Novels2Search

Chapter 8

Pro tip: How to create names  

1) Smash your hand on your keyboard  

2) Type a letter and let auto correct finish it  

......I'm sorry.

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The next day morning, the two of us had just checked out of our Inn and now we were at the east entrance of the city, waiting for our contractors.

"You must be Ana and Todd?" A fat, short man asked, his eyes scanning our bodies with caution.

"And you are......the Jastes family?" Todd asked, similarly appraising them as he looked at the carriage behind the man and the two pair of eyes at peeked at us.

Nodding, the man turned around and glanced at his family, "Indeed, the ones in the carriage are my wife and daughter, let's have a pleasant journey together." He finalised, turning back at us.

Pulling the carriage was a horse beast with diluted blood, it's blood so mixed it was barely capable of being domesticated. It had a black, sleek body made of scales, and instead of hooves, it had heavily padded talons instead of claws. 

The carriage itself was made of wood and lined with metal at its corners, a flat roof on top and four big wheels at the bottom, held together by a small platform about 7 inches away from the Base of the bottom of the carriage, the platform holding their baggage.

And with a whip, the man who had got onto the carriage's front ordered the horse beast to run, with me sitting on the roof, thanks to my extraordinarily light body weight that I had, perhaps to fly I had sacrificed my weight, causing perhaps my bones to be hallow.

Todd was the polar opposite, heavy and sturdy, he chased after the carriage with ease, sniffing the air from time to time.

This journey was an estimated ten days of travelling for one trip, while returning would take another ten days, and as we were visiting a new town, perhaps a week or two would be spent there for leisure and shopping.

Currently, we were passing through a forested area, the area littered with debris and silhouettes of demolished buildings, while the trees towered over us and all kinds of herbs covering the ground. Ever since the plant boom, a term we usedd in our town, where plants and trees grew at an impossible rate, the unpopulated areas where the growth rate was not controlled were all overrun by vegetation.

And living in this area was multiple species, one of which we quickly met.

It was rabbits the size of black bears, excluding the height of their ears. With black beady eyes and twitching noses, they quickly caught onto us with all the noise the carriage made. 

Thankfully, normal eyed herbivores were more peaceful in nature, and only some species would choose fight over flight, and noticing our approach they quickly leaped towards what could be assumed as their burrow.

Of course, our purpose was to catch then for food, a task we had to do in our job.

With a flap of my wings, I quickly went and caught one with ease, my soundless wings providing me with plenty of leisure.

Grabbing the rabbit beast by its ears, my claws digging into the skin, I quickly took out my sword with my other hand and swung it towards its neck, cutting off its head.

Throwing the body towards Todd, I made quick work of its four sharp teeth which could be sold to make weapons like daggers or used as arrow tips as well as its eyes, which hardened upon its removal.

Turning around, Todd was retrieving the edible parts of the beast as he greedily ate some of the parts raw, keeping the rest in a container whilst the family waited in their carriage behind us.

Quickly packing it, we swiftly left in case of predators who would come because of the smell of blood, we continued on our journey, the sun still hanging in the middle of the sky. 

Perhaps in another hour or so, it would be time for lunch, but definitely not now, right where we got a kill, we had to find somewhere with lesser beasts, a run down building if possible.

Washing our hands and weapons with a large bottle Todd kept in his backpack, we continued walking, not bothering to harvest the plentiful herbs on the ground. 

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

None of us were capable of recognising what it was and what it did, there was simply no point.

Just like that, the journey was quite peaceful throughout, thanks to the smell of Todd the predator, nothing much happened within the nine days we spent travelling, ourselves reaching Hedlis quicker than expected.

One shocking thing was that the girl on the carriage was a human magic user, though she seemed far from capable from fighting, she was extremely timid yet her eyes carried incredible loathing for the changed.

Reaching the town, we were met with countless well kept houses, the vegetation kept to a minimum, it was like the standard town, but there wasn't a single wall. 

Walking in, we weren't met with guards trying to shove Wetherby Pills down our throats, changed and humans walking around with weapons at their waists and backs, even small children carried them. Unlike other cities and towns, everyone looked ready to fight here.

And even without a superb sense of smell, I could tell that not a single person here was to be trifled with, and judging by the look on Todd's face, he could smell how dangerous the were.

Dropping off the family and receiving payment, the two of us headed to a restaurant for dinner, only to be held back by a man in his late teens. With black wings and scales what went from his wrist to his shoulders, he seemed to be a chimera like me.

He seemed to be quite shocked, though his eyes were small and seemed to be slanted in a smile, his words were full of surprise and caution.

"Ashley? I thought it'll take you another week to arrive?"

Noticing the complete confusion on my face, he squinted his already small eyes.

"You.....resetted?" He said, his tone almost accusing, yet a moment later, he furrowed his brow, "No, who are you?"

From behind him, a girl emerged, similarly with wings, but this time with tails and ears of a panther. Her face painted with a childish smile, her blonde hair messy and her golden eyes darting around? 

"Thomas, what are you do- Ashley? It's been a while." She said with a smile upon noticing my face. 

"She's not Ashley." The man named Thomas said, pulling at my arm, "Come with me."

"Let go of he-"

"Who are you to order me around?" I snap, interrupting Todd as I snatched back my arm. Turning to Todd, I muttered, "Let's go."

This time, the girl grabbed my tail, "It's a bit rude to leave first, isn't it?"

"And who are you?" I turned around, annoyed.

"Mina, I'll hold her, let's go. " the man spoke, taking hold of my arm as he opened his wings, creating space amongst the crowded Street by pushing the other people away.

"Oi, get off her." Todd spoke up, his lazy atmosphere disappearing in seconds.

"Shut up."

With a flap of her wings, the girl named Mina disappeared into the skies, only glancing back once before she did. 

With his hand still on my arm, he reached down and picked me up, but before he could leave, Todd grabbed hold of his arm.

"Don't ignore me, BASTARD!" He shouted as he threw a punch.

Dodging the hit to his face, the man smirked, "Who are you to stop me?"

"I'm her brother." 

As they glared at each other, I managed to get a punch onto Thomas, getting off from his carry.

"You're causing a scene," I said, looking at the gathered people, "I'm not leaving with you."

"And what? You're going to stay with a man that used your memory loss as a chance to be with you?"

"Wait." I said as I turned around, "What do you mean?"

"What I just said.  This man isn't your family. At all." He sneered at Todd as he turned to smile at me with a tilted head.

"He's an imposter." 

"Are you kidding me? To-todd, say something."  I turned to Todd, slightly flustered, "What is he talking about?"

But what I saw was a guilty and regretful expression, and on Thomas's face was a cruelly cold one.