Rise Of Pandora

Rise Of Pandora: LXX. To Fly

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XX. Stoic

The fury of the Deathknights was demolished, the terror from above was silenced, and that man's hellish plot had been mostly thwarted. All seemed well for them, for now.

It was a truly spectacular sight watching Atlas conquer all of their enemies. His might was unrivaled. His wisdom was unquestionable. He knew what the Deathknights and Shadowbirds were trying to do, believing they could surround the small party of four with their immeasurable numbers. But they were far from successful. Atlas, being the genius and tactician that he was, foresaw their plan and punished them with calculated fury and precision. There was not a single method to his thinking that strayed from pure mastery of the mind. He had stricken down the Shadowbirds, which had caused them to fall upon their massive hoards and block out their routes, rendering much of their arrows useless. It was like watching a chess match between a seasoned veteran and inexperienced children. He was the wiser to their schemes.

"That was absolutely incredible!" one of the noblemen shouted. "How...how can one be so powerful! You are a genius!"

Gaijin smiled, thinking about how Atlas dispatched of all of the enemies. There was not a single enemy in sight. But there was a growing look of impatience brewing.

"Yes...but...Sundahl...we did not even get a chance to bury him," the other nobleman said.

"Yes...I know. I let him down. He entrusted me with his future and I failed," he huffed. "I was too late to stop it from happening."

"You did what you could, all we can do is to keep moving on. Now that they are all destroyed, we must try to find Pandora. We need to do it quickly," Gaijin said.

"I am sorry, Gaijin. But there is more to be done. This is just one city we cleared, the Rare Nations has over one thirty kingdoms, several of cities in each of those kingdoms. Our work is far from finished."

Gaijin, with a low sigh, shook his head.

"I was trying to be patient but I can see our priorities are still on opposite ends. Here is where I take my leave. Hopefully when you have found that the real threat lies within Pandora and her endless deities, you will join the cause."

Getting a bit irritated, Atlas glared at Gaijin. It was unclear what he was thinking but the thoughts were likely not ones of a kind nature.

"We stick to the plan!" Atlas argued.

Gaijin scoffed. He began to wiggle his wings.

"And where will you go, Gaijin! We don't even know where to look let alone how! The reason we are doing this is to establish communication. This is one step we are taking in order to get to the next. The weight of Pandora and her deities is weighing heavily on my mind, as well! What those mystics told us has been eating me up inside as well. I want to do something about it, too! Do you think so little of us? I stand by my word."

"Are you so sure?"

Atlas, with a look of sadness, did not know what to say.

The two noblemen listened to their back and forth, quiet as mice enduring the awkward moment of tense silence.

Gaijin, understanding he had crossed a boundary, immediately tried consoling Atlas with a heartfelt apology. "That was not my intention to say. I went spoke ill. I have a duty to stop that woman and all of those damned monsters...I-I..."

"Gaijin...if you wish to leave, then I have little business in trying to drag you along with us...forgive us for misusing your time. We will get out of your way. Apprentices, we shall take our leave."