09/07/337

Audra

The journey to Trudid was, actually, boring. Zadkiel had made his occasional compliment, like how Audra’s hair was a beautiful color, but for the most part he seemed to be scared off by Cabana. Cabana was mostly just keeping an eye on their surroundings and occasionally the sky as well. Audra spent most of her time just relaxing and watching the nature around them. Unlike Cabana, Audra was enjoying the view, not looking for potential threats. The fields were blooming with countless flowers and the scents of nature all around them.

Now, however, the main scent was fish. Trudid was one of the main trading cities. Situated as the most western city on the northern continent, it was extremely reliable in terms of heading to the southern continent. Trudid was more alike to Kiaveen, or Nevenal, rather than Daemerall. It was a close-knit city with people trying to trade a large variety of goods, from furniture to armor, from clothes to pottery. But for the locals that weren’t going anywhere, the biggest and most important thing they sold was fish. Trudid was one of the port cities, so there was plenty of people that lived off of the fruits of the sea.

Audra didn’t mind eating fish, in fact she preferred it over other kinds of meat. But the smell was something her and her sensitive nose did not find appealing.

Sitting up in the early afternoon, as another bell went off as yet another boat sailed away from port, she wished for more sleep, since they arrived in the late hours of the night. She also wished that there was a cheaper inn in town. It was positioned right next to the port, and was meant for fishermen and seafarers, away from home, but was open to the general public.

Audra’s room was on the second floor, with a window that faced the sea beyond the shores. There was a bed that was just big enough to fit a single person pushed against the left wall, right under the window. The right side of the room had a small desk for writing, or studying, but was more likely used for looking at maps and such. A shelf containing a few books was just to the right of it. Another door was on the far wall of the room, which led to the small bathroom. In the corner next to the desk were two bags. One was filled with the things she brought from Nevenal as well as Cabana’s journal, the other was filled with Vasuki’s belongings. She traced her hand along the blue scales on her right side. She felt her blood begin to boil.

“Bastard.” She muttered before heading to the bathroom.

The bathroom was small, a toilet across from the door, a metal tub to the right, and a sink with a mirror to the left. The wooden floor squeaked as she walked into the bathroom.

“You there Lusalene?” Audra asked. There was a long moment before anyone answered.

“Yeah, yeah I’m…” Her reflection began to stretch and yawn, “I’m here, been a while since I’ve been in Trudid.” She claimed.

“How many places have changed since you were alive?”

“A lot more than you think, less than you’d imagine.” She answered.

“That’s...vague.” Audra replied.

“From what I can tell the biggest changes are the cities themselves, not really the customs of those places. Surprised Trudid didn’t get larger than it is, though. I loved this place when I was alive.” She claimed, her smile was larger than it usually was.

“What’s going on with you?” Audra asked.

“You’ll figure it out eventually. I ain’t showing you what it is. Something tells me you’ll know sooner rather than later.” Her reflection claimed.

“How would you know that?” Audra asked.

“Because,” She began “I can still feel it.” And with that last sentence, a cheeky smile plastered on her face, and a wink, her reflection was back to her own.

After finishing up her morning hygiene Audra dressed in a beige long sleeve shirt under a leather vest, leggings and boots. All of which were bought upon her arrival in Trudid.

Exiting her room she entered a wooden hallway with eight rooms from beginning to end. Audra walked to Cabana’s room and was about knock when she heard moaning on the other side. She knew Cabana and Noelem weren’t an item, but it was like nothing could satiate her lust. She backed away, before walking down the hall and down the stairs that led to the bar. She got a quick breakfast of scrambled eggs. It was kind of bland but it was something in her stomach.

Just as she stood up, and slid over five coins to the barkeeper, she felt a hand land on her shoulder and an arm wrap around her neck.

“The morning awaits for the mighty heroes!” Zadkiel said, pulling her close to him, “They ready their blades and their wits to discover the hidden mysteries that plague the town.” Wanting nothing more than to get away from him, Audra grabbed his hand and peeled it away from her.

“You need to stop doing that. I don’t like the touchy shit.” Audra complained.

“Did you mind it with Vasuki?” Zadkiel asked.

“Of course I…” She paused before changing the subject, “if he were here he’d be a dead man.” She claimed.

“I don’t know, he put you in a bind last time.” He replied looking behind her.

“Because he caught me by surprise. Next time he won’t get that kind of luxury.” She claimed.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think I’ve found my night time fun.” Zadkiel walked around her and to the other side of the inn. He approached a woman wearing a dress that showed off plenty of her cleavage, she leaned back smiling and unbuttoned the top button on her chest. She rolled her eyes, if he wanted an STD and less money let him.

The blowing of a fishing boats horn met her as Audra left the inn. She was forced to cover her ears in pain, it was louder than usual.

“Shit! Do you fuckers mind!?” She snapped.

“You get used to it eventually.” An elderly man said as he walked by, before he stopped and really examined her, he had dark blue eyes and a tuft of gray hair on his head, and a bit of stubble. His cane was in the shape of some kind of dragon-like being. “A blue dragon variant...You might just be right where you belong.” He claimed, a small smile on his face.

“You talking about sea dragons that have been talked about in the ocean in the nearby area? I heard about them yesterday.”

“We have a protector here. There are creatures in this ocean that we pray to, besides the mighty Nuul, and our creator Kalano.” His smile was growing wider and wider.

“Does it work?” Audra queried.

“Oh yes, but not many people have seen this savior of ours, he’s very-” He was interrupted by a loud bell ringing from one of the ships, “Looks like I have to go youngin’. Listen if you want some peace and quiet follow the road up that way, its an uphill climb but it’s a beautiful place to watch the sunrise.” He claimed, beginning to walk away.

“Will I see this savior?”

“I don't know, but if you want some peace and quiet follow the road.” He claimed.

“Thank you.” Audra said, after him.

Audra began to walk northward, the uphill climb started as only a slight incline, the city to her right, the vast ocean to her left. Some younger children ran by her, she continued to walk forward until she heard a little boy.

“Whoa!” Audra looked back to see what had excited the kid, “Look at her arm.” He whispered, not expecting her to be able to hear him. She looked down to her arm then smiled and continued to walk forwards. Until she felt a tug at her shirt. Audra looked down to see one of the boys.

“Uhm, Miss, can we look at your arm?” He asked. Audra chuckled before she got on one knee. She held her right arm out for the boy to look at it.

“Sure, why not.” She said waving the other three over.

The four boys looked at her arm as if it were a porcelain figure. And not durable enough to be it’s own shield.

“They’re so beautiful!” One of the boys said, “You must take really good care of them!” He claimed.

“I do, they take a lot of work to make them so clean, but they feel nice when they’re all clean, where are your parents? Do they not mind you talking to strangers?”

“No but it’ll be fine as long as they don’t know!” One of the other kids said. Audra chuckled a bit.

“Alright you four, go play, don’t talk to strangers, okay?” She asked.

“Okay, Miss!” Two of the four boys said, they waved to her as they ran off. She gave a small wave back. She didn’t realize she had a smile on her face. It wasn’t often that people were so accepting of humans like herself. Even as a child she had been chastised for what she was. But here her scales were looked at with a sense of awe. Audra watched them run out of sight, she then turned around and continued uphill.

About ten minutes passed, and the hill had come to a much steeper incline. A chest high fence had been built on the edge of the cliff, looking over the fence she could see a bunch of rocks close to the cliff wall.

When she reached the top of the hill she saw that it flattened out once more. She felt something oddly familiar with the place around her. Her head was beginning to pound. She could only remember black scales. Why did it seem so familiar? She felt her legs begin to shake underneath her, the world began to swim around her.

Audra looked forward at the peak of the hill ahead of her, ash covered the grass, corpses of both people and monsters lay around her, down the hill Trudid was on fire in front of her Noelem approached her, with a small squad of demons. They were beaten and injured from battle but they marched towards her with purpose. She tiredly lifted her saber and held her shield in front of her. Her footing slipped on blood from a nearby corpse and she began to roll down the hill losing the grip on her saber.

When she finally caught herself the demons began to descend upon her, she held her shield out but was amazed as a deep purple beam tore through them, disorientating, and heavily injuring them. She felt something lift her by her platemail then the cold ocean met her. When she came back out of the water she was on the beach down the hill, she used magic to warm up the cold water that attached itself to her. She looked up the hill and saw Noelem retreating, possibly to gather more troops. She stood up and turned around when she heard a deep, yet weak, grumbling, in front of her was a black serpent, it’s demonic origin shown clearly in it’s pale purple eyes, it was bleeding heavily from injuries it sustained in battle, a spear, clearly of human origin, was lodged in it’s head right above it’s eye, it looked as if it were pleading with her.

Audra felt herself come back to her senses, she was standing in a gap of the fence at the top of the hill, a bench sat a few feet behind her. She found herself drawn to the ocean in the distance. She thought she could see something moving in the water, but she couldn’t be sure, the depth of the ocean made it extremely difficult to distinguish what was a living creature and what was just the darkness of the ocean. Her attention diverted when a scream shrieked out from the town.