<23 August 2024, MIRROR DEEP RETREAT, ????> [Theo and Julia] "I'm sorry," Julia said, looking at the demon-esque woman. "But what is it that you want?"

"I said," Lamalla slid close to Theo and Julia, "that I want you to bring the entire village that you were warned of inside your Ward runes for the duration of the Primordial Flight. Totaling two hundred people."

"Ha!" Theo exclaimed. "I am sorry. I don't mean to laugh, but you have to understand how stupid that sounds for us to do."

"I have to agree with Theo." Julia said, "I don't think I can agree to that."

"What!" Lamalla looked like she was ready for a fight. She took a step forward when wooden hands sprouted from thin air.

"Lady Lamalla," Laurel's voice echoed from everywhere all at once. "You know the rules; fighting is not permitted. You walked the line with the use of your skill earlier. Another attempt at violence, and I will be forced to punish you."

The blood visibly drained from Lamalla's face. "I apologize, Laurel. I would never violate the rules."

"Understood." Laurel's voice and hands faded.

"Why don't you explain a little further?" Eg'Valla said. "As much as I am trying to let you all work it out. I know what you're asking for, Lamalla. Explain it. Calmly and plainly."

Lamalla nodded and started talking. She revealed that her people, the Arthintry, are essentially mana-based filter feeders that feed on emotion-laced mana currents. Theo mentally categorized them as something akin to a vampire whale. Lamalla also explained that, although she was not part of the group that lived on Earth, the Arthintry as a whole did not have a divine entity they could rely on to provide assistance and protection. She then told them what happens to an Arthintry who is not protected during high mana events.

"One second you are breathing, taking in emotion out of the air, then next you get a wave of mana that is far beyond anything you have, and one of three things happens. The first option is that you are able to adapt and carry on with life; only about fifteen percent of Arthintry are able to do this. The second option is to explode violently, usually killing one or two people around you; this makes up about sixty percent of Arthintry in this situation. The last twenty-five percent go mad and begin to actively hunt sources of emotion to drain them dry, looking for that high again." Lamalla explained. "So I ask once again. Can you please provide shelter to the village of two hundred Arthintry? They do not need food, water, or anything else. They will simply be there from the start of Primordial flight to the end, and then they will leave."

"If we do this..." Julia said hesitantly. "What assurances can you give us that there will be no damage or harm to ourselves, our friends, or anyone or anything else?"

"I... I can not give you any." Lamalla said, "I can only tell them what your rules are."

Theo looked serious as he thought. "What is the highest level in the village?"

"One of the elders is level seven," Lamalla said.

Theo and Julia both snapped their heads up. "Only level seven? How?"

Lamalla shrugged, "They were not part of the System before. They have only had levels for as long as you have."

"They can come, but you should remind them that their hosts are level twelve and specialize in fighting groups that far outnumber them," Julia said, locking eyes with Lamalla. "I will not claim that this is a good idea. But I can only imagine that there are children, and they should not die due to my fear."

Theo nodded. "I agree."

Lamalla looked very happy. "Thank you. I will relay the message; they will arrive within an hour of the expected start time of Primordial Flight."

Lamalla climbed out of the water and sashayed away with water dripping from her. Theo and Julia focused on the others in the bath. At some point, everyone else had left, leaving only Theo, Julia, Aflara, and Lady Eg'Valla, who smiled at them. "You did a good thing."

"I mean, isn't this what the purpose of protective runes is? To protect those that you can?" Julia asked, lying back to float, and received an appreciative glance from Theo.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"You do not understand how rare it is for someone to agree to host other families," Aflara said.

"Is it going to be an issue?" Theo asked, tipping his head back and closing his eyes. "Do I need to play Bufferzone?"

"I don't think so." Lady Eg'Valla said. "We all took that into consideration, and you should not have any issues from my family or the families of Patriarch Karzun or Gurndin. I do not know of the others, though."

"Well, that's good to know," Julia said. Aflara was moving towards a door that was dragon-sized in the back of the area. Julia waved to her, "Bye, Aflara! Once we get a house or something, I will cook you a meal."

"Goodbye, Lady Brahmin. Lord Sorrenson." Aflara dipped her head and then pushed through the massive door.

"Well, then, I will depart. Please enjoy for as long as you would like." Eg'Valla said, getting out of the pool and beginning to dress.

Theo and Julia followed suit. Theo smiled, "We would, but we really are working nonstop. We even worked out an agreement with Laurel to sleep here twice so we don't lose time."

After dressing, they all three returned to the lobby, where they used the crystal to leave.

<23 August 2024, GRAND MESA OF SUMMER, A+> [Theo and Julia] The first thing that Theo did when they got back was check the timer.

Time to Primordial Flight: 28H - 06M - 55S

"God, that time dilation is a lifesaver," Julia said, having just checked the timer herself.

"Right?" Theo said, stretching his back. "Welp. Guess it's that time."

"Back to work!" Julia said excitedly, walking off to find Sylvi and keep working with her. Theo took a moment to look around the Ward rune-protected area, wondering how full it will feel with all the people who are going to be here.

Theo walked up to the top of the ramp just in time to see Julia disappear into the basement area. Theo walked down the two-foot-wide stairs set in the middle of the ramp that were partially completed; two Dwarves were still busily working on them. He walked through the large arching doorway that would apparently have a door one day and commented on the work. "Looks like it's going well, Kreldar. The stairs are almost done. What do you need me to do?"

Where there had been a fairly harmonious work area, now there was a clear division. On one side of the room, with a larger group, was Yordo Blackshale, who seemed to be lording his votes over the others. On the other side of the room was Harbek Runevein with one other Dwarf. They worked quietly.

Between the two groups were Ordus, Kreldar, Julia, and Sylvi, all working on some task or another. Theo caught the tension in the room and decided it was not his business, so he got to work. It was several hours later, when they were breaking for a meal that Theo heard something muttered under a breath as Julia walked by. "ZÛR DURZÛM KHÛRZ DÛRIM ZEK'AH GORIM, DUR ZEK'AH KAZRÛM-THALD'GORIM."

Theo looked at the larger group of dwarves that Julia had been walking past, wondering what it meant, especially since the others seemed not to hear the quiet words. Theo caught Yordo staring at him, and he smiled at the younger Dwarf and headed up to eat. He found Ordus and acted on the gnawing feeling in his gut. "Ordus, please go keep an eye on everything down there. I need to talk with Harbek and Kreldar."

"Of course, Theo," Ordus said, nodding solemnly at Theo's tone and heading off to do as he was asked.

Moments later, Harbek came up the ramp looking bewildered, along with Kreldar. Kreldar nodded to Theo. "Lord Sorrenson, what did you need?"

"Drop the formality, Kreldar, I need you to explain a couple of things to me." Theo said, "Starting with, what does 'Zor der-zom k-horz dorem zeck ah gor him something something Kazrom Thald something' mean?'

Theo had done his best, but he had never been great with languages. Harbek looked at Kreldar, who also appeared confused. Kreldar muttered for a moment, then his eyes widened when he realized something. "Did someone say 'ZÛR DURZÛM KHÛRZ DÛRIM ZEK'AH GORIM?'"

"Yep!" Theo said, knowing that it sounded close enough. "One of the big group down there muttered it as Julia walked past."

Kreldar's eyes widened, and then Harbek started whispering frantically. Kreldar stopped the younger Dwarf. "Before we continue, what else did you need. Is it connected?"

"Maybe," Theo said, seeing Julia come up the ramp with Sylvi, "what exactly is the political shit that we stepped in with the Molbrak Clan?"

Kreldar let out a long-suffering sigh. "Well, I guess now is as good a time as any, especially with what you heard."

"And what exactly did Theo hear?" Julia asked.

Kreldar looked uncomfortable. "Apparently, one of the other dwarves said something along the lines of 'soon that woman will be mine.' as you walked by. There was more to it, but Theo couldn't remember what it was."

Sylvi surprised them all then, "'ZÛR DURZÛM KHÛRZ DÛRIM ZEK'AH GORIM, DUR ZEK'AH KAZRÛM-THALD'GORIM.' That is what was said."

They all gave her a funny look, and she shrugged. "I have a lot of languages, remember, and to top it off, I'm still a dragon, so my hearing is pretty damn good. And it's not good. I was going to ask if no one else brought it up."

Harbek looked mortified and began blabbering to Theo and Julia, looking apologetic and scared at the same time. Kreldar took a few moments to silence him before turning back to them. "The lad is upset. What was said was essentially, 'Soon, that woman will be my servant, and I will hold this homestead."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.