Our second world- Book two: War is coming

Chapter 37

~ Haren ~

"Master?" He felt something wet nudge his face," it's time to get up."

"A few more minutes," he groaned.

"It's already been a few minutes."

"Ugh, Fine!" Haren sat up and stretched.

"Good morning," Rala jumped off the bed.

"Morning," he yawned.

"I'll wait for you down in the commons, so hurry and get ready." Rala Said. She squeezed under the curtains and scampered down the stairs. Her claws clicked on the floor as she walked.

"Oh yeah!" He realized as he was getting dressed," the girls wanted us to take them to Velona today."

He finished getting ready and made his way downstairs to the commons.

Silver and August were sitting on the couch.

"Hey."

"Good morning!" August grinned.

"Morning," Silver Said," are we ready to leave?"

"I am. Where are the girls?" Haren asked.

"They said they'd meet us by the main entrance." Silver explained.

Together, the three of them made their way upstairs to the main hall. It didn't take them long to find the main entrance and they were only waiting a few minutes for Sylviana and Elviya to join them.

The two girls came running down the hall and slid to a stop at the door.

Elviya had pulled her short brown hair up into a messy bun and was wearing an off the shoulder blouse that she had tucked into the waistband of her pants. She was also wearing riding boots.

Sylvian's hair was almost perfectly wavy and she was wearing a white dress, tall socks, and flats.

"Hi! Sorry, we made you wait!" Elviya grinned.

"We weren't waiting that long," Silver Said.

"I'm excited to see what Velona looks like," Elviya answered as the group climbed into the wagon that was waiting to take them to the city.

"Me too! I've only ever heard others talk about it," Sylviana added.

"Everyone ready?" The driver flicked the reins and the two gray horses started forward down the path leading away from the tall academy.

Tall oak trees lined both sides of the dirt path. Many of which were covered in pink flowers. A slight breeze blew the multicolored petals around in the air. Throughout their long ride, Elviya and Sylviana had collected some of the full flowers blown from the trees and were using them in their attempt to create flower crowns. 

After about an hour, the wagon slowed to a stop.

"We're here." The driver announced.

"Wow! It's so big!"

"I'll be back here at 5:30. If you're not here by six you'll have to walk back. Pay attention to the time," the driver instructed as they climbed out of the wagon.

"Thanks! We will."

As they made their way down the dirt road, Haren could see more and more of the town. It really was big, but compared to the city he grew up in, this one was tiny. Almost all of the roads leading between the buildings were lain with small gray bricks, and the buildings were made, for the most part, out of wood so light it was almost white.

The majority of the people in the streets were accompanied by familiars. There were vendors set up on the streets selling trinkets, and others doing small displays of colorful magic. The entirety of the town seemed like one big fair.

The five of them wandered around for a few hours. Around noon, they stopped to take a break from walking in an open area by a large fountain. Silver and Elviya offered to go find lunch and left Haren, August, and Sylviana to find a place to sit on a bench by a small garden plot. They weren't waiting long before the two returned.

"Look what we got for lunch!" Elviya grinned. She pulled a small brown package from her bag and opened it.

Inside was a row of six triangle shaped sandwiches half covered in a hard shell of what looked to be chocolate. Something with the look and smell of peanut butter filled the interior of the sandwiches. They looked amazing and a sweet aroma wafted from them.

"They look so good!"

"I know right?" Elviya passed out the five sandwiches and broke the sixth up into equal pieces for the familiars.

"Thank you for the food," Haren said as he took a bite.

He was right in his guess that it was peanut butter and chocolate, but he was surprised to find more melted chocolate on the inside as well. When he bit into it, the chocolate coating on the outside melted in his mouth. It wasn't too sweet, or too savory and had a perfect blend of all the ingredients.

The others seemed to share his opinion.

"I've gotta admit, that was better than I expected," Silver said once he'd finished his.

"I second that," Elviya added, popping her final bite in her mouth," we should get them again next time we're here."

"Speaking of," August checked his watch," It's almost five."

"Awe! Already?" The girls whined.

"Time flies when you're having fun, as they say."

When they arrived at the spot where they'd been dropped off that morning, they were a few minutes early so they sat down to wait. After a few minutes, Haren heard footsteps from the direction of the town. He turned to see a short blonde girl running towards them.

"I'm not late for the wagon, am I?" She asked when she reached them.

"No, you're early by a few minutes," Sylviana said," Would you like to wait with us?"

"Oh... Sure."

She didn't sit down. 

Haren took the time to look her over. Her white blonde hair was a mess from running, though she had tried to fix it, and now that she was closer to him, he could see that she was holding something.

It was half covered by her cloak, and he had a hard time figuring out what it was under the black cloth it was wrapped in.

"Master, I smell something strange on that girl," Rala whispered to him.

"A smell?" Haren focused his nose on the scents in the air. Rala was right. An odd smell wafted off the girl. It seemed familiar, yet he couldn't place what it was. He stood up and walked over to the girl. The smell was coming from whatever it was she was carrying.

"What are you hiding?"