LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 12 – The Uncharted Lands
“Maaah!”
There was grass in my mouth. I tried to spit it out, but my body just chewed it and then swallowed it.
I had no idea what was going on or why I was on the floor. Somehow my body decided to deal with this anxiety was by chewing more grass.
Then, I heard a slap.
“Take us back!”
That voice, it was definitively Allisa.
I stood up. Then there she was. She slapped Joanne again.
“I am sorry, I, I don’t know how,” Joanne said, lowering her head.
It was just the three of us. Belfar or any of his demi-humans were anywhere to be seen.
“Where are we?” I asked. Still chewing grass in my mouth.
The surrounding environment seemed like a grassland or a steppe. There was nothing but low, green grass. The terrain was mostly flat, with small hills and a mere rocks of different sizes.
“Dunno, why do you not ask The Apostle of Light over here? Her stupid spell sent us into the middle of the uncharted lands,” Allisa said.
“I- I don’t now,” Joanne responded.
“How far away are we from the nearest human settlement?” I asked.
“Who knows, since I can’t see the mountain of Gah, I would say we are at least a full week away,”
“Then let’s start walking now,” I said.
“No, first we must find my Master,” Allisa said. She pulled a small, blue gem out of her pocket, then she pointed the thing in every direction until it bloomed brightly. “He is further west. We can’t abandon him.”
“Shouldn’t we wait here, then? Maybe he is looking for us as well. Besides, aren’t you like his slave? Maybe this is a good chance to run away,” I said.
Joanne adverted her sight and Allisa looked me as if I was an idiot.
“You propose we abandon someone who risked his life for you, and not only that, but you suggest I take the huge risk of traveling through the human realm as a runaway slave? If we get caught, I would get made an example of,”
“Fine, east we go.”
***
The first difficulty of the journey was to find water. No matter how far we made it west, without water, we were doomed.
“You are a goat. Finding a lake or a river should be easy for you,” Allisa said.
I carefully tried to search through my memories for something that could help us in a situation like this. But it seems that I lived mostly as a lazy goat. Only ever drinking from the same water source.
“Sorry, no luck,” I said.
We kept marching west for hours. Joanne seemed to be the least affected by it all. While Allisa was beggining to show that she was “Domesticated” and spent most of her day indoors.
“Stop, we must go north,” Joanne said.
“What makes you say that?” Allisa asked. Her tone was dismissive.
“I do not know,” she said. “But we must go.”
Sure, Allisa had a reason to be mad. After all, it was Joanne’s spell the one teleported us into the middle of nowhere. But hey, she was the apostle of light, after all. If she had a hunch, it very well be divine intervention or a high amount of luck.
“Just do it, stupid,” I said. At last, I had my revenge over the elf. Who not even a day ago threw cold water while I slept.
Moving north after another hour. We arrived at a small lake. Nearby there was a handful of grassing sheep.
I was very curious. Do sheep understand the language of Maah?
“Maaah!” I yelled at the sheep.
It seemed like it worked. Suddenly, they began running towards me, almost like a stampede.
“I think I can communicate with them,” I said
“No, is not that,” Allisa said. Pulling her magic staff.
Then there it was. The calling of an eagle. It howled with the wind.
I gazed into the open blue sky above, only for my sight to be covered by a shadow.
That was no eagle. But a murderous harpy!
Allisa began pelting the flying demi-human with ice. But the Harpy easily evaded the attacks.
“Get off my land!” The Harpy shouted, diving her way towards us, with murderous intent.
Joanne created a magical dome, but the Harpy shattered it. Then sharp claws digged into my skin. My twisting force shred my robes, and knocked my sandals off. Not even a second into the air, I pulled my fire staff out of my inventory and shoved it into the Harpy’s private space.
The scream and the clenching of her claws were all I needed to know that I won. And I would have smiled more had we not immediately crashed into the grassland below. With my head, taking the full blow.
Only the gods know from what height I fell. But I could hear Joanne crying. While Allisa shouted, “Do not move,”
I was in complete agony and confused, but I felt as the Harpy tried to stand up. Only to be followed by the cracking of bones. The bones were not mine.
As The harpy cried in pain, I heard as a blunt object shattered another set of bones. Something or someone was brutally hammering the harpy down.
Joanne chanted a spell.
Then, I felt much better. The pain was gone and Joanne helped me stand up by pushing the harpy off from me.
“Are you alright?” Joanne asked.
A quick look at my tattered robes and missing shoes clearly indicated that without the healing spell, I wouldn’t be ok.
The harpy was in a fetal position, crying. Allisa’s ice staff was tainted with blood.
“If you wish to fly again, you will tell us all about this region and take us wherever we want,” Allisa said.
The cruel elf had broken the Harpy’s wings.
The harpy cried, and with tears in her eyes, she nodded.
Brutal…
