Nend Ardhon Chronicles - Complete

Chapter 22.1 – Yellow Dotted Snails Quest – part 1.1

Lodon pointed to an intersection right on his back and said, “Left tunnel, straight ahead for a while, and then down on the next intersection. It’s probably better if Byia’s animal stays behind to guard the only exit of the big hole where the snails are so that they don’t escape. They are snails, but yellow-dotted snails are extremely fast and difficult to catch. In the beginning, I used to take a couple of hours to catch only a handful, and even that was because there were so many, but after a few tries, I managed to make a plan, and now I only need five minutes to fill a bag.”

He swam ahead, and upon opening a hatch at the end of one narrow tunnel where Sveta was almost stuck again, they all entered the large, dark cave. Byia pointed to the exit and ordered Rodhy to guard it and catch any snails that tried to escape.

When she turned to the others, Lodon whispered, “We could use some light, but as soon as it gets brighter, the snails will try to find dark holes or the exit because they hate light.”

Byia made her hands glow while she was gathering Magic and Lodon whispered, “Stop that; you didn’t hear what I just said? Let’s make a line within arm’s reach of each other and swim forward with the bags open, and they will go right in. When one bag is full, we open the next one and fill it as well. There are so many that we won’t take long to finish, I am sure.”

Byia dispersed her Magic and went to Lodon’s left side, with Guyi going to the right. Cruvir stood at Byia’s side to make sure that Sveta would not use the darkness to go to her throat again, and Sveta was gently pushed to the far-right side after Guyi.

Lodon whispered to both sides, and they began swimming slowly with the bags open. Byia felt the bag getting bigger, and they were only two metres ahead of where they started. She put her hand on the opening and felt a bunch of hard shells near it. She quickly tied the bag and opened the second one.

The bag got full in instants, and she began to feel shells hitting her body rhythmically, as if they were moving all over but aiming at her on purpose, judging by the currents all around that she was feeling.

After a few instants, Lodon whispered again, and they backed away, joining Rodhy near the entrance.

When they closed the hatch, Lodon offered Rodhy a bunch of snails he had on his left paw, a little nervously. Byia’s Rodhocetus sniffed them and ate one. He frowned while munching it, and he then waved his tail and made a big smile. Lodon gave him the remaining snails in his hand and made an awkward smile. “Yeah, I am your friend, see? Don’t eat me, okay? So, everyone had time to fill all the bags, or do we need to go inside again?”

Byia opened a little one of her bags and quickly closed it. “This one is completely full, and judging by the size of the other bags, we made a very good catch! It was just me who felt some of them trying to attack? How many were in there, after all? It was completely dark, but we filled the bags so quickly!”

Sveta was looking at her round bags and made a big smile. “If we had more bags, we could fill them up very quickly! Shall we go to the Guild and get more?”

Byia vigorously shook her head and pointed at the closed hatch. “Of course not! If we do that, we might ruin an excellent place for us to get more snails when another Quest is asking for them! I just don’t know how these guys entered that cave if this hatch is always closed!”

Lodon answered while pushing Rodhy away from his bags, “There are a few very small pipes those guys use to get in and out to search for garbage to eat, but that cave is so large and dark that they all gather in there to spawn. Byia, tell your animal that he can’t eat this, or we won’t have any snails to deliver!”

Byia pulled Rodhy to her and shook one finger claw in front of him. “No, this is not for you to eat. This is to be delivered to the Guild. Lodon already gave you a snack; if you are hungry, wait until we get home, and I will fill your bowl with some very tasty food, okay? Now, be a good boy and follow us. We must get out of here.”

She swam ahead, with Rodhy looking at the hatch one last time, thinking about the tasty snails. He quickly followed the others, and Lodon guided the group to the exit.

He was the first to touch the hatch, and he slowly opened it and put his head out, looking at both sides before opening it completely. He waited near the edge and helped pull Sveta out. Byia pushed her butt with a few bumps, and when they all exited, Lodon activated the pipe alarms again before closing the hatch.

He made a big smile and said, “Now this went rather well. Better if we all keep a secret about this place, or I will never get more snails for my mother when she wants to make a dish with them.”

They all agreed that it was in their own interest to keep that in secrecy and followed Lodon again through his shortcut to the Guild, along the narrow alleys and streets that he seemed to know so well.

When they were in the last alley with the Guild straight ahead, as soon as they exited it, a group of four Explorers surrounded them. One of them stood in front of Byia with a weird smile on his face. “Well, well, what do you have in there, young ones? So many bags completely full that I wonder if it’s something valuable instead of books from School. Better if you give them to us, considering that it will be very suspicious for mere Apprentices to arrive at the Guild so soon with all those valuable snails in…”

While the greedy Explorer was making his monologue, Byia sent a mental message to Rodhy, and he was slowly approaching her. She then looked at Guyi, who was at the back, and he slowly nodded, elbowing Lodon to be ready. It wasn’t actually necessary, because Lodon was already clenching his fists and tensing his muscles, ready to attack the nearest Explorer.

Byia quickly gathered her Magic on her paws and raised both arms while shouting, “You are really stupid… ‘sèid solar flare’… Everyone, to the Guild, now!”

A huge light explosion came from Byia’s hands, blinding the Explorers with a strong ball of light that spread all around them. Guyi had his eyes closed and pulled Cruvir, who was completely blind like the Explorers while Lodon was pulling Sveta. Lodon knew what Byia was going to do because she did that on two previous occasions when his friends surrounded her.

Rodhy covered his eyes with both paws as soon as he heard Byia’s mental message, and he swam straight ahead, pointing his head at the Explorer’s belly, making him curl himself in pain.

Byia swam right after him and took the Explorer’s sword by cutting the sheath strap. She quickly took one of her swords and, with two powerful slashes, cut the tip of the Explorer’s tail, taking it with her. Rodhy stopped near the Guild’s door and waited for everyone to enter before going in, after making one last growl to the Explorers on the other side of the street.

Inside, Toraan Roolyi was with Indeth Ignyter and the Guild Master, seated at a table, talking. The conversation came to a halt when Byia threw the tip of the Explorer’s tail, which was almost two meters long, to the table with a very angry look, while the others carried the bags to the reception desk.

Toraan poked the tip and asked with a puzzled look, “What is this thing? Is this…”

“Yeah, four of the outstanding examples of Explorers that work here followed us, waited outside for our return, and tried to rob us. This really tells a lot about the quality of this Guild, and I think I now understand why my father never stayed here except for the minimum necessary, and he was always travelling.”

Toraan looked at Byia and spoke with such coldness in her eyes that Byia blinked in surprise. “Where are those bastards? Still outside?”

“Right on the other side of the street, in front of the alley, blinded. They will take one or two minutes to see again. They could be blind forever for what I care. If they…”

Before she could finish, Toraan and Indeth rushed to the exit with a sword in their hands. The Guild Master stayed at the table, looking at the tip of the tail, and asked, “Did they touch any of you? They drew their weapons, or they only threatened you?”

Byia answered in a mocking tone, “Geez, let me think; it all became slightly blurred when I saw those four surrounding us and squeezing the hilts of their swords!”

The Guild Master sighed and said, “That’s why I said for you to join a Party so that things like this…”

Byia pointed at the tip of the tail and asked, with her eyes all red, “Are you really going to say this was my fault? Next, you are going to say that my father disappeared because he wanted to? What sort of Guild Master are you, anyway? You have bandits working here as Explorers, you let amazing Explorers disappear, and you throw the guilt for everything wrong in here to the Apprentices?”

“Hey, I don’t like your tone, young lady! I…”

The Guild Master immediately stopped talking when he felt Byia’s twin blades on each side of his neck and saw her looking at him with her eyes glowing red. “Go ahead, give me an excuse to rid the World of your filthy presence, you moron! My father never liked you anyway, and now I see why. What is needed around here for the Guild Master to change? We go for a vote, or do you need to die? Because I don’t have problems with either way!”

The noise and the sudden change in the current made the Guild Master avert his eyes to the door, but he couldn’t move his neck. Then, Byia heard Toraan’s voice near her: “Let him go, Byia; it was not his fault. These guys are not our members; they are from another City.”

Byia squeezed a little the twin swords against the Guild Master’s neck while her eyes were slowly changing color. “I will let you walk away this time but be careful when you talk to me. I am not one of those kids who tremble just as soon as you frown. Next time you scold me, you better have a good reason for that, or it will be the last time you talk.”

She backed away and placed her swords in the sheath again. She threw the sheath with the sword of the Explorer from whom she cut the tail to the table and looked back.

Toraan was holding one Explorer by his neck with each hand, and Indeth was dragging the other two by their tails, completely knocked out. Toraan squeezed both hands, and the Explorers opened their eyes wide, unable to breathe or speak. She spoke in an icy voice to the Explorers, full of anger in her eyes. “How dare you try to rob my Apprentices? What did you think — that you could come here and look for an opportunity to gain easy money?”