Dota 2 World: Return of Oracle

Chapter 9: Secret of the Western Forests

From what happened so far, I was surprised that the night passed without any more new heroes, or old ones, showing up. When I opened my eyes, I see Rylai standing over a pot and stirring its contents. Curious, I got up and walked over to her.

"What are you cooking?" I asked her.

Rylai simply smiled, saying, "Try it first, and let me know how it tastes."

Seeing her smile nearly melted my heart, (ironic, I know), since I had trouble forgetting how sad she looked just the night before. Grabbing a spoon from my bag, I scooped up a spoonful of the soup and tried it.

It tasted... really strong, and I have a strong suspicion that Rylai hadn't added any seasoning into it, though we had salt and pepper in our bags (Invoker, mysteriously good packer).

Struggling not to let my expressions give me away, I smiled and said, "Its... delicious."

Extremely elated, Rylai jumped forward and hugged me. Almost immediately she seemed to be shocked at herself and stepped back, blushing heavily.

"Erm... I... I'm just gonna go find some fruits." Rylai said as she scuttled off hurrily.

Seriously doubting that there would be fruits nearby, I sat back down, sort of dreamily since I actually got hugged by Rylai!

As I was still dreaming about the hug, a loud scream pierced through the forest. Realising it was Rylai, I cursed myself and hurried over to the sound, grabbing Eldwurm along the way.

When I reached Rylai, I saw her shackled to a tree. Opposite her was a lady covered in green and aiming a bow right at Rylai.

Not hearing me approach, she was shouting, "I heard you people! Where is he!? Where is that bastard Invoker!?"

To my surprise, tears were forming in her eyes. The green lady simply wiped the tears away and aimed the bow properly again.

Worried for Rylai's safety, I entered the virtual world through my goggles, scanning the area for any way to defuse the situation. Shifting time forward, I realised that if I could throw Eldwurm to block the arrow that she will fire. Making certain of the exact timing and position, I resumed time and threw Eldwurm across the field.

Gleaming across, the green lady's arrow striked Eldwurm, just as I tackled her to the ground. As I held her down, the shackle that held Rylai expired and she strode towards us with murderous intent.

Removing the bow and arrow from the lady, I stepped up to stop Rylai, recalling the tears earlier and wondering if there was something else going on with her.

"Hey hey Rylai hold on." I said, trying to placate her.

She simply ignored me and keep trying to push past me, saying, "Get out of the way, Jason."

It took some time, but Rylai finally cool down and gave up. All these while, the lady was apparently sobbing on the ground, not even bothering to escape.

"What happened?" I asked, kneeling down beside her.

From in between sobs, the lady said, "He... he told me! He told me that someone called Invoker killed my parents! He said the gale wasn't an accident!"

Gale? Accident? Then it hit me! Of course, she must be Lyralei the Windranger! In her bio, she was the sole survivor when her family got killed by a gale which blew through her house! But what she's saying, Invoker killed her parents!? Not having much answers for now, I went over to Rylai.

"I think she might have to come with us Rylai, since we don't really know what happened between her and Invoker." I said.

Rylai seemed eager to argue, but then looking back at Lyralei, simply nodded.