Chapter 3: The Cult of Ash
Scout hurried along the marketplace, clinging her torn robe together in both hands. Her face burned a deep shade of pink as she quickly and desperately scanned the stalls. As usual, they all try to call their wares out to her, but she would walk past them, avoiding them. She'd also avoid eye contact with the other shoppers, in hopes of quickly finding a seamstress or a tailor.
A couple of familiar faces reached the girl's vision within a few seconds. One would belong to the face of a dwarven man who sold knives, who she had talked to earlier. However, the last thing Scout needed was another knife. She ignored the man's waving, turning instead to the stall right across from him. In the stand would stand the tall, white skinned elven man, who sold various fabrics. If she was lucky, maybe he'd be able to help her out in some fashion.
She hurried over to the stand, where he grinned in a serene manner at her. "Greetings, miss. An honor for you to look over my wares. May I ask if there is something in particular you are looking for?" He asks in a peaceful tone.
Scout gulped and nodded, squirming as she kept her hands on her robe. "Er, well, you could say that," She began. The voice of her demon familiar, Val'Miir, spoke up in the back of her mind.
"Flash him," She seemed to encourage, making the human squirm.
"You hush..!" Scout hissed in retort. Though she was trying to be rather quiet, it seemed the elf still picked up what she had said.
"Uh, are you okay?" He asked her, tilting his head to one side as he looked her over. His eyes scanned over where her hands were, but also lingered over her necklace for a while.
The girl quickly turned her head back to the vendor, her voice a slightly higher pitch. "Yeah! But uh, just wondering if you could help me.. uh... sew my robe back together?" She asked meekly, looking away at the ground, feeling awkward.
The elf grinned, but shook his head at her. "I'm sorry to say, but I'm afraid that I am not a seamstress," He said. As he saw Scout's crestfallen face, he raised a hand and pointed off to a different stand. "However, I do believe that the girl who runs that stand will be able to help you," He continued on. "I find it quite strange, however, that the two of you both share the same type of charm around your necks..." He said, eyeing her necklace once more.
Scout laughed a little, blushing harder as she seemed to hide her necklace with a hand, still making sure her outfit didn't open up and flash the elf accidentally. "Haha.. what a coincidence! Well uh, thank you!" She yelped out quickly before heading off to the stand he spoke of.
As she grew closer to the stand, she realized that the vendor didn't seem to be a seamstress of any sort. She wore a very large, baggy, blood red robe. Her hood was down, but she seemed to be wearing a necklace as well. Upon closer inspection, it did indeed seemed to match her own almost perfectly. On the counter was not sewing equipment, but what looked to be crystals and various other charms.
The human wasn't too happy about being lead away from someone who could sew her clothes, but something urged her to keep going to the stand anyways. The girl at the counter had short, dark red hair and tanned skin, just barely hiding her freckles. As the girl looked up at Scout, she smiled gently and began to speak. "Greetings! Please peruse my wares, as I'm sure you'll find-" She stopped and gasped, looking directly at the necklace in Scout's hand. The red light seeped through her fingers some, making it obvious as to what she was gripping. "Miss, please open your hand and let me see!" The girl begged.
Scout, laughed awkwardly and shook her head, starting to explain to the girl. "Heh, o-oh no, I don't think I can! You see, my-"
Before she could continue, the girl moved her hand up to open up Scout's hand, letting the red charm bounce a bit in the open. Her hand quickly caught the top of her outfit so it wouldn't fly open, Scout blinking and shifting around. "O-oh you meant the... hehe, of course..!" She laughed a bit in relief. The girl, however, was staring at the charm with wide eyes.
"So... the summoning was a success..?" She asked cautiously, peering around at everyone else to make sure no one else was looking. Scout did the same thing, raising an eyebrow.
"Um... I suppose?" She said in an unsure manner. Before Scout could ask anymore questions to the strange girl, she smiled widely and gripped her hand, starting to pull her behind the counter, past the building behind her.
"Miss, you must come with me this instant!" She exclaimed in an excited manner. The taller human girl was stuck using one hand to hide her exposure, quickly stumbling behind to keep up with the smaller girl.
"H-hey, wait! Where are we going?" She asked hastily. The red haired girl didn't seem to hear her, instead moving in between the buildings and towards an alleyway. Scout's hand decided to stay in the middle of the rip, the stumbling making her cleavage show just a little, the pace of their walking making the bottom half open up just a bit to show off her underwear and legs a little.
Val'Miir spoke up once more, still remaining hidden. "I think I may have an idea as to where we're going," She stated simply.
Soon, the two of them reached a little hidden stairway, hidden within a building. The girl remained silent, not answering any inquiries, instead opting to hurry Scout down the stairs. Scout shivered considerably as the breeze of what was below blew upwards at the two of them. Doing this also made her robe flip up, exposing more of her body. The girl blushed and tried to move her hand downwards to hide herself, but this only made her chest bounce out, her torn bra revealing her hardened nipples and her breasts. After quickly adjusting her hand to hide her chest, the demon spoke up again. "Having trouble keeping your clothes on?" She teased, laughing.
Scout huffed and didn't answer. The smaller girl would turn her head back at her, still walking down the stairs in a hurried fashion. "Oh goodness! Please pardon my intrusion, but I'll explain more to you two after we arrive. I also promise that I'll help you out with your..." She eyed over the embarrassed, almost naked girl. "...situation," She finished, continuing down.
Val'Miir spoke again. "Hm... I think she can hear me too," She said.
Scout however, was still mostly worried about her exposure, fumbling around with her ripped clothing. "That is weird... but s-sorry you have to see so much!" She said, blushing deeper and apologizing to the girl.
Again, the girl took no notice of this and continued on down until they finally reached a cobblestone floor. Torches lined up along the walls of the hallway were the only source of light, dimly lighting the area. It was quite cold, the breeze still carrying throughout the hall. Once the two of them were on solid ground, the red hair girl let go of Scout's hand and pulled her hood up, which hid her entire face. On the hood, an emblem of a flame was sewn in. The girl turned to Scout, who was moving her hands back over herself to keep her robe shut properly now.
"You and the demon are safe here. Follow me and I'll get you the assistance and information you desire," She stated before turning and walking. In a puff of red ash, Val'Miir was visible once more, rubbing the back of her head as she looked over Scout.
"Well... I do believe we're about to meet the people who helped bring me here," She started. Scout looked over at her as the demon floated near her shoulder.
"You mean... we're going to meet a cult?" She asked.
Val'Miir nodded and started to follow the girl, floating above the ground. "That's what I'm thinking," She answered the girl. Soon, Scout followed closely. At this point, she was making sure to stay as bundled into her outfit as she possibly could, as it was quite cold. Val'Miir didn't seem to show any signs of being cold, and neither did the hooded red-haired girl.
After a bit of a walk, the hooded girl stopped at a large red door, which had a giant, burned in brand of a similar looking flame that was on her hood. Val'Miir and Scout watched as the girl reached up with one finger, gently touching the door with one hand. In an instant, the burn marks seemed to light up into a bright fire, matching the symbol. The girl stepped back and watched as the symbol burned for a few seconds. In an instant, the fire went out and opened up, creaking loudly and revealing the room onto the three.
The room that was revealed was lit much brighter than the hallway, candles resting on plates around the room, the wall still aligned with torches. On the floor was a big ritual circle, matching in design and shape of the one Scout had seen in the forest.
All around the room were people of various sizes wearing matching cloaks to the red-haired girl. All of them also had the red ash necklaces as well. The one thing Scout noticed at this point, though, was that while they looked just like her's, her charm was the only one that had a live fire in it. The rest of the cult member's charms looked more like marbles with a fake flame inside. Sitting at the far end of the room, hunched over a large book in a red cloak was another figure, who was potentially the leader of the whole cult.
As the girl lead Scout and Val'Miir in, everyone in the room turned their heads at them. The hooded girl got to her knees in front of the leader, who bowed her head to him. "I bring the demon and her soulbound partner," She murmured. Once the other two entered into the room more, the door automatically closed behind them. In an instant, the rest of the cult members moved to their knees as well, bowing their heads, as if in prayer. They all murmured a chant that Scout couldn't make out. However, Val'Miir seemed to recline in the air, hands behind her head. She turned to Scout and winked at her.
"Now this is more like it. A whole cult sending prayers to me," She sighed in content. Scout rolled her eyes and shook her head.
At that moment, the leader of the cult rose from his knees and walked over to the two of them. Because of the fact that his feet were hidden, it almost looked like he was floating, the robe rippling around the base of his legs some. As the leader grew closer, Val'Miir offered her hand out. In an instant, he gently held it in both of his hands and began to kiss them with a hidden mouth. "Our leader..." He said in a low voice.
"Indeed I am," The demon replied simply. "This here is my partner. Her name is Scout, who will soon be the destined witch of the Cult of Ash," She continued on.
Scout listened and blinked. "The Cult of Ash..?" She asked quietly.
The leader turned towards Scout and moved to her, bowing his head gently. "Yes. We are the cult who summoned the Great Val'Miir. We believe that she will bring about a person of immeasurable magical abilities of which the like of our world has never seen before," He rambled.
