Read Novel Full Chapter 419: Naia Au Folkcat
Chapter 419: Chapter 419: Naia Au Folkcat
Chapter 419 – Naia Au Folkcat
"Are you actually okay?" Emrys asked the woman sprawling on the ground, struggling to breathe, her whole body marked by wounds.
Around them were dozens of disgusting black and purple worms, the size of a horse, still twitching as lightning arrows lodged into them made them look like some mockery of a porcupine.
The woman didn’t answer Emrys immediately, looking at him with wide, stunning yellow eyes, but slitted like a beast, like a cat.
That was when Emrys noticed that the woman might not be human. But that realization only made him more curious, wondering what such a weak woman could do in such a dangerous place as the Nest of Worms.
"You see, woman, this is quite the dangerous place." He said, feeling the worms approaching after the death of their own, "so I advise you to speak before it’s too late."
The woman’s ears twitched and she looked around, face suddenly fearful. Then she looked at Emrys, and the Chosen One didn’t know why or how, but he could feel the fear and apprehension of this woman towards him without even a word.
But eventually, as if coming to a choice, she parted her white, trembling lips:
"Iao la kaneu!"
Emrys’s eyes widened, hearing the strange words so foreign it hurt his ears. But then his eyes gleamed, a memory flashing through his mind, "oh my." He whispered, "you don’t speak Bambara. And your language is eerily similar to the one I have heard in that cursed suitcase."
Emrys Stormblessed smiled widely, his eyes burning with lightning.
"Interesting." He said, grabbing her, "you are coming with me."
His body blurred, disappearing.
...
Emrys sat inside a small cave, the same one he had been using in the past days, since he had come here to hunt for his prey.
A prey he still couldn’t find, and his new goddess refused to help him in any way possible.
’It’s part of the Hunt.’ Artemis had said, ’Hunt is beyond only killing your target, it’s knowing how to track them. You must use your head, Emrys, and know where to go. Your mind. Hear me? Use your mind.’
Emrys didn’t mind using his mind, but all of this was novel to him, and he would have loved some help. He was seriously starting to get bored. But fortunately, he found something interesting.
At that thought, he looked at the strange woman sitting in front of him, and the first thing that came to his mind was how beautiful she was.
’Even more beautiful than any woman I have seen...except my aunt.’
That made the waste of time to talk to her even more worth it.
The strange woman had yellow slitted eyes, glowing and shaped like those of a cat. Her skin was bronze, yet when Emrys had touched her earlier, it was so soft he didn’t want to let go of her.
Her hair was white, but with yellow and red strands that fell down behind her back like a small cape.
She was still looking at him with nervousness, but Emrys was ready to break the ice and let this woman know how wonderful he was.
But first,
"You don’t speak Bambara, do you?" Emrys asked, and the woman only looked at him strangely.
"Well, alright." He lifted his head, his blue eyes shifting to gold before black then finally green, "I am not talking about you, Golden Beggar, so don’t bother yourself. Neither am I talking about you, Poseidon. My dear goddess, Artemis, please help me here. Can you make me have a normal conversation with this beautiful woman?"
[Emrys...] Golden Beggar growled, and the sky let out a crackle of thunder. [You have become indolent since that day. Who do you think you are talking to?]
"A god?"
[So—!]
"But there are many gods." Emrys cut him off, smiling, "so many that I fail to take you seriously. Oh, sorry, not you my goddess."
[I did tell you to not be fearful and be more yourself and use your mind.] Artemis said, [But you are needlessly provoking a god. A god like many others, yes, but a god nonetheless.]
"I am doing this because I know he won’t do anything to me."
[You don’t know. Anything could happen. For the last time, Emrys, don’t assume you know things based on your own limited understanding of the being you are dealing with. Always assume the worst! Always assume the thing that seems even impossible! Hear me?]
Emrys’s lips twitched. Since Artemis had chosen to bless him, he was getting lectured day and night.
He was tired of it. But Artemis was beautiful and her voice sweet. He could accept such ranting from a beautiful woman.
[I can read your thoughts.] Artemis said, tired of her Blessed.
"Oh." He said, shrugging, then focused back on the woman in front of him who was looking at him as if he was crazy. "Help me here. And what is the language this woman is speaking?"
[The language of monsters, Jola.]
"Jola? First time hearing that."
[Because only monsters know it.] she said as if it was the most obvious fact.
"She doesn’t look like a monster to me, though."
[Because she is beautiful?]
"Bingo."
Artemis ignored him, sighed and went straight to the point, [I can help you speak the language for a day, but then you must learn it. It will be very important for you in the near future. Especially once you get out of this small Kingdom. Your potential is heavily limited here. You have places to be.]
Emrys nodded, "places like what?"
[Places better than here. But before that, you have things to settle here.]
"I know." He said, then "Well, do it?"
Artemis used her GeumGeum, and swiftly allowed Emrys the ability to speak Jola. Without even knowing how, the Chosen felt that he could speak and understand the language with terrifying ease.
The feeling was magical, but he didn’t linger on it. He had a beautiful monster to talk to.
"Do you understand me now?" He said in Jola, and the woman’s eyes widened.
"H-How?" She said in the same language, her voice hoarse but sweet and innocent, "you couldn’t speak it just now?"
"I have my own way." He said, sitting cross legged, "Now, I have only a full day to communicate with you, so let’s be fast. What is your name, and what is a beautiful woman like you doing here? You could have died if not for me."
"I...I was..." the woman hesitated, eyes blinking nervously, looking around, clearly not trusting him.
But Emrys didn’t have the patience nor the time to wait indefinitely.
"If I wanted to do something to you, woman, I would have done it long ago." He said, and the air inside the cave suddenly became heavy, as if an ocean of water was stacked just above.
The woman began to struggle to breathe, face sweating.
"So speak, already, beautiful. I don’t touch a woman without her consent and I do not kill unless I have been wronged. So fear not." He smiled innocently, "I am the most reasonable and gentle person you could have met in this Nest of Worms. In the world, even."
It seemed his demonstration of power and words convinced the woman enough.
"I was named Naia," she said, "I am part of the tribe of Folkcat situated outside the Nest, on the east side."
"That’s quite far, isn’t it. Well, nice to meet you, Naia. I am Emrys Stormblessed." He said, his green eyes returning to blue, "I am from the Badur Kingdom."
Naia shivered instinctively at the mention of the Kingdom. Emrys noticed and asked immediately why.
"This is my first time seeing a man from Death’s Gate." Naia said slowly, fidgeting.
"Death’s Gate?" Emrys muttered, then tilted his head, "You call the Kingdom Death’s Gate? Why? Because the main religion is the one of Vorn, Lord of Death?"
Naia immediately shook her head wildly, deeply, profoundly afraid of the name, "Please, no! Don’t say the name of Death in my presence! I might be cursed to end just like them after my death!"
"Them?" Emrys was getting more confused. "Who?"
"The ones who never die!"
Emrys cocked his head again, "the ones who never die?"
"We don’t talk about them! But the tribes knew them! And they knew they came from Death!"
The Chosen One was getting more and more confused, and he didn’t like it one bit. But he deduced that this was only these primitive tribes’ way to address the undead.
In the end, he just pushed all that aside and asked the one question that mattered the most to him,
"What are you doing here? In the Nest of Worms?"
"Hm?" Naia visibly calmed down, before saying, "I...came here to pray to the god. To give myself as a sacrifice for the god. But...but I was lost and got attacked."
"Sacrifice? God?" Emrys was immediately intrigued, "why would you sacrifice yourself for a god? And what kind of god is in this Nest?"
There, Naia didn’t say anything for a couple of seconds. She just lowered her head, her hair falling down over her face. Then Emrys heard her voice, low and febrile, "That’s my duty. For the god to protect us, we must give a sacrifice every three months. My mother and sister have been chosen. It’s just my turn. It’s the natural way."
Emrys didn’t know what the natural way was, but he didn’t actually care. What he did care about was that this woman was far too beautiful to be allowed to die just like that.
He had just met her, to add.
And if a god needed a sacrifice, that thing was no true god.
"Do you want to sacrifice yourself?"
"That’s my duty."
"That means you don’t want it." He said, "what would happen if you don’t sacrifice yourself and run away?"
That question made her panic, and she shook her head wildly, "the god will kill us! Will kill us all! Just like he had killed all the Brough Tribe!"
Emrys was even more sure that the god she was speaking of was no true god. Then why were they calling it a god?
He wanted to know.
He looked at her deeply, hesitating a bit, then ignoring his gods’ words, Emrys said, "I will kidnap you." Artemis cursed inside her Gate. Emrys followed, "I will kidnap you, and make you show me the way towards that god you speak of. I will kill that god for you, and you will accept to follow me then."
Naia’s eyes widened, "W-What? Kill...god? That’s not possible!"
"It’s possible." He said without a waver in his tone, "I am Emrys Stormblessed. There is nothing impossible with me."
He stood up slowly, his body crackling with faint lightning, looking down on her, "Now do you accept the deal, Naia? I like you, I admit. You are beautiful and I don’t mind keeping you beside me. But I don’t force women into being with me. So give me your decision, you accept my proposal or not? If you do not accept, I will give you some provisions to last you a week and let you continue your way alone. I have things to do, you see? I have a pitiful monster to Hunt and give the balls to my goddess."
Naia looked intensely at Emrys, and knew this was an important moment for her. But everything had happened so fast that she was lost.
However, Emrys was not willing to wait for her to get her bearings.
Either she accepted to be free and follow this man who came from Death’s Gate, or allowed herself to be killed and eaten by a god just because her tribe wanted safety.
’And kill the god...if he could kill it...then maybe...maybe I can be safe? Maybe I can live for myself without fearing to be eaten and sacrificed?’
Then if this man failed? Then she would die either way.
She had nothing to lose, if she thought about it. Nothing except the hope that maybe she could live beyond today.
And that was something less painful to lose than her mother and sister.
So she nodded her head, nervous and afraid, looking at the beautiful but strange man in front of her, who clearly wanted her only for her beauty.
But she didn’t mind.
Beauty was all she had, "I...accept."
Emrys Stormblessed smiled widely, "You are so wise, Naia. I will protect you, and this time..."
He lost all his smile, his face sharpening like a sword.
"...I won’t allow any of these bastards to steal you from me."
"Steal...?" Naia muttered, sensing that she didn’t know what kind of mess she had accepted to be part of only for the sake of surviving death.
What if the life with this man was worse than being sacrificed?
But it was too late. Her choice was made.
Emrys clicked his finger, and a golden cushion made of storm appeared beneath Naia, picking her up, soft and comfortable.
"I hope you won’t disappoint me." Emrys said, "I will try to not make the same mistakes as I have done with Thesia and Love. I will let you say what you want and I will listen. Alright?"
Naia was very much confused. Why was this man, she thought, acting like they were married?
She looked at him, then slowly...
"Are...we married?" She asked.
Emrys paused, taken slightly aback, then tilted his head, "Well, do you want to? I can do it."
[...]
Artemis was regretting her whole existence at that point.
—End of Chapter 419—