Cloaked Encounter

WILLIAM WINTHROPE

William could hear the loud rushing of water before he could see it. Stepping out of the forest and onto the bank, William paused to take in the scenic view. The massive river was as fast as any he had seen before, if only a bit more choppy than its normal state. Distorted rain clouds reflected off the top of the rippling water, revealing an altered truth of the misery he had to endure the over past few hours.

Despite the circumstances, William had enjoyed hearing what he missed, talking with his companions over the past five days of travel. Or at least the two that hadn’t spent their time away in a drunken haze. He and Kate had spent many late nights reacclimating themselves to the new people they were now, both in mind and, of course, body. In fact, many of their sessions began with them exploring a new part of each other's bodies. A small smile bloomed on his face remembering the past few nights, holding Kate in his arms afterwards, having discovered that she had grown out of her shyness as a child, and was now quite bold. She did have an odd tendency to let some of that timidness leak out when he was around, so he hadn’t quite seen her true potential yet.

As for Eli, he was slowly growing on him, despite his eerie silence through most of the trip. At the very least he acted as a good distraction when they ran into a Modili, a four legged giant, lumbering beast from the Nature Family. Curiously William had caught Eli lifting the mask he always wore over his emotions for just a moment when Kate had been the first to rush forward, wanting to claim the glory for herself.

Now that they had reached the Nollem River, they were no more than a day away from Nollemburg, which he could faintly spot in the faraway distance. Its high black walls obscured by the rainy haze enveloping him, making it hard to tell just how far away they truly were.

Kate, Eli, and Jameson appeared behind him, trudging out of the forest. Perilla was tucked away in the gem on Jameson’s hand, the cold rain did not mix well with her fiery Draconic nature. All three of them stopped in awe, having not been more than a few miles outside of Colsten, an image like this was something they had never seen before.

It took a loud boom off in the distance to knock them out of their awestricken state, turning to see a puff of smoke rising from the trees in between them and the walled city of Nollemburg. The smoke quickly disappeared into the matching grey clouds that hung low in the sky, followed closely by a small flock of birds that rose from the trees.

A quick glance around the group confirmed that they were all of the same mind. William took the lead as they crept through the forest, trying to use the trees for cover as they did not know if the culprit of the explosion was friend or foe.

Spotting a lone man through the trees, William held up his hand, motioning for the rest of the group to stop. Inspecting him closer, the man was wrapped in a white cloak, soaked through with the constant downpour all around them. A deep shade of purple lined his cloak, identical in style to the ones Kate had described about the bandits that had kidnapped her mother.

Just beyond him were two creatures standing before a third laying on the ground either dead or severely injured. The two standing both had black leather collars wrapped around their necks, gems gleaming in stark contrast to the gloomy atmosphere. One the creatures was a massive stone golem, a Parshen, who belonged to the Gemme Family. They were not particularly dangerous, but provided a great shield and were practically impossible to defeat without a pokeGirl of your own. Normal means would simply bounce off its rocky exterior. A DemonDog stood closely behind the Parshen. It was a wolf looking creature, with two black horns protruding from its forehead, along with a tail made of flame. DemonDogs belonged to the Flamma family, and there was some speculation that they were Gen 2, their darker aspects a result of mixing with the newly discovered Spectral Family, but nothing was known for sure.

On the ground in front of them was another Modili, who apparently were quite common in this forest. Its back half of its body was missing, its charred midsection was all the proof needed that the DemonDog had blown it clean off.

‘So definitely dead,’ William muttered to himself, taking in the scene before him, debating on how to proceed.

The man is certainly a foe, and having two pokeGirls would be quite the challenge to overcome. The one advantage he certainly held over him was that the man did not yet know they were enemies.

Stepping out from behind his cover, William called out to the man.

“Hello friend!” The cloaked man whipped his head around, and quickly raised his sword. “Whoa there,” William raised his hands, showing that he meant no harm.

“No need for the sword. Same goes for your lovely ladies over there as well,” gesturing to the two pokeGirls who had turned their attention from the Moili, now intensely focused on him.

“We are just a couple of travelers passing through on our way to Nollemburg and happened to notice that lovely fireball that went off. Just coming through to make sure everyone is alright.”

William put on his most non-threatening face, doing his part to act as the harmless peasant who couldn’t possibly offer any danger. Upon his cue, Kate, Eli, and Jameson stepped from their respective hiding places, revealing themselves to the man.

“My girlfriend and I hired these two gentlemen to escort us to Nollemburg. Kate here has always dreamed of visiting some day to see their odd architecture. She’s a bit of a strange one in that way.”

William continued on, trying to explain away the massive sword that Eli now held, along with the very prominent ring around Jameson’s finger. Those two idiots were not quite bright enough to stow away their weapons before meeting such an intimidating opponent. Best to leave a few surprises in your pocket if things didn’t go well.

“What about you sir? Those are some unique clothes you got there, what might you be heading towards Nollemburg for?”

The cloaked man remained silent for a beat longer than was comfortable before recalling his pokeGirls. The ethereal light extended outwards from the two rings on his hand, surrounding the Parshen and DemonDog before they vanished back into their holding place.

“I am Noel Maliky, one of the scouts for the Queen of Nollemburg,” the man said and gave a quick bow. “She often sends us out here to fend off Originals that tend to roam the outskirts and pick off weak travelers,” Noel explained.

“Is that right?” genuine surprise on William’s face upon learning that this group of cloaked men worked for the Queen of Nollemburg. “I guess we were lucky we ran into you then, no need to worry with you here.”

“Indeed,” Noel gave a slight nod, accepting William’s praise. “If you are headed to Nollemburg I suppose I can guide you the rest of the way. My work here seems to be done for the day,” glancing at the fallen Modili.

“That would be excellent Sir Maliky,” Eli pipped up, deciding to jump in so not to be completely outdone by William. “Please lead the way.”

Looking over the group once more, Noel turned on his heel, heading in the direction of Nollemburg. "Very well, this should be the fastest way," he said before stalking off into the forest.