Knights of the Faux God

Chapter 7: The Lovers' Dream

At the southern plains of Morpheus was the city of Mauve.

Over there, the sun was as bright as it could ever be in cloudless heavens. Ombré valleys of pink and purple carnations have spread to leave no land spared. The flowers have just recently bloomed. Shuffling like little pixies as breezes patrolled their fields, they had no intention of withering anytime soon.

"Such a wonderful day!" Cass did a little twirl.

"Waaaaah!"

A spark flashed in the lady's eyes. "It was, for two minutes."

Ronald has been bawling. Louder than a whale wailing in the ocean. Everyone has asked him many times. Every time, his cries just went louder.

"Stop ruining it for me, Ronald." Cass crossed her arms. "You've been acting like this ever since we left. I couldn't even hear what the quest was."

The man used the back of his palm to wipe his face. "That! That's the problem!"

Thomas glanced at the letter in his hands. "All we need to do is kill some sort of monster terrorizing these valleys. Should be easy enough."

Those words paralyzed Ronald's body. "E-E-Easy? We don't even know what kind of monster it is! It could be anything. A werewolf, a basilisk. Maybe even a kraken!"

Mycela scoffed. "Krakens live in the water, you idiot."

"What if it's a mutated one? That's even worse!" Ronald bawled again.

Cass palmed her face. "We're supposed to be the seniors here. You're embarrassing us."

"What worse quest could there have been?!"

Winston rubbed his chin. "Well, I heard Layla and Alder had to go to Phoben. It's the city of living fears."

"Whaaat?! What the hell are they doing there?! Are they trying to die?"

"Their letter was by Phoben's mayor. Apparently some gangs have been raiding villages. Weird thing about them is that they're using local Phobetlings to help. Odess actually decided to join."

Ronald's face sunk to a purple color.

Mycela sent an elbow at the wizard's ribs. "We're in a much better place here, you know. We only have to fight one beast. Plus! We'll be rewarded twenty malagmium coins for doing it."

"Ronald's got a point though." Thomas folded the letter. "Nowhere here do they describe what kind of monster we're supposed to be fighting. I hope it's an interesting one."

"Same here." Winston chuckled.

"Both of you are crazy." Ronald began gnawing on his nails.

"This is mine and Thomas's first adventure. It has got to be memorable."

"Hard to believe there's a monster here, don't you think?" Cass used her hand to put an awning over her eyes. "This place is just too pretty."

"Greetings, knights." A raspy old voice blew with the wind.

"Waaaaah!!!" Ronald jumped and hid behind Cass. "That's the beast! I swear that's the beast. Fight it, fight it! Go!"

Cass gritted her teeth and punched Ronald to the sky.

A gray-haired old man half the height of Winston bowed before them. "It gives me joy you've received my letter so quickly. I wish to invite all of you to my home. We'll talk about the quest over tea."

The knights all exchanged glances.

It didn't take much genius for them to realize that the old man was the sender.