Realm Raiders – Chapter 7

The team tumbled through the portal in a knot of limbs and curses down the ancient wooden steps and onto the soft soil. 

Slowly, the three of them untangled themselves from each other and moved to stand at the centre of the jungle clearing.

‘What the fuck was that?’ Greton moaned, rolling his neck before pointing at the top of the stairs to the empty platform. ‘Isn’t our Pathfinder supposed to keep the portals safe and easy to use? Thank fuck we only fell down the stairs. What if that had happened on the portal to Mycelia? You stumble there and you’re falling off a fucking cliff.’

‘I thought you were supposed to be tough,’ Hoji said with a smirk, then hissed through his teeth as he shook his leg. ‘You fall down…. four stairs and you’re already bitching?’

‘Shut up, both of you,’ Rhen snapped. She finished checking over her pack then stood and brushed the loose dirt from her coat. ‘It’s Vouring. He’s already infecting the spaces between worlds. It will only get worse so let’s get a fucking move on.’

Greton gritted his teeth. There was no point arguing with Rhen. As Pathfinder she was there to get the job done, everything else was a distraction. Greton sat up, put his hand on Hoji’s shoulder, and pushed down on the other man to get himself up. Hoji cursed as Greton shoved him deeper into the mud but Greton just grinned.

‘What’s the deal, then, boss?’ Greton asked. ‘We had to get out so quick no one told Hoji.’ 

‘No one told you either, shitstain.’

Rhen sliced a hand through the air to cut off their bickering. They fell silent. 

Around them, the jungle hummed back to life. Insects buzzed around them, birds sung in the distance, and something hopped away from them through the undergrowth.

Greton glanced at the nine gargantuan trees lining the clearing. They had been torn down hundreds of years ago but they looked as vibrant as the day they had been felled. Only the statues carved into the redwood-sized trunks gave any indication to their age. The same figure was carved into each tree though each statue differed to show some particular aspect of Vouring. This one had Vouring with the open jaws of a wolf in place of a human mouth. That one he was wrapped in leathery wings with two clawed fingers overlapping like some bestial clasp. The statues’ once-smooth and bright heartwood was now grimy and mould-slicked and peppered with deep cuts. Each cut bled bright red sap that smoked in the dim light. 

Greton shuddered. 

‘Come on, boss, this place gives me the creeps.’ Greton ignored Hoji’s snickering. ‘Which way?’

Rhen didn’t pull her gaze from the bleeding trees as she said, ‘Fuck knows. We’re looking for some kind of ritual site. My source believes the relic will be hidden beneath an altar. Probably buried. The Azrani aren’t likely to leave it lying around when it’s worth six thousand Veks.” 

Hoji nodded, spat on the ground, and stepped up to join the others. ‘Don’t the bats have like a hundred different places they do rituals?’

Rhen shot Hoji a look. ‘Don’t call them that, asshole. We may be here to rob them, but we can still show a little respect.’

Greton grinned but kept his silence.

Rhen took out a battered map from her coat and glanced it over. ‘The Azrani do have a lot of temples and places dedicated to various rituals, but I have a feeling we need to visit the one place they won’t go.’

‘Ah fuck.’ Greton’s shoulders slumped. He’d been to the jungles of Azra often enough that he knew how to handle himself, but he’d never been to the oldest temple. He shot a glance at Hoji and the man looked just as apprehensive as he did. ‘Rhen, you don’t mean…’

‘We’re headed to the Temple of Nine.’ Rhen shoved the map back in her coat pocket. ‘No arguments. Let’s go.’

Rhen turned away from the well-trodden road that would have taken the team to one of the Azrani cities and marched into the jungle. Greton and Hoji glanced at each other. For once, neither of them sneered, they simply shared a look of determination laced with fear.

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Realm Raiders Chapter Eight lands on Spotlight Indie on 03^rd July

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Before . . .