Chapter 97 - Day CCLXVIII, Part III

Hatta was the first one to come. Two lieutenants accompanied him. Williams, and a guy named Amit. I didn't know him very well, because he usually took care of managing rat hunting, and spend a lot of time outside the city. He was from India. A brunet with a big, hooked nose, and sharp jawline. All of them were armed. Swords, knives, and brand new armors, covering their torsos.

Next was a group of newcomers. Women. They called themselves Valkyries, and Zora was their leader. Czech, big-boned lady with a mane of blonde, slightly curly hair. Two others accompanied her, but I never learned their names. Armored, and with weapons at their sides.

Then a familiar face. Nobuo Adachi and three other Asian men, with katanas put behind their belts, and traditional Japanese attire. I rose my hand slightly to greet him. He answered with a short bow and a smile. His companions had to be new because I couldn't recognize their faces.

After him, entered Ilja, Boris, and Irina. She was visibly pregnant, but still had a lot of time until labor. Apparently, they started their own group, called Bratstvo, which meant brotherhood. We greeted each other shortly.

The fifth was a single Indian man, unarmed. His name was Jayadeva, and as I learned later, he was one of the most influential craftsmen in the city. He was making furniture, carts, and, mainly, armors. With a short black beard, interspersed with grey, pair of glasses, a checkered shirt, and jeans He looked quite unique among armed hunters.

Sixth was Blue in black, long, hooded, open edge sweater, dark blue turtle neck, pair of black pants, and a big smile on his face. Elegant. Armed obviously, and accompanied by two guards that actually were with him when we captured that asshole.

His mere presence made my blood boil.

The last one was Juan. Alone, in a damaged piece of armor, a simple knife behind his belt.

After him, messengers entered and quickly went to stand by Aisha's side. They whispered a couple of words among themselves.

- Welcome everybody - she gestured inviting us to take a seat. - Apparently, there is another secret to share.

With those words, she looked at me.

- There is - I admitted while resting on my chair. - Will, to keep the tradition going, I believe you should tell them.

He looked at me a little bit surprised. Cleared his throat, and started while sitting down.

- During our hunting escapade we met with, I believe their name was Uhm's - he looked at me for confirmation.

I nodded slightly. The rest was squinting their eyes with a grimace of disbelief twisting their faces, or looking at each other, to check the reactions.

- Their group was led by Ole, the main scout. We had a bit of a communication issue but later managed to love this problem.

- Wait. You mean you guys met aliens? - Aisha asked.

- Aliens, another race, call them as you wish. They, as I said, called themselves Uhm's. Had their own language, and came to us to relay a warning?

- Warning? - asked Jayadeva. - They want to attack?

- This is nonsense - Blue suddenly joined the conversation.- First, you take my position as the leader of Wuxia. Then you chase me like a criminal around the city, arrest and when I finally manage to clear my name, you do your damn best to cut me off from the goblin cave, and now this? You guys are unbelievable.

- You have been chased like a criminal because you are one - Hatta joined.

- I didn't come here to hear your pathetic arguments - said Zora.

- Please don't stick your fat nose in the affairs of other people - Blue snapped at her.

And everything just erupted. Everybody suddenly had something to say. Next thing you know, people were yelling, pointing fingers at each other, and standing up. A brawl was about to start.

Aisha tried to calm them, but she just couldn't shout loud enough. Will looked at me, with a silent question: "What the hell should we do?".

I closed my eyes, and concentrated, putting a seal of silence on the ground around all of us. Everything got quiet. At first, when people were still in amok the drain of energy I supplied to the seal was very strong, but after a moment they just closed their mouths looking around, trying to find the answer, then it subsided. I broke the seal immediately after.

- Please don't argue with each other, and just listen. We are not bullshitting you. This really happened, and we have a series of serious questions to answer. Together - I said. - Will, continue, please.

Blue shook his head, showing off his disagreement.

- So, as I was saying... We managed to communicate, and they warned us about the device. They told us the story of their race, and apparently, there was those Bahumdabar's who ruled over several planets. This one included.

- He said worlds and planets - I quickly corrected.

Juan leaned against the table to hear better. Hatta leaned backward on his chair.

- Yes, and they enslaved both Uhm's and Xuvi, the third race. Eventually, there was an uprising, and Xuvi managed to corrupt the source of Bahumdabar's power. Some kind of tree. From what I understand the devices are called saplings by Uhm's, so the tree was probably some kind of evolved device or maybe a better version. Anyway... They corrupted the tree, which drove their owners mad. There was a war. And almost everybody died. A group of Uhm's survived, and they are leaving far away from this place. We know more or less in which direction we should go to find them.

- Wait... Wait, wait, wait... Could you start over, and tell us in detail? - Aisha said with one hand on her forehead, clearly overwhelmed by the information.

- We shouldn't focus on the story, because it was very vague. Its only purpose was to warn us to not use the device. What I think we should do, is prepare a group and go to Uhm's to talk. Get more information - I said. - They didn't actually explain anything.

- Could we be going mad because of the device? - asked Nobuo.

- It's a possibility. When I started asking questions, they left. So, I just don't know, but I seriously doubt it.

- Are you people really buying this? - asked Blue. - For me it's nonsense. He got a story, but couldn't ask questions? It's obviously a lie. What do you want to achieve peter? Get me outside the city, and kill? Is that why we are having all this masquerade?

- Shut up Blue - was my answer. - I don't care if you go or stay. This is bigger than your sorry ass.

He laughed.

- Nice try, but I'm still not buying.

At this point, I was just ignoring him.

- Can you repeat what they said to you, from the beginning? - asked Irina.

She clearly knew that Will heard it from me, and was not gonna beat around the bush.

- Ok. The story goes like this. King of Bahumdabar's enslaves two other races. He conquered several planets and worlds. I believe those two are separate things, and I'll explain why later. Xuvi, the other race, rebels constantly until they manage to corrupt probably the device he was using. For some reason, it drives all of his people mad, and they start killing and destroying everything. A group of Uhm's manage to hide in the city of gates, and with help of that city sapling. That's what they kept calling our device by the way. They survive longer than the rest. Then some Great One shows up and saves the day. Allowing Uhm's to live on the other side of this planet. I believe the city of gates is some kind of traveling hub.

- We need to find those aliens and get more information - declared Hatta. - As soon as possible.

- How are we going even communicate with those aliens? - asked Juan, for the first time opening his mouth.

- I got a linguist class, and it allowed me to get some skills that just worked. I believe everybody who is going to go, should have that class.

- I'm definitely going - said Adachi.

- Me too - Aisha joined.

- We all should go - proposed Hatta.

- I'm not going if Peter is - said Blue.

- Then stay. Do you think I care? The world doesn't revolve around you.

- No Peter. You should stay - Will suddenly opened his mouth. - I'll go.

We looked each other straight into the eyes. I felt his confidence.

- Very well. I'll stay then.

Hatta stared at me for a moment. I didn't clearly understand why. My first guess was he wasn't feeling safe around Blue without me and already declared his involvement in the operation.

- So what should we prepare? Only translators? - asked Zora.

- You need a group big enough to fight everything that blocks your path, and small enough to not get too much attention, because who knows what's there. So good strong hunters, and translators -was my answer.

- Yes. The Uhm's were not stronger than me and Peter, but managed to get all the way to the canyon. I assume they probably were pretty sneaky. Avoided danger most of the time. they only got in trouble crossing harpies' territory.

- Harpies? - the word peaked Aisha's attention.

- You will see - Will waved his hand.

- We need to think this thru carefully. There might be many dangers out there - said Jayadeva, starting a whole new conversation.

There was a lot of talking about preparations on many levels. Startin gon bumping stats of everybody involver, gatting class points for them, thru equipment and provisions, finally even the means of transportation. It went on, and on for hours.

Jayadeva really wanted to go, but since he wasn't a hunter, he was a bit scared and pushed to plan for every single possibility. They argued a lot.

I on the other hand just observed since Blue excluded me from the operation. He clearly was planning something. His sudden change of mind wasn't without a reason. Because of that I really wanted to go, but I also knew I can trust in Will's abilities. He probably was strong enough to take care of everything that could transpire, but if not, I was gonna make sure he is by the moment of departure.

The day ended with 434 321 points remaining on my account.