Chapter 114: Obelisk

FieryKathy

“Here you go.” My sister hands Hilda her water skin so she can drink a bit. 

“Thanks.” She takes a swig. “First of all, sorry for not replying. I saw the message and I was carrying Ruva so I couldn’t really reply…” 

“Yeah, no problem.” Niki shakes her head. “It’s probably best you got her here as fast as possible.” 

“So, what happened?” 

“Well, I told you I was going to scout around for a bit, right?” 

“Mhmm.” Sam nods. 

“I got to the road and walked down it for fifteen minutes in the direction of the capital…” Hilda takes another sip from the water skin. “That’s when I heard something crash in the distance and I decided to go and see what it was. The sound I’d heard ended up being from our vehicle crashing against a tree. Ruva was struggling to get out. That’s also when I saw she was seriously wounded.” 

“She was still conscious?” I ask, my healing was already done but it would take a bit longer for Ruva to wake up again. 

“Yeah.” Hilda nods. “She thanked their gods that she had found us as there apparently had been an attack on the capital. However she couldn’t really give me any more details before she fainted. I then decided to run back with her in my arms but sadly I’m not as strong as you are so it took quite a while.” Hilda hands back the water skin to my sister. 

Ruva groans. “Am… am I alive?”

“Are you alright, Ruva?” I ask, surprised she managed to get up so fast. . “I healed your wounds.” 

“It still hurts.” 

“Take it easy.” Sam helps her to sit up. 

“So Hilda got me to you in time, I’m glad.” 

-Well… I technically could’ve revived her if it was too late but I decided not to say that as that sounds just a tiny bit too morbid.-

My sister glances over to me, she probably knows what I’m thinking but decides to say nothing as well. 

“Do you have some more information, Ruva? About the attack?” 

Ruva nods, from the expression on her face I can tell the pain is gradually lessening but still pretty much present. “A couple of days after we parted ways an enormous army suddenly showed up at the gates of the capital. They had us surrounded incredibly fast.” 

“Enormous? How big are we speaking?” Hilda asks. 

“In the tens of thousands.” 

“That’s not possible, not with the navy the theocracy has.” 

Ruva nods. “Our scouts reported that only a couple more ships had landed so that took us by surprise as well…” 

“Do you have any idea how they managed to accomplish that?” Sam tilts her head towards Ruva.” 

“On the third day of the siege a scouting party came back and they reported they’d seen a big obelisk at the rear of the enemy camp.” 

“A teleportation stone…” Hilda’s eyes go wide. “Of course.” She balls her fist. 

“Wait, you are saying they managed to move one of those?” My sister looks at Hilda. 

“I don’t know how, maybe they somehow managed to make a new one and find a way to attune their soldiers to it? I’m not 100% sure…” 

“What are these stones you are talking about?” 

“Right, this continent doesn’t have those…” Nikki nods. “I’ll explain it to you.” 

Nikki’s explanation is short but clearly gets the point across. 

“So everyone who is attuned to it can teleport to it, at will?” 

“Pretty much so. As far as we knew those stones were ancient artifacts though. Not something that could be replicated.” 

“We didn’t even know they were artifacts though.” Sam and I raise our right hand.

“They are not that well-read.” Niki waves away our additions. 

“So they could even have a bigger army waiting for us on the other continent?” 

“Yep…” Hilda nods. 

“Can’t we just destroy it?” I propose. 

The entire group falls silent for a moment until Nikki looks at Hilda.

“Can we?” 

“I guess there’s a possibility… I have no clue how that magic works though. But I guess it’s something we could explore further.” 

“Ah, and there is one more thing.” Ruva says, her pain appears to be completely gone by now. 

We stay silent and wait for Ruva to continue. 

“Our scouts have reported killing some soldiers who then show up some time later at the frontlines again. Would you know something about that?” 

The five of us look at eachother and Hilda then gives Ruva a nod. “We do…we should probably explain that to you.” 

“If I understand correctly, on your continent a special type of adventurer comes back alive after a while?” 

Hilda nods. “They do, and they come back at the last point they attune to.” 

“And you are also that kind of adventurer?” 

“Yeah.” It’s my sister’s turn to nod. “We are.” 

“And you are also saying you need to sleep for days?” 

“After a three day period, yes.” 

Ruva goes silent and stays that way for a couple of minutes before she nods to herself. “Okay, that doesn’t make much sense to me but it does fit what is happening right now…” 

“I’m sorry, it’s the way this world works…” Hilda apologizes. 

“Hmmm.”

“Anyhow, is that why you came to find us?” Sam asks. 

“Yes. I’d figured your group probably had a rudimentary understanding of what was going on so I took the chance to come and find you. I figured I’d start where I dropped you off and luckily that was a good decision. Sadly, while I was making my mad dash out of the city, I did get hit in the side by one of their mages.” 

“Well. You’re in good health now, and that’s what matters.” Lise smiles happily. “And luckily we also have a plan to deal with those reincarnating adventurers.” 

“The same plan as dealing with the teleporters, AKA, blowing up the obelisk. Somehow.” Nikki fills her partner’s sentence. 

“We should probably get moving. I think I can repair the damage to the walker with some help of Ruva.” Hilda says as she starts pulling down her tent.

Ruva nods.

“Just give me a second. If we are going into battle I’d like to equip my new gear.” Sam says as she hurries into our tent. 

“Ah right, I almost forgot about that.” My sister looks expectantly at our tent. 

When Sam exits the tent not that long after she initially went in, she appears in front of us in this dark-brown leather armor with rose-golden detailing all over. She also has a brand new bow slung over her shoulder. It’s a tiny bit longer and made of lighter wood than her previous one, again with rose golden accents curling from tip to tip. 

“Fancy.” My sister whistles at my girlfriend. “What’s the set called?” 

“Uh, Goddess’ Arrow I think.” 

“Ah cool, mine’s called Goddess’ Shield.”

“Why is it called that.” I pout. 

“Well… it’s obvious isn’t it?” My sister grabs me close for a hug. 

“Why does it need to be so embarrassing though.”

“Eh, you’ll get used to it, kitten.” 

Hilda is standing at the side, smiling at us. “Alright now, let’s get packed so we can go and relieve the city.” 

“Right, we got a job to do.” Lise releases me from her hug and pats my shoulder with both of her hands. 

I start packing up the tent together with my girlfriend.

“Don’t you like my new armour, Ami?” She asks as we are rolling up the fabric. 

“Oh, I do. I just don’t like the name.” 

“Can’t you rename it? It’s technically your set isn’t it?” 

-That does make sense…-  “Hmmm, now that you mention it…” 

“Maybe now is not the best moment to try but I think we can work on your naming conventions later.” She gives me a quick kiss on my cheek. “By the way. The bow…”

“What’s with it?” 

“Apparently, besides the stat increase, it gave me a couple of cool new skills as well.” 

“Did I hear something about cool skills?” My sister crouches down next to us to help us with our packing. 

“You have, indeed.” Sam smirks.

“Why are you smirking, kiddo. Don’t think I got new skills too?” 

“Did you?” I tilt my head. “You didn’t say anything about that before.” 

“Because I didn't read my tooltips well enough.” My sister chuckles.

I sigh. “Sis, please.” 

With the three of us we manage to clear up our gear pretty quickly.

“Everyone ready to depart?” Hilda looks around at the group. “Ruva, you can walk?” 

“Yes, thanks to Amicia’s healing I feel pretty good now, actually.” 

“Good to hear that.” I smile at her. 

“Let’s go and repair the walker.” Hilda starts walking off into the forrest while the rest of us follows her. 

“Now that we are moving. How exactly are you planning to destroy the obelisk?” Ruva asks. 

“We’ll think about that when we are seated. It’s still quite a drive anyway.” My sister replies. 

“That means you don’t really have a plan yet?” 

“Nope. But I’m sure we’ll figure something out.” My sister’s optimism seems misplaced but somehow it does manage to lift the spirits. 

-I just hope we will get there in time.- 

FieryKathy