Adventure in Ayremus

Chapter Eight: Town of Revuel

The musky smell of the forest overwhelmed my senses. The sun was setting yet again as torches lit up the small town of Revuel. The sky was overcast, thunder booming in the distance, flashes of lightning could be seen miles away. The gates opened as we trudged along the path towards the town, welcoming Ruby and me into the depths of their culture. The small town was perforated with closely guarded storage huts and metal-working shops. Every single building was some sort of a hybrid between a house and working or storage area. Money was crucial to these individuals, focusing their trade surrounding business. It was the only way that people could obtain food from the traveling merchants. I yanked Ruby from her dreamy stance and dragged her past all sorts of exciting activities. She protested by trying to tug me in the opposite direction, but I had other things planned.

The liveliness of the town soon broke away as we entered the working area of these people. Skilled stonemasons and blacksmiths hammered away at mineral rich rocks or hot pieces of metal. I stopped by a blacksmith, and he immediately gestured towards the huge array of metal items for sale. Metal tools, utensils and all sorts of things were hung or placed nicely in a bright corner of his forge. Unwieldy iron helmets and heavily blemished chest-plates stood upon metal rods that were made to look like an armor stand.

"How much is this?" I questioned, thumbing a slightly misshapen and unbalanced throwing knife in my hand. His reply was swift, "Ten gold coins for the set."

"Ten! That is an outrageous price for such a shoddy job." A voice chimed from behind me, and I spun around to face the bearer of this new voice. "Come here lads, my work is definitely cheaper and... better." The man behind me yelled out in anger, and I stepped nimbly away as he tried to swing his hammer at the newcomer. The hammer did not come close at all and buried itself into the ground. "Shut your trap Lenor! He came to me for a reason, I'm better than you are." He boomed, his face torn in fury. I glanced over at the steadily increasing number of spectators and then at Ruby, who pulled me into the shelter of a roof as the first raindrops started falling. The feud between them had definitely been going on for a very long time, and I had just triggered its start. Lightning struck nearby, momentarily lighting up the scene. The two burly men stared each other down, making slow movements as they circled each other in a road intersection where the cobbled streets met. The streets were filled with people who wanted a view of the action, rarely did something of this scale happen in this part of town. The crowd was bubbling with excitement, but I noticed that some of them were pointing at us before muttering something under their breath. Minutes passed, and the two men did not strike, they merely shook their fists at each other and threw all sorts of insults around. I yelled out at them, trying to break their attention, but all I got was boos from the crowd. The crowd too had moved away from us and included us in with the two blacksmiths. Lenor swung downwards with his tool, breaking the floor as well as his own weapon. The other blacksmith laughed, but as he swung his shovel in return, the entire scoop dropped off and clattered uselessly away. Lightning struck down from the heavens again, its searing heat felt by all nearby. This time, the flash of light had struck through the weak cloth roof of a storage hut and ignited a large pile of dry coal which had been left neglected underneath. Lenor jumped at the sight, yelling out for people to save his precious hut, the other blacksmith simply shrugged and laughed. I moved in to help pour water over the burning crescendo, but I was shoved aside by the villagers.

"You started this!" The villagers yelled out at us, shoving us away from the fire. "If you didn't come, none of this would have happened." I looked at Ruby for salvation, but she was similarly affected by the sudden outroar against us. My brain worked up the simplest solution in no time; we stop the fire with our powers.

I whispered my cunning plan to Ruby, and we both took off, running through the maze of buildings. The villagers had noticed us and tried to give chase, stumbling over each other. We climbed up to the top of a crumbling house with the help of the ether and bounded over the rooftops, swiftly returning to the pillar of thick smoke that rose from the smoldering hut. I stood my ground and tried to ignore the mob who were struggling to catch us. I raised my arms and lightning flashed nearby, striking another hut and breaking the roof in half. The villagers turned their attention towards me, who at this point looked like some sort of dark wizard, and slunk away slowly into a shelter. I ignored their frightened remarks and started work on containing the fire. I funneled bucketloads of water into the flames and created a dense hollow bubble around it to hold the rainwater in. Shiny metallic streams of molten minerals flowed down from inside the hut nearby, and its owner shrieked in desperation, burying his face in his hands. The mob behind me was getting closer by the minute. I deftly dumped water over and over again over the hut and tried to keep the water within the four walls, submerging the coals. The fire soon ceased, and I let the water slowly drain off. I looked back and noticed that Ruby was fending off the mob with her powers, making sure to not hurt anyone in the process. The villagers were quick to stop the angry mob from attacking us from our vantage point after that.

The mayor stepped out from the crowd and quickly dismissed the crowd, which dispersed without a word. The mayor turned and looked at me as I leaped from the top of the roof, landing silently on the ground. Ruby followed noiselessly and greeted the mayor.

"What you did there, I thank you for. You helped us even after my villagers put you down. You two truly are a blessing in disguise."

I acknowledged his thanks and went straight to the reason we came here in the first place. "You guys have so many towns which are interconnected through trade, why aren't you all working together?"

The mayor let out a long sigh, running his hand through his hair in exasperation at the thought. "We can't work together, it's a rule not to. The central city you can see up there would destroy any alliances, it leaders wants theirs to be the greatest city here." I followed his furious gaze to the city, feeling his burning desire to grow his village into something of substantial power.