Merilth also reached for her sword as Eryth reached for the door.
There shouldn't be any trouble, the place was secured with Knights on the ground floor, but for some strange reasons, they felt that whatever was behind the door, spelt danger.
As Eryth opened the door, he locked eyes with a Knight. He could tell the man was a knight of Nortvalhm from his uniform and the insignia on his chest.
The man looked over Eryth's shoulder and saw Merilth who had turned back into her Raven form gripping onto her sword.
"Greetings." He bowed.
"I am Grzbu, a knight from the North fort of Nortvalhm," he added.
"The Governor of this region heard of your presence here and wishes to meet and converse some words with you."
"Us?" Eryth asked.
His eyes shrunk, almost shutting close. "You are from the guild are you not?"
"Indeed."
"Then it is you the Governor seeks. After this ungodly hour, at the North fort." The knight bowed before walking away.
"Words travel fast, I guess."
Immediately Eryth shut the door and they were sure the knight was out of earshot, Merilth turned back to her normal form.
"We shouldn't go" she declared.
"I'm starving and it's probably a reward for being part of the guild."
Merilth's brows shoot up in a frown. "This is the same thing Ken said and we lost our entire squad."
"Fine…" Eryth chipped. "We leave after the Chaotic hour, happy?"
She sighed and rested her head on her mattress.
Later, after the sun had gone down, the duo made their way out of the inn and away from the kingdom of Nortvalhm. After a while of walking in the company of a comfortable silence, they entered a forest filled with thick, tall, and strong-smelling trees.
"You know what this smell reminds me of?
"What?"
"The soup they serve at the guild"
The shifter looked at Eryth with her brows up. "What do they feed you?"
Before the Rune Act user could reply, footsteps. Hurried, fast and heavy steps chased after the two.
Merilth swiftly pushed her partner out of the way to avoid some flying pins that instead pierced into her shoulder.
The Zholm was forced to transform back into her normal form as the pin plunged into her shoulder. Eryth managed to get up on his feet to see the knight who had approached them earlier at the inn with two other knights behind him.
"Merilth was right," Eryth exclaimed while pulling out his sword. Just as he said the name, he realized his friend was on the ground writhing in pain.
"No!" He cried.
The knight chuckled. "You think you could just walk into Nortvalhm and do whatever you like?"
Eryth rose to his feet and gripped tightly on the hilt of his sword. As he stood in the middle of the thick large trees, the sheer rage could be seen all over his face.
He's fought beasts, treacherous beings that were after his life, but not one made his heart race as it did, not one made his grip around the handle of his sword tighten as such.
"You can't win," Grzbu stated. "My partners and I are some of the best in this kingdom. We have surpassed your thinking and may as well be referred to as gods."
He continued. "I am a master of the Mystic Act, and my partners are master of the Expansion Act and the Enchantment Act. Fighting us will be futile."
Eryth got even more enraged as he listened to the knight speak. Rune markings appeared around his wrist and his sword began to glow blue.
"Blue Rune Act user? Pathetic."
Eryth yelled furiously and charged at the Mystic Act user. He swung his sword at the knight's neck but Grzbu easily took a step back to avoid the attack. Eryth cut his movement short and pulled the sword back toward the Knight's face again, a motion he was able to make because of the Act he had cast on his sword.
Just as the sword was inches away from the Knight's face, a magical shield appeared between the sword and the knight's head.
The other knight on the left made a lance appear in his hand. He parried Eryth's sword with the lance before clasping his thumb and index finger. The ground began to rumble and a wall started to form around the two but Eryth was quick to react.
He quickly jumped out of the range of attack.
Grzbu spread his hands wide and two Hellhounds zipped out of his body and charged at the rune act user.
Eryth slashed one of the beasts into dust but the other gagged on his shin. He slashed it away but the knight with the lance plunged his weapon into Eryth's chest, he tried to endure, but it sent a wave of pain that weakened his entire body.
Eryth coughed out blood and fell to his knees. Grzbu used his hand to draw a diagonal line on Eryth's chest and a wide cut appeared causing him to bleed even more. Eryth crashed with blood pooling the entire ground below him.
"Pathetic."
Eryth attempted to get up despite all the pain, he was relentless, but so was the pain that anchored him to the ground.
Grzbu stepped forward. "Why don't you send him to another realm? Give him a little punishment"
"It's a forbidden Act and will take a lot of energy to do."
He turned to Eryth and grinned, evil all over his face. "But I wouldn't be able to sleep if this pathetic being should reside in this realm."
The knight interlocked his fingers and the ground below Eryth turned black.
"Remember! Should you survive, remember that we Nortvalhmilians are supreme to all beings. We are GODS! And the veil shall stay down."
With one swing of his hand, Eryth vanished into the hole.
The knight turned to Merilth who was still on the ground and smiled.
"Now."
….
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