Extra's Guide to Surviving a Dark Fantasy World-Chapter 48: Lashira

"Don’t worry too much about it. It’s not your fault." I gently patted Stormraven’s head, trying my best to console the dejected bird.

"If anything, it’s my fault; if only I was strong enough-"

"Quiet down." The guard outside my cage poked me with his spear, causing me to flinch. At the same time, Stormraven stirred, glaring at the guard with its two beady eyes. I didn’t need to pull at our connection to understand that he was pissed.

"Calm down, buddy. There is no need to get angry; the bad man is dead anyway."

The guard poked me once again, perhaps mad that I wasn’t speaking in Khravaen.

"Maybe we should have just gone north," Aria spoke from beside me, looking wistfully at the passing desert.

"We are going north," I added. "It’s just we don’t have to walk the entire way."

It had been close to a week since Obryth had captured us put us into these cages, beginning to take us to this place called Sarhina. Apparently he had some internal discourse going on with his master of arms or as we interpreted it his chief of security. And our following them undetected for several days had given him more than enough ammunition to use against him.

Basically, we had gotten caught in the pettiest of political discourse. I would have been mad about it, too, if it had not been for the fact that the caravan was taking us north, our original destination. This, quite frankly, was a welcome respite, considering we had covered more ground in this one week than we would have walked for days.

We also learned another history lesson, Obryth the Third, the great historical figure, the king of the gleaming wastes, was an absolute asshole.

"How long till we get there?" Aria asked the guard in Khravean. The one sentence she had perfectly memorized in the last couple of days.

"I said quiet down." Guard slammed the cage with his spear, even drawing attention from others nearby.

"Now, now, there is no need to be so rude to our guests." A voice came from above us, causing the three of us and the guard to flinch. Looking above, we saw Obryth lying down at the top of our cage, chewing on some nuts out of a bowl.

"What do you want?" Tess growled, but of course, he couldn’t understand it.

"No need to be so hostile." He smiled. "So, how are my guests from the other side of Shattered Sea doing?" He reached out his bowl inside the cage, offering us some of what he was eating.

"Bad, very," Aria replied, shooing away the bowl. "Is how great Obryth treats guests."

Obryth let out a small chuckle. "My father is the great Obryth; I am entirely insignificant." He offered the bowl to me, but I rejected it.

"But we are not here to talk about my father." He took another nut and threw it in his mouth.

"Then why are you here?" I questioned.

Obryth took a deep sigh before continuing. "The three of you claimed that you have gotten stranded here in Elduvar’s Dominion; that’s why you are heading north, to leave this place and find a way home, correct?"

Both of us nodded.

"I can arrange that; the ships at Azure Veins will take you there in less than two days. It will be granted if you answer some of my questions first."

Listening to him talk, both mine and Aria’s eyes lit up.

"Ships at Azure Veins? What those?" Aria asked in broken Khravaen.

Listening to the question, Obryth’s eyes narrowed in confusion. "The Azure Veins, floating rivers... is this your first time in The Dominion?"

Both of us hurriedly nodded.

"Still, how have you not... oh whatever, Azure veins are these rivers that flow through the dominion’s skies and are generally used for quick transportation. As a matter of fact, even I would have been traveling through them if it weren’t for the current situation."

"What situation?" I asked. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Obryth paused for a second, his expression becoming a little serious. "When we met, you were coming from down south, correct?"

Both of us nodded in confirmation.

"By any chance, did the three of you manage to come across the city of Lashira." He asked, his eyes intense.

Looking at his expression both me and Aria swallowed a breath. Was he asking about the ruined city? There was a good chance, after all we hadn’t found any other structures in the area. "We did come across a city, why do you ask?

"You spent some time inside the city?"

"A couple of days, yes. In the outermost district."

Obryth nodded to himself.

"When you were in there, did you perhaps see anything... unusual?"

"Unusual, how?" Aria asked.

"Just unusual, it could be anything, something that seemed out of place, people reacting oddly."

Aria and I became quiet; of course, we hadn’t noticed anything. The City of Lashira had been long destroyed by the time we got there; no, wait for a second, what about those women’s reflections?

"I saw a group of some creepy looking women, they were dressed in red robes, with their faces covered in red markings.

Suddenly, the usual smile covering Obryth’s face disappeared. "Are you sure? Cause your friend doesn’t seem like she is." He signaled towards Aria.

"She wasn’t there when I saw them."

"Where did you see them?"

"They were entering inside this building made out of marble; I remember because of how different it looked."

Obryth went absolutely silent.

"I don’t think you understand how serious of an allegation you have just made Zane, let me ask you for the final time. Are you absolutely sure?"

"...Yes."

Listening to my answer, Obryth paused for a moment before turning around for a second.

The air behind him shimmered once again, revealing the figure of a person wearing some white mask floating beside our cage. The man looked at me for a second before nodding to Obryth as if confirming my statement.

Obryth let out a huge sigh.

"This is such a mess, seem like we’ll have to visit Lashira once we are done with our business in Sarhina."