A technomancer's journey in an apocalyptic world

Chapter 133: The Whispering Grotto (part-4)

The car ride back to Amellantha's camp was uneventful as Ryan sat with his eyes close, although his fellow apostles did not follow Ryan as their scout had discovered something interesting and as such, they had decided to investigate it with a small group which included his mother.

As they reached the camp Ryan spotted the camp looked to be a bit deserted as most of the people missing and his eyes soon found the culprit which was none other than his Alpha Raven 2.0, his rather infamous road train.

'It is good that I had not disassembled it completely, but now it looks like I will have to remake it for future use.'

Most of the occupants of the car had left except for Ryan and Amellantha, they sat in comfortable silence before Amellantha decided to break it.

"Your Holiness, have you decided on your 'inquisitorial members'?"

Ryan hummed in thought as he spoke, "No I do not have any permanent member, my mother is the head of a military unit I am borrowing her soldiers for now."

"I see, but you have to create one soon enough."

"I know granny Ame but for now I like the current arrangement, my mother's soldiers all have different abilities and it is great to gain help from them."

"I see."

With that, a comfortable silence descended amongst them as Ryan began to mull over Amellantha's words.

'Inquisition, bratva, and so many other names are used by an apostle to call their groups, I have so many choices but when granny Ame called it the 'Inquisitorial squad', it reminded me of the 'comfy chair', it was so hard not to laugh aloud, aww I would love to watch that skit and all those movies again I missed those.'

With that thought in mind Ryan dozed off dreaming off a certain 'Black Knight', 'Holy Hand Grenade', and 'Roman go home', and when he awoke again he found himself back inside New Hope.

Ryan climbed out of his car before he helped Amellantha only to be rounded up by Michalina who had a look of concern on her face.

"Brother you are awake? How are you feeling?"

Ryan winced at the bone-crushing hug of Michalina as he spoke, "I am fine now Sis, I had help from others."

But before Michalina could speak anything else a loud voice interrupted them, drawing the siblings' attention towards the speaker.

"Oh my God, it is Ryan O'Cahill I never thought I would see you in flesh."

An overly excited eleven-year old ran up to him jumping with joy only to stop seeing the bandaged face of Ryan as he let out a worried gasp as he spoke, "You got hurt, how did you get hurt."

As Ryan looked at the eleven-year-old owlishly the parents of the child arrived quickly at his side as the mother scolded the child, "John do not run away like that."

"But mom I found Ryan."

The mother grabbed hold of her child before she spoke with an apologetic tone, "I am sorry my son is very interested at fencing and you are his favorite fencer a few years older than him and you were already ready to make debut at International level."

As Ryan let out an embarrassed chuckle the mother took notice of his bandaged face as she spoke with a gasp, "You are injured?"

"This is nothing but a scratch you know how doctors are always fussing with their injections and medicines even for a slightest of scratch, so there is nothing to worry about I will be healed before you know it."

"Ah the fencing sport you told me about, you even seemed to have a fan."

Ryan looked towards the speaker as he spoke, "Ylerias did you finished your scouting."

Ylerias gave a nod before she focused on the child in front of her as she spoke with a small smile, "You are a fan of Ryan."

The child named John gave a vigorous nod as he spoke, "I have seen him in TV he is so cool while fencing and I loved watching him, he would look like he was dancing and then he would strike like lightning it was so cool."

Ryan gave a slight bow as he spoke, "Why thank you for your kind words though now I think it is time for you to follow your parents and settle down."

"But will I see you again."

The hopeful look on John's face brought a smile on Ryan's as he replied back, "Of course you will after all I stay here."

"Okay"

With that, the child left while dragging his mother behind him drawing smiles from many who watched.

"So you were famous before the merger of world took place? And what is this 'fencing' thing?"

"Granny Ame I was just famous in certain small circles and as for fencing it is sport where two people duel each other using rapier style sword."

As Amellantha gave a small nod of understanding Michalina spoke with a snort, "Please brother you were dubbed as an upcoming star and you would have debuted internationally soon."

Ryan simply smiled at her sister before he spoke with a gasp, "Ah how rude of me.", he then turned towards her sister as he spoke, "Sister she is Amellantha or as I call her Granny Ame, she is a very knowledgeable and helpful person who helped to heal Me.", he then turned towards Amellantha as he spoke, "And Granny Ame this is my older sister Michalina."

Both Amellantha and Michalina flashed each other a smile as Michalina spoke, "Thank you ma'am for helping my brother."

"There is no need to thank me after all it is an honor to help His Holiness."

"Well granny Ame, please follow me I will show you where you could rest."

As Ryan guided Amellantha, Ylerias stepped by his side as she spoke in a whisper, "Ryan we have found a depot containing missiles and various weapons, Ciara wants to see if you need to scan them and unlock some new weapons."

Ryan's eyes widen as he spoke with a large grin on his face, "I would love."

"But there is a problem."

"What is this problem?"

"There is a hive nearby, and Ciara fears if are to fight to close to it we might end up detonating the depot."

Ryan frowned as he spoke, "I see and her fears are not unfounded, yes there are many advanced missiles that will not explode until and unless the triggering mechanism is armed, but with so much changes happening it is better to be cautious, but more importantly what is this hive thing?"

"You know seen an abomination correct."

Ryan nodded as he spoke, "Yes, I have seen it many times, born from corpses of large number of undead."

Ylerias nodded as she spoke, "Hive can be said one of the possible rare evolutionary routes an abomination can take, it is gigantic in size and to a lesser extent it can be said as a Necropolis on legs."

Ryan stopped in his tracks as he stared at Ylerias with his mouth slightly ajar, "Sister Ylerias you called it Necropolis on legs and its name is hive, so how dangerous it is."

Ylerias frowned as she replied back, "If the hive had appeared instead of the iron dragon a few months ago, I would said to run as there is no hope of winning."

"Troublesome."

"Your Holiness.", with those words Amellantha drew Ryan's attention towards her as she began to speak, "The name hive it is given because they are like mobile fortresses carrying large number of troops, they themselves do not have any attack power except those that are stored inside them, but they had nigh impregnable defense as well as cause the same effect as a Necropolis but in smaller case."

Ylerias nodded as she spoke, "Yes and that is what makes them dangerous much dangerous than the iron dragon."

Amellantha's eyes glazed as her mind wandered back to her memories of bygone days as she whispered out loud, "A necropolis with a hive under its influence is a recipe for disaster as they amplify the powers of a necropolis, He died because of them."

Amellantha shook herself off of her depressed state as she spoke with a small smile, "Well enough of the sad stuff though I would recommend dealing with the creature as fast as possible, the longer you let it leave the chances are that more and more undead would call it home and stronger it would become and God forbid if it stumbles upon a Necropolis, even a recently created Necropolis partnered with a recently born Hive can be nightmarishly dangerous."

Ryan furrowed his brow as he spoke, "I see.", he then looked towards Ylerias as he spoke, "Sister Ylerias is it possible to sneak into the depot, then even if we are unable to bring out the missiles at least I can scan it or dissemble it."

Ylerias sighed as she spoke, "It will be difficult but not doable."

"Granny Ame how long until I can have this bandage removed?"

"Three to four days, Your Holiness."

"I see then we will make our move on the fifth day I will have to sneak in scan them, dissemble some if not all of them and get out first."

Ylerias nodded as she spoke, "Okay but we will have to be discreet and fast."

Ryan gave a nod before he spoke with a yawn, "True but most importantly I need a nice bath followed by a meal and sleep for now."