Dealings With Deities

Chapter 10 - Home

Creaks and moans of pain resonated from the elves as they all brandished various cuts and bruises, most from Kaiho's attacks. Any able-bodied elf was sent out to find the ones who had run away in fear. What remained was a pair of ragged parties moving at a miserable pace towards the Wood-elf settlement.

Little Golden One, who introduced herself as Hanami was riding on Kaiho's back. At her insistence she would be by his side, ensuring any of the others could not take action against him. Not that they would, considering how cleanly he dealt with them before, but they did stand awfully close to him as if waiting. In return Kaiho carried Hanami stating no one else had the strength, secretly channelling what little energy he had into her to keep her alive.

I can't believe I jinxed it Kaiho thought annoyed with himself. Yesterday he held it as an item of joking pride, today a silent mark of shame. Kaiho had broken the seal of his first aid kit, using the bandages to hold the wound on his leg and more to keep Hanami's head together. He felt as though the gods of chance were messing with him.

"/Hehe you smell like earth spirits./" Hanami giggled.

"Try not to sniff too hard, your brain might leak out."

The people around him quietly smiled at the comment but Kaiho wasn't sure if he was joking himself. He was busy channelling every ounce of energy he had into keeping Hanami conscious.

"Are you okay Kaiho?" Goras asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"It's just" Goras didn't know how to word it, instead he gestured to his nose.

"Hmm?" Kaiho poked his tongue out and licked just below his nose, it was the iron flavour of blood.

"Oh"

"I did not see you get hit in the face" Goras stated.

"Kaiho-san got hurt?"

"I didn't." He replied, dismissing them both. "How much further to your town LG?"

Before she could reply the rasps of blades being drawn and bows being pulled taut could be heard, stopping them in their tracks.

"/We're here/" She whispered.

In front stood swordsmen and spearmen their weapons similar to the root spears of before but of a much higher quality. Behind them perched upon walls were archers as well as a pair of robed individuals whose swords were sheathed. Unlike Kaiho's last encounter, these elves were not hiding with magic and instead wore fanciful armour shaped like leaves and feathers in protective coats. They exuded the essence of experienced warriors.

Wanting to see how friendly they were, Kaiho took another step forward. Instantly the robbed men threw their hands forwards creating multiple barriers of light in-front of Kahio. The barriers were transparent, barely visible apart from slight discolouration of the world behind. Testing the closest barrier with a gentle kick, the point of contact became more opaque, glowing with a muted white. It felt solid but if push comes to shove, not indestructible either.

That's awesome Kaiho thought, adding another item to the goal list.

"/Halt! You will come no closer necromancer./" One of the guards announced. His armour was clearly of higher quality than the others, with a bright gold tint compared to the silver that the other guards wore.

"Necromancer? Which one of you is a necromancer?" Kaiho asked the group but none stepped forward.

"/You! You are the necromancer human./" The guard captain yelled, jabbing his pointed finger towards Kaiho.

"Me a necromancer? Ha, If I had such skill I would not be here. On what basis are you making this accusation?"

"/He's not a necromancer. I thought the same./" Hanami interjected.

"See she doesn't think so... Wait you thought I was a necromancer?" Kaiho briefly contemplated dropping her.

"/You have the clothes of one/"

"I do?"

Looking down Kaiho inspected his clothes. Black pants and a black hoodie, both slightly faded after being coated in dirt and dust multiple times. A type of dirty black that is used by only a few types of unscrupulous professions.

*sigh* "...I do"

"/Be quiet Hanami./" The captain held a tone of moaning and commanding mixed together. "/If you are not a necromancer then what are you?/"

"I am Kaiho."

There was a long pause as everyone waited for him to continue. The fact he didn't made everyone feel a little annoyed, Shinoko and Goras included.

"/We are High elves. I am priestess Shinoko. We came as promised. Please may we enter?/" Shinoko pleaded.

She hoped this would be enough to solve everything, any well-informed person in a position of power would know who they were and why they were here.

"/... Even if that mattered. He is not allowed in this great forest, nor our city. So hand Hanami over before someone gets hurt./"

Sadly the captain was not well informed.

Someone gets hurt? What are you a high school bully? Images of the elf in a school uniform flashed into Kaiho's head making him snicker quietly. "I'm sorry I can't do that. We have a deal you see, I will only release her when I am in a town and we are in range of a healer."

"/I do not care for your 'deals' human you will never enter our city./"

Kaiho let out a sigh, he would never betray an agreement. "Alright, fair enough."

The magical barriers fell and the guards lowered their weapons, ready to receive their ally. They were only down for a second before they were pulled back up with drilled precision.  Kaiho had turned around and started walking away.

While still carrying Hanami!

"/What are you doing! Come back here now!/"

"Can I enter your town?" Kaiho asked, his back still turned.

"/No!/"

"Then I'll find another one" He replied stepping forward again, into the crowd of injured wood-elves. Now his lower half was blocked by the elves while his back was protected by Hanami making it quite difficult for the archers to get a good angle on him.

"/Unhand her now/" the elf captain commanded, his powerful tone wavering at the disrespect he was witnessing.

"/Go get grampa Jumpo!/" Hanami commanded back.

*Grrr* "/Fine!/" The captain stomped his foot before going back into town.

Is he really throwing a tantrum? Kaiho thought. He turned to see the captain stomping away angrily.

"Is he really throwing a tantrum?" Shinoko asked.

"/Tantrums again/" The Wood-elves murmured.

"/Its okay. My brother is always like this./" Hanami stated plainly.

There was a simultaneous *EH?* from the three high elves and a tired sigh from Kaiho.