Chapter 20

  Wes found himself, along with his two new brides, on the move. Nia gathered the other two that were originally supposed to be going with them to train. But Nia decided to change her mind. She called Coren somehow just by thinking of him. He came and took the Mordune and Orthol’s son after Nia had him finish his pledge to Wes. Leaving Wes no time to see his new helper's status, Nia ushered the three men through the fabric of space. They were gone before he knew it.

  Nia called Orthol over and directed him to make sure that he handled a few things while they were away. She also requested that he locate a few things that he had never heard of before and instructed him to find more servants to help him while they were away.

  Before they, too, were pushed through one of Nia’s non-portals. Orthol ran off to the kitchen for a few minutes while Wes and the two girls stood around looking at each other.

  Orthol quickly came running back with three leather bags and a large canvas wrapped tightly with a thin line. He handed a bag to each of them. Offering a bow to only Wes.

  As soon as Orthol handed the Canvas over to Dozel, Nia swept her arms over them all. And Wes found himself in a very familiar setting. The girls bookended him on either side. Nia floated in front of them.

  “Wesley, I am sure you recognize this. You will live here for as long as it takes. Although it looks similar, I am sure you can tell that it is also of a totally different scale.” Nia said.

  “That would be an understatement.” Wesley looked past Nia, trying to find the Sea. The sea was nowhere in sight. The trees at the base of the mountain were perfectly trimmed like before. Offering a clean line that ran as far as he could see to his left and right. He glanced over his shoulder and could tell it was much of the same.

  Nia broke him from his sightseeing by saying, “I have placed something rather important for you somewhere on this planet. Your job is to locate what that is and use it to the best of your abilities. Any questions?”

  Wes went to ask a question, but Nia pulled herself through one of her non-portals while having a grin plastered on her face.

  With her now gone, the girls looked to Wes like he had the answers. He shrugged his shoulders in turn. “I don’t know where to begin. Do either of you know where we are?”

  Dozel shook her head. Phony, however, said, “I think we are on our family's training planets.”

  “So you know what we are supposed to do? Wes asked.

  Phony shook her head. “I only think I know where we are; I am not certain. We could be somewhere completely different, for all I know. If we are where I think we are, then we have got our work cut out for us. We are severely under-leveled to be here.”

  “What do you mean?” Wes asked.

  Phony took a moment to answer while she turned around searching for anything that could help key her in to her current location. “If this is the Ruined Forest. Then we should have an average level of two hundred. I don’t know what your levels are, but from what my mother just told me yesterday, you just awakened.”

  This time, Wes turned around in place, trying to find something, anything that related to where he had been in his awakening quest. There were paths on all four sides of the mountain. Which made sense considering that the forest surrounded the mountain they were on. The tree line was perfectly pruned on all sides, taking the shape of a box with the mountain firmly planted in the middle.

  “No matter where we are, the only thing I find concerning is that there is no water. Last time during my awakening quest, there was a large body of water on either side. And two rivers on the remaining sides. But I don’t see anything like that. The Sun was also covered in rolling clouds so thick that the Sun's rays could not directly penetrate them.” Wes pointed up toward the clear sky.

  “But Matriach said that ‘you recognize’. Doesn’t that mean you have been here already?” Dozel asked.

  “Yeah, but last time I was on an island. This time, I can’t see anything but trees.” Wes replied.

  Phony asked, “Were there any creatures the last time?”

  Wes nodded, “Yes, but they were dangerous. I only cleared my awakening quest thanks to my stupidity, I think.”

  “What did they look like?”

  Wes spent the next few minutes going over his awakening quest, how he had been forced to go to the hard side just to avoid getting killed by whoever offered the levels for him. He told them about the two creatures he had seen. One who was humanoid and one who he came to find out exploded when harmed.

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  The girls stood listening. When he finished, Phony offered confirmation. “That is an elite awakening test. Most gods have some flavor like it. It is meant to be extremely hard or extremely easy. The Humanoid creatures you speak of can only be found on four planets that I know of. All belong to my family. They are a failed branch of humans that branched off billions of years ago from us. Their patriarch thought that strengthening the body was the only way forward, and in his quest to do so, he bred most traits out of his line. They never reach a super high level because they tend to die early while fighting amongst each other for leadership. But they all pack creatures that do reach a high enough level to be a nuisance. The only thing that keeps them running wild is all the separate clans. As well as them battling for territory. They are cautious hunters. And with my family using them as training fodder for billions of years, they tend to only attack when they have the advantage. You never turning your back to the treeline, stupidly saved you from them attacking. They must have thought you were powerful and did not want to take an unnecessary risk.”

  “Yeah, but if a bunch of Clans are down there, we are fucked.” Wes said.

  “That is why I said we are under-leveled. We should have no problems at the top of the mountain as long as one of us is always awake. But eventually, we will have to venture out to find the artifact my mother spoke of.” Phony followed up her words by taking a step closer to Wes. She crouched down to one knee. “I, Phony of planet 7738M, pledge 1245 Levels to Wesley of 29744C.”

  Having been through this a few times, Wes waited for her to finish before he asked. “Why pledge if we are going to be married anyway?”

  “I want you to understand that I am in this all the way. Plus,” Phony looked around her as she stood up. “I think it may be a while until that happens.

  ___

  Nia stood in the air high above the three. She closed her eyes for a moment, and Runar walked through space behind her. He looked around and immediately locked onto the three below. He raised his eyebrows in surprise. Seeing Phony below had taken him off guard. She had always been one of Nia’s favorites.

  “I see a lot can happen in a day, Matriarch.” Runar walked through the air behind her and offered a bow.

  Not wanting to stand on ceremony, Nia said. “I am putting them under your care while I am away. You are to watch them, make sure they are not overwhelmed. Do not directly step in. Just make sure they don’t die.”

  Runar slammed his fist into his chest. “Yes, Matriarch.”

  “I mean it, Runnar. If any of them dies, you will join them shortly thereafter.” Nia added.

  “I understand, Matriarch.”

  Nia waved him away, “Go gather the elders, it is time we had a meeting. After, come and take over for me.”

  “Yes, Matriarch.” With that, Runar fell back into the space behind him.”

  Nia smiled to herself, her shoulders relaxing. “Don’t you think you should say hello already?”

  “I didn’t want to interrupt you, my dear. The gods know you can be quite temperamental when you want to be.”

  “Still, you should greet your wife with a kiss after being apart for so long.” Nia teased.

  Argyros dissolved his shroud and walked over to his wife. Pulling her into a deep hug and kiss. He said. “So why do you have my new pupil down there with Phony. And who is the other girl?”

  Nia couldn’t help but giggle like a woman much younger than she was. “Are you telling me that your powerful silver tongue can’t get it out of me?”

  Argyros faked shock. “Yes, I could, but I would rather not do that to the woman I love. So, how about you be a good girl and tell me what I want to know.”

  Pouting at Argyros' choice of words, Nia said. “Fine, be that way.”

  Nia spent the next several minutes going over everything she learned about Wesley over the last two days. The more she told Argyros about Wes, the more surprised he seemed to become.

  After hitting most of the bullet points and offering her reasoning for why she had brought them to this planet, Argyros chastised Nia. “How could you be so rash. You have handcuffed our family to that boy's future. That is incredibly short-sighted. If he dies due to some oversight by you or Runar, you both may die. At the very least, you will not get off easy.”

  Argyros gathered himself upon seeing Nia wilt under his words. “That’s not to say I would have done any differently. Although I probably wouldn’t have bet my life on the boy. I can’t help but say I am flattered at your trust in me. Thank you, my dear.” Argyros punctuated his statement by pulling in Nia once more and kissing her softly.

  Nia asked, “What do you want to do next? No, before that, what took you so long to get here?”

  Argyros sighed deeply, “Now don’t go crazy, okay?”

  Nia nodded.

  “Tessonia caught up with me on Kataraomai’s world. As no doubt the boy has probably told you. He is her brother, how? I do not know. I spent the following days after sending him away covering his being there. She must have begun her travels as soon as the curse was broken. Now this is where I need you to take it easy. She put me on the other side of the Gap. She wanted to make it hard for me to get home. Luckily, after a few hops, I was able to figure out where I was. And after using quite a few ferries, I was able to feel some of my seeds, and the rest went by quickly.”

  Nia’s smile had grown rather tight over the course of Argyros’ words. When he finished speaking, she asked, “Where did she drop you exactly?”

  Argyros remained silent.

  “Where Argy?” Nia demanded.

  “Take it easy, my love, nothing happened.”

  Nia waited for an answer.

  Argyros, conceding that he was not going to get out of replying, said. “She put me on the outskirts of Ammitus.”

  “On the side closest to us or the opposite side? Be specific, Argy.” Nia asked while still clenching a smile.

  Argyros look said all that he needed to say. Nia did her best to contain herself, but the world under her trembled violently. Argyros pulled her into a hug. “I am fine, my love, I am still here, and you should know how hard it is to take me out.”

  Nia pulled away, “I am glad you are okay. Watch over the little ones, would you? I’ll be right back.”

  Argyros raised his hand as quickly as he could to stop her, but grabbed only air. Wincing while looking out into space, he said softly, “Try not to cause too much trouble.”