Nend Ardhon Chronicles - Complete

Chapter 22.2 – Yellow Dotted Snails Quest – part 1.2

The Explorer on Toraan’s right paw, the one from which Byia cut the tip of the tail, spoke with difficulty because of Toraan’s grip. “We… heard them… we only wanted… to escort them here…”

Toraan frowned and increased the squeezing. “Criminals and liars. If you guys are really Explorers, you know the penalty for this, right?”

She loosened the grip a little to let him talk, and the Explorer, with a two-metre tail missing, spoke, “You… wouldn’t dare… You would all be fools to mess with our Guild... You could start a Guild War between…”

Toraan squeezed some more while speaking until both of them fainted. “Criminals don’t have the right to make threats.”

She then dragged the two knocked-down Explorers in her hands to the middle of the Guild and threw them up. Indeth did the same, and when they were almost hitting the high ceiling, Toraan pointed her front glowing paws at them and said, “A very nice decoration for our Guild… ‘còmhdach fìon-dhearcan’… There, a couple of weeks in there shall do the trick.”

From the ceiling, vine plants grew from the small holes and rough surface, and they stretched until they wrapped up the four Explorers completely, leaving only the heads free and their bodies turned upside down. Toraan faced the Guild Master after sighing, “Go send a message to their Guild explaining what happened and invite them here for a nice chat or to face their deaths. Whatever they choose, we will give it to them.”

The Guild Master trembled and stuttered, “But… that… could start a war… between our Guilds…”

Toraan pointed at the Explorers on the ceiling and growled right in the face of the Guild Master, “I wasn’t asking, Nennoth Pill! Go do as I say, immediately! Unless you want to join them!”

The Guild Master gulped and swam straight to his office behind the reception, going past Byia’s group and the receptionist, who was looking at all that commotion from afar. Byia frowned and mumbled, “That Guild Master sure is strange.”

Toraan shrugged while removing the cut-off tail from the top of the table and getting a seat. “He is just the interim Guild Master when I am not here. When I am, his job is to be my secretary, unless I want to be hidden from visitors. So, besides those annoying criminals and judging by the full bags your group brought, you finished the Quest, right?”

Byia had her mouth wide open after Toraan’s words and the sudden realization that she was the real Guild Master. Lodon arrived with their group and handed her some silver pearls. “Here, your share. Why do we have four beautiful chandeliers on the ceiling? Is their punishment for trying to rob us?”

Toraan made a slight smile and spoke while looking at Byia. “Yes, they will stay there until their Guild Master arrives to discuss what she wants to do next. It can take two days or two months; it depends on how the conversations go. It can even start a full-out war between our two Guilds, but I know their Guild Master. She is fair and very strict, and she will not like to know that four of her members tried to rob a group of our Apprentices. So, little Byia, I am still waiting for your decision. Will you join my Party or not? If needed, I can remind you that you owe me for dealing with the mess that you started with those four up there.”

“Hey, I didn’t do a thing! They were the ones that tried to rob us!”

“I know, but that was caused by your friend Lodon here, who can’t speak in a low voice. Besides, you threatened the interim Guild Master, and for that, you must be punished accordingly. You will join my Party and I will teach you how to deal with this kind of situation without being so violent. You are supposed to be a cute and sweet Water-Dragon, and you acted before judging properly. What would happen if, when I arrived, I didn’t like what I saw, and I sliced your head before you could have time to take your swords from Nennoth’s neck?”

From Toraan’s left ear, Rodhy made a low growl, and she frowned. Not because she was annoyed by the growl, but because she couldn’t even sense his approach, and that was unusual. Byia shrugged and pointed at the Rodhocetus, “Rodhy was right after you as soon as you entered. I gave him a mental order to protect my back if someone appeared. He would have sliced your throat before you could even take your sword out. My father told me to always cover my back, and Guyi was right after Rodhy, getting ready if needed.”

Indeth smiled and spoke in his harsh voice when he noticed Guyi putting his sword back in his sheath. “She is right; I only noticed this little guy when he placed the tip of his sword on my back as soon as we approached Byia. It seems Sergge went a bit too far with their training. They are more dangerous than they look. One could be easily fooled by their young age, and then one would die.”

Toraan made a big smile. “We got ourselves some very good Apprentices, then! I wonder what Baleroar Torm would say about them, considering that he dislikes everything and everyone!”

Indeth muffled laughter: “Pffft!… I am more curious about how Byia will react when she meets Ronnez Breeze. I bet his weirdness will get on her nerves, and she will have a lot of trouble putting up with him!”

Byia looked around at the laughing Explorers. It seemed those two names were the cause of all the laughter that was echoing inside the Guild, and she asked Sveta, “Why is everyone laughing? Who are those two?”

“They are the other two members of my mother’s Party. They are doing a Quest and if they don’t kill each other, they will arrive tomorrow. It’s never a good idea to send those two alone to do anything because they tend to bicker with each other over the most insignificant things. They were supposed to arrive two days ago, but the other Explorers that went with them sent a message to us saying that they finished the Quest three days ago, but they fought in the middle of another City and were arrested. You will like them; they are rather funny.”

Byia frowned and waited for the laughter to come to a stop. She then got up from her chair and grabbed the cut-off tail that was on the floor. “It is time to go home. I will try to come again in two nights unless there is another Quest that we can do. Can I take this tail? I want to cook it for my Rodhocetus. I think he will like it if I use some sweet leaves as a seasoning.”

Toraan frowned and glanced at the growling Rodhocetus near her head. “Is that wise? This guy might get a l*****g on Water-Dragon’s meat, and that could be dangerous.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want a peaceful bodyguard; I want one who doesn’t mind eating a tail or an arm from one of my enemies.”

Toraan frowned at the menacing Rodhocetus. “Yeah, you are Sergge’s daughter, alright… See you in two days, then. Bye everyone, and good job with those snails.”

Byia made a slight bow and spoke, making Toraan frown. “See you later, Guild Master Toraan Roolyi!”

“The way you say that sounds like a mockery, young one…”

Byia disguised a smile and made a bow again. “That was never my intention, Guild Master Toraan Roolyi. Or should I call you Party Leader Toraan Roolyi?”

Toraan poked Byia’s snout with one claw, only to quickly take it back because Byia tried to bite it. “For you, it’s Miss Toraan Roolyi… Hey, don’t bite me, you brat!”

Byia smiled and quickly swam away, straight to the door. “Don’t point a tasty finger at me, then! Goodbye, Miss Toraan Roolyi!”

Toraan waved at the strange group and spoke in a low voice when Sveta and Cruvir sat next to Indeth. “Those two are completely crazy! So, what do you say, Sveta? It was too difficult to find those snails?”

Sveta shook her head with a smile while rubbing her eyes. “No, Lodon knows a very good place where those snails are spawning like a plague. It took us only a few minutes to fill out ten bags. Byia asked us to keep the secret so that we can go there when another Quest appears for us to gain more money.”

Toraan made a big smile and called out a servant, “Then this deserves a drink to commemorate. How are your eyes? Byia blinded everyone, right? Tough little female, that one.”

Cruvir spoke in his harsh voice while blinking a few times. “Yeah, I wasn’t expecting such a strong flash of light. Before I knew it, Guyi was pulling me here, and Lodon was guiding Sveta. I don’t know how those two knew what Byia was about to do; maybe it’s because they have known each other for so long. It’s probably better if we go home because tomorrow is a School day, remember?”

Sveta shrugged while taking a sip of the juice the servant brought. “It’s still early; we can stay for a little while. This Quest was so quick to accomplish that it still puzzles me. I am going to buy a new School bag with the money I have. My bag was getting too old and had too many holes to keep things inside. Is there another Quest that we can take, Party Leader Toraan Roolyi?”

Toraan poked Sveta’s nose, only to get her claw bitten. “You learned that mocking tone with that brat… Hey, let go of my finger!”

Sveta made a big smile. “Mind your manners, Party Leader Toraan Roolyi! It’s rude to poke someone else’s nose!”

Toraan gulped her drink and slapped Sveta’s head with her tail. “Stop mocking me, will you? I got enough from that little brat! I will have a blast when Byia meets Baleroar and Ronnez. They will annoy her so much!”

While Toraan was laughing and talking with Sveta and Cruvir, Byia arrived in the alley between her and Guyi’s house and was smiling. “Not bad pay for such an easy Quest, right? Lucky for us, Lodon knew that place, or else we would have a lot of trouble finishing it. It was weird to find out that Sveta’s mother is not only a Party Leader, but she is also the Guild Master. I knew she used to be with my father in his Party some Tides ago. I wonder what made her become the Guild Master. So, we will see each other tomorrow at School, right? I must get going. I need to feed Rodhy.”

Lodon pointed to the tail she was carrying and asked, “Are you really going to give him that to eat? What will happen if he starts to like Water-Dragon’s meat?”

Byia shrugged while opening the gate to the little Farm behind her house. “Then it’s probably better if you don’t annoy him, or you might lose your tail or an arm. See you tomorrow, guys.”

Guyi waved at her while going to his backyard. “You can go home by yourself, right? Don’t forget, mouth shut about this.”

Lodon quickly nodded with an awkward smile. “Of course. And thanks for letting me join. This job will help my family a lot if we keep doing Quests and gaining so much money!”

“Okay, but you need to train how to use a long sword or any kind of weapon. You can’t always trust your fists or think that someone will save you. If Byia didn’t blind those guys, you could have to fight your way out, and you could get hurt because you were not using a weapon.”

Lodon scratched his head, looking a little ashamed. “I never learned how to fight with a sword. I don’t even have one.”

Guyi frowned and opened his bag. He took a long belt from there, full of throwing daggers. He gave it to Lodon and pointed at it. “I know you have good aim because you used to hit me or Byia with a rock you threw at us from far away. This might be the best weapon for you right now. Train with them, and in a few days, if you get really good, I will give you a very good crossbow I have with a quiver full of arrows.”

“Geez, thanks! But… I can’t pay you for this! These daggers and this belt look expensive!”

Guyi shrugged while leaving. “Not much. I made them myself. The crossbow as well, and I might need to teach you how to make more arrows, but train with this for now. See you tomorrow, Lodon. We will meet in front of Byia’s house really early to go to School together. By the way, you looked really cute in your house!”

Lodon heard Guyi laughing while opening the small gate to his backyard and tied the belt with the throwing daggers around his waist. He took one dagger and touched the tip to test the sharpness, and mumbled while swimming back home, “He made these things? They are so sharp… Damn, I was a fool; they could have finished me off anytime they wanted while we were growing up.”