Eren stepped out of the bathroom and into the familiar hallway of his old family house.
The transition always made his ears pop. He took a deep breath, letting the faint sll of old dust, wood polish and Rosa’s floral shampoo ground him. The house was quiet and completely lacked the background hum of the Evon forest but it felt incredibly safe.
He walked down the wooden stairs to the living room and the first thing he noticed was the glowing television screen. Five elderly elves sat on the floral sofa and the carpet, staring at a nature docuntary with absolute focus. The cursing old elf pointed at a lion chasing a zebra on the screen and muttered sothing in Elvish about poor hunting tactics and lazy beasts. They didn’t understand the language of the loud box but they were completely srized by the moving pictures.
Rosa sat at the old dining table behind them with two spiral notebooks open in front of her and a pen tucked behind her ear.
She looked up and smiled while her eyes scanned him up and down to make sure he wasn’t bleeding or hurt. Then she probably rembered how strong this man had beco and that he had other won waiting for him naked on the other side. She looked like she couldn’t decide if she was worried, jealous or just cringing.
"You’re late." Rosa dropped her pen on the notebook.
Eren walked over and pulled the glowing crystal from his pocket. "The dungeon fragnt is really hard to fill so it’s only half charged for this trip."
I could only force about five hundred mana into it this ti. Just enough to open the door and bounce back before the connection snaps.
He put the crystal away in his pocket. "I won’t stay long."
Rosa pushed her chair back. "I figured you’d be in a rush. I got the bags ready."
Eren looked toward the back door leading to the garden and saw three other elderly elves through the glass. They sat in the dirt right next to where his mom used to plant tomatoes with their eyes closed and faces turned toward the sun. They absorbed the magicless Earth atmosphere like a bunch of retired hippies. He had tried to teach them basic Turkish words a few tis but failed miserably, though at least they found the house interesting.
l sat on the windowsill at the far end of the room wearing simple dark clothes Rosa had found for her. The young elf blended completely into the shadows as she stared out at the paved street below. Her eyes tracked the occasional passing car with the cold and calculating gaze of a hunter.
"There are no predators in these stone trees." l spoke without looking away from the glass. "The air is thick but the people walk outside without looking at the sky or the shadows. It’s a very soft world Eren."
Eren walked over to the table. "Yeah, Earth is mostly harmless if you look both ways before crossing the street."
He turned to Rosa with a grin. "Play so cartoons for l and Nimbo soti. They might learn so ninja moves from a turtle."
Rosa snorted and handed him a heavy canvas backpack. "Two sets of long-range camping radios. The box says ten kiloters but with its cheap price I’d bet on two or three at most. There are three solar power banks at the bottom to keep them and other things charged."
She sounded so confident, talking like she went on a huge shopping spree yesterday and still rembered everything the sellers said to her.
Eren grinned as he felt the weight of the bag and appreciated her efforts. "This is huge."
They were definitely expensive no matter how much she tries to play it cool.
Rosa reached down and handed him a smaller plastic bag with a playful smirk touching her lips. "And the second bag is your personal request."
She leaned against the table. "Three jars of pickles, two packs of sour candy and a giant block of dark chocolate. I spent half an hour trying to explain to the cashier why I needed so much sour stuff at eight in the morning."
Emily was going to lose her mind when she saw this.
"You’re amazing." Eren felt genuinely relieved.
Emily had been driving him crazy with her pregnancy cravings for the last few days before the ceremony. She didn’t say anything because of the ceremony preparations and their juicy nights in between but he still rembered her words. She needed weird sour or sweet backup things to snack on from ti to ti.
He was already picturing the morning he was about to have when he went back. He would drop the food off, see Emily’s absolute joy and then maybe pull Lyra and Selena back into the bed for a long and very intense morning session.
He still had a lot of pent-up energy since his hormones and physical needs made it hard to leave his three gorgeous won. Coming here alone without waking them even for a few hours always made him restless.
Rosa stepped closer and adjusted the strap of his backpack. She leaned up and pressed a soft lingering kiss to his cheek with her hand resting on his chest for a second longer than necessary.
"Go back to your forest mister." Rosa whispered and gave him a subtle wink. "And don’t get eaten."
Eren squeezed her hand. "I won’t."
He turned back to the stairs, walked into the bathroom and gripped the dungeon heart fragnt. He let the five hundred mana drain into the door until the familiar blue vortex swallowed the wooden fra.
He stepped through, expecting the quiet morning warmth of his stone house and the sll of Selena baking bread in the kitchen.
Instead a horrific wet tearing sound tore through the air followed imdiately by the sickening crash of heavy wood splintering.
Eren dropped the plastic bag and the glass jars of pickles clinked heavily against the stone floor.
What the hell is going on?
He kicked his front door open and ran outside.
His brain completely stalled.
The southern edge of the village was an absolute slaughterhouse because the barricades they had spent weeks building were completely breached. Giant black crows the size of large dogs dove from the sky while massive green beetles crashed through the wooden walls of the newly built houses. Fragile-looking but insanely fast feline beasts darted through the dust followed by armored kobolds and at least three massive trolls.
They had pushed way past the outer periter and were fighting right between the hos. This was deeper than any previous attack.
Villagers scread and ran toward the center square in pure panic while dust and green blood stained the dirt paths.
Then Eren saw her and stopped breathing for a second.
User Comments
0 comments from readers