leonardwarren Chapter 1000: Arad's Walk
Chapter 1000: Arad's Walk
chapter 1000: arad's walk
the sun fell behind the mountains and arad stood outside beside a carriage, looking into the city as the girls approached him with ann tagging along. the carriage beside him was made of wood and armored with several steel plates that he asked the local blacksmith to make.
strangely enough, it didn't have any horses or monsters to draw it. it even lacked the attachment arms for that. arad looked at his hand, he could feel a tingle on his fingertips, a faint cold at the bottom of his back, and a slight fog clouding his mind.
"it's already starting..." he mumbled and looked at them, "hurry! we can't waste time." he called to them and they started walking faster. as mesharra threw her large bag in the back she looked at arad, "are you sure about this? is it even safe?"
"we don't have another choice so it's not a matter of it being safe or not. it's a matter if we can make it work or not." he looked behind mesharra and saw mary looking a bit worried. "don't worry, you won't feel any pain if you die by falling from the sky. you'll just splatter like a tomato."
"but i'll know it's coming...that would be scary." mary replied and arad looked at ann, "are you scared as well?"
"i'm more worried about you. your hands are shaking." seeing her face being a bit pale arad knew she wasn't joking. "don't worry, you might not believe me, but the world would burn down before i go mad. it's just that you can't be both a vampire and a werewolf at the same time. those two curses will slowly overload the body and kill it."
"that's just as bad." she looked back at echidna, "can't that witch do anything?"
"it's not as simple as it seems, i've told that yesterday." echidna replied with a smile.
"so you're useless. mesharra was right." ann pouted and echidna glared at mesharra, "you! what are you teaching the little girl?!"
arad giggled, "stop fighting. we really should go, it'll take us about a week, but we'll be able to make it, barely."
everyone got inside the carriage and arad jumped on top, extending his vampire wings. the muscles from the werewolf curse empowered his wings so he could carry more, using all of his power he started flapping his wings, flying up with the whole carriage.
the current plan was simple, from all the material that echidna needed to try and stop arad's curses from killing him there was something called the scales of the deep snail. that item can only be harvested from the sea monster known as the deep snail.
getting it fresh would greatly increase echidna's success chances and so they decided to dash to the capital. that trip would usually take a year by carriage, but arad judged by how fast he could fly using both curses, he should be able to barely make the trip in a single week. the fact that akasha's blood isn't affected by the sun was a blessing that he didn't expect but appreciated a lot as without this stunt would be impossible.
arad is now on a timer, his body is starting to crumble beneath the curses' weights and he must get treated as soon as possible.
arad flew into the sky with the carriage and blasted away toward the capital. the trip did take a whole week with them only stopping once every five hours for a short break. before anyone knew it, they were landing at the edge of the capital.
so they won't speak to anyone, arad entered the carriage and plum went outside, growing an attachment for horses, and called some animals from the forest to draw the carriage. arad was exhausted and had already lost more than half of his muscle mass so he immediately closed his eyes to take a nap.
"really! i've only heard about them in stories!" ann's excited cry woke him up. "you never see a deer or a moose?" he mumbled, turning his eyes out. for a moment, his eyeballs almost flew out of their sockets. plum was tying two unicorns to the front of the carriage to draw it.
"where did you find those two?! put them back!" he extended his head out and yelled at plum. the two unicorns looked back at him, "you bastard! do you have a problem with us?!" one growled.
"yeah! and we are nice enough to draw a carriage carrying filthy humans and a monster like you! is that how you treat those who extend a helping hand?" the other unicorn added.
"yeah! i have a big problem with you." arad shouted back at the two, "do you want to cause a fuss at the capital? you'll draw too much attention to us and to yourselves, or are you two fine with hunters raiding the forest to hunt you?"
"let them try, i shoved up my horn in them more times than i can remember." one of the two unicorns replied with a smug smile.
"arad, those two are old friends of mine. it's been a few years since i last saw them so they wanted to help when they saw me." plum flew to him and the two unicorns gasped the moment they heard his name.
"arad? arad orion?" one of them rushed toward plum, "you said you're traveling with a vip?"
"he's the very important person, arad orion." plum replied with a stupid smile.
"i thought it was some kind of elvish prince or prestigious human or witch..." he sighed, "should've told us. fine, we'll do as he says."
"we've got those." plum pointed inside the carriage, "a high priestess of yog, inquisitor mesharra, and the witch echidna."
"by the rainbow puke of the leprechaun king!" he looked at the forest, "i'll get some wild horses to help, would that be okay?"
"yeah, i appreciate it." arad sighed, "and sorry for earlier, didn't mean to be rude."
"don't mind it. we're glad to have been able to help." the two unicorns returned to the forest and soon sent two powerful wild horses to draw the carriage.
arad's carriage strolled into the city, thanks to mesharra they were able to enter unchecked and finally registered at a decent inn close to the plaza. while echidna went out shopping, mary and ann went to get some stuff while mesharra went to get some information from the local guards.
plum was getting ready to escort the horses outside the capital's walls and saw arad wearing his boots. "shouldn't you rest?"
"i don't feel like it." he replied, "i'm going for a walk." he stood and left.
plum shook her head and flew out of the window, heading to take care of the horses.
as arad walked out of the room he saw a woman cleaning beside the door. she was tall, wearing a brown tunic, and held a mop, cleaning the floor. he stopped and looked at her for a second, "you there." he called.
"i guess this makes my point clear." arad smiled and looked at the neighboring kingdom's
king, "sorry for this embarrassing display." he removed his hood, "arad orion, i guess you know me, right?"
everyone inside the room froze when they finally realized who is arad and how he managed to make it inside. this was the man their goddess spoke about.
"besides the usual shitty nobles and royals, this kingdom is not that bad." arad smiled, "i
wish i could've visited your kingdom as well, but i'm in a hurry. i must go."
the neighboring kingdom's king smiled, "arad orion, i must insist. if you ever manage to have time, give me a visit. i'll make it worth your time."
"i'll be sure to try." arad smiled and the king stood, his face still had arad's hand mark on it.
"i'll guide you outside."
the king and his first wife escorted arad all the way into the castle's stables where they
ordered a carriage for him.
arad looked at the carriage with a smile, "a carriage." he then turned toward the king,
"didn't know you can drive one."
terrified, worried, and baffled, the king rode in the carriage's driver seat with his wife as arad
sat in the back.
with several generals and armed guards following behind them, the king drove arad back to
the inn without saying a word.
mesharra who was sitting outside drinking tea spat her drink the moment she saw the carriage
roll in with the king driving. arad walked out of the back and looked at the king, "thanks for
the ride."
terrified, the king forced a smile, "no need to thank me, i'm glad we got to speak. please come visit again any time you want."
"i'll do. take care, and good luck with your daughter." he smiled. "we'll keep an eye on her..." the queen said, "we'll send you an invite to the wedding."
"see you later." arad taped the carriage and the king drove away, followed by his guards.
"arad what was that!? that was the king!" she whispered not to cause a scene. as arad was about to speak to her, he saw the woman serving food and drinks in the back slowly approaching. "you, come with me." mesharra looked behind her, "is something the matter?" she saw the woman and felt strange,
"do you know her?"
"no, the first time i saw her." he waved his hand to her, "if you're looking for your sister, i
knocked her out and she's tied in the basement."
the woman immediately rushed away and arad giggled, "she's an assassin sent from the castle. i bet they spotted me flying with the carriage in the distance and prepared a bit. the
king himself didn't know yet as he was in a meeting, but the generals were already on the
move. i found her sister sneaking around our rooms earlier so i knocked her unconscious and tied her in the basement."
"you...plum told me you went on a walk...don't ever go on a walk alone again." she sighed, walking with him inside. "this would complicate a lot of things."
later that day.
"i've brought the herbs." ann walked into the room, rushing before mary who slowly trailed
behind her. she found arad sitting inside with echidna around a large table filled with scrolls, cursed totems, talismans, and bones.
looking closer at arad, he seemed to be getting worse and worse every day since he absorbed
her father. all of his muscles were nowhere to be seen, his skin clanged closely to his bones,
and his lips had cracked several times from dehydration. the curses had started fighting inside arad since the day he absorbed ann's father, that was a week ago. now all they have to do is perform the ritual to stabilize him.