Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Merchants and Ministries

CRACK!

Rania slammed her sword against the face of another Barbarian. The Drenid fell in a heap and Rania panted over him as she looked for another fight.

It was the fifth encounter that day, Orm’s loss seemed to have opened the floodgates as Barbarian Drenids came at them one after another all looking to test their strength. 

According to Esta, that’s just how their tribe was and that’s why humans named them Barbarians. They liked fighting so much they had festivals specifically to test their weapons against one another. Watching Rania now he knew why they were attracted to her.

“Come on, who's next!” Rania shouted to the woods. She earned more bruises and cuts but smiled like a psychopath as she anxiously waited for her next opponent.

“Well, she’s got the spirit at least…” Esta said watching Rania check behind trees for hidden Drenids. “You may want to consider binding her to the Dredot once we reach Trilx.”

“Right, how exactly do I-” Wolstan began.

“Point at her then press and hold the corresponding dot.”

He made a note to remember that because Rania was an unstoppable fighting machine with apparently limitless energy. The way she was breathing told him she was tired but she’d never admit it and she would probably hold it against him if he ordered her to rest.

Thankfully Trilx was close, he would’ve been surprised if there were any more attacks before they reached the city. He took the lull between fights to check Rania’s stats again.

Drenid Name: Rania

Hunter: Wolstan

Tribe: Forester

Form: [Fighter] (1st stage)

Class: Warrior

Level: 6

Strength: 7

Defense: 5

Intel: 6

Agility: 12

She grew stronger but he somehow expected more after so many fights. There were apparently diminishing returns on fighting Drenids that were weaker than her. He shook the thought away.

Getting stronger wasn’t his end goal, it was simply a byproduct of trying to meet his father. He would have to remember that if he wanted to stay focused.

“Come on Rania, we’re burning daylight!” Wolstan called as he started eastward just behind Esta. Rania reluctantly gave up on her hunt and walked beside Wolstan, scowling her displeasure. “Don’t be like that, aren’t you tired of fighting?”

“Tired of improving myself? Humans really are as lazy as the others described them.” Rania said. “Besides, if I don’t get stronger, I’ll never get my revenge.” She glared at Esta who seemed to be ignoring her.

“The whole thing just seems barbaric. It’s almost as if Drenids want to fight each other.”

“We could say the same thing about your kind,” Esta said. “Humans catch Drenids in preparation for wars they say they don’t want to happen, Drenids fight to gain more power in hopes they can survive an attack. Drenids fight over territory all the time, and Pluveria, Terrotia, and Astrophilus have waged wars over the Middle Ground. We’re really not that different.”

“Besides the wings, claws, and tails, right?” Wolstan joked. He swore he saw the corner of Esta’s mouth curl up.

He hadn’t really thought of it the way Esta did but he doubted many other hunters had either. He once read an article that claimed only fourteen percent of hunters had meaningful conversations with their Drenids but it wasn’t unusual in Zertold.

“Stop complaining already, you wanted a Drenid so you should at least stomach me cracking a couple skulls.” Rania said with a gruesome smile.

“I thought Foresters were supposed to be peaceful…”

“Most are, but apple trees produce oranges sometimes,” Esta said. Wolstan wanted to ask where that saying came from but Esta stopped in her tracks and pointed in front of her. “Looks like we’re here.”

Wolstan looked up to see a black train cutting through the forest. It stood taller than any building in Zertold, by the looks of it, it could probably house the entire village comfortably. 

He had heard of the train of course, it ran to all the major cities around Pluveria powered by electricity from Rotrican Drenids. Despite how much he read about Drenids he knew precious little about Rotricans, though he assumed only the kingdom’s head inventor, Cas, did.

“This makes getting to Gelia easier. We could even board now and come back later to return Kesta’s book.” Wolstan said. 

“Whatever you think is best,” Esta said with a shrug. 

“Choosing the easy way again human…” Rania said but followed regardless.

The doors were already open as Wolstan climbed the stairs which he found odd but not enough to deter him. 

The inside was decorated lavishly in velvety gold and black; Cas had apparently spared no expense on it. Wolstan touched one of the seats and his fingers sank into its soft snuggly depths. 

“Can we afford this?” He asked, looking at tables with exquisite depictions of the Diamarta sigil carved into them.

“Only one way to find out,” Esta said, pointing out a man leaning on a door frame that led to another car.

He wore a black and gold suit that matched the train’s interior and a cap that had ‘conductor’ stitched into it with gold lettering. Far from offering them tickets the man simply seemed bored by their presence.

“Hello, you might have overheard but we were wondering how much a ticket is,” Wolstan said and started moving his hand to his Dredot to pay.

“We? You mean the Drenids?” The man said, raising a brow. “You’re not with Whiteflag are you? I don’t want any trouble.”

“Who? We’re coming from Zertold, we just wanted to get to the capital.” 

The conductor relaxed his face, looked Rania up and down, and laughed. 

“Ah, a country bumpkin, of course you don’t know.” He said. Wolstan grimaced; he’d only known the man a minute but already disliked him. “Well, tickets are only twenty bronze and Drenids ride free with their hunters as long as they don’t cause trouble.”

Wolstan’s jaw almost fell but stopped himself from looking more hickish. The idea you could ride such an extravagant train for only twenty bronze seemed ridiculous, it had to have been subsidized by the kingdom.

“That is, it would be twenty bronze if we were running at the moment.” The conductor continued. 

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“What? When’s the next time you’re taking off?”

“No idea. The king’s making some grand announcement soon so we’re stuck here as some sort of security thing.” The man said and sighed deeply. “It was supposed to be within the next few days but we’ve been stuck here three already. Though I guess there are worse places to be stuck than Trilx.”

Wolstan’s face drooped. It could have been days before his father decided to make his speech, and he didn’t want to wait for it to happen.

“Why don’t we just walk it?” Esta asked. “Gelia isn’t far from Trilx and the roads leading into the city are the most guarded in the entire kingdom. It won’t be like the path from Zertold.”

“Your Drenid knows its stuff.” The conductor said, cracking a small smile. “Actually, I swear I’ve seen one like it bef-”

“You know, she’s just your run-of-the-mill Forester!” Wolstan said, and quickly moved to conceal Esta’s sigil. Getting caught with the king’s Drenid would raise too many questions.

“She, huh? You really are a country bumpkin… Well, enjoy your stay in Trilx.” The man said as Wolstan hurried Esta and Rania out of the train. 

“Strange man,” Wolstan said as they were making their way around the train and into Trilx proper. The conductor had apparently taken issue with how he addressed Esta, which Wolstan had only ever known one other person to notice. 

A mail courier arrived in Zertold once a week with packages that always referred to his Drenids as its or they. He was always tickled pink when he heard the villagers refer to Drenids as he or she; which made sense as one could usually tell whether they were male or female at a glance.

“You’re the strange one, Wolstan,” Esta said with a small smile; Rania shook her head.

They rounded the tracks and a sprawling city opened up before them. There were buildings taller than the train, merchants as far as the eye could see selling charms, accessories, and clothes for humans and Drenids alike. On the southern edge a large six-spired church took up most of the land, its marbled columns and expensive-looking stained glass windows were some of the most beautiful architecture Wolstan had ever seen. 

Most striking of all though was the great blue sea to the east which seemed to go on forever into the horizon. Ships stood at the docks unmoving but ready should their services be needed.

Wolstan’s senses overloaded just trying to take it all in, he spotted the Drenid auctions Kesta wanted to take him to, and there were policemen patrolling the streets with powerful-looking Drenids at their back. He was only brought back into the present moment when Esta tapped him on the shoulder.

“Might want to put the Forester away, this is a nice town and we can’t afford to cause an incident.” She said.

“The Forester has a name, Natrius!” Rania shot back. “And if you think for a moment I’ll-”

Wolstan tapped Rania’s dot and the Drenid appeared to shrink into a small ball of green flame. The flame drifted over her dot and sank into it turning the entire dot green. 

“I’ll apologize to her later…” Wolstan said. Esta was right, the town was fast-paced and Rania had a temper.

Not knowing where to go first Wolstan went from shop to shop looking at the various wares merchants had on display. 

There was of course an addition to his Dredot he could have bought to house additional Drenids but at three thousand bronze it was way out of his price range (He made a mental note to repay Kesta one day). Then there was a dress made of sown leaves he thought Rania might like, the merchant said it had good mobility but Esta quickly pulled him away.

“What she has right now is fine, you can play dress-up when you have more bronze.” She said. 

That seemed easy to say when you were covered in fur but Wolstan couldn’t argue as he didn’t have the money. 

The rest of the day went on like that, Wolstan wandered into strange shops promising things that would increase Rania’s speed or strength and Esta called them out as scams to the merchant’s ire.

In truth he appreciated it; if she hadn’t been there he’d probably have already bought a defense necklace or a knockoff Dredot attachment being sold for just twenty-five bronze.

The sun started to drift below the horizon when Esta finally forced him away from the shops. She led him to the docks to look over the darkening water.

“It really is your first time out alone, isn’t it?” Esta asked.

“You would know wouldn’t you?” Wolstan said laughing.

“I wasn’t always watching you, you know. Especially after dropping you off in Zertold, I watched the humans I left you with for a month before deciding they were okay. After that I went traveling, it was the first time I could go anywhere I wanted in a long time so I took it. I did make sure to come back on your birthdays, humans seem to think they’re significant.”

Wolstan’s face glowed red. He hadn’t considered the depth to which Esta looked out for him over the years. He had a memory of someone dropping a deer carcass on Kesta’s porch one year, he wondered if that was her idea of a gift. Yet something held him back from fully appreciating the act. The reason she did it in the first place. 

Unless Evrouin abused her in some way, there shouldn’t have been a reason to save the child of the people who killed her hunter. 

“Did Evrouin celebrate his birthdays?” He asked. Back in the forest, she didn’t seem keen on talking about her reasons for saving him so he needed to know more about the former king.

Esta threw her head back and laughed harshly. Several people around them turned to stare, including a strange platinum blonde woman in a prismatic trailing dress, and drooping hat. She stared longer than the rest and seemed to be seizing them up.

“Evrouin made his birthday a holiday,” Esta said, still laughing. “You were probably too young to remember when your father discontinued it, after dealing with Isagaia. There were parades, more alcohol than the humans could drink, and feasts that wasted enough food to feed several cities.” 

She wiped a tear from her eye while still laughing leaving Wolstan even more confused. She spoke like she remembered the man in a positive light; so why did she save him? What’s more, what did she mean by his father dealing with the former queen? 

The official story went that Isagaia cheated on Evrouin with eight men who were put to death along with her and then married Ayafara, his real mother. But now that he knew about the coup there had to have been more.

He started to ask when the woman in the strange colored dress approached them wearing a sickeningly sweet smile and holding a stack of leaflets.

“Excuse me, I couldn’t help overhearing you talking about our king.” The woman said. “If you don’t mind, could I get your opinion on how the Diamartas are running the kingdom?”

Wolstan shut his mouth and looked to Esta who shook her head. He didn’t know how to answer her, most of the king’s decisions didn’t change much in Zertold, or news of the changes reached the village so late that it was pointless to complain. Not to mention everything he now knew about the man.

“I guess everything's fine…” He said awkwardly.

“Right!” The woman said, her eyes widened; Wolstan could clearly see the brilliant hazel of her pupils. She put her hand on his shoulder. “And if you’re a fan of Evrouin you must be a believer in the six spirits, right?”

“Er, well I hav-”

“I knew you were!” The woman said and thrust a leaflet in Wolstan’s hands. Reading it quickly it was a recruitment for the church. They were looking for workers and new members. “Tell me, do you have somewhere to sleep for the night?”

“I’m sure we’ll be able to find somewhere before nightfall, thank you though,” Esta said before Wolstan could stumble his words again. 

The woman cocked her head still smiling and said, “I don’t seem to recall asking you, Drenid. Let your hunter decide for himself, the church is free and can perfectly accommodate hunters and their,” She smiled even deeper as she looked at Esta. “Things.”

Wolstan had enough, he was about to tell the woman off for being disrespectful to the one who saved his life but Esta grabbed his arm.

“Free, is free.” She said with a small shrug. Wolstan frowned, he couldn’t comprehend why she took the woman’s abuse but dropped it as she suggested.

“Great! Come with me then.” The woman said and dragged Wolstan towards the church. “My names Laurette by the way, I can’t wait to tell you all about the church.” 

Wolstan barely heard her. He spotted a large red-brick building across the city that read: Trilx Public Library. That was nice at least; if he would be forced to endure a night with Laurette at least their next destination was close.

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