of Pankow, the less he will be able to see a huge number of soldiers. Because after the fall of that human kingdom and their rebirth as undead, monsters were more in control of the mountains than the civilized nations.
Albeit to the two commandants of the Demonic Army, they already crossed the territory of multiple groups of creatures, from subterranean threats to aerial predators. And as they kept climbing as fast as they did, their brief passage was tolerated. At one moment, Davion, the Orodil stopped himself and listened to the wind. Meridiana was at first scared of an attack but soon realized that he was just listening. Otherwise, she was certain that he would have dropped her in the snow and launched his assault on the incoming attackers.
For nearly a minute, he noticed the changes of tonality in the surrounding and even the modulation of the cruel squall of the mountain. He wouldn't say it to not scare the succubus, but too many beings were communicating about them right now. He was also certain that a few elementals of either snow or ice were heading toward them. Normally, the elementals were peaceful and only attacked after being threatened, but he couldn't take any risk. The reason for their behavior was the fact that those beings made of sheer energy didn't need to eat, sleep or even rest. Just by being alive, they will grow stronger and stronger, be able to manipulate their environment with greater mastery. That's why they don't seek their death.
Nature is cruel at the same time, for they are a true treasure cove. Numerous materials are created exclusively by the elementals and even the Demonic Empire had numerous vital infrastructures powered by them. As for the barbarians and lesser monsters, eating or consuming a part of the corpse of an elemental could improve their own body, mind, soul. Elixirs made of the heart of elementals are present in this world, but only in the memory of one soldier. He heard that a few centuries ago, the Archmage sought every heart of elementals older than a century and whoever give him one will be personally taught by him. Two people managed to do it and they reached the 6th Circle even when their talent was non-existent.
For Davion, it didn't take very long for him to deduce that the Archmage probably used a bit of the elemental body to grant them the capability to manipulate the same elemental that those monsters. After that, the soldier often dreamed of meeting a dead elemental by luck, even when his vision of the latter was clearly wrong. But for the moment, he couldn't just hunt them with Meridiana on his back. Even without her, to face a group of ice elementals unharmed, surrounded by snow and a cold wind, was definitely not a healthy thought.
He started running again, scouting the way and analyzing any bits of information available. Each time there were too many signs of ownership, he took a detour and, in the worst case, ran at full speed before the master of that place noticed them. During nearly two days that would have taken weeks for normal humans, he kept climbing until the slope was finally in their favor. The tired and slightly frozen face of Meridiana smiled at this sight and she already wished they will never take the same route again. However, even a supreme commander like Davion couldn't avoid everything.
As he jumped down a cliff of 10 meters in height, the originally sturdy ground filled with rocks suddenly broke down. They fell again, but only a few meters more, ending in a deep hole, twice the size of Davion. They were stunned at that sight but looking around; they realized that it was a true trap made by simple minds. There were no sharp spears on the bottom ready to pierce everything, no poisonous substances to either weaken or even kill them. Just a dumb hole, quite badly shaped with a nice camouflage above. Davion had to recognize that the camouflage was really well made since it fooled him. The little mantle of snow covering everything probably hid the imperfections but the creators of that device still thought of the stones.
”Kâ, Dabak Houshta Gli!”
A scream of joy in a very guttural and deep tone resonated nearby. It didn't take a genius to guess that it was related to their unfortunate state. The two foreigners of this world frowned and tried to see if they knew that language. This time, however, they were not betting on the very limited knowledge of the dead soldiers like they usually do. A lot of planets created by the Ancients had the same races present on them. Contrarily to most of the intelligent race like the dwarves or the elves, the monsters were incapable of deviating of their original language. Meaning that in the same world, two humans could have their minds working to create something just for not speaking the same language but that was impossible for most of the monsters, especially the dumber ones.
”Gli, Gli, Gli, Takrâ Diramo!”
From the looks of it, two individuals were conversing but what they were spoking sounded strangely familiar for Davion and Meridiana. Without even seeing their kidnappers, they knew that they were a species of a troll, with near certainty. The words or sounds could have been spoken by something else, but the guttural way they were talking betrayed their origin. It was neither bad nor good news for them since the behavior of a troll is fluctuating between being bloodthirsty and being curious.
As the two of them were still thinking about their future acquaintances, Meridian couldn't help but exclaim ”Wait for a second, gli is the word for food, right?” That small sentence provoked a match in the memory of Davion and he turned around to see the still perplexed Meridiana. ”I know that language, it's fine.” His near permanent impassive face broke into a small smile that flustered the succubus. Right after this, she heard him saying something in a very good imitation of what she previously heard.
”Nama Dabak Fikarisha Vedigera.” Two shouts of surprise could be heard and the trolls answered immediately. ”Gli Gorgabak Dake…”