The Enderlox Trilogy III: Seto's Triumph

F O U R T E E N: Stitchings

***SKY'S POV***

The tentacle around my throat doesn't seem to be getting any tighter, but it seems as if it was there like a warning, to say if I try anything I will soon be asphyxiated.

"State your business here," says a squid-like voice.

"D-Diplomacy," I say. "We don't want to cause any trouble. We need your help."

"Right this way," says the squid. It takes it's tentacle out from around my throat and instead uses it to hold my hands together behind my back. I turn around to see other squids doing this to the rest of my team. I look Seto in the eyes and give him a reassuring glance, telling him that everything is okay. I follow the squids into the room where the Flame Jewel used to be kept. The team and I are shocked by what we find.

The mutants from before. Jordan, Kermit, Dan, and Ryan. All of them standing white-eyed in front of us. This is about to get very, very bad. The squids let go of our wrists and instead the mutants watch over us carefully, making a small wall with their bodies, two on each side of us. They lead us up to podium where the Flame Jewel was previously kept. A squid now stands there, wearing a silvery crown.

"Well, if it isn't Sky, leader of the Sky Army. What could you possibly want from here?"

"Listen," I say. "The last thing we want is trouble. We need your help, Max said so. Have you heard about what will happen to the world? The Nether Mobs and the Wither Worshipers?"

"No," the squid says, showing no crack in its resolve. "Tell me more."

And as much as I hate to say it, a smug smile spreads across my face as I tell the squids the story. By the time I'm done, I've watched the lead squids expression go from stoic, to afraid, and finally, at the end, to understanding.

"I see," he says. "And what do you need in terms of help? Are we referring to weapons or manpower?"

"I don't know. Max simply said that we would need your help. Do you know anything about where we could find a Wither Worshiper hub? A headquarters of sorts?"

"I would know about that," Ty says.

"Right," I say, acknowledging him. "Any information of the sort?"

"No, nothing." The squid says. "But I can offer you something that could be of great use to you, if you can control it."

"What?" I ask.

"I can offer you these four," he says, gesturing to the men I killed. "They're yours if you can handle them. I look to Seto, and he nods slightly, indicating that he knows how to control them.

I nod at the squid. "Alright, I'll take them. Thank you for your help."

"Its nothing. And Sky?"

"Yes?"

"I hope that if this mission succeeds, we can make peaceful trade, like before."

"I'd like that. And thank you, again."

We just made a deal with the squids.

Great.

<><><><><>

The Herobrine-Mutants are chained up outside. We've got no other way of ensuring our safety. The squids have left us to our mission, promising not to harm our cities while we are gone. I mean, their trust doesn't mean that much, but take what you can get, right?

I walk over to Seto's tent, watching as the mutants growl at me while I walk. It's rather unsettling, really. Knowing I killed those people. Knowing their blood is on my hands. And yet they're still here, alive and well as they can get. Its overall very disturbing.