There weren’t very many lights on in the city at this time of night. Chuck wasn’t sure if they would open the gates or if they would have to wait until morning. It would be nice to park the pickup inside the city somewhere. Maybe at the alchemy guild. He was sure they would go nuts looking it over. The truck was down to less than a quarter of a tank so it looked like more road trips were out of the question. The streets would be empty so it would be a good time to move it, but then Chuck remembered how loud the truck was. He would probably wake everyone up if he drove it into town now. He was really tired so didn’t want to walk. “What do you think, will they open the gates?” Chuck asked his passengers. “The walls are manned through the night but it is true they don’t usually open the gates past sunset.” Kyt replied. “They will open it for me.” Fol said haughtily. At this point Chuck was too tired to care, so said the heck with it and drove toward the gate.
He drove across the bridge and up to the gate, shutting the truck off. He didn’t see any activity so honked his horn a couple times. That startled his passengers. Chuck apologized sheepishly and they all got out. A few heads peaked over the wall and yelled a challenge down to them. Fol responded and after a brief back and forth the heads disappeared. They waited for a good 30 minutes before a door next to the gate opened and guard captain Nass appeared. “We didn’t expect you back so soon but it looks like you were successful.” Nass said happily. “Let’s get you to a healer sir Fol.” Nass said, beckoning to a guard. “Thank you once again. We’ll hold a grand banquet in your honor.” Fol said bowing to them before following the guard through the door.
”Now then, I’m sure the governor will want to get a full report from the lot of you but that can wait until morning. It certainly looks like you found some trouble.” Nass said scraping some of the bug guts off the pickup and sniffing it. “Right now tell me what this contraption is?” Nass said eyeing the pickup curiously. “Um, that’s mine. You can think of it like a magical carriage. I’d like to bring it to the alchemy guild.” Chuck replied, stifling a yawn. “Hmm, I see. Well you can’t leave it here I suppose. I’ll have a guard ride with you so you don’t run into trouble.” Nass said beckoning for another guard. It looked like the lion beast person he had met before. His name was Gar if Chuck remembered correctly. He said goodbye to Torj and Kyt as Gar hopped into the back. Nass had the gate opened and Chuck started the pickup. The guards flinched as the truck roared to life. He waved as he drove thru the gate and toward the alchemy guild.
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He stopped in front of the guild, hoping he hadn’t bothered too many people. There were a few heads peeking out of windows and doors as he went by but no one tried stopping them. Mer came out to see what was going on then went back inside. Chuck was saying goodbye to Gar when the guild master came out. He had expected Nox but the guild master was even better. “Back already I see. What have we here?” Alz said, walking around the pickup. “It’s kind of like a magical carriage. I was hoping to find some place to store it for now. It would be nice to get it cleaned up eventually, then I could go over it with you and answer any questions. I’m a little tired at the moment however.” Chuck said yawning. “Of course. Leaving it in the street would be a bad idea. We have a storage warehouse behind the guild that it should fit in. I’ll have someone open it for you.” Alz said gesturing to Mer, who nodded and left. The guild master offered to have Mer make him some food but Chuck just wanted to sleep. He drove around back and parked inside a huge warehouse that was piled with boxes of various sizes. Mer led him to his room and he fell asleep as soon as he crawled into bed.