Chapter 54

Much to Diya’s surprise, the Hyene continued to struggle despite the suffocation. It clawed at the tentacle, trying to scrape it off as the minutes passed. Its grunts and groans were loud enough to draw whines from the other hyenes, but none of them came to its rescue. When Diya blocked out the struggling warrior’s sounds and listened, he couldn’t hear them at all. It wasn’t just the howls and cackling that had disappeared but their soft jabbering and footsteps too.

“Did they abandon their leader already?” Diya asked, retrieving his axe. His heart still pounded from the fight. The exchange had been brief, but the hyenas had proven to be more skilled combatants than any other tower creature. Diya wondered whether the hyenes’ history matched that of the Mothmin. They, too, appeared intelligent. While the creatures didn’t appear to use cards, they, too, wielded magic.

Perhaps they’re closer to the troglodytes and argonians than the Mothmin.

“Male hyenas serve the females, but they’re abused and beaten enough to detest them,” Gwyneth said. “I bet it’s the same here. They likely saw her losing and fled. Perhaps sucking up to the next matriarch is in their best interests.”

“It’s not that,” Victoria said after scrambling up the tree. Her face hardened as she surveyed their surroundings. When she looked down at the pair, rage burned in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Diya. This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“What are you talking about—”

“Hey there, sister!” Edgar’s voice called from not far away. The sounds of hooves and grunting followed it. “I didn’t think you’d take care of the warrior for us too.” Diya’s heart sank as the lordling emerged from the tall grass, riding one of the deer they had spotted earlier. “Thank you so much. All of you!”

“What are you doing here, Edgar?” Victoria asked, stepping up to her brother. Her left hand tightened around the bow until her knuckles turned white. “I told you that I needed some time away from you.”

“You did?” Edgar grinned, hopping off his mount. The red petals that formed his coat fluttered for a moment before settling to appear as a single piece of seamless fabric. “Without you, I never would’ve known that Diya-dear is harbouring the De Lawney fugitive.”

Lawrence’s head showed over the tall grass just outside the clearing. Multiple figures followed him. Gwyneth took a step backwards, trying to make herself smaller behind Diya. It didn’t do much good, though. All sets of eyes washed over the trio.

“Don’t believe him, Diya—”

“To be fair, I didn’t need Victoria to figure it out,” Edgar continued, cutting Victoria off. “When my new friends told me about one of their own stealing from them and murdering their party, I was heartbroken. Then they told me about the pitfall trap nearby and the axe wounds, and I put two and two together. Who likes to go out of their way and use traps to make themselves look valuable? Diya does!” Edgar tried to walk past Victoria and get closer to Diya, but she blocked his way. “Who likes to be sneaky and snatch what’s not theirs? Diya does!”

“Believe me, Diya, I didn’t tell him I’d be with you,” Victoria said, looking back at him with pleading eyes. “I didn’t tell him about Gwyneth either.”

“Honestly, I don’t know what to believe anymore, Victoria.” Diya sighed, trying his best to appear calm and collected. Deep breathing helped slow the thumping in his chest and on the sides of his head. He worried Gwyneth would make a sudden move, encouraging the opposing posse to charge. So, he moved closer to her, hoping to provide some support.“I’ve never been one to trust anything Edgar says, but this feels plausible.”

Edgar tried to push past Victoria, but she raised her vine-covered arm, stopping him. “I might be a coward, Diya, but I’d never do anything to hurt you intentionally.” Lawrence stayed back, but the De Lawneys got off their mounts, entering the patch of hacked grass. “Don’t do this, Edgar,” Victoria begged. “Diya is no longer in your life. How does it benefit you in any way?”

“It doesn’t give me much beyond satisfaction, sister,” Edgar replied. “It’s out of my hands now, though. Diya and his new friend have gravely damaged our friends’ business prospects. If they didn’t follow me out here, perhaps we could’ve done something to stop them. It’s up to them what happens now. Lawrence and I won’t interfere, of course.”

The look on the lordling’s face spent shivers up and down Diya’s spine. Edgar had always been a coward and weakling but had always tried his hand at plotting and manipulation. None of his plans had worked out before, but things were finally in Edgar’s favour. Diya couldn’t help but wonder what game the lordling was playing.

Why is he this confident? Is it his soul?

“You have the power to make them step down, Edgar,” Victoria said, lowering her voice. “Please, don’t—

Edgar looked over his sister’s shoulder at Diya. “Victoria isn’t the best liar, is she?” He asked, trying to get around Victoria again, but she still refused to let him pass. However, nothing blocked the De Lawney men. They advanced towards Gwyneth. She brightened her soul’s light until little sparks arced between the metal bits, adding a soft hum to the air. Edgar and the De Lawneys didn’t know that she had burned through most, if not all, of her attack spells. Intimidation was the only deterrent they had at the moment.

Diya clenched his gauntleted fist and tightened his grip on the axe. He didn’t have much hope for victory. The mounts suggested that escape wasn’t an option either.

Victoria retreated from her brother to where Diya and Gwyneth stood. Edgar backpedalled into the tall grass, but the De Lawney Climbers continued their approach. “You can’t believe anything Edgar says, Diya,” Victoria said. “He’s changed since he got his soul. Things have gotten worse since he upgraded it too.”

“Unless Edgar can read minds and control them, trusting you further wouldn’t be in my best interests,” Diya said. “I just don’t know what to think. He’s clearly trying to antagonise us, but at the same time, Edgar is here. Following us all this way unnoticed can’t be an easy task.”

“It is for him!” Victoria grew an arrow out of her right arm and nocked it. “Edgar won’t give us the details of what his soul can do, but it’s just not right. Father changes more every time we go home, and people around Edgar see things. Eventually, they stop behaving like themselves and follow him mindlessly. I bet it’s the soul!”

“Why doesn’t it work on you, Victoria?” Gwyneth asked. The venom in her voice took Diya by surprise. “Or won’t you entertain the idea of him playing these mind games on you too? I’m sorry, Diya. Pushing you to work with her was a mistake.”

“My soul makes me resistant to most toxins and venoms.” Victoria’s voice wavered as she spoke. Diya struggled to feel any sympathy for her, though. The sound would’ve pulled at his heartstrings earlier, but now he felt numb and betrayed. He didn’t want to believe that Victoria had turned pm them, but her story sounded too farfetched. At the same time, stranger things were known to occur in Gaia’s Ark. Diya still struggled to believe a sixth-tier climber like Lord Boleyn could fall victim to a barely-upgraded soul. “Don’t trust anything you see. His soul messes with the mind.”

The De Lawney climbers attacked.

Two of them stayed at range while the other pair dashed in, weapons raised above their head. One of them flashed forward, all of a sudden, moving in the blink of an eye. Diya didn’t have the time to react. Only Victoria moved, and that, too, was just a step to put herself between them. The mace-wielder froze and zipped backwards. Diya caught a glimpse of golden light coming off the man’s boots.

The second attacker pointed his palm at Diya and Gwyneth. Little thorns shot from within his sleeve. They flew at the pair like a swarm of angry bees. Gwyneth fell into a crouch, and Diya hopped in front of her. “Stiffen,” he whispered, solidifying the coat. It stopped the thorns, but the climber continued his charge, preparing to skewer Diya on his spear. Victoria acted as the human shield again. The Climber froze mid-thrust and jumped back just as Diya relaxed the coat, regaining his mobility.

“See what I mean, Diya,” Victoria hissed. “Their actions aren’t natural. Have you seen people freeze mid-attack the way they are? It’s Edgar’s doing.”

“I don’t like your insinuations, sister,” the lordling called. Diya swung his head around but failed to spot him. Edgar sounded much too close to be hiding within the grass.

Victoria kneeled and pressed her right palm to the ground. Vines broke off from her forearm and wriggled towards the two attackers like snakes. Neither Climber made any effort at dodging. They came at Diya once again, but their charge was cut short when the green serpents got tangled in their legs. More of Victoria’s summoned vines climbed onto their bodies, binding their knees and wrists. The pair struggled against the spell or summon—Diya couldn’t tell which they were, but the soft snapping suggested that the bindings wouldn’t hold for long.

When the remaining three DeLawneys attacked, Gwyneth pulled her bladed staff out of the Hyene’s belly. The humanoid canine thrashed again desperately as blood and organs followed the spearhead. Then she went still. The ground underneath their feet trembled before a silvery light shone from within the tall grass behind them.

“It’s a door!” Gwyneth exclaimed, snapping Diya out of his shell-shocked stupor. He looked at the light, and hope returned to him once again.

“Don’t let them get away!” Edgar’s voice exclaimed, urging the other three Climber to speed up. “Forget about not hurting my sister. Just don’t mark her face or maim her.”