Page 136 of I Ran Away to Evil 2
Rufus
I pulled out a small golem thrumming with the barest hint of power. We were alongdistance from Keith, and it was going to cost the Dark Magician King an arm and a tail’s worth of mana to activate—not that he had a tail. I did not care. “[Activate Call].”
The orb flashed, and the sound of the golem connecting echoed statically throughout the room. The sound was fuzzy, and I attributed that to the distance even though I knew absolutely nothing about golems.
Keith’s voice came through clear. “Report.”
There were a few ways Keith typically responded to calls. “Report” was the usual. If he was casting spells or spending private time with Henrietta, he just wouldn’t answer. There was also “What do you want?” for off-hours contact, and “But why?” that one time I’d called first thing in the morning to check in before going to a council meeting. My attempt to make morning small talk with the ruler of the Dark Enchanted Forest had been met with a curse word—but luckily, not acursedword—and a dropped call.
“I’ve found a lead in the Hollow,” I explained.
“The duke?” Keith asked, referring to Duke Lector.
“Actually, both our poisoner and the duke will be in the Hollow. We will arrive at the elven city in five days’ time. I’ll need a tracking team.”
The rest of the table waited quietly. No one wanted to cut off the Dark Lord on a voice call.
“Alright … Does that mean you’ll be searching during Ria’s stay?” There was an edge to the Dark Lord’s voice that I ignored. He was probably just envious that I got to go when he was stuck at home working.
“Yes. Minstrel Bronwynn is here with me now, and she’s offered to drive me,” I stated, letting my king know there were others present.
“Brownie’s there?” Queen Henrietta’s voice sounded distant, like an echo in a cave. “Hi, Brownie!”
Bronwynn smiled and leaned in closer. “Hello, Your Majesty. My parents are here too.”
“If we may, love?” Keith said softly. She must have agreed because he followed up with, “Rufus, who are you moving?”
“As soon as I’m done here, I’ll order Puma’s guard unit to mobilize and move Chikli’s unit north of the Hollow, between the mountains. It’ll be a delayed post so they leave closer to the date, of course.”
“Of course,” Keith agreed. There was never a guarantee that the forest wouldn’t move everything between now and then.
“And I’ll be there if we need some muscle!” the Dark Queen said excitedly. Henrietta might by tiny, but her Strength was high enough to pick up a napping dragon.
Not that she would be so foolish.
I could hear the frown in Keith’s voice when he said, “Report againwhen you’re closer to the border.”
“Yes, Your Viciousness.” I smirked. The words let me know I had indeed inconvenienced him with the range of the call. Hah!
I could hear the aggrieved sigh from the other side of the golem, but it was faint enough that I didn’t know if anyone else on this side would have caught it. The golem went dark, and the Dark Lord was gone. I was already opening my character sheet.
To everyone in the room, I explained, “I’ll select a few of the high levels to encircle and sweep the region around the Hollow, including the best Tracker in the Dark Enchanted Forest, Mistress Puma.”
Name:
Rufus Triever
Occupation:
Commander General
