De'Vas Chronicles Book 5: Chapter 1

Ash pulled out his phone, the screen almost blinding him in the tunnel's darkness as he attempted to see the time. He cursed as he quickly lowered the brightness and saw it was currently five in the morning. He swore again.

“What’s wrong?” Councilman Firebeard asked from beside him.

The dwarf’s voice echoed off the walls of the tunnel they were walking through since last night.

It’s a damn maze!

“I should be having my morning coffee right now,” Ash stated.

Councilman Firebeard grunted.

“And I should still be in bed, fast asleep,” the dwarf grumbled. “At least this got us out of yesterday’s meeting.”

Ash had to agree.

Not spending the entire day stuck in the Council Chambers listening to someone speak for hours on end was one of the positives of being on monster hunting duty. The downside was that the monsters sometimes hid from you. As was the case with the basilisk that had rifted into this district, only to vanish into some abandoned subway tunnels once he and Firebeard had arrived.

A loud hiss resonated around them, causing Ash and Firebeard to stop. Their flashlights failed to spot anything in front of them, only a wall of darkness.

“Where are you, you bastard?” Firebeard growled, his light scanning the tunnel.

Ash was doing the same, but he also pushed out a field of static electricity around them, a spell he called Static Sonar. Just like its name suggested, it let him feel through his magic what was around them for several yards, including what was on the ceiling of the tunnel.

Sparky attack!

Blue lightning arced from his scar in the form of a hawk as he grabbed Councilman Firebeard and pulled him back. The glow of the Lightning Magic that made up Sparky’s body illuminated the large serpent clinging to the roof of the tunnel, its head mid strike down where he and the dwarf had been standing.

A static-laced screech filled the tunnels as Sparky’s talons struck at the monster’s eye, blinding it and directing the monster’s attention to the elemental. Ash pulled on a Bolt, keeping his gaze locked on the monster’s body to avoid the paralyzing effect of the basilisk’s remaining eye.

“He’s a sneaky fella!” Firebeard laughed before raising both his arms, fire burning in his palms.

Together, they both released their spells. Arcs of lightning and streams of fire collided with the large serpent as it let out a cry of pain and fell from the ceiling, wriggling as its body burned before becoming still.

“What do you think? A twenty-footer?” Firebeard asked.

Ash gauged the size of the dead monster.

“Yeah, I’d say about twenty or twenty-five feet,” Ash agreed. “So a young adult.”

Firebeard shook his head.

“Shame we had to kill it, but the only thing big enough around here for it to eat is people,” he said with a heavy sigh. “Well, fifty-fifty split on the reagents?”

“Sounds fair,” Ash agreed.

Half an hour later, they were stepping out of the tunnel and back to the surface of the district. The sun was beating down on them as they inhaled fresh air, only for Ash to feel his phone vibrate as a barrage of text messages came through.

Faylen: Ash, are you okay?

Lilly: Hurry home! My phone is almost dead!

Naomi: What would you like for dinner tonight?

Selena: I’ll be in District 1 tomorrow evening. Dinner?

Haylee: I miss you. -download image-

“Damn it,” he cursed. “I didn’t even think about not having reception in the tunnel.”

He started updating the girls that he was okay and why he’d been ignoring their texts.

Firebeard let out a hearty laugh.

“Go home to your lasses before they come here to find you. I’ll finish things up and bring you your cut of reagents from the basilisk,” he said with a grin. “We did a good job today.”

Ash slipped his phone back into his pocket.

“Thanks, Firebeard,” he said before rushing for the portal.

***

All the girls except Lilly and Naomi had messaged him back by the time he arrived at the three-story brick building that served as his residence in District 1 since becoming a council member. The orc guards outside saluted him as he approached the building that Lilly had named the Red House due to the color of its brick.

Despite living in the Red House for almost a year, the Flatiron still felt more like home to him. The only reason he hadn’t taken Councilman Loki’s offer to transfer the Flatiron to District 1 was due to the building now serving as Faylen’s HQ in her role as boss of District 114.

Not like I’m really that far away from the Flatiron.

His office on the third floor of the Red House had rune-covered doorways that connected to Faylen and Selena’s offices in Districts 114 and 208. One of his conditions for joining the Council was for Councilman Loki to build the portals. Even then, the tattooed lizardkin had only agreed to it because Ash had given him the silver ball and brass anchor that allowed travel to Vas.

“I’m home,” Ash said as he stepped through the front door.

A bolt of lightning escaped his scar, and Sparky appeared in his cat form, stretching as if he was getting up from a nap. He heard footsteps rushing down the stairs, and Sparky’s ears perked up.

A second later, Lilly appeared, her phone and charger in hand. She stopped at the base of the stairs and was about to speak, only for her eyes to drift down and lock on Sparky. The elemental bolted away from the door, running into the living room.

“Get back here and charge my phone!” Lilly yelled as she gave chase.

Ash shook his head.

“Good to see you too, Lil,” he called after her before making his way into the kitchen.

His heart ached at not messaging them sooner when he spotted Naomi sleeping at the kitchen table. He walked up to her and rubbed her back until she looked up at him sleepily.

“Are you back, or is this a dream?” Naomi asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

Ash leaned down and kissed her.

“I’m back. Sorry, we hunted a basilisk in the tunnels all night, and I didn’t have reception,” he said. “How about I make us some breakfast?”

Naomi yawned.

“I was going to cook for you when you got home,” she replied.

Ash smiled at her.

“I know, but let me make us some breakfast as an apology for taking so long,” he said, moving to the stove and grabbing a pan.

The bacon had just started sizzling when Lilly walked into the kitchen, carrying Sparky. Her phone charger was sticking out of the elemental’s fur. She sat down, placing her phone on the table while her other arm restrained the elemental in her lap.

“Welcome home, Ash,” Lilly said.

Ash flipped the bacon and smiled at his crazy dryad.

“Lil, we do have electricity in this house. You don’t need me or Sparky to charge your phone,” Ash stated.

“But you two charge it way faster than regular electricity,” she replied.

He turned from the stove to stare at her, trying to figure out the Lilly logic in waiting hours for his return instead of using the outlet. Lilly just stared at him blankly for several seconds until Naomi broke his attention.

“Have you heard anything about Cleo?”

Ash shook his head and turned back to the stove.

“No new updates, but I plan to take the basilisk bones to Councilman Loki for reagents to use with the Vas Portal project,” he replied. “Hopefully, he’ll have an update on her.”

He was certainly ready to have her and her alter ego, Silver, back in his life. He wondered if that was why the Red House didn’t feel like home, despite living in it longer than the Flatiron.

Cleo had left for her mission on Vas not long after he settled into the house. Over the past year, they had exchanged letters to stay in touch. Councilman Loki or those who knew about the portal project would deliver the letters whenever they rifted to the other world.

Ash hated that she was over there. Especially with Hitomi and those she was working with still at large, but Cleo was the best person to help establish a foothold for De’Vas in the region. She used to rule much of it after all.

His phone chimed.

Faylen: Haylee and I are on our way. See you soon! -heart emoji-

The mention of Haylee reminded him of the image she had sent him, and Ash went to her messages and opened it. His eyes widened as the image loaded, and he saw Haylee looking seductively at the camera while wearing black lingerie.

“Why are you blushing, Ash?” Lilly teased.

Ash cleared his throat as he put away his phone.

“Just a text from Faylen. She and Haylee are on their way,” he answered as he cracked a few more eggs into the skillet.

He cast a side glance at Lilly to see that she had a mischievous smile, while Sparky just stared at him with eyes pleading for help.

Sorry, buddy, no rescue coming until breakfast is done.

It wasn’t like the elemental couldn’t escape if he really wanted to. Hells, he could turn into lightning and slip back into Ash’s elemental scar at any time. The food was almost done when he heard someone speak.

“Bacon and eggs?” Faylen asked.

Ash turned and smiled as Faylen and Haylee stepped into the kitchen. The otterkin took a seat across from Lilly while Faylen approached him.

“It’s my apology for ignoring you girls last night,” Ash answered as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled Faylen into a kiss.

Faylen’s tongue chased his as he felt her nails dig into the back of his shirt.

“You certainly are frisky today,” she purred as they broke away from each other.

Ash saw Lilly turn to face Haylee, the mischievous smile still on her face. “That’s probably because someone sent him a dirty picture this morning.”

Haylee’s eyes widened.

“I… I did not,” Haylee protested.

Lilly tilted her head.

“Oh? I didn’t say it was you. Do you have a guilty conscience?” she teased.

The dryad started to giggle when the otterkin’s face turned a deep shade of red.

Faylen let out a sigh as she patted him on the chest before stepping toward the table.

“Lilly, it’s barely seven in the morning. At least wait until we’ve had coffee before… well, before being yourself,” Faylen said as she took a seat beside Haylee, the otterkin sticking her tongue out at the dryad.

Lilly returned the gesture and was distracted enough for Sparky to make his escape, jumping from her lap and racing out of the kitchen.

“Wait!” Lilly gasped at the fleeing elemental. “I’m only at sixty-five percent!”

Grabbing her phone, she stood and gave chase once again after the blue cat. Ash shook his head as he began plating the food.

“What are your plans for today?” Naomi asked him as he set a plate in front of her.

“Hopefully resting,” Haylee said, reaching up to take hers. “You were up all last night.”

Ash shrugged.

“I’ll take a two-hour nap after we eat. I might have stayed up all night, but I still have a lot to do today,” Ash answered. “I already texted Eva what time I plan to get up, so she’ll have my schedule rearranged. What about you girls?”

He heard Naomi’s tail flick against the tile floor.

“I’m going shopping with Coral and Rachel in District 1 today!” she said excitedly before laughing. “Coral said we will paint the town red, and poor Rachel is wondering why we would do such a thing.”

Ash smirked. It wasn’t so long ago that most human idioms confused the ice salamander as well.

“I have district stuff to manage,” Faylen said. “Today I’m meeting with the local businesses and Vivian on the health of the district’s economy. Also, Principal Rory has asked Ember to make an appearance at the school to lecture about magic. He said more than a few students have expressed an interest in learning.”

He could tell she was trying to hide it, but Ash knew Faylen well enough to notice the smile she was fighting. Teaching magic to beastkin had always been a goal for Faylen and was the reason why she had created her Ember persona. He didn’t hide his smile at the news. To say he was more than a little proud of his lover would be an understatement.

“I’ll probably hit up my sisters and see if they want to go surfing,” Haylee said before looking to him. “As long as you or Faylen don’t need me for anything.”

Ash shook his head.

“Have fun with your sisters and tell them I said hi.”

He picked up his fork and prepared to enjoy breakfast when he heard a loud crash from the other room.

“Sparky did it!” Lilly yelled as the blue cat raced past the entryway for the kitchen.

Ash sighed, already knowing today would be a long day.