De'Vas Chronicles Book 4: Chapter 8

Ash relaxed in the wooden chair of what would be the meeting room for his advisers, well, most of them. Blake was still hunting for the girls with his bands of beastkin. They had only been searching for a day, but Ash was already getting worried. Part of him wanted to leave the castle and look for them himself, but the rational side of him knew he’d only get lost. He was clueless about the forest, hell, he was clueless about everything in this world. His only knowledge about Vas was what his friends had told him.

He stared at the door, waiting for the arrival of everyone. Right now, the only ones in the room were him, Eva, and…

He heard the clanking of armor and turned from the door to a very nervous Eva, literally shaking in her boots. Well, her sabatons, or at least that’s what Ash remembered Bo referring to them as.

“I’m sorry, Warchief,” Eva said, shaking. “Please, forgive me.”

Ash sighed. It wasn’t like he had any control over this.

“Sparky just likes you,” he said as he watched the cat made of Lightning Magic rub against the orc warrior's leg.

As soon as he had taken his seat, Sparky decided to show himself. The little bastard slipped out of his elemental scar and wandered around the table. Eva stared at the cat with her mouth hanging open, then Sparky noticed her, or rather, her footwear, and decided they would make a great rubbing post.

His behavior is very cat-like. Is he trying to mimic how a cat is supposed to act, or when I gave him this form, did it impart everything I know about cats into him?

The question made him wonder how Sparky would have turned out if he had kept his manticore form, or worse, his human form. Would he have just been a copy of himself? Have all of Ash’s memories and personality. The thought sent chills down his spine, and he shook it away.

“Sparky, leave her alone,” Ash said.

True to a cat’s nature, he was ignored.

“Sparky,” he growled.

The blue cat just let out a static purr as he made another pass around Eva’s legs.

“Wait… this isn’t a spell?” the orc warrior asked.

Ash shook his head as he glared at the blue cat.

“Sparky…”

Finally, the cat stopped rubbing, looked at him, and then jumped. Ash felt the little bastard slip back into his elemental scar, settling down there.

OUTSIDE. NICE.

Ash rubbed along the scar and sighed.

“You can come out, just don’t bother people,” he said.

Eva stared at him.

“What was that?” she asked, her eyes wide. “If it’s not a spell then…”

Ash thought about whether he should tell the truth. He had done his best to keep Sparky a secret back in District 114, but Sparky wasn’t sealed anymore and very much had a mind of his own.

“He’s my… pet elemental,” Ash answered.

A loud clatter echoed in the room as Eva dropped to her knees and stared at him. The sound was so loud that Ash almost covered his ears, and before he could even ask Eva if she was alright, the door flung open.

“Warchief, are you okay?”

Ash looked to the door and saw a wolfkin with gray hair standing beside a dark elf woman and a rather fat dwarf. All of them turned and looked at Eva, who was still on her knees on the floor.

“Sorry, I lost my balance,” Eva said after a moment.

She stood, then took a few shaky steps and cleared her throat.

“Your advisers,” she said, gesturing to the heavily scarred dark elf woman first. “Helena was a commander for the Spider-Queen of the Bloodridge Caverns before the Queendom fell.”

The dark elf woman gave a slight nod to him before taking a seat at the table. Ash could already tell she would be a hardass and would probably try to scrutinize everything he proposed.

Good.

Eva gestured to the fat dwarf next, who graciously bowed to him.

“Augustus, a merchant originally from the Blue Iron Mountains.”

The dwarf bowed lower, almost until his beard touched the floor. Ash frowned at the gesture.

“Thank you, Warchief, for this great position, bestowed on a humble dwarf such as myself.”

Ash looked at Eva, who almost seemed ready to panic.

“Dwarf, you’re about to lose this position if you keep groveling,” the gray-haired wolfkin said.

Augustus froze, looked at Ash, then Eva, and finally stood and cleared his throat.

“So the orc was serious about you not wanting those who will just agree with you?” Augustus asked.

Ash shrugged.

“What would the point be of having advisers if they agreed with me all the time. I want people with experience and knowledge that I can pull on and who will point out holes in any plan I have.”

The dwarf grinned and moved to take a chair.

“I can do that!” he said.

Eva cleared her throat once more, but the wolfkin cut her off.

“I can introduce myself, orc,” she said, then faced Ash. “I am Grace, and my mate, Blake, has spoken highly of you. The orc said you were looking for someone who knows the area. I’m a hunter and know these woods as well as anyone.”

Ash gestured to one of the chairs.

“Good to have you, Grace. I appreciate all the help Blake has given me.”

The wolfkin pulled out a chair and sat down.

“And I appreciate not being in a cage,” she said, her eyes lingering on Eva.

Ash expected hostility between the orcs and others, given what they put them through. Thankfully, so far it’s just been simmering anger and hasn’t erupted into anything more.

“Eva, do we not have an adviser from the orcs?” he asked.

His mind was already considering how that could heighten tension. He watched as Eva meekly pulled out a chair and sat down at the table.

“I was the only orc that backed you, Warchief. The others are now considered lower caste and, by clan law, can’t hold positions of power.”

Ash frowned, but said nothing. Instead, he looked to the group before him; these would be his advisers. The individuals who would help him and the girls return home.

“Okay, what is said in this room does not leave this room. If you can agree to that, stay. If not, then the door is right there,” Ash said, meeting everyone’s eyes.

When none moved from their spot, he continued.

“First, I don’t know this area. I know nothing about the kingdoms, terrain, or cultures here. I’ll be depending on you to guide me with them,” Ash stated.

He had planned how to approach this effectively, and he decided to be direct and straightforward. The room gave him an odd look, except for Eva, who stared at the table. He figured she was still shaken from meeting Sparky.

“Second, my main goal is to find my friends. After that, I plan to build up Castle Markel and track down a stone dragon who goes by the name Victor,” Ash said, gritting his teeth at the mention of the dragon.

The odd looks intensified from his advisers.

“Questions?” Ash asked.

Helena went first.

“What are you?”

Ash looked at the dark elf woman.

“Human,” he answered.

Helena just scoffed at him, but didn’t pursue the matter.

“Why are you after this stone dragon?” Augustus asked.

“He has a silver ball covered in runes that I need,” Ash answered.

He waited for any more questions, but Eva and Grace remained silent. Seeing there were none, he continued.

“With that out of the way, I want to hear about Markel Forest and the surrounding area.”

He looked at Grace first. She was the hunter after all.

“Markel Forest is the young forest between the kingdoms and the old growth of the deep woods. Dryads created it during a feud with the original rulers, and while they now stay closer to the old growth, their presence is still here. Many of the ruins of the kingdom still stand, though choked by vegetation.”

So the dryads still monitor these woods with their plant sight.

Eva hadn’t mentioned any dryads, so they probably didn’t react to the orcs settling in the old castle. Hopefully, they would continue to ignore the place.

“Behemoths do venture into these woods, but the larger monsters typically stay deeper in the forests.”

Ash turned to Helena once Grace was done.

“Tell me about our neighbors. Any of them a potential enemy?”

The dark elf woman laughed.

“All of them. However, the Exiled Brothers will be the most immediate threat. That green turd Mullin sold many of his slaves to them for their so called ‘kingdom’ and your claim of being a vassal to the Nightmare Queen will only spur them more once they learn of it. I have no doubt they will eventually come.”

Ash’s lips thinned.

“I take it Cleo is responsible for them being exiled?”

Helena shifted uncomfortably at him using the Nightmare Queen’s first name.

“They’re the sons of the late Queen of Everwood. Queen Blackthorn took her head, and when the Kingdom of Everwood suffered a bloody succession crisis, the brothers fled south. They claimed a few villages as their new domain and started acquiring slaves to build a castle. Their army would be slaves and conscripted farmers, but both brothers are powerful users of Ice Magic.”

He didn’t like the thought of trouble coming to them so soon. He needed time to get his footing here and become stronger.

“Helena, work on getting defenses set up for the castle. I defer to your judgment on what’s best, and you have my permission to recruit from the gangs… I mean volunteers. Recruit volunteers to help you, offer them an incentive from the treasury.”

Mullin had several chests filled with gold coins stashed away in a cellar. Ash wasn’t sure how much it was all worth, and Eva just told him a lot.

“Augustus,” Ash called to the dwarf.

The round man almost jumped out of his seat.

“I want you to consider what resources we can easily acquire from Markel Forest that would be useful in trading. Talk to Grace and figure out what we can use.”

The dwarf looked to the gray-haired wolfkin, then back to Ash and nodded.

He dismissed the meeting shortly after that, but asked Eva to stay behind. He figured she would anyway; the orc woman had basically assigned herself to be his bodyguard or herald, as she called it.

“Yes, Warchief,” she asked, her eyes darting to his elemental scar.

“When Blake gets back, I want you two to work together. Doesn’t matter what the task is, just as long as others see you two cooperating.”

Eva nodded slowly.

“You’re worried about tension between the orcs and others?” she asked.

Ash nodded.

“There’s a lot of bad blood, but the beastkin look up to Blake, and you’re my herald. I want you both to lead by example,” Ash said. “When Blake returns, I plan to ask the same thing of him.”

He hoped the bearkin would return soon with a unicorn, otterkin, and desert elf in tow.