Chapter 2: Chapter 1: The end of the journey starts now

Avexyl woke up in the same inn she had lived in since her grandmother died. The wooden ceiling was partially rotted, but she couldn’t blame Jack for that. Any means to repair the ceiling wouldn’t arrive in the city for another month. As she lifted herself up in bed she snapped a clear wire above her frame. If she wasn’t awake before, now she was. 

Nails shot out from all directions of the room towards her. She quickly unsheathed the katana that lay next to her in bed. As the nails rushed to impale her she springboarded off of the bed. She spun rapidly in the air as she deflected all of the nails launched at her with practiced ease. Once her foot touched the floor, it triggered the next trap. This time throwing knives were launched from the wall, but to Vex this was just as easy as the first trap. All of the knives got deflected towards the ground and formed a circle around her with their handles up as their blades sunk into the wood floor. 

No sooner than her little dance ended was there a pounding on the door to her room. “Vex, what ye doin in ere? Ye tryna bring this whole damn place down?” White runes appeared on Vex's hand as she used a magic thread to pull the door open. On the other side was the usual hungover Jack with a red face steaming with anger. 

“‘Ow many times I gotta tell ye’? Ye can’t just go and set yer traps in er. Yer lucky I hadn’t kicked ye outta er awhile ago…” Vex looked on at him, unspeaking. “Ye not gonna say nothin? Whatever bring yer ass downstairs when ye packed yer stuff. I’ll ave breakfast at the ready. Yer 16 today ain’t ye? That just means you’ll be outta my hair.” He huffed then left downstairs towards the dining room. 

Vex started to pack away all of the knives and nails into her large leather backpack. She looked down at her pale arms that the black leather armor didn’t cover. It was this paleness that marked her as an Ashen. The other tells were the 2 fangs in her mouth and her ears that were more pointed than most species of humanoids. 

Once she was done packing everything she needed she headed down the stairs to the dining room of the inn. The stairs creaked as she made herself known in the dining room. Despite there being several tables, they were all empty. Well one of them had 2 plates across from each other. Jack was seated in front of one of the plates. 

Vex’s eyes widened when she realized that she would be eating eggs. “Haha, I knew this ‘ould get a reaction outta ye.” Vex took a seat in front of Jack, and stared wordlessly into the food for a while before digging in. It was the unmistakable taste of eggs which she had long since forgotten. She had them with her grandmother when she was only 4. The sweet memory of eating them with her now deceased grandmother brought a smile to her face. “Thank you.”

Jack’s eyes widened. It wasn’t often he could get a word out of her. A gentle smile tugged at his lips. “Aye don’t even go a mentionin’ it. I figured if yer gonna go outta er to yer death anyway, might as well ave a good supper. As in it might be yer last.” Vex simply nodded along as she scarfed down the rest of the eggs. It wasn’t his place to tell her what she should do. 

As soon as Vex finished the eggs she stood up and turned away from Jack towards the exit of the shoddy inn. Jack shook his head as he watched her leave out the door. “Coulda’ at least said bye…” 

Vex observed the city around her from the small porch of the inn. Many buildings were wooden and run down just like the inn. The ground was covered in a gray sand that was almost white. It has long been believed that the gray sand that paints over this region was created by Ashandra herself, the patron god of the Ashen.

Nowadays Ashen were rare even for this city. This city has had many names throughout the years. The common name now is simply Shod. Since everything in the city is shoddy, the name kind of stuck. Vex would finally be leaving the city she has lived in for her entire life. 

It didn’t take her long to reach the towering gates of the city. They were the only part of the whole place that weren’t in disrepair along with the wall surrounding it all. Giant 50 meter walls circled the entire place colored the same gray as the sands beneath them. Her objective was the heavy door used for human traffic that stood next to the thick gate. When she made her way over to the door. One of the two slits above the door opened. 

“Aye, I already know what you’re here for.” A guard's voice spoke from the slit. “Another one going to the grave early?” Another guard asked the first. “Well, not really our business either way, but someones still gotta give her the same speech everyone gets.” The guard then switched back to Vex.

“We pray your soul reaches the gate. We hold onto the hope that you will be our salvation… yadda yadda…” He didn’t even continue the speech before opening the first of the human doors with a mechanism. As she entered the door and the wall itself, the door behind her slammed closed. Then the next door opened. Then the next. This continued until she traversed the 10 doors. Once the final one slammed shut and she was outside of the gate she made one last look at the large wall behind her. “Goodbye, I will bring back the oasis.” With that last utterance to the city that held the beloved memories of her grandmother, she finally started the journey. No matter what I have to go through. The gods will hear me! Upon this sacred sword given by my grandmother, I swear it!

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