Chapter 167: Ratilleck

I didn't want to leave the girls, since we didn't get any time to spend in the night together, but the sooner they left, the sooner they would be coming back. I hugged and kissed the girls goodbye, then locked my forearm with Mesh. The short trip had been fun, and there would be more in the future.  For now, I need him to get back and warn the others.

"Mesh, I release you from my orders to not transform unless commanded. I release you all from all previous commands. Mesh, I would like you to stay with the girls and protect the people walking back to Dreams from this village. I know it will be faster for you to just fly back, but I am counting on you to keep everyone safe."

'Why are you not just taking them back yourself?' -Nina.

'You know why! I will not send people in until the main threats are taken care of.'

Everyone agreed, but they all looked like they had been scolded, as they turned to leave, but before they did the three women rushed back to me and I squeezed them all.

"Don't you dare die!" Kadence said pounding her fist into my chest. 

"I don't plan it, remember, I still have Nina with me to help me think my way out of problems. Plus, when it comes to hitting things with my bare hands, I'm the best."

"Still, don't be reckless, and don't lose it. You get way too angry sometimes, it will be just you so don't lose sight of your goal if something happens there, it would have happened if you didn't come," Nuwari said leaning up for a kiss, then both she and Kadence pulled away, leaving Kalita in my arms.

"I'll get your mother back, I promise I will try my best, but you know, there couldn't have been a better outcome, right? I mean we thought she was stealing people's souls or something to stay young, but instead, the place is just crawling with vampires!"

"I have been here for a while, and you and I go way back, Hyde. I know you will bring my mother back because you don't know how to quit. I trust you will stake these bastards to the cross on a bright day. Please, be safe."

I hugged her and then watched them go, but soon turned, and looked out over the grassy rolling landscape. I had to jog to meet Mainframe in two days, but now I wasn't sure if he would even make it there, maybe after being attacked, he might think his odds will be better in the castle with the Pure Vampires for back up. There was no way in hell it didn't know it was me and now I knew why it had been avoiding me, so it could lure me to this place. 

I would have to deal with them when I got back, I had no proof yet, but there had to be someone working in The Hyde Office that was being controlled by MainFrame. 

"So, how long do you think it will take us to get to...where are we going again?" Julius squeaked.

I grabbed him off my shoulder and then shoved him into my pocket that had clothes and supplies in it plus the sandwiches that Alex had prepared for us.

"Hey what the big idea here! Get me...woah, what is this place? Didn't you just shove me in your pocket? Why am I in this chamber filled with...stuff!" Came the muffled squeak from inside my pockets.

"Infinite Pocket, it's a magic that makes my pocket as big as I need them for anything I can fit in my pocket, but the pocket can only be so big. This will be a safe place for you; how far and in what direction is the city? Also, there are sandwiches there that need to be eaten before they go bad."

"Already on it chief! Head west about eighty kilometers, can't miss it, the place is big!"

"Well, we should be there in about ten minutes. Man, I really thought it was going to be farther, we will be there in no time!"

"What? How? What are you?"

"Well, you see their heroes in this world, right?"

"Okay, I'll bite. Yes, there are heroes, what about it?" Julius squeaks in exasperation.

"I am the hero, the one Gripton sent. You are four hundred and fifty-some years old? I'm thousands of years old, countless lifetimes that I can't even remember, and I am good at hitting things. That's what I am, now, let's go for a jog!"

I pumped myself up and bent my knees, letting all the strength fill me, then released. The power was barely the same as using two bands, but I was able to skip across the land like a Speed Racer crossing the canyon. I felt it when I entered the area of effect for the magic nullification, but as Julius had said, innate magic like the pocket, Nina, and my strength and speed would stay, which they did. 

There were larger areas where trees grew as I streaked across the landscape, but nothing bigger than a kilometer wide, and there were very few active farms. There were a lot of abandoned ones, and we stopped at a couple, but after the third, I just passed them by.  Many stilled plates set for a meal, some looked to have been taken care of, but every house was filled with old brown bloodstains.

I could finally see the capital of Ratiha, Ratilleck. The bat was right, this place was huge, a massive city that had a lot of flat buildings. With the stops and my walks around, the trip here had taken far longer than it needed to. It was already almost my first lunch and I had a lot to do today.

I reached in my pocket and Julius handed me a sandwich that I pulled out. Almost as Good as Bhan's magic, hehe!