De'Vas Chronicles Book 5: Chapter 2

Ash heard the clacking of heels on the wood floor of the hallway outside his bedroom. He groaned as he pulled a pillow over his head, even though he knew it would delay nothing. Then, the moment he had been dreading arrived with a loud knock on the door.

“Warchief, you asked me to come get you if you were not up at this time,” Eva’s voice echoed through the door.

Ash groaned.

Two hours wasn’t enough.

“Five more minutes.”

He pleaded as he pulled a pillow over his head.

“I have coffee,” Eva said.

Caffeine.

Throwing the pillow away, Ash rolled out of his bed and groggily staggered to the clothes he had laid out for the day. After dressing, he opened the door to see Eva.

It still amazed him how much she had changed since she had come to Earth. Wearing a stone-gray blazer and skirt, silver-rimmed glasses, and her black hair styled in a bun, she looked like someone from a major corporation instead of the armored warrior he had met on Vas.

Her hand held out a steaming mug, which Ash gratefully took and inhaled the aroma.

“Coffee,” he said happily.

Eva pulled out her cellphone, tapping the screen as he sipped the wonderful bean soup.

“I’ve worked out your schedule for the day,” she said, looking at her phone. “First, we will visit the Council. There are no meetings today, but you mentioned that you wished to speak with Councilman Loki. Unfortunately, Councilman Firebeard sent an email saying it would take a bit before he could bring you the basilisk bones,” she said, looking at the calendar app on her phone.

Ash had figured it would take a while to process the giant snake, but he knew Firebeard would keep his word. He took another sip as Eva continued.

“Your mother has requested a meeting with you, and then tonight you plan to have dinner with Selena.”

Ash narrowed his eyes at her.

“My mother wants a meeting? Those were her exact words, right?” he asked.

Eva thought for a moment, then nodded.

He sighed. The fact that she referred to it as a meeting instead of asking him to come and visit her suggests that this would be a discussion about business. The mere thought of that made Ash look at his cup of coffee and debate adding bourbon to it. Instead, he took a big gulp and started to head for the stairs, Eva following along behind him.

As he exited the Red House, he saw that beastkin guards had replaced the orcs who had been there when he arrived home. No doubt members of the 114 Pack that came over with Faylen to relieve the members of Eva’s gang, the Storm Raiders. He had rolled his eyes more than a few times at the name she chose for the group of orcs made from Mander’s Volunteers and the Flint Clan that he had become Warchief of from his time on Vas. Mander had gotten a kick out of it, more so from how much Ash disliked it, and the old orc had stuck around as Eva’s second-in-command.

“You think Mom would be up for having the meeting at the Twins?” Ash asked Eva as they started walking along the sidewalk.

“She has a conference room booked within the Flatiron,” Eva said, shaking her head.

The hope that this would be a short meeting and the chance of him getting The Twins jalapeno poppers vanished.

He could smell the salt in the breeze from the ocean even though he couldn’t see the water. District 1 was a small island after all, but the urban sprawl would rival the heart of any major city. Architecture of all kinds could be found on the island, from traditional buildings to even skyscrapers. Whatever caught the Council’s eye within a district was teleported to District 1, usually by Councilman Loki. Few understood teleportation and portal magic even close to him, and he was the one who created all the doorway portals that connected the districts.

The scent of the ocean vanished as they neared the market of District 1, with hundreds of stalls lining the street selling both goods and food. Ash’s gut growled despite eating breakfast with the girls earlier, and he soon dragged Eva to a stall selling hot dogs.

“Two Chicago-style dogs,” the owner said, passing one to Ash and the other to Eva. “If you ask for ketchup, all you get is banned from my stall.”

Eva raised an eyebrow at the owner, but Ash just smiled.

“The sweetness of ketchup messes with the flavor,” he said, taking a bite.

He watched as Eva examined the toppings before trying hers and gave an approving nod. They were about to take their last bite when Ash recognized three people approaching them.

“Look sharp, ladies! A handsome man at twelve o’clock,” Coral said as she walked lock step with Naomi and Rachel, shopping bags in all of their hands. The dragon pulled down her sunglasses and winked at him.

“You mean my man at twelve o’clock,” Naomi stated proudly.

The shorter elf woman, walking between them, just gave a small wave to Ash, which he returned. The trio came to a stop in front of them.

“I see you girls have been hitting the shopping hard,” Ash said, looking at the dozen bags in their hands.

Coral struck a pose, lifting one of the bags into the air and displaying the brand name on the side, which read “Looks.” Ash recognized the name as one of Grayson Industries’ subsidiaries that specialized in cosmetic goods.

“Looks just launched their new line made for paranormals! The company sent me some samples not long ago, asking for feedback, and the video of me trying them currently has my most views,” Coral said, grinning as she turned to Naomi and Rachel. “So to celebrate them launching the brand, we’re getting supplies to do a makeup tutorial!”

Ash nodded, but his gaze rested on Rachel.

“I will not be in the video,” she said, answering his unasked question.

He felt Rachel was pretty safe in De’Vas, especially while with Naomi and Coral watching over her. Naomi wouldn't think twice about turning someone into a block of ice who tried to hurt her little sister, and he had already heard one story of Coral turning into her full dragon form when some thugs tried to harass the elf.

What worried him was the world outside of De’Vas, particularly the company WillCo, which had experimented on Rachel, giving her a blue eye that could see magic. He was worried that if the company figured out she was alive and in De’Vas, they would go to any means to erase her since she was living proof of their crimes against paranormals.

“It will just be Coral and me in the video,” Naomi quickly said. “Rachel is our camerawoman. We still plan to do a makeup tutorial with her, but just for fun and help her find her style.”

Coral sighed.

“It’s a shame she can’t be on the vid. A cutie like her would boost my followings with the elvish community,” Coral said, then smirked. “And probably my male audience in general.”

Rachel’s cheeks turned slightly red at the last comment, and Ash wondered if being around Coral had started to erode some of her innocence. He wasn’t the only one who caught her reaction, though.

“You’re especially cute when you blush,” Coral teased.

Pulling on one of her old habits, Rachel quickly stepped away from the girls toward Eva, only to hide behind the orc. She peeked out at them from behind Eva’s back. The act just made Coral laugh until Naomi scolded her.

“We’re going to the Council if you want to escape these two for a bit,” Eva offered. “I’m sure Warchief Ash wouldn’t mind.”

The threat of boredom was enough that Rachel quickly moved from behind Eva to rejoin Naomi and Coral. Ash suppressed a chuckle to avoid getting in trouble with Naomi. Instead, he looked at Eva.

“Speaking of, we should probably head that way,” he said before turning and approaching Naomi. “You girls have fun.”

She smiled at him, her tail coiling around his leg as she leaned forward and kissed him. When they broke apart, she licked her lips with a heated gaze before it faded into a smile. “You have fun as well. Say hello to Selena for me.”

“I will,” Ash promised before he and Eva left the girls and made their way to the Council.

The old opera house that served as the Council wasn’t far from the market, and they arrived pretty quickly. The guards saluted Ash as he and Eva entered the building and made their way to Councilman Loki’s office.

“Come in, Councilman Grayson,” Loki’s voice said before Ash could even knock on the door.

Opening it, they stepped inside a large office. They spotted Councilman Loki at his desk, staring at a computer screen, the glow illuminating the lizardkin’s face, which was covered in rune tattoos. Ash closed the door of the office and saw hidden runes on the walls flare to life in a rainbow of colors before fading again. He once asked Loki about them and was told they stopped eavesdropping within the office, even by magic or technological means.

“Councilman Firebeard told me the basilisk hunt went well,” he said, not looking away from the computer.

Ash took a seat in one of the chairs in front of the desk while Eva waited in the back of the room, looking at one of the bookshelves. He knew she wasn’t interested in any of Loki’s books. They had very different reading tastes. Instead, it was a holdover from her living on Vas. The one time he asked her about it, she said it was not to interrupt a meeting between Warchiefs.

“Ran through an old subway tunnel most of the night trying to find it,” Ash answered. “We’re splitting the reagents from its corpse fifty-fifty. Of course, my cut will go to you for the portal project.”

Loki looked away from his computer, finally.

“The reagents are appreciated, thank you. As you know, the secretive nature of the portal project makes it difficult to acquire the needed materials.”

Ash nodded. The fact that there was a way back to Vas was something only known to a few people. Were it common knowledge, there would be a demand from the paranormals to return home, even if that home were dying. Additionally, he anticipated a backlash from some human governments, who would use the fact that there was a way to return as a means to argue that the paranormals were an invading force.

Still, it offered a way to preserve the culture and history of Vas, as well as help acclimate those over there to the nature of the Vanishing, as they referred to the rifts. The balance between risk and reward had given both Loki and Ash sleepless nights, and both knew it was only a matter of time before De’Vas and the world knew.

“How’s Cleo doing?” Ash asked.

Loki picked up a letter from beside his computer and held it out to Ash. He took the letter, seeing his name written across the front in Cleo’s handwriting, before pulling his own from his coat's pocket and handing it to the lizardkin.

“She’s doing well, as is Councilwoman Zara,” Loki said, naming Cleo’s partner for this mission to Vas. “The Kingdom of Everwood is still hostile toward us, but that’s of little surprise given our belief they are working with Hitomi and Councilwoman Blackthorn’s history with the Kingdom. Outside of Everwood’s sphere of influence, their mission has been successful in establishing contact between the Markal Castle base and the various Kingdoms, clans, and city-states within the area that was once Blackthorn’s Queendom. Something that would be difficult for anyone but her.”

Ash listened as he slipped Cleo’s letter into his pocket. He understood what Loki was saying. Part of what had helped him hold power in Vas when he was rifted there was his association with the Nightmare Queen.

“Have they seen any signs of Hitomi?” he asked, saying her name with venom.

Loki shook his head.

“No reports on Vas, and none of the portals in De’Vas have reacted to her passing through them. I would know the moment she tried to,” Loki assured. “I believe she’s lying low, as the humans say.”

Ash sighed.

“I seriously doubt that. It’s been a year since she fled De’Vas with those relics. She’s up to something, the question is what,” he said.