Chapter 48: Forty six

When Markion told me about traveling in the sand sea of the central desert, he’d spun tales of massive sand whales that swam through the dunes, giant snakes that would swallow a horse whole and elementals that would rise from the sand, destroying all in their path. 

Yet, what we’d encountered on our journey from Hathus was sand, sun and more sand. Suffice to say, I was a little disappointed. Though, I doubted any of those traveling with us shared my disappointment. I’d been surprised to discover on our departure from Hathus that we would not travel to the dungeon with just our own small group, and instead joined a much larger group of almost fifty others who were all heading to the dungeon. I’d been uncertain about being around so many strangers, but there’d been no issues as everyone kept to themselves while traveling. 

As the soft light of dawn crept over the horizon, we were greeted with the sight of an oasis and hundreds of tents which encircled it. Several of the riders who rode ahead of our group let out cheers, and began riding towards the encampment, forcing their poor exhausted mounts in a gallop. 

“Idiots,” Dorian grumbled, shaking his head in disgust. 

“Those poor horses,” I added, reaching down to give Arion’s neck a gentle pat. 

When we reached the oasis, I was in awe at the sight of the many tents. If I hadn’t known this wasn’t an official settlement, I’d have thought we’d arrived in another town like the one we’d recently departed. Riding through rows of tents, I could hear people calling out to one another, offering items for sale and looking for people to join their group to travel into the dungeon. 

Many of the tents were set out in a disorderly fashion, but I noticed several areas where tents were neatly grouped together with guild banners on display. Spotting the Eternia Guild’s flag up ahead, I saw dozens of tents set up within a roped off area. Two poles with our guilds banner marked the entrance to the encampment, and as we approached, a man walked out to meet us. 

“I see our illustrious guild leader has finally arrived,” the golden-haired man called out, spreading his arms wide. 

“Corvus,” Darius responded, his voice sounding raspy as he greeted the guild commander. 

That's what Corvus looks like now? He obviously spent way too much time playing with the beauty settings. 

As we all dismounted, I dug through my pouch, searching for the ‘gift’ my Leosaur had brought me the day before. Walking closer to where Darius stood talking to Corvus, I waited for Darius to notice me, while keeping my hand hidden behind my back. 

“Corvus, I’m sure you remember Markion’s sister Kadia.” Darius said, gesturing towards me. 

Chuckling, the golden-haired commander looked at me, inclining his head. 

“The feisty fairy returns.” The lion quipped, getting an amused laugh from my brother and Darius in response.

“She’s more of a vicious vixen now,” Markion interjected, reaching out and yanking my hood down to reveal my pointed red furred ears. 

Letting out an annoyed huff in response to my brother's actions, I narrowed my eyes at the lion who stared back at me in amusement, his slender tail flicking back and forth behind him. 

“It’s good to see you again, Kadi-.” The commanders words were cut off abruptly as he caught the corpse of the small mammal I’d flung at his chest. 

“Darius said the encampment was low on food supplies, and I know you’re bad at hunting, so I brought you this.” I told the lion with a beaming smile as he held the desert hopping mouse up by its tail. 

We stared at each other in silence for several long moments before Corvus tilted his head back and dropped the mouse into his mouth, swallowing it whole. 

“Thanks,” he drawled, lips curling up into a smirk and revealing a pair of sharp upper canines. 

“Thats disgusting,” I sneered, crossing my arms over my chest. “Forget fleas, you’re riddled with intestinal worms.” 

“If I’ve got fleas, you’ve got em too foxy. All that fluffy red fur, the fleas will be lovin’ that.” Corvus purred, causing me to pin my ears back and snarl at him. 

“Enough, both of you.” Darius growled, holding up a hand. “Kadia, Corvus is a guild commander, you need to show him-.”

“To a bath?” I cut in, causing my brother to snicker and Darius to let out a weary sigh. 

“I was going to say respect, but that won't happen will it?” 

“Nope.” I said cheerily. 

“Can you be polite to each other in public at least? Keep the snide remarks and insults to somewhere more private.” The guild leader asked. 

“Like I’d go anywhere private with that walking STD,” I scoffed. 

In response, Darius let out a low growl, the sound vibrating out from his throat and making my skin prickle. Ears pressed flat to my head, and with an expression that made it clear that I didn’t mean a word I said, I reluctantly agreed to ‘act’ politely to the lion in public. It was not that I didn’t like Corvus, or vice versa, it was just that we both got more enjoyment out of insulting and annoying each other than in having a traditional friendship. 

As Corvus guided our group through the encampment, the temptation to set the tuft of fur at the tip of his tail on fire was almost unbearable. Only the narrowed eyed glare of the guild leader, whose expression showed he knew exactly what I was thinking about kept me from acting on the urge. For now, at least. 

The guild camp was split into different areas, with the hunting teams setting up their tents along the perimeter, and the ‘command’ tents in the center on the camp. Though, Roderick chose to stay with his team for now, temporarily forgoing a tent in the commander’s area of the encampment. Normally a hunting team’s leader was only at the rank of a captain, but in Roderick’s case, he was a ‘raid’ commander which meant that along with his own team, he would often be in charge of an encampment similar to the one we were at now. 

Which I’d learnt was the reason Roderick’s team had accompanied us, as the Draekin commander would take charge of the guild’s encampment here, once Corvus and Darius departed. Over the next weeks, more teams would arrive to take their turn in the dungeon, while to my horror, Corvus would bring the teams who were currently training in the dungeon to partake in the firedrake hunt. 

As Darius and Corvus spoke in the lions tent, I helped Markion with pitching his own tent while I waited to find out which team I would be assigned to. Well, to say I helped would be an exaggeration. All I did was stand around watching him, while holding a squirming Leonidas.  

“Kadia,” Darius called, and I turned to see him leaving the tent with a smiling Corvus. 

Seeing the look on Corvus’s face, my stomach clenched with nerves. His expression making it clear he was plotting something. As I walked over to where Darius stood at the tent entrance, Corvus moved away to call over a nearby man who took off running shortly after the commander spoke to him.

“Corvus is summoning two of the team captains whose teams you might join. One team recently lost a member, and I was going to slot you in with them, but Corvus believes you would be better suited to a different team. The issue we have, is that Devon’s team needs a fifth member, as they are currently running the dungeon with a member borrowed from Victoria’s team.” 

“What does that mean?” I asked the guild leader with a furrowed brow. 

“We’re going to recommend Freya transfer to Devon’s team permanently, and have you fill her spot on Victoria’s team. However, this will only be if all parties agree. I won’t transfer Freya if she doesn’t want to change teams or either captain refuse the swap.” 

“Okay,” hesitating I glanced between the two men, and was about to ask more about the two teams when a figure striding towards us caught my eye. 

“Ah, there’s Vicky. Prompt as always.” 

Corvus’s voice barely penetrated my mind, as I took in the woman’s appearance. At first glance, I would have mistaken her for a red skinned Orc, if not for the pair of horns protruding from her forehead. Wearing only a pair of loose trousers, and a scrap of cloth wrapped around her prominent bust, the woman’s tall, muscular figure cut a rather intimidating image. 

“Uh, what race is Vicky?” I stammered, wide-eyed gaze still fixed on the approaching woman. 

“A member of the Oni Yōkai race, she is called a Kijo, which is the term used to refer to a female Oni.” Darius informed me and I nodded, staying silent as the woman came to a stop in front of us. 

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“Guild Leader Darius, Commander Corvus.” Victoria greeted, eyes flicking to me briefly before settling on Corvus. 

“Captain Victoria, you’re the first to arrive.” Corvus commented, glancing behind her. “We are just waiting on Devon and Freya.” 

“Devon’s group left camp with Freya for the dungeon this morning and haven’t returned yet.” The Kijo responded, and Corvus frowned. 

“They are not scheduled for a dungeon run today,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Devon took Zane’s teams place in the dungeon, as their archer was injured and needs time to heal.” 

“Regardless, I should have been informed of the roster change.” Corvus snapped, looking less than happy at hearing this information. 

“Lets take this inside,” Darius instructed, gesturing to the lions tent. 

As we entered the tent, I was surprised at how sparsely furnished it was, though I suspected this was not Corvus’s private tent, but one set up for the guild’s captains and commanders to gather in. A long table took up much of the space, and it was covered in various bits of paper, several looking like maps of a maze.

“I’m going to cut to the chase, I want to transfer Freya off your team.” Corvus stated the moment we sat down. 

Both guild officers sat on one side of the table, leaving Victoria and myself to sit opposite them, with me sitting two seats down from my potential team captain. 

“This fox is who you're replacing her with then?” Victoria asked, jerking her thumb at me. 

“If you're willing to accept the swap, yes.” Corvus agreed, and the Kijo turned to me. 

“What’s your deal?” 

“My deal?” 

Confused, I looked at Darius, but he simply gestured at Victoria. 

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking back at the team captain.

“Weapon, fighting style, all that.” Victoria said gruffly, staring down at me in a manner that made me feel much smaller than I was. 

“You a tamer?” She asked, nudging her chin downwards to the Leosaur still clutched in my arms. 

Following her gaze, I saw Leo staring up at the woman with wide, fearful eyes, his body stiff as it pressed against my stomach. 

“Kadia is an alchemist, and is currently using darts for ranged combat.” Darius interjected, seeing I wasn’t responding to the woman’s questions. 

“You want me to trade an archer for a dart throwing fox?” Victoria scorned, and I sat a little straighter in my seat, opening my mouth to speak, but Corvus responded before I could. 

“No, we want you to trade an archer for an alchemist. Kadia’s skills as an alchemist are far more versatile than those provided by an archer.” 

“How? By handing out tinctures? Every member of my team can already make that crap.” 

“Like this,” I snapped in response and tossed a gray-colored sphere onto the table, its fuse already burning. 

In seconds plumes of smoke filled the tent, and I strolled out with Darius, who was the only one smart enough to pull up his mask when he saw me toss the smoke bomb. We left Corvus and Victoria writhing on the floor, choking and coughing, with tears streaming down their faces. 

“Talk didn’t go well?” Markion asked as we approached where he’d finished pitching his tent. 

Giving my brother a head shake in response, I moved to where Arion stood alongside Basher, and lifted a sneezing Leo into the basket tied to the saddle bags. 

“It went fine, Kadia will join Victoria’s team.” Darius responded, and I looked up from where I was wiping Leo’s face with a cloth, to stare at the guild leader in surprise.

“Joining her team? I just set off the equivalent to tear gas in her face, she will not want me on her team now.” 

Laughing, Darius patted me on the back. “That’s exactly why she will want you. Victoria will be impressed you took her and Corvus down like that.” 

This had been confirmed when the Kijo stumbled out of the tent, face buried in the crook of her elbow. Once she’d regained her breath, and wiped away the tears from her cheeks, the red-skinned woman had stormed over to me with a fierce look. 

“How many of those do you have left?” She demanded, arms crossed. 

“Uh, two? I sold most of them to Roderick.” I replied, taking a step back as her face darkened. 

“How many more can you make?” 

“Er,” after doing some quick calculations I replied. “I have enough supplies to make another two batches, which is twenty smoke bombs.” 

“You have other things you can make like that?” 

“Yes, I do.” I told the red-skinned woman with a slight nod, and her face split into a wide grin as she turned to Darius. 

“I just have to kick out Freya and I can have her?” 

“If Freya and Devon agree to the transfer then-.” Darius said lips twitching as he took in my wide-eyed expression.

“He can’t have the fox, let him keep Freya, she’s a shitty archer, anyway.” Victoria retorted, as she moved in front of me, holding out an arm in a protective gesture. 

“Alright, you can have Kadia, but-.” 

I didn’t hear the rest of what Darius had to say, as Victoria scooped me up under her arm like a football and began striding away.

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