D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

Chapter 653 Cross With Kress

The gap wasnʼt quite as large as a true ravine, perhaps 50m across at most. As such it was quite easy for Kat to ferry people across. Green was carried princess style while a sleeping Lily dozed on the Faeʼs chest. Once Kat dropped Green off, Lily was left in her care. Kat wasnʼt totally pleased with the arrangement but decided it was better than carrying her back and forth, especially with Kress on the list of people who needed to be carried.

Nixilei was just as easy, taking her spot in Katʼs arms and making a comment that, ”Lily might get jealous if Kat went around doing this all the time,” but she was promptly ignored. Not only was this a rather necessary action, for Kat it held very little intimacy and with their bond it would be easily felt. Of course Kat had no true understanding of jealousy and the irrational nature of it. Still, Lily was asleep for now and what she doesnʼt know wonʼt cause issues, even minor ones.

Kat was considering what she was going to do with the boys, but ʼTedʼ took matters into ʼhisʼ own hands by shrinking down and jumping up on her shoulders. Kat just shrugged and accepted it as ʼTedʼsʼ chosen method of transport. It wasnʼt uncomfortable and it worked so she flew ʼhimʼ across with no troubles as well. Kat assumed there would be an issue with Gareth but he just sighed and said, ”Same way as Green I suppose,”

Now it was a bit more difficult than carrying Green. Gareth was a fair bit taller than Green and had much broader shoulders. Still, this wasnʼt an insurmountable obstacle. No it was the full set of plate mail armour he was wearing. Kat it was awkward to pick Gareth up with all of his armour but Kat managed it with a little finagling. The problem was she could already tell before taking off that it was a bit too much to fly with Gareth AND his armour. ”Ok… I can only really glide with you because of how much your amour ways. Iʼm going to need a run up. Just, hold on tightly.”

Gareth grit his teeth and nodded, shifting slightly to try and make himself easier for Kat to hold as best he could. It was… mostly ineffective. Kat sped up to a light jog as she moved back down the tunnel to get a proper run up. She didnʼt want to increase her speed too quickly while holding someone without regeneration like her. After about a minute of jogging, and a few more turns than Kat was entirely happy with she turned in place and set off. She quickly built speed while making sure not to take any of the turns too sharply. As the gorge came back into view she rapidly increased her speed for the remainder of the runway before kicking off with all her strength right at the edge. The rock under her feet shattered, but it was enough. Kat launched herself over the ravine, flaring her wings when she reached the top of her jump to keep a steady glide all the way over to the other side…

Of course, she was a little too good and was currently on track to slam into part of the rock wall on the other side. The jump was easier than sheʼd expected with the large runup including. Still, it was no major issue, she folded her wings and braced her legs. As she reached the edge, Kat took the weight of herself, Gareth and another 100kg of armour, much more than what youʼd find on an Earth knight. The impact cracked the rock underneath her feet, as Kat deftly danced between what barely stable footing she could find as she slowed them both down, managing to stop just before they both hit the wall.

Kat, and everyone else really, let out a long breath they hadnʼt realised they were holding. Well, except for Lily who kept her slow steady breathing, not a care in the world. Even ʼTedʼ looked shocked, but how much of that was an act was unclear. Especially because as a dryad they didnʼt really use lungs to breathe the same way most other humanoids do. Gareth awkwardly exited Katʼs grasp. Sheʼd loosened her hands, but made no move to really let him down, so he stumbled out of her grip and pulled himself up. ”That… that wasnʼt ideal…” said Gareth.

Green shrugged and pointed off to the side where a small hole could be seen if you looked. It looked just barely large enough for someone of Garethʼs size… and that was without the armour. ”Perhaps not but I think the intended path would have been much worse for you,” said Green. She hopped over to Gareth and gave him a quick kiss before patting his shoulders. Kat took this as her cue to head back over to grab Kress.

When she got there he raised an eyebrow and said, ”You need to make a crazy jump with me?”

Kat shook her head, ”No that was almost entirely because of Garethʼs armour. I canʼt fly with that much weight so it had to be done. How do you want to be carried though?”

Kressʼ face scrunched up like heʼd bitten into a lemon and his eyes held a flash of anger but it was pushed down quickly. Kress study Kat closely, focusing mostly on her shoulder as he debated internally if he could get away with using ʼTedʼsʼ method before deciding it wouldnʼt be the best idea. He didnʼt want to ride on Katʼs shoulders like a little kid… though being carried like a girl wasnʼt ideal either… but it was the best option he could think of. ”Same as Gareth,” said Kress through his teeth.

Kat just nodded and picked Kress up. Unlike the others she moved slowly so that it was clear to Kress exactly what she was doing. He didnʼt look happy about it but he put up no fight as he lay in Katʼs arms. Kat, for her part, bit back a number of jabs she could make at the situation. *So many jokes. Like ʼIʼm really carrying this teamʼ or ʼseems youʼre a bit of a princessʼ or even ʼtrusting your life to me? Am I supposed to be flattered?ʼ but… if heʼs going to act like an angry child Iʼll treat him like one. Positive reinforcement is a good tool and heʼs swallowing his pride for this. Then again… I wonder what heʼll think if he spots the same hole Green did.*?

Kat would never know because as soon as she landed on the other side Kress flopped out of her hands as fast as he could, no matter how ungraceful it was. Once he was on the ground, ʼTedʼ popped back to ʼhisʼ old height and said, ”Good job mates. I thought we were going to have to really work to get around that obstacle. Nice to see you thinking outside the box. Still, we canʼt rest just yet we arenʼt at camp. ONWARDS!”

ʼTedʼ took off at what looked like a lot jog down the open cave mouth expecting the rest of the group to follow… which they did. Knowing that ʼTedʼ needed to be protected they didnʼt really have much choice. Kress was actually fighting the urge to catch up to ʼTedʼ and force him to take a break, or give proper directions or something other than just running mindlessly ahead… but he wasnʼt sure if that would get them penalized and nobody else was making a move, not even Green who certainly had the speed to pass ʼTedʼ easily… or Kat.

Kat wasnʼt really paying attention to that at all. She was considering what ʼTedʼ had said. *Hmm… is flying across the gap really ʼthinking outside the boxʼ? I feel like if you can fly, flying across an obstacle is the first place your mind should go. It makes me wonder if he only answered that way because itʼs always the response for getting across the ravine? Like… is this Thyme actually smart enough for things like that? Or is it just programmed… I bet Thyme could do both and I donʼt know which is more likely.*?

She didnʼt voice these thoughts though, she just caught up to Green and had Lily returned to her before sliding to the back of the group again. Everyone was able to keep pace with ʼTedʼ with no issues at all. It was just a light jog, and the only person with any sort of burden was Gareth and his armour, something the man in question was well used to carrying. Green walked at the front of the formation, just a step behind ʼTedʼ making sure to watch the surroundings closely, searching for any traps.

Something that Kat hadnʼt noticed because of her night vision, and the others hadnʼt yet questioned though… was that the whole cave system was lit up. Nobody was carrying torches, Nixilei wasnʼt using a spell to help them along. There were no special artifacts.. There was simply light for everyone to see by.