A Nagas tale

Mystery City

The first three weeks I spent trying to get any information from Ashthoren but he seemed to want to avoid telling me anything. I gave in and decided it was better to just write down any information that was around the cave. Grandpa had told me these things had already been documented and there was nothing of interest. Despite that, I decided to write down and draw the images on the walls. "Is this what you found in the ancestor's cave?" I look at Alma who is reading over my shoulder. I nod "Yes, the ancestor seems hesitant to tell me anything. He rather talk about me and what I've been up to despite him being able to see everything within this Island." I sigh looking at the drawings I had drawn from the cave. I look at the city that is depicted on the walls thinking this was a drawing of how the village used to look like. I tilt my head noticing that the buildings were made of stone. "It's odd that the buildings are made of stone." Alma points out. I nod looking up at the village around us. "There are no stone buildings here." I point out. Alma nods sitting next to me "Could this be a different town?" she asks. I close my book "I think Kogen has portraits of the other cities we can look at." I remember seeing a book of the cities in his office. "Is it alright if I come?" Alma asks. I nod "Yeah, If you are free you can join me." I tuck my book away and start walking towards the barracks. I would love to run to the barracks to get the information quickly but Alma was pregnant and I did not want to make her run. "So how are the others holding up?" I ask wondering what Kogen and Leon worked out with them. Alma nods "Well, Kogen and Hector agreed that all of the able-bodied men in our tribe should be enlisted into his ranks." I stop walking shocked by the information. 'I'd been so worried about trying to get information out of the ancestor.' She smiles at me "It's alright really, Hector is a very prideful man he wouldn't want anything less." She assures me. 'How did I forget to ask.' Her smile is reassuring but' Is this really okay?' She waves to keep walking. I start walking again leading her to the base where Kogen held training and most of the other men lived in. We walk past the gates separating the base from the village. Alma stops walking and I shudder feeling Kogen's aura surge. 'what's going on!?' I turn to Alma seeing she is shaking "Why is the leader angry?" she asks. I turn towards the spot his aura came from. 'no he isn't mad.' "Stay here if it's too much for you Alma or head back towards town." I quickly run towards the training grounds. I jump out of the way as Hector is thrown past me. I stumble in shock "Mr. Hector!?" I turn to check on him. He is bleeding a lot and from how his shoulder looks it might be broken. "Are you okay!?" I try to help but he pushes me away. "I am fine." He huffs getting back onto his feet. I step away from him as he asks just in time to avoid Kogen. I turn and run away from the fight. "Oh my god!" I flinch turning to Alma who had followed me. "Hector!" she shouts in worry. I look at the two fighting men before running to get Alma out of the way. "wait! Why are they fighting!?" she shouts wanting to know about the two. I can tell that Kogen is not angry. I pushed Alma away from the area she was standing in. "Audrey we need to stop them!" she shouts I hold her back not wanting her to get hurt. I use my back to hold her back and watch the fight. I spot a delighted grin on Kogen's face. 'I think Kogen and Hector might become good friends.' I groan feeling Alma's plus-sized breasts push on my back. 'she is heavy!' I take a deep breath seeing how worried she was getting. "KOGEN!" I shouted as loudly as I could. He has taken his beast form which only means he was enjoying the challenge Hector was giving him. I frown seeing he ignored me "Audrey! we need to stop them!" Alma tries to get past me I turn around and grab her shoulders. "You will get hurt if you step in!" I warn her. I feel bad seeing Alma's usually calm golden eyes filled with worry. I flinch hearing Hector yelp I turn to Kogen seeing he backed off of Hector. The large snake struggles to get up "Oh my god!!" Alma cries. I cover her eyes and look over at the others watching. "It seems you can no longer fight." Kogen speaks up. I turn to him ready to scold him for such a fight. Hector kneels trying to breathe "Then training stops here for the day." Kogen steps away. "I can still." "It's enough, I aim to train you and your men not kill you." Kogen cuts him off. "Besides I do not wish to traumatize your wife." he points to us. Hector wants to argue but he turns away "Yes, sir." He relents. "Leo, Idris get Hector to the hospital." he orders. I frown 'I should have waited till later.' I hug Alma feeling her shaking in my arms. "It's okay, Hector is alright, he will get treated at the hospital if you want to go." she shakes her head. "I want to help you, Audrey." she whispers. I nod "Alright, let's just get the book and we can go to my house." I offer. She shakes her head "It's okay," she takes a deep breath. Kogen pokes my shoulder "Why did you come?" He asks a little annoyed. I turn to him and sigh "I wanted to borrow a book from your office, I guess I chose a bad time to come." I mutter. He turns to Hector who is being taken on a stretcher. "It's fine, come." He leads us towards the office. "Keep training!" He shouts the order as we walk past the crowd. I feel a little miffed with what I dragged Alma into. We get to his office where he offers a hug I poke at his bleeding wound. He hisses in pain "You should get that treated and change." I mutter as Alma sits on the couch. "What are you looking for?" He chuckles. I nod looking through the books on his shelf. "MM that book with the portraits of the cities." I explain. He follows me to the bookshelves. "Is that really all you came for?" he asks. He sounds a bit butt-hurt as I look through the book titles. "Hmmm I'd like a hug but you haven't treated your wound and your clothes are still bloody." I mumbled not really in the mood to be coated in the smell of blood. "Hm, my wife is such a princess." He grumbles jokingly before walking away. I hear the door leading away from the office open and close. "He seems so calm around you." Alma speaks up. I nod "Yes, Kogen is very mild-mannered around me but he can be a little hot-headed when he is training." I told her what I had noticed over my time with him. She giggles "I see all husbands are like that." I turn to Alma. "Oh? Is Hector different around you?" I ask. She nods "He is such a love bug its odd when I see him act like a complete asshole to other people." She smiles. "Oh! My A love bug huh? that's cute." I turn my attention back to the books. 'He seems like a total asshole the few times I met him.' I frown unable to find the book on the lower shelves. "crap! I should have asked Kogen to help." I frown "Do you need help?" Alma asks. I nod "I bet he put the book on the top shelf." I frown looking for a stool or stable bucket to stand on. I step back and spot the book on the highest shelf  'Algaria's Cities and Geological Maps.' I cross my arms looking around the room. I spot the coffee table and start dragging it towards the shelf. "Are you sure I can't help?" Alma stands up. I shake my head "Pregnant ladies need to rest!" I scold as I fix the table against the shelf. I climb onto the table and reach for the book only finding the coffee table was of no help. I groan as I stretch my arm out as high as I can my fingers barely reach the edge of the shelf. I gasp as the table tips "Woah!" I am caught and the table slams back onto the ground. I look at Kogen as he sighs. "I can't leave you alone for more than a few minutes or you'll find a new way to hurt yourself." He grumbles. I giggle nervously "Thanks for catching me." I whisper. He frowns "Here, you should have asked me before I left." He grabs the book and sets me down before setting the book down on my hands. I look at the book and then at Kogen, I get on my toes and give him a quick peck on the cheek. "Thank you!" I quickly ran over to Alma grabbed my bag that fell from the table and sat next to her. I open the book "This is it! okay!" I open my notebook to the drawing of the city inside the cave.

 Alma starts looking through the portraits curiously looking at the cities. Audrey looked over the portraits wanting to find the city she had drawn. "The buildings in this portrait look like the buildings you drew." Alma stops at the city of Norsta. Audrey tilts her head looking at the old portrait trying to find a difference between the two pictures. She points to the buildings made of sandstone and the carved designs. "The sandstone looks different to these stones." she points at the ones she'd drawn. "Oh! you are right! these designs look like they were made with more detail." Alma points out. Audrey nods "Like they were made with better tools." She murmurs. Alma nods "I can see what you mean." she whispers. "this city looks a lot smaller than Norsta." Kogen points out. Audrey nods "It does, the buildings look more stone-like compared to the straight edges of Norsta too." She whispers. "This is an undocumented city." Kogen murmurs. Audrey tilts her head curiously "An undocumented city. How can you be so sure??" She asks. Her eyes wander to Kogen who straightens up and walks towards the shelves. "We do not have good relations with a few other countries but we have been keeping out of each other's ways," he tells them. He grabs a different book and sets it down 'Thera's geographic locations.' Audrey waits for him to continue. "The general has met with a number of the leaders in the areas that do not wish to be part of Algaria." He explains. 'So Algaria is a country not the name of this earth.' she tilts her head learning something new. "Their manner of building and infrastructure is different." he shows them the more natural buildings and the buildings are made with mud and hay rather than stones. Audrey looks at the thatch roofs "This is, so different." she mutters. Kogen nods "This city you have drawn, it's not known to us." he explains. Audrey frowns 'It's unknown?' Alma lets out a thoughtful hum. "Maybe Grandpa... but he said he's looked up and down that cave," she murmurs. Kogen sighs "Why are you interested in it?" He asks. Audrey lifts her gaze to him again "Well, I want to know what happened after we settled here and help Grandpa recreate the barrier around the cave mouth." She explains. Kogen shakes his head "It's safe to leave it as is," He sighs. Audrey looks at the book Kogen had pulled out. "I think Grandpa has his reasons for wanting that barrier back up." she looks at her book. "I think that old man is already going crazy." He sighs picking up the book and taking it back to its spot. Audrey looks at her notebook again 'I need to find out what Ash is hiding from me.' she puts her book away before getting up. "Alright! I think Alma and I have taken up your time a little too long." Alma stands up "Let's go check on Hector before we head home." Audrey offers Alma the walk. Alma nods "Alright! we can go check on him if he is alright do you mind joining me for some snacks?" Alma offered a different plan. Audrey nods "Alright! I can go for a snack." Audrey waves bye to Kogen without realizing he is going to offer the same Idea as a date. He waved at Audrey before closing his door. 'It's good she is making friends.' He tells himself as he walks back to his desk. 'It's good... It's good but, I can't help feel jealous of how much my time with her has been reduced.' He groans.