Rise of the Arockalypse (Second Lordi Saga - Story 3)

Chapter 4 - New Home, Same Love

Transylvania, late at night...

The plane trip had been rather quick, Mathias not having seen it pass. The SRDO plane that had picked him up in France had landed in a small base of the organization located not far from the valley of the monsters. The rest of the journey had been made by hummer, crossing the difficult paths through the forest, to finally reach the village in the heart of the valley. After the battle against Ycnarr, Mathias never thought he would return to this place one day.

Mathias took his luggage and got out of the vehicle, thanking the two men from the SRDO who had escorted him here. It was bitterly cold, snow covering everything, but luckily he had planned and dressed warmly. As he stood at the edge of the village and saw the SRDO hummer move and disappear into the night, Mathias spotted someone familiar, holding a lantern in his hand and coming to meet him.

_"Welcome Mathias. Glad to see you."

_"Hi Amen. And vice versa." replied the young man, shaking his friend's hand.

_"Before joining Hella at her place, come and warm yourself up a bit and have a drink at the tavern. The trip must have been long." suggested the mummy.

_"With pleasure." said Mathias, following him.

Mathias entered this village, following Amen closely through the night. In the darkness, Mathias could see the silhouettes of the houses, but also their owners, monsters of different species, all standing on the porches but most casting wary, even threatening glances at him, which made him swallow.

_"Do not worry." said Amen to reassure him. "Most of them have only had bad experiences with humans. But they know you are under my protection and you are Hella's companion, so they won't try anything against you. In time, they will you are not their enemy."

_"I hope." Mathias said, but also thinking that these monsters could sense the demon inside him.

The tavern was in the center of the village and they both entered. A strong and pleasant welcome warmth greeted Mathias, as well as the smell of cooked meat and beer. The interior looked like the one before, with that almost medieval tavern style. A few monster customers were seated drinking and talking to each other, though all showed surprised looks to see a human here. Amen reassured Mathias with a friendly tap on the shoulder and invited him to follow him. The young man left his luggage in a corner and came towards the counter. Otus stood behind, busy depositing empty tankards in a sink, then pushed open a small door leading to the kitchens behind.

_ "Hey, Garko! Jada! Are these pieces of meat coming or what?!" he said with authority.

_ "Yeah, two more minutes, boss." came Jada's voice.

Otus sighed heavily and came back to the counter to fill another mug of beer, only to notice the presence of Amen and Mathias.

_ "Ah, here's Hella's boyfriend and the village leader." Otus commented with his gruff but sympathetic voice towards them. "What can I get you, gentlemen?"

_ "Two pints, thank you Otus." Amen asked. "Tell me, I see you still have problems with Garko and Jada."

_ "Ah that..." Otus breathed in annoyance as he filled the pints. "They're strong at carrying dishes and merchandise, but when it comes to timing and speed, even trolls would do better."

_ "Why don't you fire them then?" said Mathias, perplexed. "From what I've learned from them, they're quite unpredictable and Emily even told me they tried to eat her by cutting her up with a chainsaw."

_"Ha yeah, and luckily I arrived in time that day, otherwise..." Amen told him, remembering perfectly.

_"It's sure that they did some stupid things..." said Otus. "But Mr. Lordi spared them anyway and they really want to make amends. If they don't have a job anymore, they'll come back to the wild and start doing shit again."