As the group walks through the city towards the castle, Ray fully takes in the city, it was truly amazing, there were beast-men of every kind walking the streets, shops selling all kinds of cool and wonderful things and even a real-life Red-light district that Ray had just so happened to notice, before being dragged away by Lilly and Claire. And although they got a few curious looks, mainly because of Claire, no one went out of their way to harass them... though that was probably due to Luke being there.
They had been walking for a while, the group getting to taken in the life and vibes of the city. They even ran into a group of school kids which Ray was shocked about, there was no schools within the game of Evoden, though it would make sense that there were. As they walked past, he noticed that all the kids looked longingly at that school kids who were all wearing identical school uniforms. It would be good if they could somehow manage to enroll them at the school.
Eventually they reached the front wall of the castle and god was it huge. As they entered the gates and headed beyond the walls into the huge courtyard, they could see how lively it was, they had maids and staff working diligently doing all kinds of tasks, cutting the grass, hedges, cleaning the brick path. They were busy, doing their jobs so diligently it was as if Ray and the other didn’t exist. As they reached the palaces front doors a butler bowed before Luke and opened the doors.
The castle was beautiful, it opened to a massive room that had 2 curving staircases on each side of the room leading to the second floor. To their right throw a set of double doors was the dining room where they ate, to the left through another set of double doors were the kitchens and washrooms where the staff were working on what appeared to be a massive lunch and although Ray couldn’t see them, he was also aware that the countless staffs rooms were all situated on the first floor too, he had explored this castle furrily in the game, he was also aware that there was a basement that contained a bounty of alcohols as well as secret hidden tunnels.
As the group ascended to the second floor, they saw halls that stretched for what appeared to be miles, with doors all along the walls. On this floor there was a mixture of different rooms, most of them were guest bedrooms, with rooms the size of a small bungalow each, one led to a giant library filled with books that stretched down to the first floor and up to the third, another led to a giant washroom where hot water poured out of stone dragon heads and had a tub the size of a giant swimming pool. Ray was sure that there were other mysteries within the castle that he wasn’t aware of but right now he was just marveling at the sheer beauty of this castle, he was sure it was even more luxurious that than Buckingham palace, it already beat it in sheer size.
As they continued up the stairs onto the third floor, they found themselves situated in front of a huge door. This was the conference room, a huge room with a glass ceiling and walls that allowed the people inside to see over the entire city, the room had 5 seated areas that are marked with each of the 5 races as it used to be used for holding meetings between the heads of the Royal families. Ray also knew that the King and Queens bedroom was on this floor, yet he didn’t know exactly where, they were hidden just encase of an attack. It was truly a marvellous Castle, and this wasn’t even mentioning the giant training area and tree it had in the back side of the courtyard, it was truly a beautiful place.
Luke knocked on the door to the conference room and a voice answered them.
“Come in.”.
As they pushed the door open, they were greeted by 2 beautiful women, one being the spitting image of Lilly, right down to the honey yellow eyes, yet she was more mature and well... voluptuous, dressed in a slim fit, silk green dress that really complimented her curves and unlike her two daughters, had long straight black hair that went down to her waste, her daughters obviously got their slightly unkempt hair from their father. The other being beautiful brown-haired woman, she too had the figure of a mature woman who was clearly in shape, she may have been an adventure a few years ago, she had lung bunny ears and a cotton tail and emerald, green eyes. She wore a long white flowing dress, on top of her head sat a tiara and on her shoulder was an aqua blue dragon with sky blue coloured wings, it was easy to tell who she was, the Queen of the southern beast tribe, the woman that Lukes brother had married.
Ray couldn’t help but commend the two brothers, they clearly had great taste in women.
Speaking of Lukes brother, he was currently holding a young boy on his shoulders and was standing near the 2 women. Lukes's brother looked pretty similar to him, however, unlike Lukes short messy hair, he had more tidy hair that was pulled back into a ponytail and although not as buff as his brother, was still well toned, though it was hard to see as he, unlike Luke, was wearing sufficient clothes, that being a tailor made waste coat, trousers and shirt. He looked more like a king than Luke did. As for the young boy on his shoulders, which Ray assumed was his child and the heir to the throne. He looked a lot like his mother, aside from his cat ears and tail, he had clearly inherited that from his father but apart from that, he was the spitting image of his mother.
As the group of 4 looked towards the door, their faces dropped in shock.
“Lilly.”, they all said in surprise, Lilly’s mother and the Queen standing up in shock whereas Lilly’s uncle almost dropped his son in shock. What proceeded from here was a lot of hugging, crying and thanking, each one of them asking Ray how they could repay him. Ray couldn’t help but blush profusely, mostly from being in such proximity to such beautiful women. Lilly stepped hard on his foot, pouting whilst doing so.
Unsurprisingly to Ray, after seeing how Luke reacted to Claire, the others were, although cautious at first very welcoming towards Claire, however, when surrounded by fellow beast-men who sing her praises and her being able to speak the language, it was hard for them not to trust her, in fact, just Like Lilly, they seemed to love Claire, asking her about how she keeps her hair so clean whilst being a warrior, her love life and what life is Like as a hero.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Where's farther brother?”, Luke asked Arthur.
“He went out for a guest visit at the school, he should be back soon.”, Arthur responded.
“Good, because we’ve just found out some very important and worrying news.”.
“What news.”, Marry, the Queen of the southern Beast tribe asked curiously.
“The answers that we’ve been seeking for the past 10 years, the reasons why the humans turned on us after the death of the old king.”.
After eagerly waiting for Lillys Grandfather, his touching Reunion with Lilly and once again other thanks and asking how he could repay this debt. Claire was able to inform the Group once again of the events of 5 years ago and everything that she knew about what was occurring in the human plains.
“So, my worst fears have come to reality. I knew something fishy had happened... but to think it was to this grave of an extent.”, Lilly’s grandfather, who went by Regi, said seriously, his fists balled, “I reckon that bastard demon killed the king himself. I knew the king of the humans very well... we were close friends, and he was by no chance in his last legs.”.
A loud silence filled the room, everyone looking serious.
“Claire dear... I don’t mean to sound like I don’t believe you but let me juts make sure. You are saying that a demon has taken over the human continent through hypnosis and is the reason for all the bad things that have happened recently, and that without dealing with his 4 generals he can’t even be killed?”, Marry asked
“I swear on everything and to the Goddess of all living things, the beings that i saw that day were not of human or monster descent. They were very clearly creatures of chaos and evil. True demons.”, Claire said firmly.
Mary stared at Claire intently, however not seeing any waver in her conviction sighed heavily, she leaned back in her chair.
“This situation is even more dire than I expected. Even with all the Demi-humans combined, going up against the Human army alone would be a struggle with a low chance of us succeeding, but now there’s a demon of unknown origin involved with powers we may have only scratched the surface of.”.
“We must deal with this threat as soon as possible; we should call for an emergency meeting with the Elves and Dwarves. This doesn’t just affect us.”, Arthur stated seriously.
“Your right, but still then, what do we do. Our armies are outnumbered.”, Anna, Lillys mom states.
The group sits in silence all wondering.
“I... have a suggestion.” Ray states, everyone looking their way.
“Well, you see. Now we know that the humans aren’t our enemies, its the demon or demons that are involved. So we don’t necessarily need to defeat the human army. We just need to keep them at bay whilst we deal with the demon.”.
“Good point Ray.”, Luke responds. Regi nodding.
“Thats true, but even then. We'd have to hold out against the Humans whilst also being conscious on now trying not to kill as many as possible as we know they are not doing this of their own accord.”.
The group sist and thinks for a while.
“We need to create 2 forces. An army that will pose as the front force of the war, holding off against the human army, keeping them at bay and a second force of strong warriors. Tasked with the goals of eliminating the demon.”, Claire states.
“That's a good point... but do we have any troops out there that could hold up against a demon let alone beat one?”, Regi interjects.
“Not to mention the army front, we’re out numbered, we’ll tire easily.”, Mary sighs.
“What if it wasn’t just us Demi-humans in the fight.”.
“What do you mean?”, Arthur queried, the others nodding in agreement.
“Monsters.”, Ray stated,
“MONSTERS!”. The adults stated shocked.
“I have made connections and friends with 3 very intelligent monsters. One goes by the name Ken; he is a unique monster and is currently training a group of hobgoblins in the hopes of evolving them and turning them into a strong ogre force, the other is also a unique monster, a War monkey named Ceasar that lives in the very jungle this city is situated in, he currently has an army of 100 war monkeys and the third is a Vampire named Alex that is currently with us, though is asleep, hiding from the sun, if they can also keep on getting stronger and evolving. They will be a great help. Not to mention I can vouch for Both Ken, Alex and Ceasars strengths.”.
“I can vouch for them too, Ken is one of the reasons why our journey was so safe and fun, whilst I’ve seen Ceasar at work, he is a true master when it comes to combat.”, Lilly says interjecting, supporting Ray.
The adults all look at each other.
“Are you confident that they will help us?”, Regi asks.
“Yes.”, Ray says as a matter of fact.
“Can you bring these 2 to meet us?”, Luke asks.
“Of course, i can do so whenever, though it may take a week or so to reach Ken.”.
“Then we’d like to meet these monsters and judge their characters for ourselves, to see if they are truly as reliable as you say they are.”, Mary says.
“Of course, your majesty.”.
“Oh please, you can call me Mary, though I don’t know if these numbers will be able to even out the difference in strength, but let's say they are able to get a lot more soldiers. What about the team that will deal with the Demon.”.
The group thinks and then surprisingly, Leo speaks up, the kids had all been sitting silently listening into the talk.
“Why not do a giant tournament, with all the races and the ones that perform the best should be part of the team that is in charge of dealing with the demons whilst the others will be the soldiers in the army.”.
“That's not a bad idea.”, Anna states, the others nod in agreement which causes Leo to beam with pride.
Mary stands up.
“Well, there is little point in discussing this any further until we have the other leaders here. I will send out messages to the other nations stating that a very important and crucial meeting shall be held here in 6 months' time. Claire, I would like you to participate, representing the Human said and Ray, I would like you to inform your monster friends on this plan, tell them to gain as many members as possible and then bring them with you to the meeting, you will represent a new faction of monsters for us.”, Mary stated.
“Yes, it would be an honour.”, Ray and Claire said.
Mary slumped back into her chair, clearly exhausted.
“Few, glad that's all settled with. I’m exhausted, being a Queen really is hard. Alright everyone. In celebration of Lilly’s return and ne guests, let's have a massive banquet for lunch shall we.”.
The group cheer in celebration and divulge in a massive meal filled with fun and interesting conversations that stretched late into the evening.