"Exulo"
After a long ride, the four of them finally arrived in Exulo. This town was a trading hub between the people of Aetheria and Solace. As they rode through the town, they saw various inns, markets, taverns, and stables.
"There could be some cool things for sale around here." Said Tessa.
"Don't get ahead of yourself. Let's get us all checked into an inn first, okay?" Replied Cal.
They made their way to an inn and hitched their horses at the entrance. Except for Tessa, she just excused her horse as it faded away.
The four of them entered the inn and walked up to the innkeeper at front desk.
"Good evening, what service of ours do you require?" The Innkeeper asked.
"I need a large room, preferably with three beds." Said Cal.
"Of course, we luckily have one that's available." The Innkeeper said.
The Innkeeper retrieved the key, and handed it to Cal. He picked it up and placed it in his pocket. Afterwards, he grabbed three gold coins and placed it on the counter for the Innkeeper.
The four of them proceeded up the stairs and towards their designated room. Cal grabbed the key from his pocket and unlocked the door, they all entered the room and looked around.
The room was quite spacious compared to the other rooms they've stayed in. Keith and Tessa got their own individual beds, while Cal and Victoria planned on sharing one.
"This seems promising." Said Tessa.
"Let's hope that what happened in the Cailon inn or something similar to it doesn't happen here." Chuckled Cal.
"Here's hoping." Replied Tessa.
"I'm probably going to go and see what this town has to offer, anyone interested in coming along?" Asked Cal.
"I'll tag along." Said Tessa.
"Alright. What about you, Keith?" Asked Cal.
"I'm all tired out, I'm just gonna rest here." Replied Keith.
"Me too." Said Victoria.
"Okay, I understand." Replied Cal.
"Don't die out there, you seem to have a tendency to always manage to get involved in some sort of bloodbath." Said Victoria.
"What can I say? I'm a very provocative man." Replied Cal.
"You're right about that." Chuckled Victoria.
Cal waved goodbye as Tessa and him walked out of the room, headed down the hallway, and climbed down the stairs. Tessa used a little bit of magic to automatically open the front doors, allowing them to walk through.
"What do you want to check out first?" Asked Cal.
"Let's go see what some of the vendors have to offer." Replied Tessa.
"Sure." Said Cal.
Cal and Tessa walked down the busy street, looking around for a vendor. Eventually, they spotted one and approached it.
"Greetings, how may I assist you two?" The vendor asked.
In front of the vendor was boxes full of various trinkets and jewelry.
"We're just browsing." Said Cal.
"Of course, I'll be here if you need anything." The vendor replied.
Tessa began digging through one of the boxes, and picked out a silver necklace with a blue jewel.
"How much is this?" Asked Tessa.
"That necklace is five gold coins." The vendor replied.
Tessa reached into her satchel and handed the vendor the five gold coins that were required to purchase the necklace.
"Thank you very much, young lady." The vendor said as he grabbed the coins.
Tessa nodded and placed the necklace in her satchel. Cal and her then started walking away from the vendor and proceeded down the street. As they walked further down the street, they passed few knights. Each of them had a shield with the same emblem on it, but it was one Cal didn't recognize. It had a white crystal and an aqua blue background.
"Hm." Muttered Cal.
"Something wrong?" Asked Tessa.
"No, I was just wondering what kingdom those knights were from." Replied Cal.
Tessa then looked over her shoulder and towards the knights, and examined the emblem.
"Yeah, I've never seen that one before..." Said Tessa.
The duo continued to walk through the crowds in the street. But as they were walking, Cal and Tessa heard a commotion coming from a tavern from across the street. It sounded like people yelling and arguing amongst themselves.
"What the hell is that?" Asked Tessa.
"I don't know, I'm going to go see." Replied Cal.
"Cal, you're just going to get in trouble again!" Exclaimed Tessa.
Cal started walking towards the tavern, and turned around and faced Tessa as he walked backwards towards the tavern.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine!" Exclaimed Cal.
He turned back towards the tavern and pushed the doors open, and proceeded to walk indoors.
"He's going to get himself killed one day..." Tessa sighed as she proceeded to follow him inside.
Upon entering, Cal saw a man in a brown trench coat sitting on a barstool, the man also had a brown bandanna around his forehead. Standing next to him was the bartender, yelling angrily at the man.
"You have the audacity come into my establishment, start arguing with every damn patron that tries to start conversations, ask for the blandest drink, and complain that we don't have it?!" The bartender yelled.
"How don't you have a goddamn natural resource!?" The man yelled.
"The shipment comes in a week!" The bartender yelled.
"It's fucking water!" The man yelled.
"It is hard for our suppliers to gather!" The bartender yelled.
"Just go to a damn river, collect the water, purify it, and distribute it! It's very fucking simple! Also,
I see a fucking running faucet right there!"
The man yelled.
"And not to mention your complaint about me being antisocial, because I have the right to not want to be bothered. And as a matter of fact, I asked them nicely to leave me alone!" The man continued to yell.
"You're being a dick, sir!" The bartender yelled.
The man stood up and faced the bartender.
"You wanna call me that again?" The man asked as he placed his hands on his two sword sheaths.
Cal then approached the man, and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, calm do-"
The man then looked over at Cal, and immediately had a shocked face. Cal also had a shocked expression as well at the sight of the man.
"Holy shit..." Said Cal.
"Cal..?" The man asked.
The bandanna around his forehead, the trench coat, the dual sword sheaths, it all made sense to Cal now.
"Elijah?!" Asked Cal.
YOU ARE READING
Vanguards Of Aetheria II: The Solace Rune
FantasíaA year after the events of "Vanguards Of Aetheria", Cal Livio and his friends are faced with a new evil. When Keith discovers an ancient stone tablet in the sandy region of Solace, known as "The Solace Rune," he realized that it held a lot of power...
