Alcingeria Chapter Sixteen: Vulrock

The Scorpions make their way to Vulrock. They discuss the strange burlap sack that the two men had in the woods and what could have been inside of it.

Chapter Sixteen Vulrock:

            “So when Redmond and I went out there, there were these two men. One was tall and the other shorter. The taller one had a musket. They had captured something in a burlap sack. We asked them what was in it and they told us that it was none of our business. They directed us to Vulrock, but the taller man threatened to shoot us if we went to Vulrock with them. He told us to wait half an hour before heading there. When we asked why, the man with the musket said that they didn’t want us getting close to their score. When he said that he pointed to the burlap sack.” Don explained.

Robert’s expression assumed a confused look.

            “Why would they threaten to shoot you?” Robert asked.

Don shrugged.

            “That’s beyond me. Whatever the reason, he seemed pretty bloody protective of that burlap sack.” Don said.

            “What could be in it? Why would they want to protect it so desperately?” Macalister asked.

            “Who knows? Maybe they’re poachers?” Don said.

I thought of the question I had earlier. I decided to voice it.

            “Well, I had a thought. They had a musket with them, right? If they were just going to capture something in a burlap sack and not use the musket to shoot it first, then what did they need the musket for in the first place?” I asked.

There was a moment of silent contemplation. Don spoke first.

            “Perhaps they were poachers, but they didn’t need the musket for hunting the animals. Perhaps they needed the musket to shoot anyone who would get too close to their ‘score’?” Don asked.

Robert shook his head in confusion. He was frowning.

            “That does not make sense. Who in their right mind would shoot someone over an animal?” He said.

            “That raises Macalister’s question; what could have been in that burlap sack and why did they want to protect it so desperately?” Don added.

            “Well I saw the bag move so it must have been an animal.” I said.

            “Yes, but what animal in the world is worth shooting someone over?” Robert asked.

            “I don’t know. Since they’re most likely poachers, would they not be worried about being reported to law enforcement officers? Perhaps that’s why they threatened to shoot us if we followed them to Vulrock. They may have been worried that we would report them to the border guards for poaching.” I suggested.

            “One thing does not add up.” Don said.

            “What is it? I’m confused.” Macalister admitted.

            “I heard one of them say that Queen Yuka would have their heads if they didn’t have whatever was in their burlap sack brought to her by nightfall. If they’re worried about being reported for poaching, why are they doing it on Queen Yuka’s demand?” Don asked.

That was a very confusing thought.

            “Why would Queen Yuka order people to poach animals for her?” Macalister asked.

            “That’s beyond me.” Robert admitted.

            “We must find out what it’s that Queen Yuka wants. If a man was willing to shoot us over it, then it must be something big.” I said.

            “I have a feeling that Alcingeria’s rulers are not as they seem.” Macalister said.

            “Well, we know that they’re not. Ignacio said himself that four out of five of Alcingeria’s rulers use vampires to hunt down dangerous criminals. To our knowledge only Queen Mycta is normal. She knows of vampires, but that’s all.” Don said.

            “To our knowledge.” Robert added.

            “Yes. So if Queen Yuka uses vampires to hunt dangerous criminals, what would she want with some animal?” Don asked.

            “Maybe the animal is a lycan!” Macalister exclaimed.

Don looked to Macalister.

            “No. Lycan are large wolves. The burlap sack that the men had with them was small. Too small to fit a wolf, let alone a lycan.” Don said.

            “Well, what else could it be?” I asked in frustration.

Robert shook his head.

            “We will discuss this at a later time. I believe that it has been half an hour. Let us go in the direction that the two men told us to go. Don, which way was that?” Robert asked.

Don turned around to face the direction that the two men told us was headed to Vulrock.

            “This way.” Don said as he began walking.

Robert Macalister and I followed Don. I looked up to the sky. The sun was almost setting. We had around an hour to an hour and a half of daylight left before it started to get dark. I looked ahead of us. The forest was getting denser and denser as we walked onwards. I kept expecting to see the gates of Vulrock appear in the distance but they didn’t. I looked to my left and right. All I saw were trees, boulders and fallen logs. The sound of leaves crunching beneath our feet filled the air. Somewhere in the distance a wolf howled. A series of howls called in return.

            “Do you think those are lycan?” Macalister asked.

Robert laughed.

            “Could be, but I don’t want to be out here long enough to find out.” He said.

            “Me neither. I want to go to Vulrock. There will be food there.” Macalister said eagerly.

Don laughed.

            “Is that all you think about?” Don asked.

Macalister shrugged.

            “I’m hungry.” He said defensively.

            “We should be coming up on Vulrock pretty soon. Then we will all get something to eat.” I told everyone.

            “Let us hope you’re right.” Macalister said with a laugh.

Talking about food made the ache in my gut more and more painful. My stomach grumbled and I put a hand over it. My throat was dry as well. I estimated that we had enough gold between the four of us to buy ourselves a good meal. I looked ahead of us. Finally after walking for some time more, a large pale grey stone wall loomed in the distance. From here we could make out the gate and a few guards stationed at the gate.

            “Everyone, put your weapons away. The last thing we need is being arrested for brandishing our weapons around the guards.” Robert said with a laugh.

I put my flintlock in my pocket along with the flask of gunpowder and the dagger. When my hand bumped against the flask of gunpowder the flask didn’t seem very heavy. This told me that it was almost empty. I looked ahead once more. We were now within a hundred feet of the gate. The stone wall was almost twenty feet high. The four of us approached the guards at the gate slowly. There were five guards at the gate. They were carrying flintlocks in holsters on their hips and they each had a musket slung over their shoulders. They noticed us as we drew near. They all turned to face us.

            “Halt!” Called out a guard.

The guard who had spoken was the tallest of the five. He had a clean shaven face and a sturdy build. He looked strong.

We did as we were told and stopped walking.

            “State your business!” Called out the tallest guard.

Don cleared his throat.

            “We’re travelers looking to sell our wares here in Vulrock!” Don called out.

It was a clever lie. We could never tell the guards the truth about why we were actually here.

The tallest guard looked us over.

            “Very well. Approach the gate slowly. We will open it when you’re near.” The tallest guard said.

We did as we were told and we approached the gate slowly. When we were about ten feet away the gate began to raise as the sound of pulleys rotating filled the air. When the gate eight feet off the ground we stepped through. We came to a narrow passage way that was around twelve feet long. The walls were all made of grey stone. At the end of the passage way there was the sound of people chattering and horse hooves against cobblestone. The faint sound of gold pieces clanking together was also audible. We walked through the passage way and came to the exit. I looked around. It was almost dark out. The sky was turning a faint blue as darkness was beginning its descent. There was a cobblestone street that led to a decorative fountain that spewed water into intricate patterns through the air. The sound of rushing water was now audible. From the fountain branched off many cobblestone pathways that led every which way. Dark smooth stone pathways lined the sides of the streets as sidewalks. There were people everywhere talking to one another. Their voices mixed and began one big jumble of nonsense. I looked left and right. On the sides of the roads there were buildings every few feet. Some had signs that read; Rest Your Head! Two Dollars Per Room! And Arm Yourself Today! And Need Protection? Get Your Armor Here! And Medicine Is Sold Here! The signs signified different shops like inns, weapon and armor shops and medicine shops. I looked around even farther but didn’t find a food shop.

            “I don’t see a shop that sells food.” Macalister said.

            “We should go farther into the city to look for a food shop. There does not appear to be one in the town square.” Don said.

Don began walking towards the fountain in front of us and the rest of us followed him. We walked past the fountain and began following a cobblestone pathway that led farther into the city. There were people packed very tightly here but we managed to weave through the crowd. There were residential buildings all around us lining the streets. Cloths lines were hung from building to building overhead. Each one was filled with cloths of all colors; red, green, magenta and blue.

            “There!” Don exclaimed, pointing to a red stone building.

Over the doorway was a sign that read Hot Meals Inside! I exhaled in relief and we all began making our way through the crowd of people and towards the red stone building. We all finally reached the door and we opened it and stepped through. Macalister had to duck under the doorway to avoid hitting his head. He was the last one in so he shut the door. Oddly the shop was empty. Good thing, too. The shop interior was small and wouldn’t fit a lot of people. There were tables around the perimeter of the room. The walls had windows every few feet that let in light. The floor, ceiling and walls were all the made of the same red stone as the exterior of the building. Across the room from us was a young man with blue eyes and pale blond hair. He was shorter than me but had a nice and soft smile.

            “Hello! You four look like you’re travellers.” The young man greeted us.

            “We’re, and we’re hungry too.” Don said with a grin.

            “Very good! What can I get you?” The young man asked with a smile.

            “Anything that will feed the four of us and is under six dollars.” Don said.

The young man’s face acquired a thoughtful frown.

            “Let me see what I have in the back.” The young man said.

He turned and walked through a door that was behind him. After he stepped through, he closed it behind himself. We could hear him walking around in there. We could hear boxes being shifted. The door opened a few seconds later.

            “Lucky for you lads we have some bread in stock. It’s very cheap.” The young man said.

            “How cheap?” Don asked.

            “One dollar for two loaves.” The young man replied.

            “How much is water?” Don asked.

            “Water is the same price. One dollar for two flasks.” The young man said.

Don looked to us all and grinned.

            “We will take four loaves of bread and four flasks of water please.” Don said.

            “Very well. That will be four dollars please.” The young man said.

Don looked to us.

            “I need some money, lads.” Don said.

I knew that Don had two gold pieces on him, so I reached into my pocket and fished out two gold pieces, leaving myself with one left. I gave Don the two gold pieces. He took them and strode over to the counter. He dropped the four gold pieces on the counter and the young man smiled again.

            “Be right back. Let me just fetch your order.” He said.

He went to the back room and came back with four loaves of bread and four flasks of water. He set them on the counter and took the four gold pieces off of the counter.

            “Thank you for your business!” The young man said.

Don grabbed our order off of the counter and brought it back to us. We walked through the door and out on to the busy streets again. The sound of people chattering was very loud.

            “Well we got our food and water. That should tide us over until we get some more money.” Don said as he handed us each our bread and water.

I grabbed my bread and water hastily and bit into the bread instantly. It was a little dry but it was fresh. I took a few bites out of the loaf and swallowed them hungrily. I looked over to Macalister to find that he was just finishing off his loaf of bread.

            “Macalister! You ate your whole loaf already?” Don said with a laugh.

Macalister looked at his empty hands.

            “Yes, I did.” He said.

I started eating my loaf of bread again. I finished it in a few more bites. It was delicious! I drank my flask of water in a few gulps. I put the empty flask in my pocket. I looked over to the others. They were almost finished their bread.

            “So, what do we do now that we’re in Vulrock?” I asked.

Robert looked around.

            “It’s too crowded here. We must go somewhere with less listeners to discuss our further plans.” Robert said.

Robert walked through the crowd. The others and I followed him. We wove our way around the many people that crowded the streets. We walked to the other side of the street and began walking in the opposite direction of the town square. Up ahead I could see the crowd thinning.

Author's Note

Please tell me what you think!

Reviews

[KeithKVH]

I like the town they're in here. Very adventurous, midieval feel with all the armor shops and inns, both what you describe and leave to the imagination brought some very interesting scenery to me here. Still can't quite gauge the currency seeing as bread was a staple food, but given the interactions I get the feeling they were pretty short for anything decent.

I notice you talk about cloths lines and cloths, I'm not sure if there's anyone that spell it differently like the british or something, but I put in my suggestion to correct those to "clothes".

[Ryan Henderson]

Thank you very much for the review! I don't know how to spell it so I just went with clothes

[KeithKVH]

I meant that it might be better to be changed to clothes, it is currently cloths. As I said I am unsure if there is an alternate spelling though. I'll take a look at the next chapter soon. ^^