Page 191 of I Ran Away to Evil
She was panting as she gasped out, “I know where the Dark Lord is.”
CHAPTER 116
The Guard Wasn’t Turned into Paste
Keith
“Keith!”
“I’m here,” Keith replied. The dust from the collapsed wall still obfuscated most of the room, but it was settling fast. Through the haze he saw Henrietta in full glory and wielding Jacqueline with both hands, climbing awkwardly over the stone rubble that was once a wall. The catkin groaned, but no other movement could be seen from the ground, and Ria squatted to hit the man’s head with the pummel of her sword.
Manny was struggling to his feet, coughing. When he had breath, he yelled, “INTRUD—” before Ria also cut him off.
The Heroine of Justice punched him in the face. To everyone’s surprise, the guard wasn’t turned into paste but simply stumbled back. The bottle in his hands sailed through the air and shattered on a wall. The wall began to sizzle and spit as it melted away wherever the liquid touched. Keith flinched.
Henrietta’s face contorted into disgust as she recognized the molten ash vane.
“Now, what were you going to usethatfor?” she asked aloud, eyeing the melted wall and the man. Then she paused to read something on her character sheet and visibly paled. “Oh no!”
“Wait up, Henrietta!” Gerda appeared in the hole in the wall and clambered over the debris in her evening gown. Her own sword hung from a belt she’d found to wrap around over her dress.
Keith noted with amusement the tiny scrap of green fabric sticking out of the rubble beside the bridge troll. The wall opened into a stone hallway that looked like a gallery, each side lined with portraits … and a green wall tapestry.
“Ria,” Keith said his princess’s name gently.
Henrietta’s head whipped up in his direction, and her face broke out into a wide grin. “Keith!”
Manny tried to stand up again, but before Keith could warn Ria, Gerda finished the job. She knocked him out and got to work shackling the man with his own set of Veralyn’s Enchanted Restraint Manacles.
“I’m so happy you’re safe.” Ria unclipped a large metal ring with two keys on it from Manny’s belt.
“The feeling is mutual.” He smiled at her while she attempted to unlock his cell. Unfortunately, neither fit.
“No worries.” She tossed the keys away without a thought. Ria reached around to the bun at the back of her neck and dug out a lockpick. “I came prepared!”
“I love you,” Keith said, because he couldn’t say anything else.
“The feeling is mutual,” she teased, repeating back to him what he’d just said.
“The marquess probably has the key,” he said, pointing at the rubble.
She sighed. “I’m not much at picking locks, anyway. I’ll go unearth the idiot.”
“Pass over the picks.” Gerda walked up and put out her hand. “I’ll start just in case we can’t find the key.”
Ria managed to pull out the very dead marquess around the same time the bridge troll picked the lock.
“This bubble’s a Void pocket dimension.” Keith held up a hand to hold Ria back when she rushed toward him. “You can’t touch it, and I haven’t figured out how to get out yet. Dimension magic isn’t really my specialty.”
Ria and Gerda stood there for a moment, both studying the pink dome.
“Let’s wake up Marquess Dorset and get some answers. But first, [Harvest Kill].” The entire set of Drendil’s royal jewelry set, the construct button, a rough map of North Sumbria, a pair of keys, a spare pair of Veralyn’s Enchanted Restraint Manacles, and a shiny rock all fell into her hands. “Loot!”
She pocketed everything and then pulled out her one Revive potion, opened it, and poured it into the man’s mouth.
His body glowed slightly. Unfortunately, [Revive] didn’t heal injuries like [Resurrect], and the marquess still sported a terrible sword wound from where Jacqueline had burst through the wall.
Chadwick sputtered. “What—Argh! How dare—”
