Ludo cursed to himself as he watched the girls get further away. He wanted to give them as much of a headstart as he could before he put his plan in motion. Eventually, the voices grew closer, and Ludo couldn’t risk waiting any longer.
With a sharp spring, he dashed out from behind the rocks. The ground was rough and dipped in unexpected places as he left a trail leading in the opposite direction of the girls. Once he was satisfied, he turned around and ran back. Making sure to place his feet directly on top of the previous ripples to cover his tracks.
By the time he returned to the outcrop, he could barely make out Haroll’s silhouette in the fog. He was really cutting it close.
“Spread out,” Haroll shouted. “Find out where they went!”
It won’t take them long to find my trail.
Ludo crept as quietly as he could toward the direction the girls had gone. He kept his eyes focused on the game’s boundary wall while watching out for any sign of them.
They shouldn’t have gotten this far.
“Ludo,” Teffania’s voice hissed from behind a tree to his left. “Over here.”
“What are you doing?” Ludo hissed back as walked over to them. “The plan was for you guys to keep going to the boundary.”
“I know, but…” Teffy frowned as she glanced at her sister. “Lusa wouldn’t leave without you.”
Ludo sighed as he noticed the tears in the corner of Lusa’s eyes. “You didn’t need to worry about me. I’m a god, remember?”
“Mm,” Lusa mumbled while Ludo patted her head. “But the bad men might’ve hurt you.”
This kid.
Ludo shook his head. He seriously doubted she had a strong grasp of what a god was meant to be. To her young mind, he was probably just another man who could do strange things. Still, it warmed his heart to know that she cared about him. Maybe it was just in her nature.
“I was thinking,” Teffy said as she scrunched her brow and tilted her head. “Couldn’t we just run for the boundary from here? It’s not too far, right?”
Ludo considered her suggestion for a moment as he glanced at the shimmering golden wall. It really wasn’t that far, but would Lusa be able to keep up? Not only that, but Haroll’s group would see through their ruse the moment three distinct trails appeared in the fog. Honestly, the risk was too rich for Ludo’s taste.
“No,” Ludo finally said. “We’ll try to get as close as we can before we make a run for it.”
It was almost painful to move so slowly when the goal was within sight. But they just couldn’t risk it. Their diversion had bought them some time, but with Haroll’s group splitting up they were covering more ground. It was only a matter of time until they were discovered.
The voices were getting closer as they called out to each other.
Almost there.
Ludo grit his teeth as he glanced in the direction he heard the last voice from. He tried to gauge the distance, but reckoned they would be discovered if they kept moving this slow.
“We have to run for it now,” Ludo whispered. “Ready? Go!”
Teffy and Ludo took one of Lusa’s hands each and more or less dragged her as they sprinted.
“Hey! They’re here!”
Ludo cursed. The voice was closer than he thought it was.
The boundary was practically in front of them now.
Just a little more.
The sound of boots thumping the ground rang out from close behind them. Fifty paces. Thirty, ten, five…
“Ah!” Lusa yelped as she felt fingers brush her hair.
Dong!
A golden bell appeared over the game field and tolled once, drawing everyone’s eyes to it. The golden wall and lines on the ground flashed brightly before going out. Then, a moment later, Lusa gasped.
Four pillars of golden light rushed into the sky from nearby. One of them was right on Lusa’s heels. Ludo heard Haroll scream something, but he couldn’t make out what it was.
What’s happening now?
The spectacle only lasted a few seconds. But then, the bell broke and reformed into a message:
LOSER’S PENALTY: RETURN TO START
The words hung in the air for a few seconds before they burst and drifted down like snow. Ludo’s knees buckled as he let out a long sigh of relief.
That was way too close!
Honestly, he didn’t know what he was going to do when the game ended. Originally, he’d hoped the Miracles would let them gain quite a bit of distance. But it was much more limited than he anticipated.
No matter, it all worked out.
“Ludo!”
Teffania was next to him in an instant, casting her gaze over him. She put a hand on his shoulder as she knelt down to get a good look at him.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Ludo waved her away half-heartedly. “Just… tired.”
“Tired?” Teffy immediately latched onto the word. “Do gods get tired?”
“Mm,” Ludo grunted. “It seems so. I spent too much Faith on those Miracles.”
Teffania’s brow creased, but she didn’t let go of his shoulder. “Can you stand?”
“Yeah, just give me a minute.”
Despite her close call, Lusa was bouncing around them, her face bright red from her excitement. She didn’t seem too concerned with Ludo’s condition as she tugged on his arm.
“That was amazing! How’d you make all those lights?” However, she didn’t even give him a moment to breathe, let alone answer her. “Can you do it again? Let’s play again tomorrow, please?”
Ludo looked into her bright eyes. They were bright and shining, without a hint of fear.
Good, doesn’t look like she’ll be left with anything that’ll scar her.
Even though she’d just watched four grown men get vanished by a miracle, all she wanted to know was when they could do it again.
Come to think of it, I wonder where they went.
“Lusa, give him a moment.” Teffy scolded her sister as she grabbed her shoulders to stop her from bouncing around.
“But, sis…” Lusa groaned. “We won! It was so fun. I bet they looked really stupid when the light took them. I wish we could’ve seen the look on their faces.”
“Lusa.”
“What? It’s true, isn’t it?”
“It is,” Ludo chuckled, slightly swaying as he stood up. “We definitely won.”
“It was the best game ever!” Lusa planted her hands on her hips as she stared at him with a delighted expression. “I want to play again. Can we? You didn’t say no.”
Before Ludo could answer, his legs almost buckled again. He barely caught himself from collapsing as he let out a long breath.
Damn, this is annoying.
“I think,” he said while looking at Lusa, “the next game will have to wait a while.”
Lusa’s cheerful smile vanished in a pout. “But…”
“Lusa,” Ludo sighed as he flashed her a small smile. “I need to recover my strength first.”
“He needs a break, Lusa,” Teffy chipped in as she glanced back at the road. “We can’t stay here. We need to get moving. Can you walk?”
“I’ll be fine,” Ludo smiled at her. “You’re right though, we need to go.”
They backtracked to the tree where they’d stopped for lunch so Teffy could collect their sack of belongings. She slung it over her shoulder and immediately started walking. Meanwhile, Lusa was unusually quiet. She fell into step beside her sister, but kept glancing back at Ludo while biting her lip.
I guess they have some things in common.
Ludo chuckled to himself at the sight. It was the same thing Teffy did when she was worried. He glanced at the sun as the day grew dull.
Still plenty of time before it gets dark.
A few hours later, the road began to slope downward.
Ludo was grateful for that as it took less effort to walk downhill. But as the trees and bushes to the sides of the road became more sparse, he noticed the road became steeper. Now it was taking him a fair bit of effort to stop himself from falling forward on his face.
Is that salt?
He breathed it in.
The further they walked, the stronger the smell became. Then, came the sound of crashing waves in the distance.
“What’s that?” Lusa asked as she perked up.
“It’s the sea.” Teffania smiled at her. “Imagine water as far as you can see. Well, you’ll see it for yourself soon enough.”
Eventually, the road curved around northward at the edge of the hill, and it came into view.
Large stone walls rose from the cliffside. Dark wooden logs served as a layer of structural support and extra defense. Beyond those walls, a sprawling town spilled down the face of the cliff to the water. Where a stone harbour waited with a few small ships docked. And beyond them, was the sea.
Lusa pulled at Teffy’s sleeve with wide eyes. “It’s so big!”
“That, Lusa, is Solstcove. The Baron’s town. Believe it or not, there are bigger places than this called cities.”
Lusa’s jaw dropped when she heard that. Honestly, it was hard for her to imagine anywhere bigger than her village. So seeing a town for the first time was the experience of a lifetime for her. They walked the last stretch of road in silence, taking in the sight.
Before long, the gates towered over them. Ludo couldn’t stop staring at the iron bands bolted across the gates. Then, his attention became fixated on the dented armour of the guards. One of them, a man with a peppered grey beard, gave them a hard stare as they approached.
“What’s your business?” he asked while staring at Teffania.
“We’re here for the Noble tournament,” Teffania said as she handed over her invitation letter.
The guard raised an eyebrow as he checked the seal at the bottom of it. “Well, everything seems to be in order.”
He waved them through the gates without paying any more attention to them. Immediately, the trio were hit with the chaos they held within.
The town’s market pressed right up against the wall’s interior. Everywhere you looked your eyes were bombarded with different coloured awnings covering the stalls beneath them. Lusa cutely scrunched her nose up at the stench of fish, which made her sister laugh. Then, came the annoying screeching of gulls overhead as they searched for some idiot not paying attention to their food.
“Come on, I think it’s this way.” Teffy said as she pushed forward, gripping Lusa’s hand as she did so.
Ludo felt like he’d developed whiplash from the way his attention kept getting pulled to the different stalls. He was secretly glad that the stall owners couldn’t see him. They latched onto anyone who was even slightly close to their goods as they tried to push a sale. It was then he realised that teffania had gotten slightly ahead of him.
He caught up to her as she stood next to a stall that sold bolts of cloth. She was talking to the owner, a round-faced woman who gave the impression she enjoyed a drink while working.
“...the Gull’s Nest?” the woman was saying. “Well, if you keep going down toward the water, take the second left after the candlemaker’s. You’ll see the sign, can’t miss it.”