The Forgotten Faithful: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 2) by Cajiao, Jez (little red riding hood ebook TXT) 📕

again, who casually stepped forward from where he’d been crouching. “What are you doing here?” I asked him and he gestured to me.

“You saved my life, forgave my assault, helped me save my friend’s life, and healed me when I was injured. Where else would I be, Jax?” he asked me, as though confused.

“Well, you could be anywhere; explore the ship… talk to your friends, hell, watch Ame kick Flux’s ass, if you want. I mean, why are you here, specifically why were you skulking around behind me?”

“Ah!” Bane said, understanding. “I’m here as your bodyguard.” He thrummed happily.

“I don’t need a bodyguard…” I replied, and Oren called over, interrupting me.

“Aye, ye do, laddie, and no’ just Bob neither!” I turned around and gave Oren the finger, making him laugh as Bane went on.

“You are our leader, and you are at war. You need bodyguards. Flux, Cheena, and I have discussed this. We will take shifts until a proper team can be arranged,” Bane said matter of factly, moving to look over the side of the ship, then back to watching everything around me.

“What do you mean, you ‘discussed this’? Look, mate, I need people, yeah, and I really need fighters, but a fucking bodyguard? I don’t need that,” I said flatly. Oren spoke up again.

“A lord needs bodyguards!” Bane nodded in fervent agreement.

“It’s true; how else would you survive assassins?”

“I…” I was about to tell him to fuck off and that there weren’t any assassins about, when I remembered the bastard in the stairwell, right before I met Oren and the assholes that were keeping the others as slaves. Bane would have been insanely helpful then. And he’d have been awesome help in facing the slavers… and the SporeMother, actually.

“See, you know you need a bodyguard,” Bane said, seeing the expression on my face and gesturing around us.

“You can’t defend against all sides, and especially not when you sleep. You need us, and we already agreed to serve you. You earned my life thrice over in the goblin battle… you helped us, now let us help you.”

I still wasn’t sure, when Oracle spoke in my mind.

“He’s right; we need them… and we trust them, don’t we?”

“I do. I like Bane and the others, but…”

“But it’s ‘just you’, and you don’t need a bodyguard?”

“Well, yeah, basically. It seems wrong.”

“But throwing yourself into battle to save them wasn’t?”

“No…”

“We need them, and they need us. Let them help. It’s important to them. They’re an honorable race, and you helped them.”

I forced a smile and clapped Bane on the shoulder.

“Thanks, mate; glad to have you with me,” I said, trying not to growl. I’d be talking to Flux about the matter later. I did NOT need a goddamn twenty-four-hour bodyguard. Fair enough when we were out and about, some help would be great… but not all the time, and not at the Tower!

I was about to say something else when the ship started to descend, gently lowering itself through the surrounding trees to come to a rest in the clearing before the ruin.

I strode down the deck, taking pleasure in the low voices of the Mer as they discussed their first airship ride. It seemed they’d enjoyed it, judging from the lack of screaming and vomiting, anyway.

I passed Bob, who stood calmly on the deck watching everyone before slowly walking along behind me. Oracle flew down from above and landed on my shoulder, and I sensed Bane following along, more than seeing or hearing him.

I took a deep breath, resigning myself to the situation, when I caught sight of Flux and Ame. He was gesturing toward me, an edge of panic in his voice as he explained that he needed to go and help me.

“No, no! Don’t you worry, mate! You stay here and sort things out with Ame; I’ll be fine!” I called to him, grinning evilly… got you, you bugger!

We’d had to spread the engineers out on Decin’s ship to fill the spaces of crew that had been killed, and I’d had Lydia, Jian, and Arrin take up station on his ship as well, just in case. That had meant that Hanau and Riana had been able to stay in the ruin with the Golems, watching over them as the new ones activated and joined the effort to repair the structure.

The Complex War Golem, the one that was directing the others, I decided to call ‘Sarge’, on the grounds that anytime you needed anything done in the army, you got a Sergeant to sort it.

Sarge was standing at the top of a flight of newly uncovered stairs in the middle of the ruin, working with the Servitor that was slowly sealing three walls around the entrance.

Off to one side, I could also see the large slab I’d ordered it to build to close off the entrance to the ruin.

As I walked up, Oracle went flying past me, landing on the Servitors shoulder, and reaching down into the clear gemstone embedded in its chest. She blurred for a minute as she lost concentration, her form going out of focus, until she straightened up and flew back to me.

“It’s almost done,” she said, hovering before me and nodding happily. “The Servitor and the Golems have cleared a pathway down to the main areas, they’ve taken the bodies and piled them up in preparation to be burned, and the ruins can be sealed off whenever you want. Once the slab is in place, nothing will be able to get in easily to interrupt.”

“Sounds good. Let’s get everyone out and have the funeral, then the last Golem should be finished charging, and we can head back to the Tower.” Oracle gave me a last grin, then flipped over and sped toward the ruin, diving in and searching far more quickly than I could have for anyone remaining inside.

“Oren!” I called, and his face appeared a few seconds later over the side of the ship in response. “Get the crew together! We’re going