Gunmage-Chapter 34: Belly of the beast

Lugh was already speaking in Elvish before he knew it.

"What do you mean, 'eat me'?"

He cast a wary glance at the gathered figures and took a step back, eyes scanning for an escape route.

A melodious laughter escaped the priestess.

"Hahaha. You should've seen the look on your face."

Then, with deliberate grace, she pulled back her veil. The moment her face was revealed, a ripple of unease spread through the room. Some of the gathered figures looked as though they wanted to protest, but a single, whispered "hush" from her silenced them all.

Lugh held his breath. It was her.

That same blasted woman! The one he had met in the maze. The one who had vanished without a trace when he was attacked.

"You seem confused,"

She said, her lips curling into a smirk.

Lugh didn't hesitate.

"You owe me an explanation."

"No"

She said flatly.

"I do not owe you anything."

Lugh frowned, but before he could speak, she leaned forward slightly, her deep ocean blue eyes narrowing.

"You, however, are up to your ears in debt. You have taken, but what have you given?"

A chill crawled down his spine. Taken? His mind raced, dissecting her words.

"I haven't taken anything"

He said carefully.

"Oh, but you have"

She countered smoothly.

"The use of magic, the Mawglass. Do you think such things come without cost?"

Lugh's frown deepened.

"Mawglass? What the hell is a Mawglass?"

The priestess regarded him for a moment before tilting her head.

"It is... many things,"

She said, as though contemplating how much to reveal.

"You wouldn't understand even if I explained it to you. But if you must have a definition—"

She tapped her temple with a finger

"—think of it as a blessing."

Lugh's confusion only grew.

"Huh?"

Her gaze flickered downward, and her voice dropped to an unimpressed monotone.

"It's your right eye."

Silence.

Lugh stiffened. My eye? Instinctively, his hand twitched toward his face, but he forced it back down.

The priestess studied him, then sighed.

"You're filthy. I can't speak to you like this."

Lugh scowled. What does that have to do with anything?

She turned toward her attendants and issued a command.

"Take him to the baths. Have him cleaned properly."

Several of the women rose with fluid movements and started to walk toward him.

"Hey, hey, hey—stop!"

Lugh exclaimed, backing up instinctively.

The priestess gave him a displeased look.

"Why? Do you not wish to be clean? I detest dirty things."

Lugh resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He thought back to her earlier appearance in ragged clothes but wisely kept silent.

"No, it's not that,"

He said carefully.

"I just don't need their aid. I can wash myself."

She tilted her head, curiosity flickering across her features.

"Oh? You know where the baths are? Where to find clean robes?"

"Well... no."

"Then what exactly are you babbling about?"

Lugh bit his tongue. He mulled over his options before speaking in a formal, measured tone.

"I would prefer to be escorted by a man, if you'd be so kind."

The priestess stared at him. It took a moment for realization to dawn, and when it did, her expression flattened into boredom.

"Ah. That's what this is about."

She waved a hand dismissively.

"Fine."

The women halted and returned to their places. Instead, a young man, perhaps four years older than Lugh, stepped forward. He had a stoic expression, his posture rigid, as if awaiting orders. Without another word, he led Lugh away.

Lugh returned sometime later, freshly washed and dressed in a white robe that smelled faintly of herbs and scented oils. The fabric was soft and pristine, almost ceremonial.

He didn't feel any better though.

His skin still bore the strange blue hue, his muscles ached, and the deep shadows under his eyes spoke of exhaustion that not even a bath could wash away. The whole thing felt... off.

Like he was being prepared for something.

Perhaps a funeral.

When he arrived back at the temple's central chamber, nothing had changed. The people in the room remained kneeling in their strange, unnerving stillness.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

A simple mat had been placed at the base of the steps. Lugh sat cross-legged upon it. He quickly realized the positioning forced him to crane his neck upward to look at the priestess.

He didn't appreciate the power play.

"Alright, um—"

Lugh began.

The priestess cut him off.

"Did I give you permission to speak?"

Lugh blinked.

"No?"

"Then why are you still speaking?"

His patience thinned.

'What the hell is wrong with this woman?'

She let out an exasperated sigh, drumming her fingers against the mat she was seated on.

"Unbelievable,"

She muttered.

"I give you a spell, and you use it to burn my—"

"—my territory!"

Lugh tensed.

She wasn't done.

"And look at the state you got yourself in, hmm? What if you had died?"

Lugh opened his mouth.

"Why—"

"I SAID DON'T SPEAK."

The force of her voice cracked through the chamber like a whip.

Lugh's mouth snapped shut involuntarily.

Literally.

Panic flared through him when he realized he couldn't move his lips. He tried to pry his jaw open, but it was as though invisible hands had clamped it shut.

The priestess snapped her head up, as if noticing something.

Then, with a single phrase in a language Lugh couldn't understand, she dismissed half the attendants. They rose and swiftly left the chamber, their movements steady and silent.

When the doors closed, she turned her blue gaze back to Lugh.

"I'm in a good mood now,"

She said lightly.

"So, I'll be generous. You may ask three questions. No more."

Lugh clenched his jaw as his mouth was released.

Three questions? That was nowhere near enough.

Still, he didn't argue. He had already learned a crucial lesson about her—despite her capricious(unpredictable) attitude, she was dangerous. Extremely dangerous.

He couldn't let himself forget that.

Lugh considered his options. He had a million questions, but if he only had three, he had to be careful.

He took a slow breath, then asked the most important one.

"Where am I?"

The priestess tilted her head, then smiled.

"Good question."

She leaned forward, watching him with unreadable intensity.

"Do you remember what you saw before you fell off your... boat?"

Lugh's stomach turned. He knew exactly what she was referring to. As for how she knew that, he wasn't going to waste a question on finding out

"Yes"

He admitted.

"I saw the sky. And it saw me."

A flicker of something—curiosity? Amusement?—passed through her expression.

"It?"

She echoed.

Lugh nodded.

The priestess let out a soft hum, then exhaled sharply, as if suppressing irritation.

"Well then,"

She murmured,

"you are now inside 'its' stomach."

Lugh felt his blood turn ice cold.