Maledictus Terra Book 3: Vetitum Nemus Part 21
Greetings all!
I hope you are all well. This week has been insane. Can't wait for the weekend.
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There was a heavy sigh and High Chief Kerghug slowly got to his feet. He said nothing at first but instead looked over to Master Pattoq. Pattoq slowly nodded his head before getting to his feet and leaving the tent. Adrian’s eyes followed the Bugbear and he couldn’t help but notice that he was muttering something to no one in particular, but Adrian already knew what he was talking to. The imps.
While he was unsure many sitting at the table were unaware of the annoying things flitting around, he had already noticed several. They had been sitting quietly for the most part until High Chief Kerghug had given a silent message to Pattoq.
“We cannot accept.” Said High Chief Kerghug softly.
Shock rippled through those gathered. Magna could feel Gorma tense next to her and she looked up to see the female orc baring her teeth.
“Why the hell not!”
Lockjaw raised his hands over his shoulders and shrugged, “The fact that you cannot see the reason shows that you are not ready to sit at this table yet.”
Gorma blushed furiously and grumbled under her breath.
Bellum tilted his head and said to Vitex, “You were the tipping point, little sister.”
“We are gods, we should show…”
“Do you remember how you got cursed in the first place?”
Vitex huffed and crossed her arms, not saying anything else.
High Chief Kerghug scratched at his head before continuing, “You must see our reasoning, Princess Magna.”
Magna looked at those who sat with her and at first, couldn’t understand, but then it slowly made sense to her. The greenskins were clearly painted into a corner and felt threatened by two gods facing them down. It clearly looked like Magna was trying to strong-arm them, and it had never been her intention. Her mind worked furiously to try and undo the damage that had been unintentionally caused by the revelation that they had literal gods on their side.
“Innana.” She said softly.
“Excuse me.” Said High Chief Kerghug.
“Zreld said she was taken by this shadow organisation.”
“Not in as many words.” Muttered Zreld.
“What if we could get her back? Would that show you that we mean for true peaceful interactions and not trying to force you to be serfs?”
“What are you doing?” demanded Bellum.
“You are also partially to blame for this.” Snapped Magna. “I asked you to remain out of these talks. How do you think this looks to them? A nation with two gods coming to your front door of the land that was yours, suddenly looking for peace. It looks like we’re ready to wage war.”
“That wasn’t my intention!”
“Give me Mortis back, now!”
While Bellum could easily fight for control, against the bond that Mortis had with Magna it wasn’t so easy, and he decided to relinquish his control. Once Magna was sure Mortis had come back to his senses, she got to her feet and bowed deeply to those at the table.
“It was never my intention to hide the fact that we had gods with us. They joined us after harrowing journeys that saw souls rend and old gods fighting over prizes that weren’t theirs. I didn’t want their interference because I didn’t want to put any of you in a situation where you would feel that we were forcing you into serfdom. The land set aside for you by my mother comes with no strings attached other than us not wanting a combatant at our backs. I understand that this may be too much for now. I will ask that we all spend a night to consider our thoughts and then we discuss this again.”
High Chief Kerghug sat back down and seemed to ponder her words as she sat back down. The tent was silent for some time before High Chief Kerghug took a deep breath and asked, “Could you do it?”
“Save Innana?”
“Yes.”
Magna looked at Adrian and the young prince grinned before saying, “We need a few clues, but I believe with the help of the rest of the gods gathered here, we could figure something out.”
Pattoq returned to the tent and seemed to be muttering something once more before looking up at High Chief Kerghug. The older orc nodded his head once and then inclined it toward Adrian. Pattoq rolled his eyes and walked over to the prince to dump something furred and alive in his lap.
“There. We will have no fighting between us now.” Said the Bugbear as he returned to his seat.
Unimpressed, Adrian looked at the furred thing in his lap, terrified that somehow, he had been given a child to prevent war between him and the Bugbear.
“Since I heard you decided to give one of our princesses a gift and wanted to start a fight with one of our sects, I believed a peace offering should be made to atone early.” Muttered High Chief Kerghug.
“What is this?”
“A warg welp from my finest hunting pair.” Said Pattoq. “I will kill you if you harm it.”
He looked to Magna, “Fair?”
Magna couldn’t help but grin, “Fair.”
“Back to the matter at hand. You think Innana is saveable?”
“If they could save me from what I had become, then they can save her.” Interrupted Vitex.
Back to you Zak.
Here is an explanation of Chain Stories and here is the current Chainstory Library
Mortis Custos
Sanguifex
Vetitum Nemus
| by @lex-zaiya | by @zakludick |
|---|---|
| Part 1 | Part 2 |
| Part 3 | Part 4 |
| Part 5 | Part 6 |
| Part 7 | Part 8 |
| Part 9 | Part 10 |
| Part 11 | Part 12 |
| Part 13 | Part 14 |
| Part 15 | Part 16 |
| Part 17 | Part 18 |
| Part 19 | Part 20 |
| Part 21 - You’re Here | Part 22 - Incoming |
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