The City of Dracuim

We woke as the birds began their songs. The Sun creates artwork in the cloudless sky. The morning frost had the air bitter and sharp. We gathered around Evelyn who was extremely grumpy that we dared to be awake this early. She huffed as she transformed saying how when we get back, she's taking a long nap. We flew fast, As Evelyn was still upset. In a few hours, we arrived at the mansion. The moonlight elves were waiting at the gates with a nervous look.

"Sir there's a demon here to see you." A thin male Said pointing towards the house. I walked through the main hall and up into my office. Sitting in my chair was the one and only Arachné. Her fingertips tapped on the desk. Her eyes narrowed to slits.

"About time you show up. I come here to defect, yet you weren't even here to receive me." She said pouting.

I drew my sword and was behind her. My blade is tight against her throat. Her hands shot up and she began trembling. her hand wrapped around my wrist to stop my blade. her hand squeezing but not hard. My other hand gripped the wrist that was grabbing me.

"Please don't kill me! I am here to help I swear. The demon king lost her mind. She is completely obsessed with you. She wants to conquer you and only you." She managed to stutter out.

I forced her to her feet and made her face me. I realized her black hair hid another set of eyes. They seemed to study me, scanning my face. My anger was written on it.

"Why are you angry with me? what did I do?" She asked pleasing me.

Her spider legs wrapped around us pulling me closer, her chest squished up to mine. Her breath hit my neck. She wrapped her arms around my waist and put her head onto my shoulder.

"Please accept me. I just want to live a peaceful life. She will ruin that. Please just let me have peace." She said quietly.

I looked down at her, she seemed genuinely sad. I wonder how many horrible things Veronica made her do. I pushed her face up with my finger.

"You will need to prove yourself," I said as I pushed her away.

She looked at me for a second and nodded. She slinked backward and sat in a chair. She pulled out several parchments and handed them to me.

"Every general movement that I know of. every plan and every detail that I could think of. please make use of them." She quietly said. I summoned Octavia and handed her the information.

" Any way you can check the validity of this?" I asked.

She looked in Arachné's direction and back to me. Her wild smile made me nervous.

"Of course, darling. It won't be an issue." She replied before running off.

"I will allow you to stay, you will have your room, we are taking a few days before we set off up the coast. In those few days if we discover that your lying, I will kill you." I said motioning for her to follow me.

She stood up and walked with me, I showed her around the mansion and made sure she knew her way around.

"Aren't you afraid I'll betray you? "She asked as I showed her, her room.

"No, because if you harm anyone here, I will make sure you find out firsthand, that there are worse things than death," I replied smiling.

If she could turn pale, I think she would of. she bowed and went into her room. I felt exhausted just dealing with her. I made my way to the garden in the backyard and sat at a table I had set up.

"Sir do you need anything?" The thin male appeared out of thin air.

"Holy cow dude. No poofing out of thin air!" I exclaimed staring at him.

He fought the smile he was hiding and bowed.

"Could you bring my dinner here? I would like to relax here tonight." I said nodding to him.

He bowed and poofed out of sight. The midday sun blazed in the sky; a light breeze tickled the grass. Everything was comfortable, for once in this world I could take a breath. I know in the beginning I was opposed to having a home, but now I realized how relaxing it could be to have something of my own. I felt drowsy, my head bobbing as I fought off sleep, however, sleep won that battle.

We woke late, the smell of meat brings cooked throughout the mansion. I was laying on my side fighting the urge to go back to sleep when I felt someone watching me. I wearily looked up to see Arachné sitting in a web on her stomach. Two of her arms held her face as she stared at me. Her legs swinging in the air. A weird content smile on her face.

"Why are you watching me sleep?" I asked groggily.

She smiled widely and whispered

"Because I was thinking of making you mine." She erupted with laughter.

Octavia stretched and yawned.

"Oh, hey Arachné. hope your morning is well." She said with another stretch.

"You know it's not normal for her to be up there, right?" I said with a groan.

She smiled at me and laughed. She stood up and got dressed. I did the same after shooing Arachné out of the room. She seemed disappointed yet she did as she was told. Everyone who would be accompanying me was waiting in the foyer. Elisa decided to go home to the elven wood for a bit, while Evelyn was still sleeping. Kiosha was with Octavia and Arachné. Nekomata wanted to go but I made her stay home to learn with the moonlight elves. She protested and threw a fit. A maid rushed over to quiet her.

"Neko my dear child, you must learn the ways of the world. knowledge is as powerful as a weapon. So, get better at learning then you can fight with me." I said ruffling her hair.

Her ears twitched and her tail flickered but she nodded. In her eyes was determination instead of anger. We gathered our gear and began our journey down the road. We decided to travel on foot to make the most of it. We walked along the coast, sea air blasting us with its bitterness. A wild wind blew our cloaks around us as waves crashed along the edge of the coast. We walked for hours, our cloaks caked with salt and soaked by the crashing waves. We felt miserable as we continued down the one cart path. Soon a dusty little town appeared over the horizon. Several people were heading to it on the same path we were. The small ramshackle gate was guarded by a fiery old man in rusty tattered armor. On his hip was a broken sword. He was in a shouting match with a rough-looking group of men. They started to draw swords when I appeared behind them.

"Gentlemen it would be a shame if I had to kill you for bullying an old man," I growled making one almost jump out of his skin.

The men looked me up and down. several lowered their heads, yet one defiantly stood chest to chest with me. His hand on the pommel of his sword.

"The hero of Alstersia doesn't look as impressive as his title." The man taunted.

He stood about Six foot five inches. He was a heavy-set guy with greasy long black hair. he smelled of alcohol and tobacco. He was missing a few teeth and had a face full of scars.

"Remove your hand from that sword or you will die. I promise you that." I growled glaring at him.

The man stumbled back for a second but steeled himself again. He bumped into my chest with his as he drew his sword. He swung, yelling about how he will kill the hero of Astoria. I caught the blade with one hand and snapped it in two. The man fell backward and began begging for his life.

"I warned you. Do not blame me for my rudeness." I said grabbing his neck and twisting. His face was stuck in a shocked expression. I turned to the old man.

"His armor and whatever else is yours now. I'm going in." I said kicking the body away from me.

The old man nodded and pushed open the gate. The city was basically in ruin. people were starving and laying about in the street. Despite it being a port city, it seemed it wasn't being run correctly. I walked through the narrow, nasty streets to the small shack that was supposed to be the adventurer's guild branch. I pushed open the broken door to see an elderly lady sitting behind a dusty desk. I stood in front of her for a few minutes before she noticed me.

"How can I help you, sir?" She asked looking tired.

"Are there any requests?" I asked.

She nodded and handed me a parchment. On it was a picture of a group of harpies. turned out to be a request from the cities lord.

"I'll take it," I replied.

"Thank you, sir, the guilds commission is twenty-five percent. Everything else is up to you. As you can see most adventurers stay away from here, so the area is pretty neglected." She explained as she stamped the duplicate bounty with claimed.

I waved at her as I left. We headed towards the bounty location and quickly dealt with the harpies. There were about fifteen in total, slightly annoying but easy to kill. We took whatever materials we could to sell then headed back to the guild. I turned in the proof of the bounty and the old lady looked concerned.

"Sir the city lord says he refuses to pay, stating it's your duty as an adventurer to help us." She said quietly.

"Looks like it's time for a new city lord then yeah?" I growled storming out of the shack. I matched straight to the gates of his lavish home. several nicely armed guards stood in my way.

"Halt This is home of the outstanding Lord Kulik. Turn away or perish." They said in unison.

"Tell that whores son to come to pay me or I'm coming in there," I growled.

one guard looked at me closely and turned around. he went through the gate and was gone for a few seconds before returning.

"My lord says to get fucked." The guard replied.

At this point I was mad, I grabbed the man's helmet off his head and placed it between my hands. While glaring at him I crushed it.

The man started sweating profusely and stepped aside. Both guards seemingly decided they did not want to die. I kicked the gate open and charged into the mansion.