Five Little Sacrifices

Chapter 106

In mountains, not actually that far away from the field of red grass there was an area full of bluish clouds that were covering the rocky ground. In a way it almost looked beautiful, how the mist was covering the ground completely, almost making it look like they were actually standing on top of clouds.

And it was snowing there. Big flakes were slowly floating up from the clouds, higher and higher until they reached the sky where they melted and turned into tiny bubbles and then they drifted away somewhere far.

Long fingers reached out and touched one of those flakes and the body heat made it melt. Then the tiny bubbles of water escaped from between the fingers, continuing their travel towards the sky.

This place made Emmett shiver. There weren't may things he considered unnerving, but this world was certainly one of those things. There were too many weird things and he didn't like it. Even if he had already visited here many times over the years, he probably would never get used to this place.

He turned his visible eye towards the building where they were currently located. It was an old place, built by those weird deer centaurs or whatever the hell they were. This place wasn't really suitable for humans to walk around but that wasn't exactly a surprise. It was more like a huge barn made out of rocks, or so he thought when looking at the castle.

Castle was maybe a bit too much, but it was an admirable fortress to keep away all intruders. Yet it wasn't enough to keep them away. Those deer centaurs might be magical creatures, but in the end their magic simply wasn't enough to defend this place.

Emmett turned and went inside through wide doors. He hated the air inside this place as it smelled so wet and stuffy. He heard rustles, slithering and how some little stems snapped occasionally as thick and lush vines of moss were moving, covering the stone walls. He took a hold of his hat and crouched a bit, not wanting to touch those vines as he stepped through another doorway and followed stairs up.

The stairs led him into a big room where he looked around. It wasn't a throne room or anything such, it was simply the most suitable room for them to gather together and, well, just wait. They had no real plans, they only had goals and Yuidose didn't care what they did so they could accomplish their missions.

Emmett looked at the men inside the room. Humphrey was lounging on some sort of a divan and Moritz was looking out from a window. He grunted and sat down on a chair that was near the entrance.

He didn't like them. He hadn't liked Ichabod either. But they weren't here to become friends. They were working together because it would be more beneficial than working alone. Emmett needed Yuidose's power to accomplish his own personal goal so he just had to bear with these men.

He huffed. He wondered what Yuidose actually did to Ichabod? His magic was still here and controlling the moss that had taken over the castle, but he hadn't seen the man itself since he left him in Magnolia.

"Two guys, I want two", Humphrey suddenly said and moved his hand and almost made the wine in his glass to spill. "I want that green haired beauty and someone just as beautiful as him. No! Why should I only have two? I have a huge mansion, I can have as many lovers in there as I want! All young and pretty men."

"You're an animal", Moritz chuckled amused. "I don't get it why you'd want so much of them, sounds like a hassle."

"It's because of love", Humphrey said and he sat up, looking at Moritz. His cheeks were red because of alcohol. "I love loving men! The more of them, the more I can love and feel! It's like drug to me", he smirked. "But no drugs make you feel as good as you feel when making love with a beautiful man. You get it, right?"

"Asses are not my thing and I don't care about love."

"You're a boring man, Moritz. Emmett, you came back", Humphrey said as he finally noticed the third man in the room.

"Why are you drunk?" Emmett asked.

"I found wine! I guess it's made by those deer people", Humphrey chuckled with a hiccup. "There's still many bottles left if you want."

"I don't drink", Emmett grunted. "Alcohol only makes you stupid."

"You're boring too. Ichabod would've opened a bottle with me. He knew how to enjoy life."

"I'm enjoying my life", Moritz smirked and lifted his purple spear. "I enjoy it most when I can hunt down my prey and the more challenge there is, the more I'll like it. I want that Lightning Dragon."

"They're not dragons, they're slayers", Emmett huffed and took out a revolver, cleaning it. He had lost his old and trusty rifle because of that iron dragon slayer, but he had found a revolver to replace it. Only problem was he couldn't use the magic sealing stone bullets that were made for his rifle.

"It's all the same! Sure did look like a dragon to me when he got mad", Moritz laughed. "And I never got a chance to hunt down an actual dragon so I'll just have to settle with a Dragon Slayer."

"And when you kill that so called Thunder God, I can keep his man", Humphrey giggled. "Kill the kid too, I don't need him."

"You're both sickening me", Emmett said.

"We? You're one to talk about sickening someone. You don't even care who you're killing", Humphrey said, flopping down again.

"Because I want the job done. It's not like I particularly enjoy it, but if it needs to be done I'll do it."

"You're not even in for money, you said so yourself. So you want Yuidose to bring back someone, huh? That's why you're helping him?"

Emmett said nothing, not caring how Humphrey and Moritz were both looking at him now. He had his reasons, he didn't need to explain them to these idiots.

"Fine, don't tell", Humphrey sighed dramatically and emptied his glass. "I want money. With money you'll get power. The whole world will bow before Yuidose and want him to bring back people for one reason or another", he chuckled, pouring more wine. "All countries will treat us like kings so we'll give them what they want."

"I don't really care about that", Moritz said. "I just want to hunt."

"Well, you might have chances to hunt down something you normally couldn't. Like some very rare animals and such. They'll let us do anything we want if they're desperate enough to want Yuidose to bring back someone specific."

"I still don't completely believe it could happen", Emmett said now. "How can he really do that? It's not like Netherworld is full of people who died in Earth Land. When a soul comes here, it shatters and merges in with everything in here, that's what Yuidose said. It's not like we're gonna find that old bitch with his annoying drums from here or something like that."

"I would've loved to see how she kicked your ass", Humphrey giggled. "I don't care how it happens. If Yuidose says it's possible, then I'll do anything I can to make sure he gets what needed so I can have whatever I want after that. Where is he anyway?"

"I don't know", Emmett huffed and put away the revolver. "But I heard he said that his old teacher is in this world now and he's helping that mage guild to gather together."

"That might bring troubles, but it might also be very thrilling", Moritz said and his smirk revealed his canine teeth. He was starting to get impatient anyway, he wanted some action. "So we can kill everyone else but those two who have magic Yuidose needs?"

"And my future husband", Humphrey quickly reminded. "I won't forgive you if you kill him."

"Whatever", Moritz snorted. "He's an interesting mage as well, much more powerful than he looks like", he smirked. "I won't make any promises. If he appears in front of me like before, I will fight with him."

Humphrey clenched his teeth, but said nothing. He would have to find Freed before Moritz then. He absolutely wanted that green haired man no matter what!

Emmett took out a pocket watch.

"I have no clue what time it is right now", he said almost immediately and put the watch back inside his pocket. Was it night, morning, day or evening? It didn't matter what his watch said because it didn't show what time it was in Netherworld.

"We don't need to care about that", Moritz just said nonchalantly. "Yuidose said we'll start moving soon."

Emmett grunted. He really hoped that was the case so they could leave this place sooner.