52: Pressure

Hari didn’t put me down until we reached the bottom of the stairs. He had run so fast that what had taken us hours to climb only took minutes to descend. Crisplet had become an orb in my hand, and I honestly don’t know how I managed to keep a grip.

Another roar came from the mountain as a bolt of lightning struck closer to Mount Divinus itself, though still away from us. I collected myself as Hari grabbed me by the shoulders, looking me straight in the eye.

“We run. Follow me,” he said sternly, the tone of a group leader cutting through the chaos.

I just nodded, and we took off.

Keeping up was nearly impossible. Even at what I knew wasn’t his full pace, everything around me was a whirlwind of streets and buildings.

We hadn’t gone far—maybe several streets—when someone appeared running alongside me. Liane.

“Liane?!” I exclaimed, nearly stumbling, but I caught myself just in time.

“I heard trouble and came to check—” she started, but Hari, noticing her, took over.

“We need the others. Right now. I’m taking Trevor to the stables. Meet us there—quickly. We need to move,” he said firmly. Liane nodded at the seriousness in his voice, and a moment later, she was gone.

To the stables? Were we leaving town?

I didn’t have time or breath to question anything. The pace was set, and I ran as fast as I could.

When we finally arrived, Jen, Milo, and Liane were already there, preparing the horses. Had I really been that slow?

Out of breath, I glanced at my stamina—dangerously low. Stamina 22/290.

“Low… stamina,” I wheezed.

I wasn’t sure if anyone heard over the barrage of questions aimed at Hari, but I was a little relieved—even he didn’t seem to have a full answer for everyone, his eyes constantly darting towards the direction of lightning hitting the ground in the distance.

“I’ll explain once we’re out of the city. I think… the Cat and Dragon are fighting? I don’t know,” Hari said, helping to saddle up Sable for the journey.

Before I knew it, my armour was being thrown over my head.

“Focus up, Trev. We gotta move. Get your arm in there—let’s get this on,” Jen said, clearly having grabbed the armour from Hari. I spotted Crisplet on the ground, his flame volatile and erratic, clearly reacting to the surrounding chaos.

“Need… stamina,” I wheezed, sliding my arms through the armour as Jen began strapping it securely.

“Trev needs a stamina potion! Hari, you got one?” she called.

A small yellow vial was tossed to Jen, who caught it with ease, giving it to me, relief flooding through me as I swallowed it, finally able to take in a deep breath.

I was helped onto Sable’s back, Crisplet settling on Jen’s shoulder. We didn’t ride at a full sprint, but the trot was steady and purposeful. The city fell away behind us. No one slowed us down; all eyes—and attention—were still fixed on Mount Divinus. The storm had only intensified, its deafening roars echoing across the valley, lightning striking both near the base and the peak of the mountain.

Once we were outside the city and heading back toward Divinmere, Hari seemed comfortable enough to speak as he eased into a slower pace.

“Alright, sorry for rushing everyone. We’d best take a break from the city—I expect some uproar will happen soon,” he said.

“Oh, that sounds exciting! How do you cause an uproar just by visiting a temple?” Liane laughed, breaking the tense mood that had weighed on us all.

“It wasn’t me! But, Trev’s Cat may have just started a war with the God of Storm,” Hari said, smirking as the words left his lips.

“Wait?! My cat? What do you mean—MY cat?!” I exclaimed, finally processing what Hari had just said.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” Hari said with a laugh.

“The Ancient Dragon shot lightning at us—or maybe it was the cat. Not sure. The cat seemed to take offence, so after batting a bolt away like it was nothing, it went and cut the god’s statue in half, then raced toward the mountain. And judging by the lightning still striking, I’d bet the Cat is there… doing something.” Hari said it all as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“It cut the statue in half? And swatted away the lightning?” Milo repeated, wide-eyed.

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“Yep. So I figured now would be a great time for us to go do that nest job. Let everyone calm down a bit before we return—both beasts and people,” Hari added with a nervous chuckle.

“Honestly, I thought we were about to die. I burned through so many escape skills running down those stairs,” he said more seriously this time.

“The whole city is freaking out,” Liane said, laughing again. “That’s why I came looking for you. Although I didn’t expect you to be the cause,” she added with mirth.

“I didn’t even get food supplies!” I groaned, exasperated.

“We have enough for a couple of days, right?” Liane asked, her tone carrying genuine worry.

“Oh yeah, absolutely enough for a couple of days,” I replied, though in my mind I knew variety was lacking.

It was past lunchtime by the time we left the city, and the storm still raged. Lightning crashed into the mountain with relentless intensity. My stomach knotted thinking about anyone caught in the crossfire. The temple area had taken direct hits—I couldn’t see if anyone had been hurt. Parts of the city seemed to have been struck as well.

“Do you think everyone will be okay?” I asked, staring at Mount Divinus as we rode alongside it. The bolts now seemed to strike even higher, closer to the peak.

“Hopefully,” Jen replied, following my gaze. “It’s a little scary, isn’t it? That the cat is that powerful… it’s not even backing down from what’s supposed to be a continent-destroyer level beast,” she mused.

“Or stupid,” Hari added dryly.

We travelled for several hours along the path. Without the wagons slowing us down, the journey felt much faster. I hadn’t realised just how slow we’d been until now.

“So, this mission?” I asked partly to make conversation and partly genuinely curious.