Magus: A Supernatural LitRPG Saga (Apocosmos Book 2) Dimitrios Gkirgkiris (good english books to read .txt) 📖

"Your friend is safe," she replied calmly, "and if you give me the book, I'm sure Abrathion will let him go."

"Ye expect us to believe ye, deceiving scum?"

"You don't really have any other choice, do you?"

"I've got a choice," Rory said and tossed his hammer from one hand to the other. "Why don't we kill ye now, finish this quest, and then kill that Abrathion bastard as well?"

"And where exactly will you find him?" the woman said.

Rory ceased fidgeting with his weapon.

"I suppose you know where Leo is being held?" Louie asked.

"I had to study him in order to take his shape and learn his manners, so yes. I know where he's being held," she responded. "But I can't take you there if I'm dead."

I didn't say a word and neither did Louie or Rory as we pondered over our situation. We could never be sure if she was telling the whole truth, but what she was saying was right. We could take the risk of trying to find Leo ourselves but it might take us some time. And even if we managed to find him eventually, time was crucial.

We needed her alive. I was never going to trust her, but trust wasn't the only way to glean information from a person.

"We go on with the quest and figure this shit out once we're done," I finally said.

Rory was surprised at first but eventually nodded in agreement.

I continued. "You will stick close to us and make sure nothing you do might be perceived as threatening."

"Are you going to leave me without equipment?" she protested. "What if we stumble upon another of those giant lizards?"

"Consider yourself lucky you're even alive," Louie said and moved closer to her, his size in direct contrast with how menacing he sounded. "And if anything happens to Leo, you're going to wish you were dead."

I grimaced at Louie's last statement. Not because of its weight. I felt the exact same way and, even if rage didn't overtake me, I'd still kill her. It was because it made clear how much things had changed, even if I kept telling myself that my little Louie would remain pure.

How stupid of me.

"Let's go, boy," Rory said somberly, probably having similar thoughts to mine.

He tapped Louie's hind and only then did he wave his tail softly and break eye contact with the woman who was looking at him without saying anything. Louie's tongue then lolled out and he looked up at Rory who was smiling at him. And just like that, he was back to the Louie I knew. Which made me wonder how much more this world had changed him without me knowing about it.

Having sorted our temporary truce, we moved toward the portal that had been hiding behind the sphinx.

"I'll go in first," Rory said. "Ye double--"

"My name is Vi--"

"The fuck I care what yer fucking name is, gal," he interrupted her. "Ye're a doubleshit, and ye will cross five seconds after me."

"I'll go after her," Louie said and momentarily bared his small corgi fangs.

"That's settled then," I said and nodded at Rory.

The dwarf gave one last hard look at the woman before Louie cast his basic buffs on him. Rory jumped through the portal and I started counting. I thought I'd have to push her forward with my blade to make her follow him but before I reached five, she sighed and jumped forward. Louie immediately cast his buffs on himself and then on me before going through while I followed a couple of seconds after him.

When I arrived on the other side, I looked around me but couldn't see much more than a silvery moon in the sky. Even Louie's blue glow from the Faery Friend buff had disappeared. I was sure we would be at a severe disadvantage in the realm of perpetual night, but there was nothing we could do except make sure we'd be more prepared if something similar happened again. As soon as I was sure everyone had crossed through the portal safely, I closed my eyes to let them acclimate to the darkness and focused on what I could hear.

This was nothing like I had imagined a night in nature would be. Nights in quiet neighborhoods of New York were actually quiet, save for the occasional siren, whereas this place was bursting with life.

There were insects flying around, birds singing their nocturnal anthems, and in the distance, more savage sounds of predators. I guessed it made sense that if the night was eternal here, there would always be critters and wildlife roaming around.

A soft breeze brushed my hair, bringing a sweet aroma of flowers I had never smelled before. I opened my eyes to see Rory waving his hand in front of my face.

"Are ye sleeping, lad?" Rory whispered.

"Just taking in my surroundings," I replied and looked around, now able to make out the trees and bushes we were standing among.

"We should start moving," Louie said, his ears moving from one side to the other rapidly. "I can hear lots of things that don't sound very welcoming."

"Let's go then," I said and moved forward. "Maybe we can find a path where the trees aren't very thick, so there's more moonlight illuminating our way."

"That means we'll be visible to every living thing here too though," Louie noted as he jumped over a very low shrub.

"I can see in the dark," the woman said, her own monotone voice having returned. "I can lead if you know where to go."

"Ye think we're gonna--" Rory said, a bit louder now,

I hit his shoulder with the side of my hand.

"Ye think we'll just trust ye?"

"What's your alternative? Walk around blindly, waiting for a predator who can see as well as I do to attack you? Wait for the sun to come up?" She smiled sarcastically.

"She's right, damn it," I said after a few seconds of intense staring between the two of them. "We might as well start shouting we're a free meal if we