Chapter 472: Battle Of The Manor (Part 4)
The sounds of explosions echoed out behind Laz as he made his way. He didn’t know where Maia was, but he figured if he asked someone, it wouldn’t be hard to find them.
Of course he wasn’t going to ask for Maia, instead he would try to locate Ivana or Sylvia since Maia’s secret was something few people knew.
He finally located a large gathering of troops spread out in a massive ring, looking like they would strike the first thing that came within sight of them. These particular troops were wearing golden accents on their green armor, a sign of an elite team Laz guessed. And what’s more, there were attendants and priestesses dispersed between them, their eyes blazing.
Laz quickly came up to the circle but was blocked by several guards, their swords and spears aimed right at him. Even the attendants had arrows knocked and pointed while the priestesses leveled what looked like wooden staffs at his direction.
Laz could break through, but the cost to these people wouldn’t be low. After all, when someone is willing to fight you to the death, then only death can stop them.
Laz frowned, knowing that he was in a hurry. There was no way that old grandmother would come find him if it wasn’t something serious.
"MOVE. I HAVE BEEN SUMMONED!" Laz said, his voice low but still containing a rumble mixed with a roar.
"BACK OFF NOW! WE HAVE BEEN ORDERED NOT TO LET ANYONE PASS!!!"
"MOVE YOUR ASSES!"
Laz heard a familiar voice and saw Genevieve step out from a row of troops, several attendants walking in formation around her as guards.
Laz was about to ask her what had happened when Genevieve ran up and jumped, grabbing on to Laz in a hug. It’s worth remembering that the Fae were, on average, taller than a human when fully grown. In fact, it was common for the taller ones to average around seven feet tall or 214 centimeters. Laz himself was just around six feet himself while Genevieve was actually around six feet six inches tall. Despite that, with her tiny, athletic frame, she looks small in Laz’s arms as her sobs coated his shoulder.
Genevieve’s dad died when she was young, due to reasons that no one really understood. In fact, at the time, it was passed around that Ivana had something to do with it as they had once competed for the same man that Sylvia had ended up winning. But due to all that, Genevieve had never had a strong father figure in her life. While there were many strong women she had been around, ones that had even been mistaken for men, there is something just different between the two that had nothing to do with how they looked on the outside.
Laz gave her a sense of peace and safety despite having only known him for a few days. It might of had to do with what happened in Sylvia’s play room... well, much of it had to do with what happened there, but seeing Laz arrive just triggered something in Genevieve and the strong image she had built up over the years crumbled when she caught sight of him again.
She longed to feel his arms wrapped around her, even if for a moment.
Laz was slightly confused as he had been coming to treat Maia, but feeling Genevieve jump on to him and hold him tightly led him to believe there was something else wrong.
When she finally regained her composure, she stood back on her own two feet and looked at Laz, her eyes red.
"Take me to them," Laz said, his voice soft, yet strong like iron.
Genevieve nodded and began walking with Laz in tow.
The attendants barely managed to avoid exchanging glances with each other before Genevieve’s security group fell in step with her as the ones who had joined the encirclement fell back into place.
As for the troops and priestesses, they couldn’t help but gawk at the display that their normally hard assed princess just put on.
It was only after some harsh words and glares from the attendants that they regained their composure and got back into position.
That wasn’t going to stop their thoughts from running wild.
Turns out the encirclement was around a small house, like some sort of storage shed that was just down the road from the first families estate.
There were even more guards stationed at every entrance and a tent set up nearby.
Upon coming up to the center of the circle, Laz got a smell of something that made his throat burn and his skin crawl. Laz had smelled some horrible things back in the day, anyone living in a small, country side town could tell you that sometimes when the farmers fertilized their fields, the air in town would stink for days. And even more than that, decaying bodies, scenes of massacre and carnage... Laz had seen it all and therefore smelled it all.
But despite that, whatever was causing that smell here was on a whole different level. It didn’t just assault his nose, it assaulted his soul.
The only thing that could describe this smell.. was evil.
In the tent, Laz noticed that there were several on makeshift beds, being surrounded by priestesses.
Their moans and gasps could be heard as they were being worked on, but it seemed like they were trying their best to stifle it.
Laz then noticed a figure sit up, covered in red fur and fighting before several of the troops helping the priestesses surrounded him and held him down.
Chanting something and glowing with a soft green glow, the priestesses did something to make the fur person stop fighting and remain still.
Laz stopped following Genevieve and walked over after having figured out that the injured was Red, the werewolf.
When Laz walked into the tent itself, he noticed all of the wolves were there, Troy and the two girls, Ava and Kels.
Even Shelby and Ruth were being treated, but their injuries were a lot better than Dave who was laying down without moving on a bed in front of them. For once, looking at him, they both had tears in their eyes.
When Laz walked further into the tent, a small figure ran up and just like Genevieve had done earlier, wrapped herself around Laz and held him tight, her mess of dirty blond hair covering her face.
"Jill..." Laz said, rubbing her head. It was really the most support comfort he had ever given her. Ever since they arrived her, he had kind of let her be while he focused on other things. In the end, Genevieve had taken her on as an appetence, teaching her how to fight like the attendants. She had been training while he had been just doing his thing. Even though it had only been a few days, Jill’s strength had grown massively, as did her realm. She was already in the final stage of the foundation realm and had built a steady and solid base. Laz didn’t look to closely, but he noticed some runes lining the base that he didn’t recognize. What’s more, they didn’t look Fae like either, instead being something darker, yet not sinister.
’Must be whatever is in her is helping her,’ Laz thought to himself, thinking about the thing he had seen in the hotel room that one night.
’Bloodlines really are an never ending rabbit hole of discovery.’
When Jill finally let go, he noticed that there were several gashes in her armor, things that had broken the small, tightly interwoven skin of the armor. Despite the blood, it wasn’t that bad even though she was still so small and thin.
When her eyes finally met his, Laz knew that there was something else that had changed with her. Whenever he had seen her eyes before, there was a infinite sadness and pain in them, along with a dark tint, like one was looking into a lightless hell. Laz knew those things had formed due to the torture she had suffered before he had freed her.
But now, looking at her eyes, Laz saw something that made him smile, if only on the inside. The sadness and pain were still there, as was the darkness, but now there was a solidness to it. Before, her eyes couldn’t focus on any one thing for too long, afraid of almost everything she looked at. But now, despite everything else, her eyes were steady.
This time, she hadn’t just survived hell... she had fought her way out of it.
Genevieve walked up to Laz,
"Everyone here should be fine. Please... hurry," Genevieve said, grabbing Laz’s arm and running.
Laz took off with her while Jill followed closely behind.
The guards in front of the building made way for her and Laz. While one of them wanted to stop Jill, the other shot him a look, smiled at the young girl and indicated for her to follow.
"Are you sure it’s ok?" The first guard asked.
"I was there as she was dragging the bodies of our brother’s out of that basement. Even when she slipped on her own bloody feet, she kept going. So yeah, I’m sure,’ Laz heard as the door closed behind them.
The storage shed itself was a one story building, with different sections for storing things. Right now, everything was just pushed back to the side as three beds laid in the middle of the massive room, surrounded with priestesses and several older people who were dressed in somewhat lavish attire.
"Focus on the mother only. As for the other two, it doesn’t matter. They can be replaced. But if she dies, we all die," said one of them, his fat shaking as he spoke while waving his hands.
"It’s just her avatar. While that would hurt her overall strength, she can recover," said another, stick thin man with a splash of facial hair. Something that was rare even among the oldest of these people.
"Avatar nothing. Have you seen the roots? The avatar is a projection of mother. If the avatar is this sick, how sick do you think the mother tree is? Use your head a little you idiot." Said a third, man, spitting every word he spoke while causing others to back off.
The priestesses were trying their best, but were being constantly nagged by this group of family heads. Not only that, but they were trying to order them around on what to do as though they knew anything about what was happening.
While all main families were a part of the council, that didn’t mean that each of them was equal. The only ones whose words had any weight or meaning were the ones who had gone to get Laz and fight even while trying to survive themselves. As for these other six, they were useless. In fact, they normally never even showed up to council gatherings unless they needed something. The only reason they were here now was because they had felt the injury the mother tree had sustained and wanting it taken care of immediately.
After all, they were still tied to here the same way the others were and were suffering the side effects. Because of that, they refused to even get involved in fighting until they were, as they liked to put it, ’back at full power." Anyone with a brain knew that even if that happened, they would find some other excuse not to fight or get involved, their own safety taking precedent over anything else.
"Either way, we are all in agreement right? Only focus on healing the mother. If the queen and head priestess die, then so be it. But the mother tree must survive. Do you understand?" The fat one said again after their discussion, not even noticing Genevieve and Laz’s arrival.
Just as one of the priestesses was about to say something, she noticed Laz moving out of the corner of her eye.
Laz appeared right in front of the fat man and punched out, landing his first right in the man’s gut and like a kicked rubber ball, the fat council member went flying, hitting the wall and causing a massive, oddly perfectly round hole as he broke through the wall and came to a crashing stop outside.
"From now on, the next one of you to speak even a single mumble of a word will end up flying through that same hole," Laz said, his eyes ablaze.
Jill and Genevieve stared in shock, surprised at Laz’s actions.
"YOU CAN’T JUST,"
Laz appeared like a ghost in front of the thin man and punched out, causing him to go flying through the hole as well. Without the wood there to stop him, he ended up flying until he hit the fat man’s stomach and then started twisting in the air until a stone fence stopped his advance.
"That was three words. Anyone else?" Laz said, eyeing the other four.
They shook their heads and put of their hands, an obvious sign of defeat.
"OUT!" Laz ordered and they fell over themselves to do just that.
When they were all alone with just their priestesses, Laz finally was able to ask,
"What happened?"
