Chapter 3 - Caphina, City of Shadows
Author's Note:
This chapter features my first extended sex scene, so feedback on this chapter in particular would be greatly appreciated!
The next few hours were a blur to Mels. He could vaguely remember the guards bursting into the room soon after the prince was woken, rushing past him, Aylala, and Christi. After that, he remembered being ferried out of the room very quickly and back to the golden waiting room they were in before to speak with Symon and confirm their success. Aylala told of the corruption that was keeping Prince Lanmaine asleep, calling it a "parasite," and stated that she would need to report back to the House of Sorisancta. The grand advisor seemed to be pleased, but Mels could tell something was off with her report. She kept a monotone voice and neutral face like she was hiding something. Symon, expectedly, attempted to dismiss them and send them back to Kelna, escorting them back out of the castle and into the courtyard.
"We're not leaving yet," he whispered to the two of them. "Right? We can't just leave after seeing
that
."
"Mels is right," said Christi, looking just as distressed as when she first saw the parasite. "If what that stuck-up advisor said is true, then that noble who fucked the prince could be the source of the Corruption. We need to find her."
Aylala maintained an unreadable expression, giving a few glances at the near-empty courtyard around them and the towering castle. She said nothing as she took two bits of ribbon from her cleavage - causing Mels and Christi both to raise eyebrows - and dipped a claw into an inkwell attached to her hip. She quickly scribbled runes onto the ribbons and handed them to the two of them.
"Get in your carriage and these around one of your wands, then cast the spell," Aylala instructed. With that, she quickly climbed into her carriage. Mels and Christi looked at each only for a moment, immediately trusting in what their mentor had planned, and climbed into their respective carriage. Mels immediately took the wand for Honey - the "milk" wand - and wrapped the ribbon around it just as his coachman opened the peek window. Mels nearly jumped out of his skin as the window was pulled to the side, but he still manage to hide the ribbon that was around the wand in his hand.
"Relax, Master Mels. We should be off soon." With that, the coachman closed the peek window, none the wiser. Mels sighed and waved the wand in front of him, watching as Honey reformed herself from the floor of the carriage, her enormous, globe-like bust jiggling. She stood still for a moment, then spun around, opened the peep window, and shoved her hand through it to grab at the coachman's neck, as the runes along her body glowed brightly. Mels nearly went to stop her but then noticed new runes along her body, which matched the runes on Aylala's ribbon. Honey held the coachman's neck for only a few seconds before letting go and turning back to Mels. The carriage started to move, causing Mels to fall into his seat and Honey's breasts to wobble enticingly.
"What did you do?" he asked the construct in sincere curiosity, only mildly paying attention to how her tits bounced due to the carriage.
"It was Mistress Aylala's new instructions," she said seriously. "She allowed me to cast a temporary suggestion upon the coachman to deliver us to a tavern in the outer ring of the city, where should be able to avoid the eyes of the king. She suspects that if the crown were to learn of their efforts to locate the noble, they might intervene. Once we make it to the tavern she will be able to discuss the plan further."
Mels nodded at her explanation and waved the wand again to dismiss the construct. As his carriage continued through the city his mind went back to the young owlith that he heard the guards speak of that seemed to match with the one he saw on his trip into the castle grounds. Though he only got a glimpse of the city, he suspected that she was one of only a few owliths that were currently in the city, and he wanted to tell Aylala and Christi about his suspicions back in the courtyard. But now, given more time to think, it seemed like such a leap.
Even if we could find her in this massive city, what are the chances she had anything to do with the noble's disappearance?
He wondered, becoming more discouraged.
His thoughts then turned to the parasite they pulled from the prince's foot, and he found himself shivering slightly. Being in the prince's mind, seeing those ominous shadows, those whispers, it was such a strange sensation. The warmth he felt was so alluring, yet he knew, at the behest of Aylala, he had to resist. It felt like the sensation was reacting to that, causing his fingertips to burn painfully and put a strain on his mind. His trance-like state afterward he figured was most likely from exhaustion, having to expend so much magical energy in such a short time.
I hope I don't have to do that again any time soon
.
Eventually, the carriage came to a stop, and Mels cautiously opened the winds, seeing a slightly dense crowd than he had glanced at earlier, most likely because the evening had just begun. He then creaked the door open and looked to his right to find two carriages heading back towards the city walls. Looking in front of him he saw a two-storied tavern that, like every other building around him, seemed to be lopsided and melded into the neighboring buildings. Mels threw on his cloak and hood and stepped out of the carriage, at which point the coachman cracked his whip and joined the others in journeying to the city wall. Mels moved through the passing crowd and stepped up to the entrance, reading "The Midnight Stallion" from the hanging sign, and entered.
As Mels stepped inside, he felt a peculiar sense of familiarity, with a comforting atmosphere helped by hanging candle chandeliers, a haze caused by smoking pipes, and an old nymphling man playing the lute on the stage. True to the tavern's name he saw a massive centaur with bull horns tending to the bar island, with dark skin and an even darker coat, with only a blue tunic to poorly cover his muscular chest. At that bar, he saw Christi and Aylala in their cloaks, and Mels walked over to them taking off his hood.
Aylala noticed him first. "Ah, there you are," she said cheerfully. "Please sit, we were just about to discuss room arrangements."
"Rooms?" Mels questioned as he took the seat next to Christi, who was nursing a glass of mead. "You think we'll be here for a while?"
"I'm not too sure, but our friend tending to the bar here suggested visiting a few places to visit once the sun goes down." As Aylala finished, a glass of mead was placed in front of Mels as if the centaur was trying to break the bar itself.
"First one's on the house," the centaur said, speaking with a scratchy accent. He held out his hand to shake and Mels took it. "Name's Stotian, and your Owlith friends' right. Lotta places 'round here to have some fun under the king's nose." He then proceeded to lean over to whisper in Mels' ear. "Though if you was askn' me, I'd say to try and gettn' with that golden lass sittin' next to ya."
Mels, despite his dark skin, felt that his face turned bright red and took a cautious glance towards Christi, who was smirking behind her glass. Stotian broke off into a hearty laugh and moved on to another customer.
"What did he say to you?" Christi said with a knowing smile.
Mels scoffs taking a sip of his drink. "As if I'd fall for that trap. Aylala, you said something about rooms? I was hoping to talk to about something."
"Of course, Melyssi," Aylala said and gestured to Stotian. She smoothly produced a coin pouch from her hip and took out a few silver coins. "One room, three beds, for two nights, as a start." The centaur smiled brightly, staring straight at her cleavage as he took the coins, and produced a key from underneath the bar.
"Ya'll enjoy your stay," he said, winking at Aylala and continued servicing other customers. Aylala took the key and set off to the stairs at the back of the tavern, with Christi and Mels following behind with their drinks. Once they climbed them and made their way down the hall to their room cramped with three beds and a desk, they settled and Aylala asked "What did you want to share, Melyssi?"
"Well, I'm not sure what you had planned, but the reason I was hoping we weren't leaving the city was that I overheard some guards talking about an owlith girl they saw with the noble. On our way to the castle, I peeked out of my carriage and saw an owlith like the one they described"
Both women looked at him with mild skepticism. "You know there's more than two owlith in Asisai right?" Christi commented. "Especially in a big city like this."
Aylala then leaned forward from her seat at the desk. "Are you sure you saw her?"
Mels nervously scratched his head. "Well, no, but what other leads do we have?"
After a pregnant pause, the owlith stood up and walked closer to them. She held out her hand and started whispering underneath her breadth. A golden glow like before was emitting from her hand, and in a moment a sudden sharp wind passed through the air whipping up their clothes. Floating in the center of the trio was the purple, bug-like creature from before. The parasite. Mels suddenly felt a heavy warmth in the room and he noticed that even the light of their candles had dimmed.
Christi broke the silence: "What are you going to do with that?"
"All Corruption have, within them, a lingering trace of their origin" she explained calmly. "It's what makes it different from scriptomancy: one is a commandment of runes, artificial, the other a commandment of the mind and soul. And thus, much more powerful. Its only true counter is the holy magic of the Lord of Silver Grass, that which the House of Sorisancta worships. I could purge it, here and now if I wished, but if I can closely study the magic, dissect it, then I can find the demon from which it originated."
Mels drew a deep breath as he took in the information.
