Chapter 45

I woke up feeling rather groggy. I had a feeling that whatever I dreamt had been important, but, for the life of me, I couldn’t recall what it was. Amenthia and Entivala were cuddled up to me, on their respective sides, though Katie wasn’t at the foot of the bed anymore. I felt some relief because of her odd choice to sleep at my feet and hoped that she was resting in her bed. I slowly and carefully pulled my arms from underneath my companions and slowly sat up in the bed. Glancing at the bed across the room I noticed that Katie wasn’t there, nor was she working with her potion equipment.

I activated my bracer, but she wasn’t within range of my map display. I started to get a little worried but didn’t want to wake the others by freaking out. I climbed out of bed and went to take a closer look at her bed. I saw immediately that it hadn’t been slept in, so I went over to the desk she had her potion equipment on. It was as I was looking there that I noticed a piece of paper that had been left out.

I felt relief wash over me as I finished the letter. I didn’t think I would be so jumpy, especially when I knew Amenthia and Entivala had been doing Dungeon runs while I was away. I couldn’t put my finger on what was making me anxious, but I knew that I had to keep them safe. I decided to pop over to the showers and try to relax. I found an unoccupied stall and started the water, enjoying the warmth as it cascaded down my body. I found the shampoo and began lathering, when I swore, I heard the stall door open. I thought that I had locked it and before I could turn around, felt a pair of breasts pressed into my back.

“Shh, don’t worry about me” a soft voice said. “You do your hair, and I will handle the rest.”

I didn’t recognize the voice, so I turned and moved into the water to get the soap out of my hair. I opened my eyes to see Velya standing there, naked, with a grin on her face. Despite the situation, I couldn’t help but give her body a quick look. She was a little shorter than Amenthia and looked to have the smallest breasts I had seen so far. They looked like just a handful, with tiny nipples. She noticed my scan of her body and began to turn slowly. I immediately noticed that while her breasts were only a handful, she had one hell of an ass. I felt myself become distracted and I had to shake my head of the dirty thoughts that filled it. Before she could finish turning around, I closed the distance and grabbed her by the throat. Her smile changed to shock for an instant, but then the smile returned.

“Oh my,” she said with mock fear in her voice. “It seems you aren’t as happy to see me as I had hoped; whatever will I do.”

My eyes narrowed, “I am in no mood for your fucking games. That little fucking group you joined is responsible for the deaths of five people, one if which I called a friend!”

Her eyes widened in shock as I began to apply pressure to her throat, but the smug smile never left her face.

“So you are going to exact your revenge?” She asked in a strained voice. “What if I could help you?”

I eyed her warily, easing the pressure from my fingers, but keeping my hand at her throat.

Her smile widened as she said, “What if I could get you information? Tell you about threats they are creating, especially when they are geared towards you?”

“And what would you want in return?” I asked. “I know you aren’t doing this out of the goodness of your heart.”

Her smile turned almost feral, “I want a taste of you! I will do whatever it takes to get what they are having, what I should have had. I won’t ask you to get rid of the competition, because I know from watching you it would never happen. I also know I would have to bow to the blonde bitch, which is fine. I just want some of you, it doesn’t have to be often, only when I have information that proves useful. Then I get fucked into a coma as payment. It’s a win-win.”

I closed my eyes, as if to calm myself and think on the matter, but for a different reason entirely. A flash of light occurred just outside of the stall that she wasn’t able to see, given her position.

“Velya, I thought you understood,” Tyr said with an irritated tone. “You were instructed to stay away from Pathios and yet I find you here.”

Velya’s smug expression finally disappeared and was replaced with genuine fear as the door opened, revealing our leader. Normally I would be self-conscious about being naked around another man, especially a God, but the circumstances kept me distracted.

I didn’t look away and said, “She tried to offer information for sex. She said she would give me whatever information she could and in return I treat her like one of my women. I am guessing she wanted to show me the goods ahead of time to entice me.”

Tyr’s eyes narrowed, “Well, since you are so willing to share the information, you can share it for free. Otherwise I will banish you to the upper levels of the Dungeon.”

I watched her whole expression change again, only now to total terror at the idea. She began to frantically grasp at my hand, trying to break herself free from my grasp.

“Thank you, Pathios,” Tyr said as he came and took hold of Velya. “After what happened at the Challenge, I had planned to have a chat with her and now I don’t have to track her down.”

As soon as I released my grip from Velya’s throat, both she and Tyr disappeared in a flash of light. I shook my head at the absurdity of what had happened and closed the stall door before anyone else came into the showers. I finished my business there, not wanting to waste any more time. Out of habit, given the reappearance of Velya, I checked to make sure all my clothes were still present. Nothing was missing but it did make me wonder just how she always knew that I was in the shower. Her knowledge of when I showered was uncanny and I wondered just who else would be able to track me. I tried to ignore the worry and discomfort that those thoughts created. When I returned to the room, I found both Amenthia and Entivala slowly waking up. Both greeted me with groggy smiles as I entered the room and I told them about Katie’s shopping trip and the arrival of Velya in the showers. I explained the offer that she made in exchange for information from our enemies.

“That sneaky bitch!” Amenthia growled, which seemed less threatening with her naked torso swaying about distractingly. “I will give her a piece of my mind the next time I see her, so she better watch out!”

I chuckled at her passionate reply and said, “You will have to get in line, my love. Right now Tyr is trying to gain as much information out from her as he can and convince her to be a mole for him. Otherwise, she will be exiled to a floor on the upper levels as punishment.”

“That would be a harsh punishment, indeed,” Entivala said with a sigh. “Still, if she is in league with these people, then it would be a fitting punishment for her crimes.”

I glanced at Entivala and wondered where this cynicism came from. She was usually soft spoken and not one to condemn someone.

She saw my look and said, “A lot of people have died because of this group. Those who fell to Trethraz, even if it was a handful due to the faulty stone. The people who died at the hands of the Arachni Queen and her brood. Then this latest group who not only died but fell to a member of our own Pact House. Frankly I’m tired of this shit happening and I don’t want to lose anyone else!”

I nodded in agreement and gave them both a hug, enjoying the comfort of their embrace. I waited as they donned their workout clothes, though they seemed far less playful and more subdued than usual. Once we were dressed, we went downstairs for a quick breakfast and walked over to the training room and spent the next six hours working through our anger and frustrations. The sparring was intense, but we needed it, otherwise our worries and anger would bleed out into other things. I always liked having an outlet like this that allowed me to let go of worries and stress. I realized that if I was working out,

I should have probably waited to shower until after our workout. I especially didn’t mind, this time, since I had two gorgeous visions of beauty with me. We took our time scrubbing one another, and though it was very loving and intimate, there were no sexual escapades to be had. We returned to our room, and I was surprised that Katie had not returned yet. I called up my map and couldn’t see her within the visible range of the Pact House. I began to worry a bit and said as much to the others, but they reminded me how formidable Katie was.

We headed down for a late lunch, thankful that the dining hall serves food at all hours of the day. My appetite was a bit subdued, but I made sure to eat enough. My mind drifted to Katie, and I wondered, why I hadn’t heard from her. Near the end of our meal, a Raven flew in and landed at our table. In its beak was a letter with my name on it and I began to feel relief. Grabbing it, the raven disappeared with a poof of smoke and feathers. I opened the letter, and, instead of feeling the relief I expected, my worry and fear grew.

Pathios,

You have been a serious thorn in my side, so now new measures have to be taken. To ensure your cooperation, I will be sending two messages in order to gain your compliance. The first is that Velya has been instructed to entice you and gain your favor. I hope that you take this distraction, and I can use her to keep you out of my affairs. The second is that I have that cute little Dryad that helped you during the Challenge. I can tell that you have grown fond of the little bitch, so I hope that you do as you’re told, or something may happen to her. You didn’t heed my warning before the Challenge, so this is the result. Don’t disappoint me, or you will lose your pet and much more.

I felt bile and the food I had just eaten rise up, but I fought to keep it down. I knew something had been wrong when she still hadn’t arrived. Amenthia and Entivala saw the change in my demeanor as I read the letter.

“What’s the matter, Pathios?” Amenthia asked, as she took her last bite of food. “It looks like you have seen a ghost or something.”

I numbly passed the letter to her, “Someone has taken Katie and Velya was nothing more than a ploy to try and distract me with another willing lover.”

Entivala snatched the letter from Amenthia and read the contents, before crying out in rage and crumpling the letter.

“I know how you feel love, but we still need that,” I said as I gathered the crumpled wad of paper.

She fought back tears as she said, “How would that be useful? My friend is missing and was taken by a group who is trying to kill people.”

I placed my hand on her shoulder, “We can give it to Tyr and maybe he can use it to find out where it came from. For now, we need to head to the Dungeon and speak with your friend Ral’talia. Katie went to visit her to ask about a second potion making set and to see if there was some equipment to allow her to leave it without ruining the result. We can head there and see if she did meet with your friend. If she did, then we try to retrace her steps, maybe find out where and when she was taken. If she never visited your friend, then we figure out where she was taken before she reached the Dungeon.”

Entivala quietly nodded and I gave her a reassuring hug. We left the dining hall and went directly to Tyr’s quarters. There was no telling if he was in, but if not, I would send out a prayer to get his attention. I knocked on his door a few times, but there was no answer. I closed my eyes and reached out with a prayer, to no reaction. I did it two more times before Tyr arrived in a flash of light. He looked very agitated and looked at us with curious anger.

“Why did you call me here, Pathios,” Tyr asked, his displeasure evident in his voice. “You know I was busy dealing with Velya.”

I extended the hand holding the crumpled letter, “Because you are wasting your time. She was sent by someone in that group as a distraction, in the hopes that another willing bed mate and false information from Velya would keep me away from their business. In case that failed, they also kidnapped Katie. This letter details their intentions in both cases, and they threaten to kill her if I don’t cooperate.”

Tyr’s features softened and he took the letter from me. He read through it a few times and then held it out and with a flash of his eyes, the letter was gone.

“I have sent this to Odin,” Tyr explained. “He should be able to track where the raven came from and give us a bearing to start our search. I would tell you to leave it to us, but you aren’t the type of person to sit on the sidelines when someone you care about is at risk. All I ask is not to be too rash. They have already proven that they have no problems with killing people to suit their needs. I would hate for something to happen to your charge or any of you.”