World of Alvarra: Rise of the Vampire Lord

Chapter 187 Marching to Rescue?

Van opened his eyes and got up, looking over at Yesi who had been patiently waiting in the corner while he meditated.

"I've found them, they seem to be in something called a rangers recluse. They're held up there right now, though they can't leave because they are surrounded by bandits and shriekers. I don't know how long they can hold them off for..." he said worriedly, then quickly explained a few other landmarks to better get an idea of their location.

"Just our luck," Yesi grunted, figuring out where Yassan probably was, then sighed. "Let's tell the commander, we'll say it was one of your shadowy creatures that found them or something." getting off the wall she was leaning on and walked to the door, only to pause right at the exit.

Turning back to look at him with a hard eye. "Oh, and if you are really planning to come with us, please make sure you don't get sucked in by another Eros flower..." she said rather flatly.

Van blushed, remembering that not long after leaving the river, he somehow found himself blasted with Eros powder and ended up getting sucked off by a bloody flower because he was in too much of a daze. Thankfully, Yesi had time to prepare and wore a mask that filtered the pollen in the area, dragging him away and saving him. Even now though, he still felt conflicted about what happened to him... it was a very... novel experience...

Van cleared his throat a little and retorted, "You know you liked it..." giving Yesi a sultry look just to tease her. Referring to how Yesi helped him afterward...

Now Yesi blushed. Even after being saved from the flower, Van was still under the effects. So in order to help him get over it sooner... well...

"We... are not to speak of it..." she lightly hissed, turning around and walking out the door.

Van quickly followed, not wanting to be left behind, though oddly proud of himself as he felt like he scored some sort of victory.

Outside the two met with the commander, a high ghoul that seemed to be all hard edges and looked like she loved and hated her job in equal measure, it was clear she was someone who enjoyed a little challenge, though she also looked like she was old enough to want to retire. Which was something considering she must be very old to actually look old...

She gave the both of them a curious look as they approached, then asked them if they found anything using their shadow creatures.

"Yes." Yesi said, taking charge, "they seem to be held up somewhere in the north. Van's shadows can probably lead right there, we just have to follow."

The fort commander grunted in satisfaction. "Good! Hopefully, enough of those bitches are there for us to kill to mean something... those bandits have been causing problems for us over these past two years and have only become bolder as time went on. It would be good if we can kill enough to make them think twice about calling this forest their home."

She then grilled them for every little information they could provide, do they know how many bandits there were? What weapons were they carrying? What about the shriekers they seemed to have tamed? And plenty of more questions.

Van tried his best to answer them all, though he had to admit it was a little dodgy since the summons he sent ahead only now finally arrived. He was also getting worried about how late it was getting, and wondering if they would get there in time, getting a little antsy as the commander just continued to interrogate him for information.

After what felt like forever, but was just twenty minutes, the commander seemed somewhat satisfied with the information given and nodded.

"Alright, now the only thing to consider is how long will it take to get there..." She turned to Yesi. "Do you know the distance between here and your rangers' recluse? Do you also have permission from your superiors to divulge such information?" probably already aware of the importance that a ranger's recluse was to the rangers guild.