De'Vas Chronicles Book 4: Chapter 11

Ash relaxed in the stream, the cool current washing away the sweat and dirt clinging to his body. He lifted his arm and examined it. Fresh burn marks covered them from what he had started thinking of as fusion with Sparky. The results of another failed day of trying to train with the elemental’s power. Four days had passed since he had taken over the castle, and still, he had yet to make headway in using the power without injuring himself.

Nearly a week on Vas.

He held his breath as he plunged his head under the water. When he reemerged, he spotted Sparky lying in the sunlight on a large rock not far from the shore.

Definitely a cat.

He sighed as he watched the elemental. He wished the little blue cat had the answers, but when he tried asking, it was pointless. He knew he would need the power and more to survive on Vas and return home, but Sparky’s answer was always the same.

GET. STRONGER. SURVIVE.

Needing something was one thing, but knowing how to achieve it was another. He wished Cleo or Faylen were here to help him, and not just because he missed the girls. Both were insightful on magic and could probably figure out a solution.

“Get out of here!” Haylee’s voice echoed through the woods.

Ash heard some surprised shouts along with the rustling of leaves on the hillside overlooking the stream.

“Ash,” Haylee’s voice called out once more. “Is it alright for me to come down?”

He had already wrapped a towel around himself at the surprised shouts.

“You’re good, Haylee.”

The otterkin walked over the hill, glaring at the bushes where the shouts came from. She was wearing the blue jeans and brown hoodie she had been wearing when they rifted from De’Vas. He knew she used her Water Magic to wash the clothing every day just so she could wear it again, and he couldn’t blame her for it. The clothing options on Vas were far from comfortable.

I’m almost tempted to be a nudist.

He had a slight frown as he looked at the tunic and pants made from the wool lying across a fallen tree. The fabric was incredibly itchy, but the only other alternative was the animal hide outfits many of the beastkin wore. They felt like he was dressed for a blizzard in July.

“Damn peeping toms,” Haylee growled as she neared, still casting glares at the bushes.

Ash grabbed the clothes before slipping behind a large boulder that hid everything below his sternum and started to get dressed.

“Girls from the castle?” Ash asked.

Haylee sighed.

“I’m sure they’ll claim they were either watching you to learn magic, or were hunting in the area and just happened to come across you,” she growled. “Just like the last time I caught them.”

Ash stepped out from behind the boulder, looking very much like an actor from a Renaissance fair.

“Last time?” he arched an eyebrow. “Is this something I need to bring up with Blake?”

The bearkin had become the representative of the beastkin who stayed at the castle, while Eva was the same for the orcs. Many would go to either of them for anything they wanted to ask him about, and he found out it worked best to rely on them to dictate any task. The whole thing was an infuriating game of telephone.

Haylee just frowned.

“He would just tell you to pick the ones you like and challenge them to a mating duel. I get what they’re doing, you’re probably the strongest person they’ve ever seen, and many beastkin see a strong mate as security and survival.”

Ash shook his head.

“A mating duel. I’m glad most picked up dating when they came to Earth.”

Haylee smirked.

“Oh, did you and the boss not have a mating fight? Scandalous!”

Boss, that’s what Haylee kept referring to Faylen as. He wondered if she was doing it as a way to cope with their situation, looking at it as a mission or task for the 114 Pack. Something to help take her mind away from the fact that her sisters were in another world right now. She had latched onto the last task Faylen had given her and devoted herself as his bodyguard, causing her to clash more than once with Eva.

“The one time Faylen and I fought she kicked my ass,” Ash said with a laugh. “So, everything okay?”

Haylee nodded.

“Eva wants to show you the defenses to the castle Helena’s made.”

He looked over at the blue cat lazing about on the rock.

“Sparky, let’s go,” Ash said.

A bolt of lightning shot from the rock at him, and he felt the elemental slip into his scar. Haylee took two steps back at the display before giving him a nervous smile.

“I’m still not used to him…” she admitted.

Ash sighed.

“Me either, to be honest.”

She walked beside him as they made their way out of the woods back to Castle Markal. She stayed close enough to him that occasionally her hand would brush against his, and Ash wasn’t sure it was entirely accidental.

“How’s training going?” she asked.

He grimaced a little.

“Not as well as I hoped it would.”

Haylee tapped her chin with her finger in thought.

“We could request Augustus to try and pick up books on magic when he does the supply run tomorrow.”

Ash stopped and looked at Haylee.

“Supply run? Not a trade mission?” he asked.

During the meetings with his advisers, the dwarf had discussed in length what he would require to make the long trips to sell what they could harvest from Markal Forest for the best price. The dwarf made it clear he could be gone for a week or more on such trips.

“Yeah, he’s going to trade some animal hides for supplies for the castle. Food, clothing, ale… he mentioned ale a few times. He said it should only take a day or two, and he’ll be back.”

“What’s the nearest city?” he asked.

Haylee crossed her arms and gave him a stern look, much the way Faylen would. Instead of looking intimidating like when Faylen did it, Haylee just ended up looking cute. He smiled at the pose and saw her blush.

“You would stand out way too much!” she said, still holding the pose and face red. “It’s bad enough I have to deal with the beastkin girls, but we go to an elvish city, and people see you look human… let’s just say it would be a big headache.”

Ash smiled at her.

“I’ll wear my cloak with the hood, no one will see I’m human.”

Even if they did, he doubted they would believe it. Helena still thought he was using some kind of magic to make himself appear this way, even going so far as to touch him with a silver coin to see if he was a changeling in disguise.

“If you go, I’m coming with you,” Haylee said. “And I’m sure Selena will want to come as well. Getting out might do her some good.”

Ash nodded in agreement. The last few days had been rough on Selena. Learning about the goblin and the Coalition’s connection to District 208 had opened the wounds she had about her father. She was also worried about her district and friends.

“We’ll go with Augustus. Do a little shopping, eat some food, and you girls can show me what a city in Vas is like,” Ash said.

“It’s a date,” Haylee said as her tail playfully smacked his leg.

Ash grinned.

“It’s a date— what’s that?” he asked, catching sight of the two banners now draped from the castle.

One was bright red with the outline of a woman’s face in grey. The other was blue with a male’s face outline in white, a lightning bolt scar running down his cheek.

“Surprise!” Haylee said. “Eva has been asking if you had a sigil and banner. Selena suggested the logo for Grayson Industries, but I talked her out of that. I know you have mixed feelings about your family company. So this was what Eva threw together.”

“Who’s the red one?” he asked.

Haylee’s lips thinned.

“Cleo Blackthorn or Silver as I knew her,” she clicked her tongue. “A lot of things are making sense now that I know that.”

She said the next part under her breath, and Ash was sure he wasn’t supposed to hear it.

“I can’t believe I asked the Nightmare Queen lingerie advice…”

Ash cleared his throat.

“So, why do I have a banner?”

“It’s to show who the castle belongs to. Also it would raise way to many questions if you didn’t have one, but were still claiming to be a vassal of Queen Blackthorn,” Haylee answered before poking him in the chest. “Remember, Ash. Here you’re nobility because of that.”

He frowned, but nodded. He didn’t like it, but he wasn’t an idiot. Many of the places on Vas were very similar to those of the medieval era back on Earth. Nobility unlocked doors and options to him that brute force alone wouldn’t.

He heard a horn as they neared the gate, followed by a shout.

“The warchief has returned!” an orc boomed from the ramparts.

Every single time I come back!

Haylee chuckled from beside him as he glared at the castle walls.

“You hate this so much.”

He gritted his teeth.

“I do,” he said, then sighed. “But Eva has told me it’s part of orc culture to announce the warchief when he returns. It’s supposed to alert the people in case they need to make requests. Even if they prefer to do that by going through Eva.”

They entered through the gate of the castle, stepping into its courtyard. They only made it a few steps before Eva appeared with Helena shadowing her.

“Welcome back, sir,” Eva greeted while doing a salute.

Ash smiled and nodded to her and the dark elf woman behind her.

“Haylee said you wanted to show me the defenses to the castle.”

She gave a nervous look to him and nodded.

“And I was hoping the banner would meet your approval, sir,” she said.

He gave her a warm smile, mainly because it looked like she was about to collapse if he frowned.

“They look good, Eva. Thank you.”

She relaxed at his words and even stood a little straighter.

“If you’ll allow us, we’ll show you the defenses,” she said.

He followed the orc and dark elf for the next two hours around the castle, Haylee staying close to his side. He was honestly impressed, given the short time and limited tools Eva and Helena had to work with. The collapsed parts of the walls along the castle were repaired with wooden walls and ramps for defenders to fight from. The wood was also covered in a greasy substance that Eva said would prevent them from catching fire and make them difficult to climb. Next, they went to the ramparts, and Ash saw four ballistas on each wall.

“They’re a simple design, but effective. We’re working on crafting more of them with hopes to have eight on each wall,” Helena stated.

Next was the training yard where both orcs, beastkin, and other races were practicing with wooden weapons. He spotted Selena here, using her healing magic to patch up a catkin with a nasty bruise on her face.

“How are you today, Ash?” Selena asked when she saw him. “Do you have more burns for me to heal?”

Unlike Haylee, she was wearing the Vas style clothing and was currently in a faded red dress made from linen. The catkin’s bruise vanished as Selena ran her hand over it. Once the catkin stood and rushed back into the training area, Selena approached him, her eyes already fixed on his arms.

“Let me see your hands,” she said.

Ash held out his arms and felt the warm brush of Selena’s healing magic pass over them.

“Selena, are you doing anything tomorrow?” Ash asked.

Her violet eyes looked up at him as he smiled.