Pol says "Welcome, Myria. The high priestess has already gone through to Illium, and Emelia is over there talking to Lizzy."
"Thank you, Pol."
Pol says "Is there anything else I can do to assist you?"
"No, not at the moment, Pol. I will talk to the high priestess about moving some of you guys through to Illium, we need to start spreading rumors of Ash to the tribes."
Pol says "We are all eager to do anything we can to help Lord Ash."
"I believe Ash will one day become the beast king, the more the tribes know of him the easier it will be to achieve that."
Pol says "I agree, and I do see your point. Starting to lay the groundwork now will make things easier for Lord Ash later."
"Good, I'm glad you agree."
Once we understand each other there is nothing more to be said so I walk over to where Emmy, Silveria, and Lizzy are. Lizzy and Silveria are staring at each other intently, it looks like they are communicating somehow. I know Silveria is a sacred beast and is highly intelligent, but that is about all I know about her.
"Are they talking?"
Emelia says "Yes, they have been chatting for a while now."
"So, how's it going?"
Emelia says "Lizzy has agreed to you riding her, but she doesn't want to go through the portal."
"Can't say I blame her, I'm fairly used to it now but I still hate those things."
Emelia says "Yeah, it is definitely not fun to go through them."
"Have you told her that it is to save Ash?"
Emelia says "Yes, but she thinks Ash can take care of himself."
"Did you tell her that he is working on a plan?"
Emelia says "No, does that matter?"
"If she knows Ash, it does, yeah."
Emmy turns and stares intently at Silveria, then Silveria turns to look at Lizzy. After a minute Lizzy turns to look at me, I'm not sure what she wants but I nod at her. Lizzy then turns back to give Silveria and then Emmy a look, I am just confused by the whole process.
Emelia says "Alright, Lizzy agrees."
"See, I told you Ash having a plan mattered."
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Emelia says "Why does it matter though?"
"Ash is a very powerful man, but his plans tend to be extremely dangerous."
Emelia says "Oh, I guess that makes sense. Anyway, she will go through the portal just this once."
"Alright, thank you for your help Emmy."
Emelia says "Stay safe, and find him soon!"
"I will do my best!"
After giving Emmy a hug and watching her and Silveria go back through the portal I turn to Lizzy. Lizzy moves over next to me and crouches down so I can mount up. It is a little strange since Ash took her saddle with him, Lizzy is nothing like a horse.
For one thing she is quite a bit wider than a horse, and her scales while not hard are not exactly comfortable. Another problem is there isn't really anywhere to hold onto, I end up lightly gripping the base of her neck. When she moves I find that she moves much smoother than a horse, which is a good thing since my grip is so tenuous.
Mericel says "You doing alright there Myria?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine."
Mericel says "Okay, I will go through first to make sure they are ready for Lizzy."
"Okay, thanks."
Mericel shoots off and through the portal, I stop Lizzy just before the portal. I wait a minute and try telling Lizzy how to make the portal sickness easier to get through. After explaining it I can't be sure if she understood me but I signal her to ride through the portal.
Whether she understood or not at my signal Lizzy goes straight into the portal. Once the gut wrenching feeling passes I look around and find there is only one man in the room I appeared in and Mericel is next to him. The man upon seeing Lizzy in all her glory takes several steps back.
Mericel says "Myria, this is Roddick, the master of this mages guild."
"Greetings, guildmaster Roddick."
Roddick says "Just Roddick is fine. So you are Myria, Ash's number one."
"Actually, I am his number two, but his number one is unavailable right now due to a broken amulet."
Roddick says "Ah, yes. The summoning amulet, Ash left it here in our care."
Mericel says "You have Ruby's amulet? Is it fixed?"
Roddick says "The twins have it and are working on it, but I'm afraid it isn't fixed yet."
"That's too bad. Guess it's all up to me then."
Roddick hands me a rod and says "I made this for you, when you break it you and anyone touching you will return to this room."
"Thank you for this, how strong is it? Will it bring Lizzy too?"
Roddick says "It will handle Lizzy and up to a dozen people."
"That's great! This will help a lot, thank you!"
Roddick says "I just wish I could help you get to him faster."
"It's fine, Lizzy will get me there fast enough. This will help me get Ash and whoever he has collected back here safely."
Mericel says "What makes you think he has collected people?"
"Has Ash ever gone somewhere and not collected someone?"
Mericel says "Um, now that I think about it, no I don't think he has."
Roddick says "Well, that rod will work as long as he hasn't collected too many people."
"If he has collected another army somehow they can march back here. Otherwise we will use the rod."
Mericel says "That was a special case, I doubt he found another army."
Roddick says "Haha, I would like to hear that story sometime."
"Well, I wasn't planning to leave until morning. But I need to find a place to stay that will allow Lizzy."
Roddick says "That has already been arranged, you will be staying at the Happy Traveler, the inn Ash owns."
"Ash owns an inn? Since when?!?"
Roddick says "Actually, he owns the entire street, which includes the shops of all the summoned."
Mericel says "What, he bought a street?"
"Does it include any empty buildings?"
Roddick says "Actually, the church bought it for him, and yes there are a few empty buildings. Why?"
"I wanted to bring Pol and some others through and have them start spreading word of Ash to the beastmen."
Roddick says "That is a good idea actually, I can help facilitate that."
"Thank you, I appreciate it."
Roddick says "There is an escort waiting outside, how about we go to the inn and you can tell me the story over dinner."
"Are they going to have a place for Lizzy?"
Roddick says "They should."
"Okay, then let's go."