Chapter 8 – Facing the Clan.
“He did what?” Arnold roared with laughter. “He really is an idiot.”
A grin on his face, he let Schred continue to retell the events around Tourin’s blockade on the road north of Bluemoon, shaking his head in amusement every time Schred detailed an aspect of his stupidity. He wondered at times how Tourin had managed to worm his way up through the ranks in the Guild, but in reality he already knew the answer. Money. Tourin had bought his way up the ranks, and bought the loyalty of those that worked for him. The Applecart family was incredibly wealthy, a noble family of the kingdom that was heavily involved in slavery. It was blood money, and Arnold did not like them at all. While he had gotten himself there, Tourin was unsuited to the position, and he pitied those still at the Bluemoon branch who would have to work with him till he eventually met his end. Which he would soon, if Schred’s stories were anything to go by.
The Guild itself would also have to pay for his stupidity however. They had put him there, and while he worked with their authority they bore responsibility for his actions. It would likely be a long time before payment was collected though. The Dark Hand’s influence was spreading quickly through the Guild now, the corruption evident in all parts of it. While they had been present for as long as Arnold could remember, they’d been gaining more and more traction recently. He’d easily read between the lines when he and Eseau had been summoned to the capital along with all of the other Guild captains. While the summons had apparently been from Eeronthos Haven, the Guildmaster of the Fall Haven Guild, he knew that it more likely to have been orchestrated by Tempest Reislord, who was the current leader of the Dark Hand. So he had arranged his own disappearance en route to the capital, making it look like he’d met his end to some Night Beasts to the Dark Hand members who had been lying in wait for him, and gone into hiding. He then had those who were directly loyal to him, such as Almos and Schred, act in his stead as he watched the events unfold and planned his next move. He had intended to retire, had even managed to semi do so, but it looked as though the times were going to forcibly make him active again.
There was a lot more going on than what appeared on the surface. He could understand the Clan and Guilds wanting to prevent any panic of the general populace by attempting to keep a tight control on the spread of information around the events of the harbinger and any noted appearances of demons, but that the Sisters of the Radiant Dawn were also generally burying their head in the sand was a concern. He could understand the Guilds not wanting to tackle the re-emergence of the Demons, as the eradication of Night Beasts, and hence other threats, was the domain of the Riders, but in the end all of them should be trying to deal with the growing issues, and none of them were. All it said to him was that the darkness was now present everywhere, and whatever faction there was in the Clan must hold a lot of power. The sequence of events was also strange, and he couldn’t find a reason why the villages had been wiped out. As the same factions were likely responsible for stifling any terror they could have generated, it seemed like mass murder for the sake of it. But there would be more to it than that, he was certain.
The appearance of Prime Dragons was an interesting development, and if the Rider was indeed travelling with Laphir and his troupe, then they were with good company. He had decided that he needed to meet with them, but that would be easier said than done. Nothing like a good challenge though.
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Port Muir was an impressive city, and not even the references to it in the books Izen had read did it justice. It sat against the mouth of the Yeramae River as it flowed into the Central Sea and the natural harbour that had formed there. The lower city was a sprawling mass of wharfs, docks, and sandy beaches, with numerous trading and fishing ships anchored there, as well as a few naval vessels, though they were mostly for show, as the Guild ships usually possessed a lot more firepower. The upper city bridged over the river itself, the houses wealthy and decadent, with as many houses sitting on the river as were on either side. The northern part of the city was the commercial section of the city, merchants tents lining the main street, while further back were all of the industrial buildings of the Guilds, the entire area a continual hive of activity. The southern section was the more modest residences, the houses clustered together like someone had tried to jam as many as possible into the smallest of spaces, and then had worked with the result when they had started to fall over. Visible on the outskirts of the city were the beginnings of the satellite villages that serviced the agricultural needs of the city, though they had spotted over a dozen of them as they had approached the city. Sitting in the middle of the city, also bridging over the river and dwarfing the nearby Guildhalls, was the Western Sky Temple, its spires stretching high into the sky, and glinting in the rays of the sun. Unlike the Southern Temple, which had formed its own small village, everything for the Western Sky Temple was in the one structure, and it was massive, standing twice the height of the Southern Temple, and many times wider. Both the Central Temple and the Western Sky Temple had been started around the same time, the second and third temples of the kingdom, as the population of Riders had increased, and it had become apparent that more permanent homes would be needed for the Riders that kept watch over the seal at the Core. The temple was mostly a combination of white marble, granite and obsidian, while some of the upper levels also used ironwood. From what they could tell the lower levels were for the support staff and administration, while the upper levels were the dorms and stables for the Riders, flight platforms built into the bases of of all of the spires. Given its space constraints, it could only house forty Riders at maximum, from what Myne could recall, and though all rooms were usually accounted for many of them would be out on missions or at the Core. The biggest population of Riders was of course at the capital. The Western Sky temple also didn’t accommodate Primes, Lady Knight Cousair van Elmir’s had still been the only one when the temple had been commissioned, and they didn’t see the need for a second location to be able to house them given their sheer size, the space having better uses here. That of course meant that they would have to land outside the city itself and walk in, which had it’s advantages. They had discussed the option of dropping in on one the flight platforms, but that would only be viable for Izen and Myne and they had instead opted to draw the resident riders out to them. Any one hostile to them would be less likely to try something rash with all the population around.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Light and Ashling landed just outside the city walls on the northern edge, Light maintaining her larger form while the party made a show of discussing options in the view of the guards, before she joined Ashling on Izen’s shoulder in her chibi form. While there was no chance that their arrival had been missed, one of the guards had dashed inside the walls straight away, likely to ensure that the Clan and Guilds did indeed know. Waiting for a minute more, the party also headed in, and while the guard hadn’t been that keen on granting them entry, when they had reminded him that he probably couldn’t stop them anyways and they’d rather do it the peaceful way and that they’d just be milling around the commercial area till the Riders came to them, he had relented.
It was even busier in the middle of it all that it had looked from above as they had arrived. People were everywhere, merchants wearing the insignia of the various guilds loudly advertising their wares while the shopfronts proudly sported enticing displays. The smell of food and the fragrance of spices was strong, and even up here the clang of the town's industrial engine could be heard as the various smiths, mills and labs produced their goods. Whispers floated around about the arrival and then disappearance of some giant dragons, but as they were now inside of the walls no one was paying them any additional attention, which was good, as Izen was not used to the sheer number of people around her and it was putting her on edge. Myne put her arm around Izen, her touch helping to settle Izen’s nerves.
“We should have a look around. It’s not often that we get the chance to browse, and it’ll be a good way to pass the time while we wait for the Lady Knight to make an appearance,” Myne said to Izen, directing her to one of the shop fronts as the rest of the party followed along behind.
The current task put aside for the moment, they looked at the wares of a variety of merchants, from the food and spice stalls, to weapon and armour shops. While some of the goods were locally produced, just as much had been imported, and there was quite a number of things that they had not seen or heard of. It was a port city after all. What took Izen’s attention most of all however was the clothing stalls.
‘Now he’s looking at dresses,’ teased Ashling, after they had been at one stall for quite some time.
“It’s cute. I really want to wear it,” mumbled Izen, blushing a bright red.
Myne rested her head on Izen’s shoulder, hugging her from behind.
“You’d look really good in it too,” she said, causing Izen to blush even brighter.
The small dress was made from a red silk, embellished with gold designs and trimmings. It looked like it would hug her figure closely, showing plenty of cleavage and sitting quite high on her legs. A pair of decorticated panels flowed down the sides from just below where it cupped the breasts, finishing a fraction below the bottom of the dress. Just long enough to be a dress and not just a top. It was obviously imported, looked to cost a small fortune, and it was surprising that it was even on display and hadn’t been put aside to market directly to the more wealthy patrons.
Izen sighed, giving the dress a last look before turning from the stall. “Not that we have money to spend anyways.”
‘Should we start calling you Velvet all the time now?,’ queried Ashling, the question a strangely serious one even though he still had the teasing tone to his voice.
Izen stopped, the question hanging in her mind. ‘Izen’ was the last part of her male past, that she had still been hanging onto as part of her identity, of still being herself. You will always be you, Light had said, you’ll just adjust, and discover hidden likes. While that was true, Izen was certain that Light hadn’t told her the full truth. She would agree that the female form was her true form, her true identity, but she hadn’t been born with it – Lyrissa had confirmed as much. She was also a lot more feminine now than she had been. Be they hidden tastes or not, it was certainly a change, and it altered the way in which she looked at the world. She would never have looked at or thought that way about a dress ever before (and she did really really want to wear that dress, to see and show off how it looked on her, to see the smile on Myne’s face), and it wasn’t just dresses either. She was starting to care a lot more about her appearance, how her armaments looked, heck next time she resummoned it she was going to try and make some minor alterations. She was bathing a lot more frequently than ever before, cute was now a common word in her thought vocabulary, and she was always trying to occupy Myne's attention. Well, that last one might be due to her love for Myne more than anything else, but it was also a change to the way she acted and felt about herself. She was much more female now than she had been, and she wondered if there was in fact anything of her male part left any more.
‘You can still take on the form,’ Light politely reminded her.
‘True, but it doesn’t feel right at all. It’d have to be something really important for me to don that mask, even if for a short time’ Izen replied.
‘You even walk and talk like a girl now,’ Ashling unhelpfully added, though he was right.
‘Heh. Ever the observant.’ Izen thought back. There really wasn’t much of her male side left, if any. And she was happy about that.
When she had first given her name in her female form, she had called herself Velvet Izen. It had both the female and male parts there, and the presence of the last name was in part subterfuge, allowing them to make incorrect assumptions, and also part comfort, tying herself back to her past. But she had continued to think of herself still as Izen, Myne also still calling her that as that was the name she had initially learned of her, and she hadn’t wanted to change that. But she was no longer Izen any more was she. She was Velvet Izen. She was Velvet.
“You’re right Ashling,” she said. “My name,” she continued, briefly pausing, “Is Velvet.”
Myne’s eyes twinkled. “Took you long enough, Velvet” she said, before leaning in to give her a kiss, Velvet replying in like. She liked the sound of it, especially coming from Myne. And, for some strange reason, she felt a lot freer now too.