Nightclans

by Gerard Bond

  “Is it something bad?” He nodded,

  “Yeah, seems like anything that happens in this world is usually bad at first.” Raven gave him a jab in the ribs then to try and lighten the mood,

  “Wollfen the great philosopher huh?” She giggled.

  “Pfft, hardly.”

  They moved off down the road towards Gevalia, they would soon be seeing the wonders of this huge city.

  A little while later they were moving through the streets of the city with Raven ooing and aahing at practically every turn, there was so much to see here. It was starting to make her head hurt and she was grateful when they finally pulled up in front of an inn. They went inside with their saddle bags their horses taken care of by another young boy, this time though Wollfen didn’t know the barman,

  “Good afternoon my dear man, do you have a room for some weary travelers?”

  The man looked them both up and down and reached under his counter then held up a key,

  “It's a piece of silver for the first night then two coppers per night after that, supper is served in the evenings about an hour after dark.” Wollfen reached into his pocket and pulled out some coins, counting off one piece of silver and two coppers,

  “I expect us to be here at least two nights maybe more, I will pay more if we do stay longer.” The man grunted and handed over the key pointing up the stairs,

  “First door on the right.” Then he turned away to his own chores.

  They walked upstairs and let themselves in, Raven dumping her saddlebags in the middle of the floor and Wollfen moving them aside again just as he had in Westre-snow. Raven looked on as she cast off those damned boots, she hated them. Wollfen followed suit and lay beside her, they were both very tired.

  “He was a friendly fellow wasn’t he?” Raven remarked.

  “That's pretty normal for a big city, no one gets too friendly in a place like this, the bigger the city, the gruffer the people I have found.”

  They didn’t nap this time, Raven kept asking Wollfen questions about the city and his magical abilities not to mention elves and how he knew them.

  “Your head is in a spin isn’t it my dear?” She nodded, it seemed every day she was learning something new about not only the Kingdom but Wollfen too.

  The evening proved uneventful, no fights and a simple but hearty meal, they retired early for the night and very quickly fell asleep. They would wake late the next morning too.

  Later the following morning they were on their horses again slowly moving towards the center of the city and the castle proper, Raven was curious to know if they would get to go inside and up those parapets?

  “Will we be able to go up top and have a look around?” Wollfen shook his head,

  “I don’t think so, I may know the Lord Cazzara but I seriously doubt he would allow me to walk around his castle.” Raven screwed up her face, well that sucked.

  They traveled for about fifteen more minutes and they came to the castle walls with its gate open. Two guards stood at either side holding lances. They had polished breastplates on and red sashes, their helmets were also polished metal and their finery glinted in the sun. Wollfen led Raven past them and continued on, the guards taking no notice. Finally they approached a guardhouse where a pole across the lane blocked the pathway.

  “Halt! Please state your business.”

  My name is Wollfen and this is Ravenwing of the Nightclan Horungar, I wish to see the Lord Cazzara, he knows of me.” The guard looked the large man up and down a bit giving a glance to the woman,

  “Please wait in that building there, I will have a runner notify the Lord's adjutant of your presence.”

  Wollfen nodded and they both dismounted moving to the other building on the opposite side of the lane. There they tied off their horses next to some others and entered the building. There were rows of benches on either side of the narrow room and there was surprisingly few people in there. It was a good twenty minutes before the guard entered the room with a scroll in his hand which he presented to Wollfen,

  “The adjutant made it known you were to be given this and that it will explain everything.” Wollfen cracked the seal and begun reading, after a minute he looked up and nodded to the guard,

  “I thank you, I shall return another day.” The guard nodded and left to return to his post. Wollfen sighed and looked to Raven.

  “The Lord is four days ride out returning from Kassandrea, there’s not much we can do until then.” They both got up and left the building, returning to the pub they were staying at.

  As Wollfen lay back looking at the ceiling Raven was sitting on the window ledge staring at the city. She hadn’t tired of it yet but it was starting to make her feel closed in. She looked across at him and asked,

  “Is there any chance we can take a ride out in the woods for a day or so? I miss the feel of grass under my feet and the sight of the stars at night.” He looked back and a thought came to mind,

  “You know what, I will go one better. Let's pack up and get ready to move out, I have somewhere I can take you.”

  Raven was curious but she didn’t waste any time throwing her used clothes and boots into her saddlebags, it was getting boring sitting in the room. As they left Wollfen stopped to talk to the barman, could they get their copper coin back? Nope no refunds, oh well. They went to the stables and saddled their horses, once they were mounted up and trotting out the doors Raven piped up,

  “So where are we going?” Wollfen smiled at her but wouldn’t say,

  “You will see, just be patient.” Now she was really curious.

  They traveled the rest of the afternoon towards the west and Raven kept asking questions, was there another city? No. Was it a town? Nope. What could it be that made Wollfen brighten up in anticipation? He wouldn’t say. Making camp that evening they rolled out their bedding and lay back beside the fire. Raven chewed on a piece of jerky while warming her toes. She snuggled into Wollfen a bit more,

  “You know this is when I am happiest, us alone together out under the stars, it's the perfect place.” She quipped.

  “It might not be.” Wollfen quipped.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “You will see, wait until tomorrow, you may be pleasantly surprised.”

  The next day they mounted up once more continuing to head west. Raven was watching on wondering what she was going to see? Could it be any more amazing than all the stuff Wollfen had shown her over the last few days? It was a few hours into the day and Raven noticed a change in the air, it smelled different and was a bit cooler. She didn’t recognize the smell at all. Wollfen watched her sniffing,

  “You don’t know what it is do you?” She shook her head looking on,

  “And you aren’t going to say anything are you, you little shit.” It wasn’t a question, she knew he wouldn’t.

  Wollfen grinned and continued on without saying a word.

  The ground started becoming very sandy plus there were no more trees to see off in the distance and as they reached the top of a sand ridge the view was revealed to them. What Raven saw made her gasp and stare, looking to the left and right then back again. Wollfen watched on seeing her taking in the sight and then he finally spoke,

  “That is the ocean Raven, you have never seen it before have you?” She turned looking to him with tears in her eyes,

  “I never imagined it could be so beautiful, Wolf, you have shown me so much in the past few days, I just, I, I don’t know what to say.”

  He was grinning widely, he knew she would love it. He dismounted and hobbled his horse with a small rope then waved her to join him, Raven didn’t waste any time catching up. They stood there on the slope looking about, she was feeling the sand between her toes and staring at the waves crashing onto shore, listening to the soft roar. Looking up the white beach she could see it was deserted, how could no one want to be here? She took a deep breath and exhaled loudly, it was all amazing.

  She turned to Wollfen to see what he was doing,
he was naked and gesturing to follow him as he approached the water,

  “Wait on!” She cried, quickly undressing. Raven skipped and came up beside him as he strode into the cool water, a wave caught her lower legs spraying her with water. She spluttered a bit as it got in her mouth,

  “Hey it's salty, yuck.”

  Wollfen dived down as they waded deeper, the wave was almost at chest height and caught Raven unawares, she was tumbled over in the crashing wave and struggled to pull herself up. As her head came up gasping for air Raven heard laughter from behind and she turned to see Wollfen floating in deeper water. She laughed too, it had been a shock at first but damn, it woke her up. The next wave she dove under feeling the churning water sliding down the length of her naked body and she came up beside Wollfen embracing him.

  “This is great I love it!”

  “I knew you would, you prefer the things of nature to town life.”

  She kissed him deeply tasting his salty lips and pressed her wet smooth body against his. She couldn’t help but grab his rod and give it a squeeze, the water was turning her on, their bare skin sliding over each other. He cupped one of her breasts while they kissed, both of them feeling the multitude of sensations fondling each other as the waves washed around them.

  After while they left the water and plopped down onto the sand, Raven looked Wollfen up and down admiring his lean wet body, he was looking at her too.

  “We better not stay too long here, we will get burnt rather quickly by the sun, the white sand reflects the sun's rays and you end up paying the price later.” They had been there maybe 30 minutes and Raven was disappointed, “Don’t worry we will come back later this afternoon when the sun isn’t so high in the sky.”

  She relented and they picked up their clothes, Wollfen scanned from the ridge line looking back inland, further down about two hundred yards he saw a stand of trees.

  “Lets go there we can have some shade.”

  They moved off leading their horses, Raven packed her clothes in a saddle bag then fell in beside Wollfen who had slid his trousers on.

  “You aren’t going to put anything on?” She shook her head,

  “Why bother? No ones around to see and we will be back in the water later won't we?” He nodded in agreement and so Raven started pulling at his pants, “Get em off, I wanna see you naked boy, I like seeing your bare ass.”

  She managed to get the pants off to his half protests and they walked over to the trees finding a nice shady flat spot. There they laid out their bedrolls and proceeded to rub sand off each other. Laying down Raven rested her chin on his chest looking at him, one hand idly caressing his skin. Wollfen slid his hand into her hair and slowly massaged as he looked back at her. They didn’t say a word. After awhile Raven finally spoke up,

  “This has been the most amazing time I have had, I can't remember being dazzled so much from one day to the next, you live like this every day normally?” He smiled at her observations,

  I am used to it, I am not amazed by it all but I have learned over the years not to take it for granted either. This is my favorite place I have shown you, this is where I am most at peace and feel happy.” She smiled at him,

  “I can see why, it's so wonderful, I think I could handle living here.”

  A more serious look came across her face as she got to thinking, Wollfen watched on rubbing his thumb slowly and lightly across her cheek.

  They spent the rest of the afternoon laying about under the trees sometimes coming out to have a dip in the ocean. That evening found them both wearing their pants and sitting in front of a small fire watching the flames flicker and burn. Raven was laying back against Wollfen's chest, his arms around her, one hand fondling a bare breast. Her own hand laid over his as he gently felt her nipple. She felt good being in his arms, being touched by him.

  “Amazing.”

  “What was that hon?” Raven turned her head up,

  “I was just thinking how amazing it has been, you have made this trip the best time of my life Wolfy.” She turned a little more, took his other hand sliding it over her other breast then squeezing them both. Closing her eyes she let out a little moan, “I love you Wolfy.”

  He gave a little start and then squeezed her just that little bit harder, how did he feel? He didn’t answer straight away and Raven tensed a little waiting, then he finally leaned down to her ear and whispered,

  “I love you too darling.”

  They kissed deeply but softly, lingering in each other's mouth, tasting. There was no lust, no sexual drive, simply a desire to feel and enjoy.

  Two days later found them back in Gevalia, they had found another inn to sit their belongings in and it was nearer to the castle this time. They were wandering about looking at some wares in an open market passing time. There was no need to go to the castle until the morning. Raven looked around and realized that the novelty of all she had been seeing was wearing off, she started seeing the city for how it really was. The rubbish piled up out in the streets during the week before being cleaned up, there was obnoxious smells that would assault the senses from time to time. Wollfen had also warned her not to go down some alleyways because of the dangers of being mugged.

  She had watched as two people had fought over the ownership of some linen for sale in the market. Soldiers had arrived dragging them both off and she found it funny when the linen was stolen by others. But seriously, people got into fights over stuff like that? Wollfen had enlightened her on many things,

  “Oh yes, people will knife you in the back to get whatever coins you may have in your pocket, maybe even the sword you carry on your hip and if you're talking about far more valuable items, killing is an easy way to get them.”

  “Don't the soldiers stop that from happening?” Wollfen shook his head,

  “They try and do keep it down to a minimum, but soldiers cannot be everywhere at once, so yes you must tread warily in a big city.”

  As they had traveled around passing by other people and watching others going about their business she also noticed how rude they could be, why was that? Were they so unhappy? And if so why didn’t they leave? Raven posed all these questions to Wollfen and he did his best to answer but it was complicated,

  “The rudeness is a defense mechanism people learn to protect themselves with, in such a place like this where almost everyone you meet is a stranger you cannot know what their motivations are when they approach you. It takes time to trust and feel at ease with others. Then you also have the day to day life these people live which isn’t pleasant for the most part either, they are all working hard just to make a living.”

  He paused looking at her hoping she understood, Raven nodded for him to go on,

  “It is more involved than that too, you see you have a lot of class structure in place as well, those that are deemed to be superior through birth of a particular bloodline or they are wealthy far beyond their own immediate needs, a lot of these people tend to look down upon the common masses with a disdain that reflects in how they treat them. In turn many of the masses look at the privileged with jealousy or hate.”

  Raven looked around trying to see them in a different light but still wasn’t getting it,

  “So why don’t they just change things to make it better?”

  Wollfen sighed a little not because he felt she was stupid but in reflection he realized to explain the complexities of the life here would take a lot more than a few spoken words, she would have to experience it herself and they wouldn’t be here long enough for that to happen.

  “I know it's difficult to comprehend but people tend to associate with those that are similar to themselves and along the way they see others who are different as either a danger to them and react with fear or they feel themselves to be superior to them and treat them poorly for it. This is the source of much conflict in the world. Throw in a bit of greed or lust for power and you have the building blocks for much of the large conflicts between peoples be they large nations or states tha
t are fighting over something of value.” All of a sudden Raven lit up at a realization,

  “You mean like when a man may fight for the attentions of a woman with another man? Or even when two clans fight over the same hunting grounds?” He nodded in agreement,

  “Yes absolutely, that is the very same thing but it's over different stuff, the motivations are the same. Some fear the losing of something and others desire to have something for themselves.”

  Now it became much clearer to her how it all worked, the cities were a far more complicated version of the dog eat dog life of the wilds, they just had pretty objects and far larger desires than the clans. Clans people wanted to live a fair life and so did these people too. Another thought occurred to Raven and she tugged on Wollfen's sleeve,

  “Why if they are so unhappy do they not simply leave?” Wollfen smiled at her,

  “Don’t you also fear leaving the clans because of the great unknowns out here? Do you not also stay where you are because of that?”

  She nodded, yes it was true, she had wanted to leave the clan life for so many years and had only spoken up to Wollfen about it because she felt safe in speaking her mind of it with him.

  “You forgot conflict because of anger.” She commented, he chuckled in return,

  “That’s one thing that will always be the same.”

  Raven was glad when the next morning arrived, this would be the last day here and they could return to the mountains. Once more they found themselves sitting in the waiting hall by the guard house, they had already made their presence known and were waiting to be sent for by Lord Cazzara. After awhile the Lord's adjutant arrived and waved them over,

  “Please follow me, the Lord Cazzara will see you now.”

  They followed behind as the adjutant led them past the lowered boom and through a stone arch. They entered an inner courtyard that had cobbled stones around the outside with tended gardens in the middle. The attendant walked around the outside edge and they entered an open doorway where two guards stood at attention. Once inside they continued through a large hall with ornate frescoes on either side and they then entered another grand room with even more guards dotted around the outside.