The Insider System

Chapter 367: The Deal Pt.3

Lake didn\'t get very far from town before he summoned the treasure he had hidden in the forest. After the first appeared the worry he had been feeling while he had been here quickly disappeared when he saw the barrier and items inside still intact which meant no one had been able to find it in the hours it had been hidden.

He guessed they had all assumed because of the speed he had been moving that there was no way the chunks of building would have been hidden so close to town and missed it but there was also the possibility he had just done a good job in picking the spot. Either way now that he knew they were still fine he could worry about finding a good place to sell everything.

He knew it would probably be for the best if he did it before going back to the Holy Domain because the last he had heard the Thieves guild there had vacated the Domain because of the war but he didn\'t know if any towns between here and there would have a big enough guild office or enough gold to be able to handle the amount of stuff he had to sell.

Figuring using the magic compass was his best option, Lake set it to look for an arrow that was pointing at the closest Thieves Guild branch that could afford to buy his loot. Once he had his answer he was about to start running when he realized it was probably pointing at the city he had stolen it all from to begin with and redid the setting to exclude Keldon.

After he did that the arrow changed where it was pointing so he knew he had been right to fix this problem before he ran to a town he didn\'t want to go back to just yet. Setting out in the new direction Lake started to wonder where he would end up while hoping it didn\'t add too much time to how long it would take him to get back to the Temple.

...

Donny had already known the lights they had been seeing in the sky were above the Metal Domain but now that they were spending in the direction of them he started to wonder what it was they were going to find when they arrived. There was a real chance that by the time they finally got back the people they were trying to feed would either be gone or had already found another food source.

There was really nothing they could do about this he guessed but the thought the fortress could be gone or the entire situation could have changed when they arrived was a bit nerve racking. It was entirely possible it could be for the better though so he really didn\'t think he should use the time they had until they got back worrying.

"Would it be possible for you to make a small area for us to try and sleep in? Like a small walled area?" After he asked the guard this the side of the platform changed to look a bit like a house. "Go ahead and try. I don\'t see how someone could sleep while we\'re moving like this though."

The guard was talking about the ups and downs that were constantly taking place as they moved over mountains and hills but Donny felt some of them were probably tired enough to sleep, especially since it had been a long active night for most of them. It was up to them to decide if they wanted to try though because he wasn\'t going to tell anyone what to do.

Climbing into one of the bunk-like stones that were inside the small building Donny closed his eyes after he made sure he wouldn\'t fall if they turned or something. Like he expected it didn\'t take long for him to drift off to sleep but sadly he didn\'t get to stay like that for long because soon someone was shaking him awake.

"Come on get up, I\'m missing it to get you out of bed." Donny recognized Fendis\' voice and could tell by his level of excitement he really had to get up to see what it was he was making them miss. Rolling over onto his feet He quickly followed Fendis out of the small room while looking around to see what everyone was watching.

If he had taken even a second before walking out here to think about what it was he could have probably guessed what the situation was beforehand but that still wouldn\'t have readied him for what he was seeing. "How long has it been like that?"

A huge arm was sticking out of the sky in front of them and the hand was quickly making its way towards the ground. "Just a few seconds." After he heard this answer Donny started to look for clues to try and guess which god this arm belonged to. The clout the hole had formed in was the biggest clue being a dark gray making it look like a normal storm cloud.

"It has to be the God of Metal." Right when he reached this conclusion someone said what he had been about to out loud and it seemed everyone agreed because no one said anything else for a few minutes until Fendis finally broke the silence. "What\'s he doing coming to the mortal realm like that? Wouldn\'t it make more sense for him to descend fully at a normal size."

Donny understood why Fendis would be confused because most people hadn\'t read every ounce of information that they could find about gods when they were younger. "The gods have rules and one of them is that they aren\'t allowed to descend unless it\'s entirely necessary to save the world. They\'re allowed to retrieve things that don\'t belong down here with us like that though so he\'s probably trying to grab something that doesn\'t belong in the mortal world."

What that something was he couldn\'t tell them but just knowing this much was already pretty impressive. "So is this a good thing?" There was no way to know the answer to that question because if there was something in the Metal Domain that the God of Metal felt he needed to get himself there was a good chance it was dangerous.

The only real way this could be good news was if the Demon Worshipers were about to lose something. Before Donny was able to say any of what he was thinking the guard spoke up. "It shows the God of Metal hasn\'t been forced into a corner."

This was a good way to look at it if you wanted to see it as good news so Donny was happy that the guard shared his perspective about this with the rest of them. All of them had been wondering why there hadn\'t been any help from above this entire time and now that it was finally here their chances of winning had just gone up by a lot.

...

As Lake was running he felt something from the Insider and stopped to see if it had something to say. Getting the sense it was telling him to turn around, Lake remembered the sky from earlier and realized he hadn\'t looked once since beginning his journey to find a place to sell his loot.

He was currently in the middle of some trees so he had to move up into the sky a bit to get a good look. After he got into the sky he didn\'t even understand what he was looking at. It looked like there was something like a pillar coming from the sky. It didn\'t take long for him to guess it had to be something one of the gods was doing but he would have to get a lot closer to know for sure.

He didn\'t really have time for that but he did plan to take a look every hour or so from now on to see what happened. He was about to get back to running when the Insider made him stop again. Guessing it wanted him to keep watching, Lake stayed in place and kept his eye on the pillar until he saw it move.

Seeing how it had bent Lake was able to figure out he was actually looking at an arm and couldn\'t believe the size. He had known the gods were much bigger than them but to be able to see an arm from this far away meant they were absolutely massive.

...

After a while they all watched the arm slowly start to rise back into the sky and disappear back into the cloud which quickly closed. The cloud didn\'t disappear though and just kept swirling in the sky next to all the others. "Do you think it\'s over?"

Donny did for about a second and had been about to answer Fendis\' question but never got the chance because a new and obviously ominous cloud started to swirl right next to the gray one that belonged to the God of Metal. "That\'s the Demon Lord, right?" The rust colored cloud was well known to a lot of people so Donny wasn\'t surprised when someone who had probably never seen it was able to identify it right away.