“I will just wait outside,” Ursula said as we got to the front of one of the uncrushed shops.
“And you are just going to wait here for me?” I asked, a bit suspicious.
“I have submitted to you. This news has already reached most of the other Old Gods right now, so I have no choice but to stay with you. If I don’t, the others will just hunt me down and then use me as ritualistic offerings for the rest of my eternal life. So, yes, I will wait here for you,” Ursula explained, and I nodded.
“Now, that is an interesting tidbit of information. I want to ask you more about the others, which can be useful to me for getting rid of some of them,” I said, and Ursula nodded.
“I can, but not all of them are bad, but the ones that are, are much more powerful than the good ones, unfortunately. There are some that I don’t even know the true names of, and those are the scary ones,” Ursula explained, hugging herself.
Now we were getting somewhere. Capturing this crab Goddess was a good bit of luck, but I would have to assume that the one I was looking for would be unnamed.
“Good, keep watch out here, and if something comes, let me know. I will come out and try to take care of it,” I said, about to turn to the entrance of the blacksmith, which I was more than curious to find out how that worked.
“Just don’t spend too much time. I am sure that… no, I don’t think we have time. Can you feel that? It's far off, but it’s getting closer, faster!” Ursula said as she looked to the north.
I groaned and looked at the two shops. I suppose I could just stuff them in the ring for now, but that was kind of rude.
But so was leaving them to die.
“Sorry, Philly, you will have to get in there, and I will send you both into the ring. More bad stuff, much worse than Ursula, is coming, so we don’t have time. Shut the door, and hold on!” I called, and Philly slammed the hatch without reply.
“Libra, my Astral Goddess of Balance, open the Gateway to your domain!” I called out, punching out to the side.
I grabbed Ursula and threw her into the tear as fast as I could, activating my Earth Pact.
I needed to get everyone out of here. I lifted up the two huts and floated them into the tear, and I could see Libra with the girls on the other side that looked confused.
The tear snapped shut before Ursula, or any of them could say anything, and I turned towards the north. Whatever was coming, I figured it would be a God or a bunch of Gods.
This was not good.
If I had to face a bunch of Gods, I was going to be in a lot of trouble. I may have just bitten off more than I could chew at this point, so I activated my Sphinx Totem to slow things down.
Then I closed my eyes, stepping into my mind.
“You seem to have got yourself into a pickle,” Fireden said, and I nodded as I sat down at the table.
“You could say that again,” I sighed.
“Really? Do you think it is necessary? I mean, I think the point was made the first time,” Firden laughed, and I rolled my eyes.
“Okay, so what I know is very little. It could be many small ones or just one strong one. Big is subjective at this point because I can’t see it. Also, I don’t think that I can outright beat this. I am getting a bit of an itchy feeling about this,” I said, meaning I was actually worried about what was coming for me.
“Well, if you are worried about this, then I don’t think running is a good idea. If it sees you run now, it will most likely chase you. The last thing you want is to bring something home that you can’t kill,” Windorf explained, and I nodded.
“I agree with that, but what am I going to do? I could try to disappear with my Water Force Pact, but I don’t have any idea what a real Old God is like,” I said.
“Possibly give up without a fight, and play the weakling. You might be able to learn more about them. I think some of them like to keep pets to feed off of, so there is that option,” Grogvel explained, and I nodded.
“That isn’t a bad idea. I mean, I really don't want to be eaten or anything like that, but I don't have to show all my cards at once. Hopefully, this one doesn't just try to eat more, or worse, there are a bunch of them. If that happens, I might just have to fight,” I said, and my elementals nodded.
“If you need us, just call. We can always help you if you need but don’t actually call me. I am made out of fire after all,” Fireden laughed, and I shook my head and closed my eyes.
I opened them again to water and the encroaching feeling of something terrible coming. I didn’t like this feeling.
As it got closer, I became more sure that it was just one thing and not a group of them. That was the better of the two options, but it was coming in fast.
Then I got eyes on the creature that was wiping back and forth through the water. Long tendrils were flowing behind the thing like hair.
I could see the way that it was moving, and I could feel its presence in the water, unlike anything I had encountered. I had fought things like this in my other life, but I couldn’t compare them.
This God was moving at a speed that I could only dream of.
I started to swim as fast as I could, but I wasn’t fast enough.
I saw a blur of darkness and then felt something hit me in the back, sending me flying into the ruins of the shop Ursula had crushed. I hit the wall and felt the wind get knocked out of me, and I slid down the wall as I gasped for breath.
I looked up to see a figure floating in front of me, looming over me.
A pair of eyes that were glowing red stared at me, and a mouth that was filled with teeth. The tendrils were actually eels, and they were circling around me.
This was a real Old God, and it was looking at me with hunger in its eyes. “You, mortal, are mine!”
“Wait! Maybe don’t eat me?” I asked, putting up my hands at the black alien-looking God who loomed over me.
“Eat? No… not yet. You are pretty! I will drink you slowly and put you with my other pretties!” The God cackled.
“Not bad! As long as you are going to take your time with me, lead the way!” I offered as I picked myself up off the broken shop floor.
“What? You want to come with me?” The God asked curiously.
“No, but I think you might make me a deal that I can’t refuse. Like, you die, or come with me, right?” I asked, and the creature nodded.
“This is true. You are smart then, that is interesting. Most of the pretties I find don’t want to come quietly, and I end up killing them. That would make a terrible mess, and I have no pretty. What is your name, snake fish?” The Old God asked.
“Kazz, and I am part Gorgon and Mermaid, thank you very much,” I said, and the creature frowned at me.
“You have a flippant tongue, I advise you to still it, or I will have one of my children eat it out of your mouth. My name is Eelyasha, Queen of Eels. Now take my hand and close your eyes. We are going home.”
I assumed that she would drag me along, so I took her hand, but I didn’t fully close my eyes. Her hand was cool to the touch and a bit slimy, with only three fingers, but I ignored that when I saw a purple light.
Then there was a flash, and we moved over five hundred miles south of where we had just been, according to the map. Now that was some powerful magic, but this also put me a very long way from my group, but that might be for the best for now.
“Now, I have a cage for you, and you can visit with all the other pretties! I am actually quite nice after you get to know me,” Eelyasha said.
Before I could open my eyes, I was tossed roughly into something, and a door closed.
I opened my eyes and found myself in a coral cage, but I wasn’t the only one.
“Look what the Old God just dragged in. More food,” Someone called, and I flopped back into the sand, making my snakes hiss.
What had I gotten myself into this time?
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