BXBX NOVEL Chapter 622 Into Another Place, Pt 3
The necklace was made of stone beads threaded together with a face of an Orc with tusks hanging at the bottom. It was gray like the beads, but the orc\'s face had fine details etched into it. Its eyes were red as the orc\'s face seemed to scream at you. Its tusks were colored with white, giving a bone white color to it. The group studied it as it slowly spun back and forth. The back end of the pendant seemingly mimicking the front part of the pendant.
"You think this is worth keeping?" Ritsuka asked. He looked to the group. Manny, Liz and Evan seemed indifferent on it. Keng was slowly inching closer to it like he wanted to grab it but stopped himself each time. Olivia continued to study it, not giving an answer.
"I… Don\'t know." Liz shrugged. She looked to Manny as she always did with anything. "What do you say, Manny? Should we keep this? We don\'t even know what it does or if it\'s going to be useful to us at all."
"Could sell it in the end." Manny answered. "Not sure what use this has. I think we should keep it at least but even then, it\'s creepy. Those reds feel like they\'re staring daggers into my soul."
"Could I…?" Keng pointed at the necklace. Ritsuka handed it to him as Olivia moved over to stand next to Keng. The two of them studied it as Keng flipped it a couple of times.
"This was off of a goblin?" Olivia asked Ritsuka.
"Yeah. Why?" Ritsuka asked.
"It\'s too precise and neat for a goblin to make such a thing." Olivia pointed out. Keng agreed with her as she continued. "Art is a delicate form. Someone capable must\'ve had a lot of patience for this because you would have to create small holes big enough for the thread to go through and then to carve a stone piece of an orc\'s face onto this?"
"So, a goblin didn\'t make it. What\'re you getting at?" Manny asked clearly not interested they were even having this extended conversation. Keng\'s eyes flared with the halos as he scanned the item. It wasn\'t magical in nature, but the eyes were creepy. He followed the beads, seeking for anything, but getting nothing.
"There\'s a high probability that the goblins are really serving someone higher than them. The boss of the dungeon, maybe." Keng replied before Olivia could say it.
"Exactly." Olivia nodded. Keng\'s halos faded as he looked up. He held the necklace up for everyone to see.
"This could be the guy the whole dungeon fears. Maybe the orc is the one with our VIP."
"It still doesn\'t help us with where we\'re going." Manny complained. He was impatient. He didn\'t see the value in things that were useless like Olivia and now Keng. Olivia was one thing, but now "Lee Seng"? "If we\'re done here, let\'s continue on. We won\'t get anything goodo out of these goblins anyways."
"A set of teeth are like 20 creds! There\'s like twenty plus bodies here! That\'s an easy 400 creds!" Evan stuttered as Manny started forwards.
"Then pluck them out one by one." Manny waved. Evan began to stutter in frustration as he weighed whether or not he was going to pluck the teeth out or not.
"The small Direwolves would make a couple hundred cred easy." Olivia whispered, turning. Keng watched the group head off as Ritsuka stuck by his side.
"What, you\'re gonna do all the hard work?" Ritsuka asked.
"It ain\'t hard work when you have me." Keng smiled at him. Ritsuka watched as Keng swept his arms around the area. The goblins and Direwolves pulled to him. Ritsuka watched as Keng quickly pulled all the teeth out of the goblins and stuck them into the Void Storage with any weapons and rough armor they could use, too.
After he was done with that, Keng lifted the wolves and pulled a skinning knife out.
"Where\'d you get one of those?" Ritsuka asked. He watched his Fox friend start working on the pelt.
"A gift since I was surrounded by forests in the temple for a while." Keng whispered. Ritsuka watched as Keng roughly pulled the pelt off. It wasn\'t great work, but it was better than his or Evan\'s.
"Hey. I think they\'re actually doing it." Liz tapped Manny. She took a glance back, prompting the rest to look. They all watched as "Lee Seng" pulled a Direwolf up and started to carve into it. Manny let out a sigh and mumbled something to himself.
"He\'s not that bad at doing that stuff." Olivia complimented.
"He\'s curious about a lot of things… Sometimes I wonder if he\'s going to snap and just kill someone." Manny whispered. They watched Keng work as Keng and Ritsuka continued to converse, chuckling and sharing a moment together.
\'When did he get so close to Ritsuka?\' Manny wondered. His lips went into a pout face as he semi-bit and sucked his inner lip. Manny\'s arms went up, crossed, as his eyes stared daggers at Ritsuka. Ritsuka shoulder bumped Keng as the two laughed loudly. \'They\'re being so loud and shameless, too! Do they not care we\'re in a dungeon?!?\' Manny began to take a step forward as Keng tucked the last pelt into nothing and wiped the skinning blade clean.
"All done." Keng let out a sigh of relief. He and Ritsuka turned, noticing the team was waiting for them. "Oh, sorry. I thought you guys would leave us. We weren\'t going to be that long anyways." Keng and Ritsuka jogged over to them as Manny turned around. Liz looked at him, nervously, before turning.
"You\'re not that bad at skinning." Olivia complimented Keng.
"Thanks. I\'m glad I get to work on it on this job." Keng smiled. Olivia and Evan turned to walk with Keng and Ritsuka.
"Hurry up. We don\'t have all day." Manny groaned.
***
"Sire, there is something you need to see." An old crone swirled the magical ball in front of her as she looked to her left. A large throne with large gray stone stairs sat behind her. A large man, propping his head off with a twisted crown sat in the large seat. Large tusks stuck out of from his mouth as his red eyes stared off into the distance. The armored Orc glanced over at the old goblin crone and with a single tap, she stood up.
"It seems one of your many goblin squadrons have been wiped out, sire." The crone pulled the magical ball out of its spot and moved over to stand on the tattered and faded red carpet. She placed herself in the middle as she raised the ball.
"Show me." The orc king ordered. The magical ball shimmered as a projection appeared. It showed the stacked bodies of goblins and skinned Direwolves. "What tribe killed them?"
"That\'s what I\'m not sure about, sire." The old crone lowered the ball, watching the magic screen fade. "An emblem of your might as disappeared as well from the goblin leader. I am tracing it as we speak."
"And?" The king raised an eyebrow. He was unamused something like this happened. The tribes in his domain still didn\'t like he rose and claimed the power which the old domain master had. The twisted crone shook as if it was on cue, morphing into a bloodied metal crown.
"Give me some time and I shall find out, your magnificence." The crone lowered her head. The orc king shifted form his spot. His spotless armor splattering with blood because of he bloodied crown.
"Trace it now. In front of me, Seer." The king ordered.
"Yes, my king." The Seer kept her head down in respect to him for a couple of seconds before moving the ball and her head upwards. The magical ball floated in the air as the Seer\'s eyes grew misty white. The familiar energy of the Seer exploded around the shambled throne room as the king watched. The Seer\'s body twitched, irregularly, as she whispered in an ancient language not even the king knew. Her body twitched for awhile until she gasped, growing stiff as her head raised to look towards the king.
"Imprisoned." The Seer\'s voice shook. "N-no… It can\'t be…" The orc king narrowed his eyes. The Seer had never done such a thing before. She was scared to mess up. Scared but loyal. Her crooked teeth chattered as a gasp escaped her mouth. "Lost in space… Lost in time… I— AHH!"
The magical ball shattered, blasting into bits into the Seer and the area around the foot of the throne. The Seer\'s body bounced away from the orc king as he raised his eyebrows, amused. A slight smile grew in his face as the Seer twitched.
The Seer fell slack and with that, the familiar noises of chains rattling caught the king\'s attention. He casually glanced up at the chain woman on the half-broken chandelier. A muffled cry screamed out as his lips curled into a smile.
"Call the tribes." The king ordered. The guardsmen all stomped their feet in unison. "It\'s about to get interesting."