Chapter 323: Split Up
"It seems to be coming from down there. Are you going to carry Tiff in or is it just going to be me and you who move in?" Lake didn't think the Temple Head would want someone on her back if they were to get into a fight so he felt it made sense to give her the choice. "Tiff, just do the best you can to follow us. It should take you less than a minute to catch up if you move as fast as you can."
This plan made sense to Lake so he didn't say anything and a few seconds later he had him ran down towards where the smoke was coming from. On the way down Lake couldn't help but think whoever they were about to find really had bad luck. He could tell both Tiff and the Temple Head fully believed this was going to be at least a clue to finding the dagger so if there was a person here they were in for an intense integration.
This was after he had mentioned that the dagger didn't seem to be in the exact direction of the fire on the way here but it was close enough that a few degrees didn't seem to matter to the Temple Head or Tiff because there really was no reason for anyone to be out here.
As they got down close enough that they could actually see a fire Lake noticed what seemed to be people around it and was about to mention this to the Temple Head but she stopped all of a sudden and said. "What are the chances?" Lake had no idea what she meant but didn't get a chance to ask because she instantly called out to the people below. "Hello."
Lake was able to see the people at the fire stand up after the Temple Head let them know they weren't alone and it gave him a better look of what they were wearing. It took him a few seconds to remember where he had seen the armor they were wearing for a second but once he did he asked the Temple Head. "Are they the guards that protect the Oracle?"
All of them had the armor that he had stolen off of a body and given to Wezz which if he was remembering correctly was supposed to belong to the oracles personal guards. "Yes, I'm surprised you know that." Lake decided to not tell the Temple Head how he knew this since stealing off of a body probably wasn't something you wanted to bring up when you were about to meet the group of people the body belonged to.
"Who's there? Come out so we can see you." The Temple Head was about to walk out but Lake grabbed her shoulder and said. "Lets wait till Tiff gets here." Lake could hear her coming down the mountain and they would only need to wait a few seconds before they could all go out together.
"What's happening?" Once she got there Lake let the Temple Head handle explaining what was going on since he didn't know as much as the Temple Head about the people they had just run into. "We're about to go out to talk to the Metal Oracles guards. Just stay calm, they won't attack us once they see my face."
After the Temple Head said this she started to slowly walk out while yelling. "We're coming out." As they were going out into the open slowly Lake saw an opportunity to use Detector to look for the oracle to see if she was here but decided against it on the off chance they were able to tell someone was using a skill to find her.
He didn't think it would cause a fight but he didn't want to strain the meeting of the two groups. Once they were face to face Lake looked around their base while the guards reacted to the Temple Head being here. "Hello ma'am what brings you to the Metal Domain."
Lake wasn't sure how truthful the Temple Head was going to be while answering this question so he stopped looking around the really basic camp for someone who could be an Oracle and started listening. "We're after the dagger that went missing a few weeks ago."
"I heard that one of your divine weapons had been stolen. What made you think it was here?" All of a sudden a new voice he had never heard before came from one of the nearby tents but Lake was able to assume it was the oracle who had spoken even if he couldn't see them.
"We're after someone and we saw smoke which brought us here thinking they had stopped to cook food." Lake was happy the Temple Head didn't get into his skills or how they were able to get this far and kept it vague because he didn't want to get involved in the reason the Metal Temple's oracle was out in the middle of nowhere.
As soon as they realized he could track anything no matter how far there was no reason to think they wouldn't have something they wanted him to help with and he didn't have time to get involved with another thing right now. "Well we've been out here for a few days and haven't seen anyone else so I don't think we can help you."
The Temple Head gave him a look after she heard this but he could tell it wasn't because she thought he was lying about the dagger being out here. It was more of we made a mistake stopping here look. "Well we have to get going in that case. Sorry for disturbing you."
...
Tiff was surprised by the fact the Temple Head was already trying to leave after running into someone as important as an oracle out here in the middle of nowhere but she guessed they really didn't have time to be curious right now. They weren't able to get far before they were asked. "Would you mind staying for a few more minutes?" By the Metal Oracle though.
It seemed that not having time to talk wasn't going to let them leave before hearing more about what the oracle was doing out here. "We can stay but only if you're in trouble. We don't have time to just talk." Tiff understood why the Temple Head worded it this way but it was kind of rude for something you said to an oracle.
"If you really need to go I'll just tell you what I need. Our transport beast was killed in an attack a few days ago and we're pretty much stranded." This wasn't something they were really able to help with in her mind but she would let the Temple Head try to think of something.
...
Hearing the Oracle needed help, Lake saw an opportunity to get rid of both the Temple Head and Tiff and wanted to speak up but he didn't want to get in the way or seem too eager to get rid of them so he waited to see how the Temple Head played this. "Give us a minute to discuss our options."
It seemed the Temple Head wanted to find a way to help so when she started to walk off somewhere they wouldn't be able to be heard, Lake followed. It didn't take long for the Temple Head to start talking once they were alone. "Lake, would you be able to track down the dagger if you were on your own? I know it's a lot of pressure but I have to help a fellow leader of a temple in a situation like this under treaty."
Lake couldn't believe he wasn't even the one who had to introduce this idea or talk anyone into it because it was exactly what he wanted from the beginning. "I think so but even if I can't, we can just try again at a later date." Lake didn't want to sound too confident because what would be happening after he was left alone was he would just summon the dagger to his hand and head back to the Temple.
"Alright, let's go back and offer them help out of the mountains and a ride." Lake followed the Temple Head even though he felt he should just leave now to track down the dagger but he felt she would tell him to leave after the plan was completely made. "Alright we have some carts a few hours from here but I can only carry you and keep a fast pace."
When the Temple Head said this, Lake pictured her carrying every person here out of the mountains on her shoulders and wondered if she would actually be able to do that. "That's fine. My guards wish to stay here in the Metal Domain anyway." Coming to a quick agreement, Lake watched as the tent that the oracle was in opened and a tiny dwarf crawled out covering her eyes from the sun.
Lake wasn't sure why he hadn't expected the oracle to be a normal person but it had almost made him laugh and he quickly turned away to stop himself. "Temple Head I'm going to go now." He covered his turn by making it seem he was about to run after the dagger.
"Alright be safe and remember we can always try again if you don't think you can beat whoever has it." As he was running away he opened his hand and took the arrow out to make it seem he was actually using it to tell him where he needed to go. Even though his trick had worked and it was over leaving no reason to be expected of lying was important.
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