De'Vas Chronicles Book 3: Chapter 2

 Lilly rolled out of bed and stretched. She had stayed the night in her house instead of her shop or the Flatiron, where she had been staying most nights. The girls’ night slumber party was tonight and she was hosting it at her house, so she had stayed over to prepare.

Vines pulled an outfit from her closet and proceeded to dress her as she closed her eyes and focused on the cactus that was in Ash’s office like she did every morning.

“He’s not there,” she said to herself as she bit her lip.

Lilly started to shift through the plants she controlled in the district. She quickly found Ash walking beside Jek. Something was going on. She began shifting through her plants until she arrived at one near the portal and saw a group of armed elves.

“Oh…” Lilly said as she opened her eyes and ended her sight through the plant.

She shook the negative thoughts from her mind. Today was going to be a fun day. The girls would arrive in a few hours after all. No time to mope, she needed to get ready.

Lilly started with the dishes in the sink, washing and placing them on the drying rack. After that, she handed a feather duster to the vines of the various plants in her home, which began to dust the house while she started to set up the vacuum cleaner.

She went to the couch first, pulling out the cushions and vacuuming under them before placing them back and going over them again. Then she pushed the couch back and got under it. She did this to all of the furniture in the living room.

Next, she moved the coffee table and the rug before vacuuming the floor. She finished around the same time as the vines had wrapped up dusting. She looked around the clean house and smiled. She was ready for the slumber party later tonight.

Her phone chimed from where she had it charging and she skipped over to check it.

Ash: Hey Lil, do you care if I swing by?

Lilly smiled and replied with a yes. She set her phone down and hummed to herself as she made her way to the vacuum cleaner and ejected the dust trap.

“Woosh!” Lilly said as she spun around in a circle, scattering the dust around the house and coating everything.

She then went to the fridge and got out several condiments before going to the plates in the drying rack. She took a napkin and smeared the condiments on the clean plates before scattering them in random places and then squirted ketchup on the counters. She went to her hamper next and sprinkled socks throughout the house. Then she sat on the couch and waited for Ash.

A few minutes later the doorbell rang and Lilly darted from the couch to the door. She opened the door and smiled when she saw Ash standing there holding a brown bag.

“Hey, Lil. I was out by Mei’s. Thought I would bring you some rolls,” Ash said as he held out the bag to Lilly.

“Thank you, Ash,” Lilly said as she took the bag. “Come in.”

She smiled as he followed her inside.

“Are you ready for the slumber…party…” Ash started to say.

Lilly made her way back to the couch and sat down, a smile on her face. She knew her plan worked. Ash was looking around the room in disbelief, and he wordlessly began to pick up plates. After he gathered a stack of them he made his way to the kitchen and Lilly followed behind him taking a seat at the bar.

She watched his ass as he stood by the sink washing the dishes. He was getting stronger, a combination of training with the bitchy banshee and probably from frequently infusing his body with magic. Lilly opened the bag of rolls and took two of them. She held them up, closed one eye, and moved them until they covered Ash’s ass. Licking her lips, she gave each roll a squeeze as she held them there.

“Lil, you’re lucky I stopped by. Your place is a mess! How were you planning to have a slumber party like this?” Ash asked as he worked to wash the dishes.

“Sorry, what did you say? I was focused on my buns…rolls,” Lilly said before taking a bite out of one of the rolls she had been holding.

Ash sighed as he set a plate on the drying rack.

“I swear, Lilly. How did you survive before I met you?”

Isolated with only a few friends and those who came to her shop. She didn’t realize it at the time, but looking back that life was lonely.

“I could have dealt with the elves, Ash,” Lilly said still watching him.

Ash froze while doing the dishes.

“You saw that?” he asked.

“Enough to guess what happened,” Lilly answered.

Ash went back to washing the dishes.

“You shouldn’t have to deal with them,” he said, his tone betraying his anger at the elves. “I’m not going to allow people to come to my district and harass my friends.”

The fact he was more angry at the elves than she was stirred strange emotions in her. The same kind of emotions she got when he would do things for her like cleaning or braiding her hair. Things he did of his own volition for her. Things like bringing her rolls from a restaurant she liked.

Ash put the last dish on the drying rack and took a towel that he ran under the tap until it was wet as he started on the counters, he gave Lilly a smile.

“Hey Lil, do me a favor. Make sure Jackyln, Faylen, and Naomi have a good time tonight, and don’t spend it worrying about me and Bo.”

Lilly raised her hand holding a roll and did a mock salute to him.

“Yes, District Boss,” she said purely to annoy Ash.

Ash shook his head at her antics showing she had succeeded in that aim.

With the counter wiped down, he moved towards the vacuum cleaner.

“So you and Bo are heading to District 208 tonight?” Lilly asked as he got the machine set up.

“Yeah, nothing too dangerous. Just hunting a smuggler in the district that Silver wants to talk to,” Ash said. “Bo’s coming since he has experience in infiltration and spotting traps from his mercenary days.”

“Surprised Faylen and Naomi are letting you go without them,” Lilly said as she recalled how much shit Ash had been in when he went to District 44 and almost got killed by a powerful djinn.

“Yeah. It wasn’t easy to convince them,” Ash said with a sigh. “Faylen called this my trial run and I know they grilled the hell out of Bo to call things off if shit heads south. That’s part of why I think they’re training with Silver right now. To work out some frustration about them not going with me.”

***

Mei stood on the beach beside Naomi and watched the fight before her with apprehension. Silver said it was just a sparring match. So far the sparring match had left crater-sized holes in the sand along the beach.

“Well this looks familiar,” Silver laughed as she pointed her index and middle at a series of earthen walls Faylen had raised in front of her on the beach.

A ball of darkness formed on the end of Silver’s outstretched fingers before launching in the direction of the earthen walls, blowing through them.

“Things are different this time!” Faylen shouted.

The ball tore in half as Faylen cleaved it with her claws. Mei saw that Faylen’s hands and arms were covered in a dark metallic substance.

“Iron,” Silver hissed.

Faylen shot forward from the ruins of her earthen walls towards Silver, who backed away as she glared at Faylen’s hands. Mei saw Silver look back at Faylen’s face and smirk.

“Recalling my bare ass pressed up against your boyfriend put some fight into you, Faylen?” Silver teased.

“Wh-what!?” Mei exclaimed, but she was ignored.

“Oh, I’m going to love knocking that smirk off your face,” Faylen chuckled.

Faylen swung at Silver, but the rabbitkin dodged out of the way. Silver held out her hand and three balls of darkness formed. They shot towards Faylen, flying erratically through the air.

Faylen’s iron claws tore into the three spheres of Death Magic. She acted surprised after she dealt with the last sphere just to see Silver had closed in on her with claws made of Death Magic. Faylen raised her iron-covered arms defensively, but it was too late and Silver slipped past her guard. Her claws of Death Magic stopped an inch from Faylen’s face.

“I win,” Silver said with a smile.

“You win,” Faylen conceded with a huff.

The Death Magic fizzled out from Silver’s hands as the iron crumbled from Faylen’s arms. They made their way back to the rocks Mei and Naomi were sitting on. Silver picked up two water bottles and tossed one to Faylen.

“You’re stronger than the last time we fought, and I’m not just talking about the Iron Claw spell. Your earthen walls are a lot stronger,” Silver said before taking a swig from the bottle.

“I have to get stronger,” Faylen said as she took one of her own. “There’s no way I’m letting my mate fight…that…alone when the time comes.”

There it was again, one of the secrets Mei wasn’t privy to. Her ears twitched with agitation at it, though she doubted anyone noticed. She had been around the District boss’s inner circle, as she thought of it, a lot since befriending Silver. As a result, she had learned there were secrets the group kept from everyone else. She had tried to ask Silver about it, but her friend quickly shifted subjects. Unsurprising since Silver was the one training ‘The Storm’, and she was the liaison to the Nightmare Queen herself. Mei shuddered at the thought of the banshee queen. At least she hadn’t come back to the district the last few months. Hopefully, she would stay away!

“Alright, Naomi,” Silver said as she set down the water bottle. “You and me.”

Silver hooked a thumb towards an open area on the beach and a giddy Naomi stood up with that ridiculously large sword.

“I’m ready,” she said excitedly as the runes glowed on the blade.

Mei prepared herself to watch another brutal fight of magic unfold before her, but Faylen stepped in front of her.

“Okay, Mei. That means we’re over here,” Faylen said as she hooked her thumb in the opposite direction.

“What?” Mei said as she stared at the gang leaders and former boss of District 114.

Faylen stared at her for a moment then snarled. Which sent a shiver of fear down Mei’s spine. Then the wolfkin turned towards Silver.

“You invited her, but didn’t tell her why?” Faylen called out as Silver dispersed a wind slash with her Death Magic claws.

“If I told her then she would have never agreed to come,” Silver said as she gave Mei one of her mischievous grins. Oh, how Mei hated those grins.

Faylen sighed and turned back to her.

“Silver brought you here to spar. She said she’s been teaching you the basics of fighting and wanted you to get some hands-on experience,” Faylen said as she gestured back to the open place on the beach. “I’ll be your sparring partner.”

Run, run, run, RUN!!! Mei’s instincts screamed in her head as she stared at the wolfkin.

“Mei, she’s not going to be hurling spells at you,” Silver called out as she broke free from a sheet of ice that Naomi had tried to trap her with. “She’s just going to be working with you on punches and kicks. Training you to handle rowdy customers, not rival district gangs or bosses.”

Mei continued to stare at Faylen with dread.

“I promise, Mei. I’ll pull my punches,” Faylen said while giving her a smile.

Reluctantly Mei followed Faylen to the spot of sand. She stood there for a moment before recalling one of the stances Silver had taught her and got into position. Faylen stood across from her with a stance of her own.

“Ready, Mei?” Faylen asked.

“Y-yes,” Mei struggled to say.

Faylen rushed towards her. Mei instantly dropped her stance and started to run away in the opposite direction.

“Don’t hurt me!” Mei screamed.