The group had begun their several days of travel to Vestrana, the first two days spent hiding and avoiding the influx of Velathrian knights. Once past that point, the concentration of knights diminished significantly. If they had waited much longer to move out, it may have proved an impossible task. Hitching a ride on a caravan bound for Vestrana, Zycor covered up as best he could, the group began to discuss the current situation.
“It is ludicrous for that many knights, regardless of their origin, to converge like that. The only reason I can think of that would cause them to mobilize that quickly would be if they were ordered to.” Mylon theorized aloud.
“You sure it wasn’t just due to the guild masters' battle?” Baz countered.
Mylon shook his head, “If that was the case, why would they send enough soldiers to surround escape routes two days out? Wouldn’t they focus on Abros, the source of the commotion?”
Baz nodded his head while Zycor jumped in, asking, “So you think that Mr. X guy is pulling the strings of Velathria?”
“Correct. And by the looks of how quickly the knights mobilized, and the loyalty of the ones we have ‘dealt with’ prior, I think it is safe to say he has been in control for a long time.” Mylon explained.
A feeling of unease set upon the group with this revelation. If his theory proved to be correct, their goal of stopping Velathria just became vastly more difficult. The rest of the group continued to converse while Zycor began to tune them out as he thought, “Do, you think Mr. X was the one behind the destruction of our village?”
“I think it is pretty obvious at this point. For better or for worse, nothing worth doing is ever easy. And seeing how the difficulty of this mission just jumped several hundred levels, it would appear it is extraordinarily worth doing.” Zweicor retorted, floating upside-down, arms crossed, within their mind as he watched on.
-
Their travels continued for a few more days until they finally arrived at Vestrana. As they made the final approach into town, Aisha looked at Zycor and began, “The rest of us know this, but considering your sheltered upbringing, allow me to educate you on the city. It is a hot bed for criminal activity. It is one of the underworlds’ hubs and there are plenty of black market slavers, traders, and assassins. In addition to all of that, there are also mass murderers who kill for the fun of it. And considering your current… situation, it will be far worse for you. Whatever you do, do not leave the group, understood?”
Nalea outstretched her left palm, revealing a ring. “This is a prototype of the complete demi-suppression ring. It may not fully suppress your new features, but it should make it far easier to hide them. Be careful though, if you become too emotional, the ring will break.” She explained.
Zycor grabbed the ring and examined it. Although his ‘features’ had lost their severity once Novos had left him, they were still pretty prevalent. He wondered if the ring would really work, but he ran out of time to think about it. Arriving at the City's entrance, he quickly put the ring on, his wings and tail retracting fully. His horns shrunk, but were still visible. His scales turned back to skin, but the patterns were still visible in some areas. His claws retracted mostly until they were the size of normal fingernails, though still pointed and as durable as the claws. His pupils retained the lizard dilation. Once the suppression finished, both Zycor shuddered. Whether out of sympathy or some form of link, Novos shuddered along with him. Seeing that, Baz chuckled, “Well, it seems you two are as close as ever, two peas in a pod, haha!”
The entrance guard performed his inspection of the caravan and made his way to the group. As he inspected them all, he noticed Zycors eyes, and smirked maliciously. He quickly recomposed himself and cleared the caravan to proceed into the city. Passing through the entrance archway, Zycor was filled with awe and shock. It was nothing like what Aisha had described. The streets were clean, the buildings were nice and the citizens appeared to be happy.
Confused Zycor questioned, “Is this city really as dangerous as you said it was?”
Mylon answered his question, scanning their surroundings, “Yeah, it is. I know it looks like a great place, but that is just for a front, so other nations and people cannot find fault with the city or pinpoint the black market. And even though everyone knows what happens here, there is no hard proof to be found.”
“I heard it was actually a pretty decent place to live at one point, but that ended when the current royal family took power. There are plenty of unsavory rumors about them, specifically that they murdered the previous royal family, framing it as an accident, and forging royal decrees handing the kingdom over to them.” Aisha explained.
Mylon suddenly tapped Baz on the shoulder and nodded to their right. Baz glanced over and nodded. Right after, Mylon said, “Alright guys and gals, time to go.”
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Without a word more, Baz grabbed Aisha and Zycor, jumping from the caravan. Mylon, Aislin, Nalea, and Novos followed right after. As soon as their feet hit the ground, they began to run, Zycor, annoyed at being carried again, aggressively questioned, “What the hell is going on now?! And will you put me down?!”
Baz shook his head, “Not this time kid, we are already being targeted.”
The group ran deeper into the city, weaving through the crowds and alleyways. Mylon snapped, “Hey, Nalea, where will we meet this Viral person?”
Jumping off of a wall and into the air, Nalea fired some brittle rocks at the ground to create a cloud of dust. Landing, she began to run again and responded, “There is a tavern we always use to meet up, The Yearning Drunkard.”
“Oh, I know where that is! I frequented that place when I visited here! Some of the best booze! Follow me!” Baz exclaimed.
They weaved through a few main roads and back alleys. After some time, they made it to the tavern and entered. Feeling the danger having passed, Baz put Aisha and Zycor down. Nalea went off into the bar, saying she would search for Viral.
“Can we stop with the carrying, Baz?” Zycor asked, annoyed.
Baz chortled, “Haha, sorry kid, it was an emergency and you didn’t know the city well. If I had let you run on your own, it is very possible you would have gotten lost.”
Zycor threw his hands up playfully in surrender. “You may be understanding, Zycor, but I am not. That is no way to treat a lady.” Aisha huffed.
Baz smirked and retorted, “Of course I know that, but please tell me, where on earth is this ‘lady’ I supposedly mistreated?”
Aisha, infuriated, began to argue with Baz, who continued to poke at her with his words. Novos hopped onto Zycor’s shoulder and posted up in his favorite spot around Zycor’s neck and began to nap. Zycor chuckled and pet Novos’ head.
After some time, Nalea returned to the group, informing them that she had found Viral and they would meet with them. As they walked over, everyone was discussing what kind of person Viral was, Baz and Mylon even placing bets on whether they were male or female. Everyone except for Zycor, that is. For some reason, the closer they got to Viral, the more uneasy he began to feel. He couldn’t really explain it, but it wasn’t a dangerous sense of unease, more of a nostalgic kind.
Sitting down at a table in the back corner, Viral had a hood covering their head, similarly to Zycor. Nalea introduced them, “Everyone, this is Viral. Adria and her have worked together for quite some time.”
Hearing Nalea say ‘her,’ Baz groaned and handed Mylon twenty Solium coins. Viral re-introduced herself, “Hello everyone, it is nice to meet you, I am Viral. Adria has been very kind with her financial support.” She soon noticed Novos and shot out of her chair while exclaiming, “Is that a dragon!? Can I hold it!? This is insane, I thought they were just myths!”
Zycor, caught off guard, just looked on in a state of befuddlement. The way she talks is nothing like anyone he knows, and yet he still felt like he knew this person.
Nalea cleared her throat, “ahem, Miss Viral, please try to contain yourself.”
Viral sat down and apologized for her outburst, “Sorry, I got a little carried away there. I have been researching new magic and old era technology recently, and dragons came up quite a few times. Anyways, what brings all of you here?”
Zycor, still filled with a sense of unease, explained, “I have some ingots that I would like forged into new gauntlet weapons. However, I was told that no known blacksmiths have any techniques that can work with the metal. However, we were told of a hidden village where there may be someone who can help. Would you happen to know anything about that?”
Her interest piqued, Viral replied, “I mean, I might. But, I don’t talk for free. If you are truly friends of Adria, then you should know money talks.”
Aisha reached into her bag and pulled out a few coins of solid gold and put them on the table discreetly. “Will this do?” She asked.
Viral’s eyes lit up, swiping the coins off the table and into her own bag. With enthusiasm stemming from her newly acquired funds, Viral began elaborating, “I suppose that will do. It should be more than enough to fund some more of my research. To answer your question, I do know of a village that may be able to help. And if you are as close with Adria as you appear to be, it should be ok to show you there.”
“Glad to hear it, when and where should we meet?” Mylon inquired, acting as the responsible one.
“We can leave tomorrow at dawn. Meet me by the South-Western gate.” Viral responded.
Their conversation now concluded, everyone readied themselves to leave for the night. Before anyone had made too much progress, Zycor suddenly asked, “Excuse me, Viral, if it is not too personal, may I ask for your real name?”
Becoming confused and a bit defensive, she hesitantly replied, “Why would you want to know that?”
Zycor, with a somber tone, replied, “Sorry if it is too personal. I just get the feeling I know you. There is just something nostalgic about you that reminds me of someone else.”
Her curiosity piqued, she asked, “And what happened to this person? Did you lose them? Or perhaps they died?”
Zycor froze for a moment. He finally shrugged, “I don’t know what happened to them. I lost all of my friends and family in a raid on my village years ago. I don’t know if she made it out.”
Viral remained quiet for an extended period of time. Zycor went to apologize, but before he could, Viral asked with a shaky voice, “Zy?”
Zycor’s eyes widened. He removed his hood and shakily replied, “Liz?”
She followed suit and pulled her hood down, revealing blond hair tied up, blue eyes, and a hair pin with a silver clip and a small, sky blue flower design. After nearly a decade and a half, the two of them were reunited.