34 Chapter 34 - Loo (1/2)
”This might sound stupid to the rest of you, but how do we operate these things?” I asked looking at the ten orbs in front of me.
”As the owner you just have to touch them and think about seeing inside. The orb will comply and turn the barrier transparent. Do Not Think About Letting Them Out!” Elisia told me. ”Not until we are sure it is safe to do so.”
I nodded then reached for the biggest one. It had the most mystery about it and I wanted to know just how much trouble Seth might have gotten us into.
Touching the orb I thought about seeing inside. To our surprise there wasn't anyone inside, instead all we could see was a great deal of water.
”I could have sworn there was someone in there.” Elisia commented looking into the orb.
Several others in the room nodded their agreement.
”Maybe there is.” Selia said seeming to squint at the orb, it was hard for me to understand the facial changes on a snake.
”Where?” Lilian asked curiously.
”Inside the water.” I stated, ”Could it be a water beast?” I asked looking to Selia.
Selia tilted her head to the side. ”Maybe, can you shift the view?” she asked me.
Why hadn't I thought of that? As soon as I thought about shifting the view the view shifted. I controlled the image to go under the water to see what was swimming around inside of it.
The view that greeted us was again surprising. There was something in the water, but it was small, moving closer revealed it to be a woman standing at the bottom of the water in a transparent bubble. She had long dark brown hair with hints of red in it, pale nearly white skin, bright ruby eyes, and a figure porn stars would covet barely contained in a tan dress that revealed a great deal of cleavage and leg.
”Flame Dryad?” Selia said sounding confused.
”Aren't dryads tree girls?” I asked confused.
”About as much as humans are monkeys.” Selia retorted a bit irritably.
I rolled my eyes.
”Yes dryads are women who bond to trees, but there is a lot more to it than being a tree girl.” Zephirah told me. ”A flame dryad is a woman who bonded to a tree that contained a lot of fire mana. They are rare, and highly coveted materials.”
I nodded. ”And the asshole put her inside a giant pool of water, why?” I asked. I was secretly amazed by the sheer amount of water in the orb. Unless the dryad was Lilian sized, it was a lot of water.
”Either to help contain her or to infuse the fire mana she puts off into the water.” Selia replied. ”Or both. The water isn't moving like it should so it shouldn't be normal water.”
Looked like normal water to me, but I wasn't going to disagree with her. I had no idea what 'moving right' looked like.
”Should we release her?” I asked the important question.
Everyone seemed to hesitate.
”Release me now!” a feminine voice came out of the orb, apparently she could see and hear us as well as we could her.
”What assurance do we have you won't harm us if we release you?” Vanessa asked appearing by my side.
I turned to look at the recently reformed gemini curious to see if there was anything different about her now that she had reformed. ”Could have warned me.” I commented aloud.
”Did you want a countdown?” Zephirah asked.
”At least a warning.” I replied.
”I give my word on Estrisia the Fiery One that I will not harm anyone who doesn't mean me harm.” the fire dryad pledged.
Vanessa nodded then looked to me. Her dark blue eyes staring warmly into mine as she smiled at me happily. ”We should let her out master. She has sworn on the name of her god.”
Master was new. I liked it, probably more than I should have. ”Are you sure it is her god?” I asked.
”It doesn't matter.” Selia spoke up like I was a fool.
”She is right master, lying while swearing on any gods name, even one whom you despise, would be incredibly unwise.” Vanessa told me.
”As unwise as breaking an oath of allegiance?” I asked.
”Not that bad, but she doesn't have anything to gain from lying to us.” Zephirah chimed in.
I frowned then darkened the orb the fire dryad was in. Before anyone could object I summoned my mana and began to draw runes in the air creating a cage. It was larger than the cage created with the capture stone. It wouldn't constrain the prisoner unless she tried to attack us, however the moment she tried to harm any of us it would activate freezing her in place unable to move a single muscle. Unfortunately with my limited mana pool I had to pull a great deal of mana from the dungeon. Once I was finished I returned to the orb then thought about releasing only the fire dryad directly into the cage I had made for her.
”Paranoid much?” Selia asked as the fire dryad appeared in the middle of the cage which immediately activated.
”You do remember the reason why your father sent you here right?” I asked Selia.
Selia tilted her head to the side then nodded. ”Fair point.” she agreed.
”What is this?” the fire dryad asked seeing the runic cage she had appeared inside of.
”A cage.” I replied. ”It will not harm or inhibit you in any way unless you try to harm any of us.” I told her.
”And if I just walk out of here?” she asked me her ruby eyes shining brightly.
”It won't stop you.” I confirmed then turned my attention back to the other nine orbs.
”Seriously?” Selia asked surprised.
”What? I have no desire to keep anyone here against their will.” I replied.
”We could still use her help in exchange for her freedom.” Selia told me.
I shook my head. ”No.” I replied. ”Maybe you consider me a fool, but I would prefer willing aid. Look around, except Vanessa who didn't have much of a choice before now, everyone is here willingly.”
”I am here willingly master.” Vanessa reassured me.
I nodded, ”We can talk about that later.” I told her.
”Doubt there will be much talking.” Zephirah snickered.
I rolled my eyes then touched the second orb. Inside was a large dark red bull with red eyes and two sets of horns that would put a longhorn to shame.
”Blazing Bull. A strong beast, makes an excellent guardian and divine steaks.” Selia commented.
”Steaks?” I asked confused.
Selia nodded her snake head while Elisia seemed to start drooling. ”Because of their fire element there are no parasites in their meat and even after butchering the meat remains at a just cooked temperature despite being raw. It is expensive and popular amongst the rich.” she informed us.
I nodded then continued to look into the other orbs, at the edge of my vision I could see the fire dryad hadn't left but was instead watching us closely.
I found two more blazing bulls, both smaller than the first, probably females, before I found something new, it was a group of five silver chickens, what I found to be the most unusual about them was that there was the fact that their silver feathers would occasionally emit a silver flame. It wasn't often, but I still saw it twice while trying to figure out what they were. No one else in my group seemed to recognize them either.
”Silverfire Chickens.” the fire dryad spoke up. ”Like the Blazing Bull they are good as defenders and dinner. They are even more expensive than the Blazing Bull due to their rarity and difficulty in raising and breeding. There should be a rooster in one of the other orbs.”