Across Eternity: Book 5 - Chapter 5
Date: 5/30/2024,
Categories:
Fantasy
Author: Sage_of_the_Forlorn_Path
... problem: Brusin was shorter than he was. Whenever Noah used magic to change his appearance, whatever form he took was stretched over his natural build, like wearing a costume. Fortunately, Brusin wore loose-fitting clothes, so Noah remedied it with some crouching. Noah walked downstairs, hurried by the impatient banging on the door.
“Kurd,” he said, priming the man outside to answer with the password.
“Bollat.”
Noah opened the door, finding an anxious-looking man, whom Noah had seen at the tannery before, Jensen. “Brusin, ya ready or not? We’re gonna be late.”
“S’ready s’I’ll ever be,” Noah replied, donning Brusin’s speech patterns.
The two men started walking down the street, heading east.
“Ya think everywona show?” Noah asked.
“They should. Hopefully they have some good news. Ya hear about those arrows those Uths been usin’? Tuttle had to have his arm chopped because it swelled up so bad.”
“Sometimes I think those black worms are more trouble than they worth.”
“I don’t know, they’re a lot better than they used to be. I used to want to throw up when I saw someone transform, but now? They look pretty damn impressive. Maybe you should think about getting one.”
“Can ya imagine what my fat ass would look like if I used one of those things?”
“Maybe it would help you lose some weight. The guys who have them do look skinnier.”
“That’s ‘cause they’re getting sucked dry like a noble at a whorehouse.”
“Well that’s the cost of freedom. Collin, ...
... you know Collin, right? He said something interesting the other day. ‘It is the duty of life forms to seek ultimate power and strive for perfection and supremacy, regardless of the evil required’, or something like that.”
“Makes a good point. What is the fight for life other than pursuing growth? You either keep getting better or you die, even bugs know that.”
“Apparently he heard it from the boss.”
The meeting was taking place above a butcher shop, and once Jensen led Noah there, they went their separate ways. After giving the password to the man at the door, Noah headed upstairs to a candle-lit room, where almost a dozen men were seated at a large table, all of them mid-level members of the Pack. Most were former military, not ready to accept they had lost the war, while others were citizens who had proven their dedication to the cause. More than half showed signs of parasite attachment.
In the distance, Prince Lupin, his attendants, and Valia and Shannon waited for the signal, some more impatiently than others.
“This is ridiculous. Why are we putting so much faith in a stranger?” Paulman growled.
“Lord Noah has proven that he can get results. We’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this for ages, and he’s given it to us,” Lupin replied.
“Without telling us how. For all we know, he could be working for the enemy, and everything he told us could have been a ruse to earn our trust.”
“Don’t talk about Lord Noah like that!” Shannon blurted out, shocking ...