Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 215: Book 3: Chapter 66: On The Lam

Read chapter 215 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Book 3: Chapter 66: On The Lam Chapter 66: On The Lam The cave was barely large enough to cram them all inside. Damp stone pressed against their backs, the air thick with the stink of sweat and blood. Harsh whispers bounced from wall to wall, colliding with the orchestra of deep breathing. “They’ve got Dragon-Blood-One,” Tom-Tom hissed loudly as his tail twitched and trembled with a blend of panicked fury. “Why did we run? We should’ve stayed. We should’ve fought!” “We wud all be dead, or in chains if we de tha',” Doran snapped back. His face was pallid in the dim glow, a thin sheen of sweat matting his bald head and dripping down into his beard. “Ye think Alex wud’ve wanted tha'? He told us to run.” “Yeah, he told us because he was already getting the shit kicked out of him,” Garret whispered harshly. His normally playful eyes were rimmed red. “You saw what those Urhara bastards did to Henry and Holly. What do you think they’ll do to the others they took? We just left them to die.” “Quiet,” Myrae cut in, her words far harsher than her usual calm cadence. She pressed her glowing hands over Lance’s chest, knitting flesh and bone together with practiced care. Beside her, Allie worked her own healing spell into Doran’s twisted and broken ankle while whispering soft encouragements that the dwarf barely heard. The argument surged on anyway, Eric and Kate joined in, starting to butt heads like rams in too-tight a pen. “We can’t just wait around,” Eric growled. “We need to hit them before they move their prisoners. Take out their guards, sabotage the ship, or something, anything.” “You think rushing in will help?” Kate was cold. She paced about, her blonde hair stuck to her forehead with dried blood. “That’s suicide. We need information, and to regroup, maybe even—” “Oh, here it comes. The coward’s retreat. Always thinking of yourself.” “I'm not thinking of myself, I'm thinking logically. Better than charging blindly and getting all of us killed.” The space quaked with their rage, the others pressing tighter against the walls to avoid the aetheric auras flying between the two squad leaders. Lance was the one to intervene. Without a word, he raised his arm and the stone at the cave’s entrance shuddered and sealed shut, an earthen slab slamming down like a guillotine from above. The darkness it created was absolute, until Allie exhaled and conjured a faint orb of light. Lance huffed before leaning his weight against the newly formed wall. “You two are so obsessed with being the one in charge, that you don’t give a damn about the people who actually matter. Our friends are in chains, again, and all you can do is argue about who gets to lead and make the plan.” Both squad leaders stared at Lance angrily. Kate’s jaw clenched. Eric’s fists tightened. But neither of them spoke. The only sound in the cave was Tom-Tom’s quick, shallow breathing. His frills quivered as he sniffed about, his nostrils flaring open and closed rapidly. “I smell something,” the kobold whispered. The air suddenly quieted further in response to his declaration. No one in the cave moved, and no one dared to breathe. Then came a sound, faintly at first, then undeniable. The sound of a rustle of leaves, and the whisper of brush being disturbed. Distinct footsteps moving just beyond their slab of stone came shortly after. Inside the cave, they all waited like still shadows, each held their breath until it felt like a lump of stone in their throats. Two Urhara guards padded back and forth across the slope below the slab. Their boots whispered on the stone, armor clinking idly. One complained about the rations and the other grumbled about the boredom of “hunting duty” when there were cushy berths waiting on the main deck. They were bored, a little sloppy, and exactly the kind of complacent the Worldstriders needed. Through a hairline crack Lance had created in the earthen slab, Kate watched the guards’ backs. She mouthed a count—three seconds—and gave a barely perceptible