De'Vas Chronicles Book 4: Chapter 12

“This is horrible,” Ash said, his hand gripping the wooden bench he was sitting on.

The wagon hit another bump in the road, and he felt all the bones in his body shake from the impact. Apparently, shock absorbers were not a thing on Vas.

Haylee clung to her bench as well, a grimace on her face from the jolt. She was wearing Vas clothing today, instead of her usual blue jeans and hoodie. Ash thought the forest green tunic looked good on her. Selena sat next to her and seemed more relaxed, her hands resting in her lap. Traveling by carriage and wagon was very familiar to her growing up as a princess.

“Wait until we arrive and you try to stand,” Selena said with a smirk.

Augustus cast a glance at them in the back of the wagon, a nervous smile on the dwarf’s face.

“We’re not too much farther from Riverbend, Warchief,” the dwarf said. “The road should become smoother… I hope.”

Riverbend was the forest elf city they were heading to. Augustus had said the city was originally an outpost back when Markal Castle wasn’t a ruin and the forest elf empire covered much of the area. Now it was an independent city-state heavily reliant on trade from the river for its economy.

“I’m going to buy a pillow to sit on for the ride back,” Haylee said.

Selena just shook her head.

“It doesn’t help as much as you think it will.”

They hit another bump after she said that. Thankfully, Augustus was right, and the road eventually did smooth out as the city’s walls came into view.

As they neared the gate and the gate guards, Ash pulled up the hood of his cloak to hide his ears.

“Halt!” a voice called out as they arrived at the gate.

Two spearman came over and started to inspect the goods in their wagon, which was mostly just animal hides. Another one approached the driver’s box where Augustus sat.

“Here to trade furs, I take it?” the guard said with a friendly smile.

Augustus nodded.

“Need some basic supplies,” he answered.

The guard looked over them, and Ash pretended to be having a conversation with Haylee.

“Odd party you have. A dwarf, unicorn, otterkin, and an elf, where do you hail from, stranger?”

Augustus kept the smile on his face as he said the lie they had prepared.

“A hunter camp in the east. We welcome anyone who can do the work there, a motley lot we are.”

The guard seemed satisfied with the answer, and the spearmen moved away from the back of the wagon.

“We’ll let you through, but I’d like to ask, have you heard anything about Castle Markel in the south?” the guard asked.

Augustus frowned and shook his head.

“No, should I have?”

The guards shared a grim look.

“Rumors are spreading that the ruins were taken over by someone claiming to be a vassal of the Nightmare Queen. Someone with very powerful Lightning Magic. They’re just rumors, but Riverbend is trying to verify them.”

The dwarf leaned forward in the wagon, feigning interest.

“Really? We’ll have to avoid the south, then. Thank you for letting us know.”

The guard waved them through the gate after that, and Ash saw his first city on Vas. Stone buildings lined cobbled stone streets, interspaced every so often with a lot filled with trees that looked like a miniature park or garden. It seemed even the forest elves living in a city liked their greenery close by.

The wagon rolled toward a building with a hanging sign in the shape of a mug. The tavern was called The Rooting Boar, and Augustus stopped the wagon in front of it.

“I’ll gather the supplies, and we can meet back here when we’re all done,” the dwarf said with a smile. “You go spend some time with your two ladies.”

Ash stood and immediately had to hold the side of the wagon to support himself. His legs felt like jelly.

“Told you,” Selena said as she helped stabilize Haylee, who looked like she was about to fall over.

Once the otterkin was steady on her feet, she grabbed his hand and pulled him along with her off the wagon.

“Come on, let’s see if we can find a bookstore,” she said excitedly.

He caught a slight frown on Selena’s face, but she quickly joined them, looping her arm through his free one. The frown was replaced with a smile.

“What are we looking for at the bookstore?” Selena asked as she clung to his arm, her eyes locked on Haylee.

“Ash is looking for books on magic to help him with his new friend,” Haylee answered, staring at Selena’s arm locked with his.

He looked between the girls, wondering what was going on, then both of them just smiled at him. He put a pin in it for now, but if he noticed any other odd things, he would bring it up with them. Instead, he walked through Riverbend with them, looking at the signs.

“I wasn’t expecting this,” Ash said once they found the bookstore.

Selena cleared her throat.

“It’s a very popular series,” she said.

Ash felt Haylee squeeze his arm tighter.

“I don’t know if we should bring him in there,” she said with a slight growl.

Selena shrugged.

“It’s just a book club.”

Ash said nothing as he stared at the wooden sign standing beside the door to the bookstore. It depicted a buff shirtless human holding a swooning elven woman in his arms. The elven woman had a book in her hand with the title clearly visible: The Human Prince and the Tavern Maiden.

Attached to the wooden sign was a small piece of paper stating that a group calling themselves The Round Ear Society would be discussing the release of this book in detail today.

“I’ll be sure to keep my hood on,” Ash said with a chuckle to Haylee.

Her ears went canted as they walked into the bookstore and saw a large group of people off to one side, laughter coming from them as one held up a copy of The Human Prince and the Tavern Maiden.

“Horny elves,” Haylee said under her breath.

They made their way to the counter, and Ash smiled at the small forest elf woman working behind it.

“Hi, I was wondering where I could find the section on magic?” he asked.

The woman was intently watching the large group, and it was fairly clear she would rather be over there with them instead of behind the counter.

“The first five shelves over there,” she said, pointing without even looking up at him.

Ash smirked as he and the girls made their way to the shelves on the opposite side of the bookstore from The Round Ear Society.

“You could probably drop your hood and they’d never notice,” Selena said, looking back at the group.

“Don’t you dare,” Haylee said quickly to him.

Ash just laughed.

“Alright, can you girls help me look. Anything related to Lightning Magic and training,” Ash said.

He pulled down a book and began flipping through it, only to frown at what he was seeing inside.

This is really basic…

He closed the book, slipped it back onto the shelf, and moved on to the next one. Selena and Haylee eventually moved down to the other shelves, and they kept sorting through books. Fortunately for him, both girls knew magic and could distinguish between what might be useful and what wouldn’t be.

They had been searching for a while when a hooded woman appeared next to him, looking at the books as well. Ash hadn’t even heard her approach, but he was focused on flipping through pages. He closed the book and moved to return it to the shelf, only to hear a thud as the woman next to him dropped the book she was reaching for.

“Here,” Ash said as he knelt and picked up the book.

He held it out to her and saw under her hood. She was a forest elf woman with brown hair, but the feature that stood out to him the most was the fact that she had one green eye and one blue.

Heterochromia?

That’s what he thought it was called, anyway. The woman looked at him in surprise as he held out the book, only for her hand to reach out. Instead of taking the book, though, her hand went to his hood and pulled it away from his face, revealing his ears.

Her eyes widened, and Ash heard Haylee call out, a sharp edge to her voice.

“What are you doing?”

The elf with green and blue eyes looked up in fear before quickly rushing from the bookstore. Haylee was beside him in a second, a scowl on her face as she watched the elf race away.

Ash made sure his hood was over his head before standing. He looked over at the book club and saw them all staring over at them, even the woman behind the counter was looking this way now.

“Let’s get what we found and head out,” Ash said.

They went to an alchemist next since Selena wanted to obtain fireweed. Lots and lots of fireweed. When Ash asked why she needed this much, she said it was for her gun and a side project she was working on. He couldn’t get more information out of Selena about her project. She would smile and tell him to wait and see. Once they left the alchemist, they headed to the tavern.

Augustus was waiting for them at the tavern with a tankard of ale in his hands.

“Just in time!” he said, downing the remains of his tankard. “The barmaid should be back shortly and take our orders. I just got here myself not long ago.”

Ash pulled out a chair and sat down with Haylee and Selena sitting on either side of him.

“How did it go with supplies?” he asked.

The dwarf nodded his head.

“Well enough. Some stuff is a little higher than I anticipated, mostly due to the news down south,” Augustus said, looking at him.

Ash frowned.

So people are panic-buying because I took over the old, ruined castle?

“The furs sold very well, though, so we’re not out much coin.”

The barmaid arrived not long after that and took their orders. Ash relied on his friend's suggestions and wasn’t disappointed at the pork and potato pie, which was what he had apparently ordered.

Their table fell silent as they ate, and Ash watched the other patrons of the tavern. Forest elves made up the majority, but there were other races as well. Dwarves were common, as were other elves, but one person stood out among all of them due to his size and bright red complexion.

An oni.

The man was tall and bulky, with his woolen tunic struggling to contain his muscular frame. Which apparently he found just as itchy as Ash found his, judging by how often he’d scratch at it. He was wondering if the man was a trader passing through when the oni finished his meal and stood from his table. He started walking to the door, and Ash began watching the other patrons, only to notice the oni had stopped to look at a notice board on the tavern wall, then reach into his pocket.

Ash’s blood chilled, and his eyes widened as the oni took out a cellphone and snapped a picture of whatever was on the notice board before turning and walking through the door. He jumped from his seat and raced after him. As soon as he left the tavern, he spun around searching the street for the red oni, only to see no one there.

“Damn it!” he swore.

He heard the door open behind him.

“Is everything okay, Ash?” Selena asked.

He looked at the girls as his heart raced in his chest.

“That oni had a cellphone,” he said. “We need to see what’s on the notice board.”

Selena and Haylee’s eyes widened as Ash made his way back into the tavern. He scanned the board and only saw one thing that it could be. He tore the paper free and stared at it.

Riverbend Gladiator Match!

Open Entry to All Challengers!