Chapter 17 Chapter 16 Calling in the Wind

The man at the foot of the wall groaned, and Danica stepped over him in an instant and roughly pulled his hands behind his back, pinning him face down on the hard rock. "How long will your magic hold us back?" she snapped at Cadderly. "Not for long," replied the young priest, surprised by Danica's stern tone. "So what do we do with him?" Danica asked, pulling the captured soldier's arms roughly, causing the beaten man to utter another groan. "Don't be so rough with him," Cadderly said. "Like you did to them?" Danica asked sarcastically, waving a hand at the still-smoldering pile of objects and bodies.

Now Cadderly understood why Danica was angry.The fight was rough and unpleasant, and the rising stench of charred flesh reminded them of that. "Why didn't you tell me what the gem was going to do?" Danica's question sounded like a desperate plea. Cadderly was having a hard time making sense of the situation where the roles seemed to be reversed now.Usually he is soft-hearted, and he gets them into trouble by not being able to fight his full strength against the so-called enemy.He had spared Dorigen in the Simista forest, and she had been lying helpless on the ground before him, and he had let her live, though Danica had told him to kill her.And now, Cadderly was ruthless, doing what the situation demanded of him, contrary to his peaceful nature.Cadderly didn't feel much guilt—he knew that the humans in the flames were evil at heart—but he was rather surprised by Danica's cold reaction.

She tugged on the captive's arm once more, as if using the man's pain to torment Cadderly, lashing out at the young priest against what he clearly intended. "He's not an evil man," Cadderly said quietly. Danica hesitated, exotic eyes finding sincerity in Cadderly's gray eyes.She had always been able to read the young priest's mind, and now believed he was telling the truth (though Danica couldn't figure out how he'd learned that). "So they are?" Danica asked sharply, pointing at the pile of corpses again. "Yes," Cadderly replied. "How did you feel when I spoke the holy word?"

The mere remembrance of that wonderful moment relieved much of the tension on Danica's beautiful face.how does she feelShe felt so loving that she could face the whole world with ease, as if no ugliness could come close to her. "You saw how it affected them," Cadderly continued, finding his answer in Danica's calm expression. After understanding this logic, Danica relaxed her hand. "But it didn't have a detrimental effect on this person," she said. "He's not an evil man," Cadderly said again. Danica nodded, releasing her grip.But she looked back at Cadderly, and her expression was hard again, one of disappointment rather than anger.

Cadderly understood, but could not give his lover any answers.There are also humans among these evil monsters, and there are many people among the goblins.Danica's disappointment was that Cadderly had done what was necessary, had surrendered completely to the logic of battle.She had been quite angry with Cadderly when he spared Dorigen's life, but her anger had been rooted in concern for the wizard.In fact, Danica loved Cadderly all the more for his conscience, for he had avoided the horrors of war at all costs. Cadderly looked back at the pile of corpses.He had surrendered, joining the fight wholeheartedly.

It had to be, Cadderly knew it.He was as horrified as Danica at what he had just done, but he wouldn't take the action back even if he could.The friends are in desperate distress—all districts are in desperate distress—and the sinister situation is being accelerated by the minions of this stronghold.It was the Walled Trinity, not Cadderly, that was responsible for the lives that would be lost today. But even if that argument was perfectly logical, Cadderly couldn't deny the pain in his chest as he looked at the pile of bodies, or the sting in his heart when he saw Danica's disappointment.

※※※ "We have to go!" Xuelin said to Ivan.She took the dwarf's arm and looked back at the corridor behind them, where the sound of many boots could already be heard. Ivan sighed and looked at Fander, the head of the Fubao giant was smashed and deformed.A similar sigh came from behind, causing Ivan to turn around and look at Pikel.He eyed his brother curiously, because Pikel's top and undershirt seemed oddly shaped. "How did you get rid of that snake?" Ivan asked, suddenly remembering the crisis he had faced earlier. Pikel whistled softly, and the snake's head emerged from his neckline and dangled next to his green bearded cheek.

Xuelin and Ivan took a step back in horror, and Ivan held the ax defensively between him and his surprised brother. "Doo da!" Pikel announced happily, patting the snake lovingly, and the snake seemed to be doing quite well.Then Pikel nodded aside, signaling that it was time for them to go. "Dooda?" Xuelin asked Ivan, and Pikel was already bouncing away briskly. "He wants to be a druid," Ivan explained, moving to follow his brother. "He didn't know that dwarves can't be druids." Xuelin thought about these words for a while. "The snake doesn't know either," she concluded.She took one last resigned look at the dead Vander, and started to keep up with her companions.

※※※ "I thank you," the soldier whispered to Cadderly, keeping his eyes on the messy, charred bodies of his dead comrades.Cadderly's wondrous magic had been lifted, and the corpses that had been gathered in piles were now loosened and scattered on the ground. "Where is Aballister?" demanded the young priest.The man's lips were almost drawn into a straight line. Cadderly jumped over Danica, grabbed the man by the collar, and slammed him against the wall. "You're still a prisoner!" he growled in the surprised man's face. "You can be useful to us, and we will reward you accordingly."

"Or, you can be a liability," Kedri continued darkly.As he spoke, he looked back at the pile of corpses. The unspoken threat made the captured man lose all blood on his face. "Take us to the magician," Cadderly instructed. "Take the most direct path." The man glanced at Danica as if pleading for her support, but the monk looked away impassively. Danica's posture didn't reveal her torment.She was dismayed at the way Cadderly had acted and threatened the captive he had just declared innocent of evil.She had never seen Cadderly so calculatedly ruthless, and while she could understand his determined actions, she couldn't deny the apprehension inside.

The captive led them halfway around the circular room and through a door on the side.They only walked a dozen steps, and Cade immediately grabbed the man again, pushed him against the wall, and began to roughly take off all the equipment on his body that made noise, even the thick-soled boots on the man's feet. Don't let go. "Be quiet," he whispered to the man. "I have only one battle left to fight, the final battle with Aballister." The man snarled and pushed Cadderly away, only to find Danica's silver-hilted short sword at his throat the next moment. "That magician is very powerful," the prisoner warned, wisely keeping his voice down. Cadderly nodded. "And you're afraid that if Aballister beats us, you'll have to pay for what you're doing now," he reasoned. The man pursed his lips again, without any response.Cadderly pushed Danica away gently, and brought his face closer to the man again, jaw tightening uncompromisingly. "Then you choose," said the young priest, his voice low and menacing. "What if Aballister doesn't defeat us? Are you taking the risk?" The man's eyes shifted nervously, but he still didn't speak. "Aballister is not here," Cadderly reminded him. "None of your other companions are here. It's just you and me, and you know what I can do." The man immediately set off again, walking along the corridor very carefully, making little noise with his bare feet.They passed several side corridors, and from time to time they heard other soldiers running around, probably searching for them.Whenever a group of enemies approached, Danica watched Cadderly nervously, as if to say that the man could betray them with a single call, and that it was his responsibility. But the man remained true to his captorial duty, moving as stealthily as possible, leading them past guard post after guard post and battalion of patrols. However, when they entered a long corridor, a group of goblins entered from the other side at the same time, and they found themselves with nowhere to go.Six goblins drew their weapons and approached cautiously. The captive spoke to them in their frog-like language, and Cadderly understood that the man had just made up a lie that he and the priests were on a mission to report to Aballister. Some important information. Still, the goblins eyed Cadderly and Danica dangerously and whispered a few words to each other—expressing their suspicions, and Cadderly knew that. Even the cooperating prisoner looked back with a worried expression on his face. Danica didn't wait for things to go in the obvious direction.She leapt out, punched the nearest goblin in the throat, then spun, kicked high into the chest of the next goblin, and quickly shot a short sword into the face of the next goblin. superior.A sword swung across her, and she dodged it with a low body, then jumped up from a low-lying position, and kicked the sword-wielding goblin twice in a row on the face and chest. Two goblins rushed past her, preferring to flee rather than fight Cadderly and the soldier, but Cadderly caught one with his staff and the soldier threw the other down. Danica turned and kicked again, sending a goblin flying towards the wall.The creature slammed into the rock and bounced back, and Danica, who timed it so perfectly, kicked it again.It pops out again; then is sent back again with a well-timed flying kick. By the fourth time, the goblin finally landed, as Danica had turned away, jumped over the prostrate captive, and was hot on the heels of the goblin that escaped her grasp.One hand reached out to cover the goblin's chin, while the other grabbed the hair at the back of his head. Howling shrieked, the goblin tried to stop and turn, but Danica was already beside it, twisting her arms violently, snapping the hideous creature's neck. "Get down!" Danica yelled, coming up behind Cadderly.The young priest fell to the ground as he said, and the goblin who was facing him was completely caught off guard. Danica, who rushed up, punched the ugly face heavily.It jerked back several feet, groaning as it hit the rock, and Danica sped past it. The goblin who was hit in the throat by her just now knelt down again, trying to stand up.Danica leaped high into the air, then landed on her knees, hitting the emaciated creature in the back, knocking it down hard.She drew a second short sword from her boot, grabbed a lock of hair with her other hand, pulled the goblin's head back, and slashed its neck cleanly. She did the same to the goblin with her other dagger stuck in its face, ending its misery.Then she turned to see Cadderly and the prisoner staring at her in disbelief. "I don't negotiate with goblins," Danica said deadpan, wiping the dagger on the dirty clothes of the nearest goblin. "You can't outrun her," Cadderly said to the captive, and the man returned the young priest's look of disbelief. "I just thought I should tell you," Cadderly said. They set off again immediately, both Cadderly and Danica eager to put some distance away from the scene of the killing just now.The captive said nothing, but continued to lead them swiftly on.Before long, the tunnel became quieter, and there were not as many soldiers running around. Cadderly discovered that the walls in this area were not made of natural materials, although the surfaces were all uncut stone.The young priest could feel the remnants of the magic that had made the place, as if some powerful spell had ripped the natural stone from the walls. These feelings sent a wave of mixed emotions over the young priest.He was thankful that the captured soldier had apparently not led them astray, and that their search might soon be over.But Cadderly was worried, too, because if Aballister had created these tunnels, and he was the one who magically tore the stones out of these walls, then the storm on Everglade Peak was just the tip of the iceberg of his mighty power. That's all. Then something else hit Cadderly's mind, some ethereal and distant call, as if someone was calling to him.He stopped and closed his eyes. Cadderly. It was faint, but he heard it clearly.He fumbled in his pocket for the amulet he had acquired some time ago, through which he could communicate with the imp, Druzil.It was cold now, which meant Druzil wasn't around. Cadderly. It wasn't Druzil calling him, and Cadderly didn't think it was Dorigen.Who would that be?The young priest wondered.Who would be so attuned to him that he would be able to make telepathic contact without his knowledge, or consent? He opened his eyes, determined not to be put off by other things. "Keep going," he instructed his fellow travelers, keeping up beside them. But the call continued, ethereal and distant, and what disturbed Cadderly most was that somehow it sounded so familiar.