Chapter 11
Ivory Springs
Wolf and Adolpha were wondering where they were. The older man, who was on a fishing boat, points to the town. Wolf looks to where he is pointing and sees a sign. The sign read Ivory springs port. Wolf thanked the man and told him that need to be somewhere.
The older man smiles and waves goodbye. Wolf told Adolpha to walk. She was still scared and walked when Wolf moved. She stayed close to him. The older man stares at them, walking away. He looks at the boat and smiles.
Wolf and Adolpha head up some stairs and pass a fish market. Human workers were busy unloading and sorting fish and other sea animals. They continue to walk and get to town. The town looks very big.
They walk into the crowds, made of humans, beast men, and some dwarfs. Stalls and shops offer goods. Wolf continues to walk, and Adolpha holds on to him. She holds Adolphus tight. Wolf began to notice some people looking at them.
Adolpha also notices that people are looking at them and talking. Wolf looks around and sees that most beast men are dressed like humans. He looks at the clothes. Wolf looks around and sees a beast man stall selling clothes.
Wolf tells Adolpha that they need to change so people will stop staring at them. He takes her to the stall. A goat female beast woman greets them. She then asks if they are of any particular wolf clan. Wolf quickly told her they were nomads.
The woman apologized and offered her services. Wolf asks for clothes and looks around to see other things. The beast woman starts with Adolpha. She looks at her and shows them some pieces. The clothes looked plain and worn.
Adolpha didn't know what to say. She was scared and couldn't interact with other people. Wolf told her it was safe and he was there for her. The beast woman looks curious about their circumstances. Wolf takes Adolphus and has Adolpha change.
While Adolpha was changing, Wolf asked the beast woman stall owner if they traded. The beast woman asked what he wanted to sell. Wolf brought out his pouch and took out some pearls. The beast woman took a look at them and asked Wolf to wait.
The beast woman goes and calls someone. Adolpha was done changing and came out from a changing room. She has a plain worn-out tan dress. She put her seashell decorations over it. Wolf told her that she looked beautiful. Adolpha gets embarrassed.
The beast woman returns with a human man. He was old and wore a suit. He was heavy looking with short black hair. The older man breathed heavily and wiped the sweat from his forehead. The beast woman told him to walk more.
The beast woman asks Wolf to show the man the pearls. Wolf opens his pouch and takes out some of them. The man grabs one and looks at it. He was looking at it for some time. The man looks at the beast woman and nods.
The beast woman offers Wolf the dress Adolpha put on and clothes for him. She also throws in underwear for Adolpha and a couple of bags. Wolf didn't understand but agreed. The beast woman takes three pearls and tells Wolf to choose his clothes. Wolf also grabs some plain tan worn-out garments. Adolpha was given underwear which she went back and changed. The beast woman, after trading with them, thanked them for business.
Wolf saw the older human man walk to a jewelry store. Wolf thought and told Adolpha to follow him. They head to the jewelry store. They walk in and are greeted by employees. The older man was looking at some neckless pieces.
He then looks up and sees Wolf. The older man walks over to him and asks him for his business. Wolf told him that he wanted to see some pearls. The man becomes excited and asks them to follow him. Adolpha was confused but followed Wolf close by.
The man takes them to a desk and offers them a seat. He then goes to the other side and sits. Wolf and Adolpha sit, and Wolf takes out his pouch. Adolpha was looking around while holding Adolphus. While the man waits to see the pearls, he asks them what the beast woman asked them.
Wolf told him that they were nomads. The man cheerfully nods and asks them how they got to town. Wolf said to him that they travel by boat. The man was surprised. Wolf had a bad feeling about what was happening. Wolf took out the rest of the pearls and set them on the table.
The human man picks them up one by one and looks at them. He puts them against the light and takes out some tools. After some examination, he offers Wolf some coins. Wolf asks him how much. The man tells him he will give him three silvers, five bronze, and twenty copper.
Wolf didn't know much about how money worked, so he agreed. The man gets excited and has one of the employees get it ready. The man then looked at Adolpha. Adolpha meat his gaze and gets scared.
Wolf notices and gets angry. The man gets scared and apologizes. He then tells Them that he was looking at Adolpha's neckless. He was impressed by it—Wolf apologies for getting angry. The man offers Wolf one gold coin for it.
They bring Wolf a bag of coins. The man hands him the bag and waits for his answer. Adolpha looks at Wolf. Wolf smiles and declines his offer. The man offers more, but Wolf says no. They get up and head out. The man tells him he will be there if he changes his mind.
Outside the shop, Wolf could see the mountains. He knew which direction they needed to go. They go rest for a while, and Wolf moves some things around. He has more bags to fill. Wolf sees that they need more supplies and looks for a shop.
After resting, they head for a supplies store. Wolf sees a place that sells travel supplies. They stop and look around. The stall owner looks at them for a while. Wolf and Adolpha felt uncomfortable. Wolf asks if he has any maps.
The stall owner goes to the back and brings out a paper. He shows Wolf and tells him that it was fifty for it. Wolf did not know how to pay, so he gave him the three silvers. The man hands Wolf back a bronze coin. Wolf gets the map, and they leave.
The stall owner stares at them. Wolf and Adolpha continue to walk. Wolf thinks about the value of the coins and the map. Adolpha was also confused. Wolf asks if the head maid or anyone has taught her how to use money. Adolpha said that all she learned was talking in their language.
Wolf said he had an idea. They go to the market and look for a place to sit. Wolf concentrates and listens to the people talking. He also looks for people buying things. Adolpha talks to Adolphus now that he is awake. Wolf was having trouble understanding some deals happening.
After some time, Wolf discovers that copper is the smallest value at one. He also learns that the currency is called a Coin Piece. More time passed, and bronze was worth ten copper pieces. He then knows that silver is valued as twenty bronze pieces. He could not get the value of gold because not many people spent it.
Wolf looks at his coins and sees that he has forty Coin Pieces left. Adolpha was feeding Adolphus when Wolf told her their next step. They needed to look for a cheap place that sells supplies. They walked around and couldn't find the right store.
Also, Wolf got nervous because human soldiers walked around the town. Wolf and Adolpha stopped to rest again. Wolf looked around, and they ate some of their food supplies. Wolf could see that Ivory spring was a reasonably large town. Shops, restaurants, stalls, and inns were everywhere.
Adolpha asked Wolf what they were going to do. After some time, Wolf told Adolpha they would hunt for animals as they traveled. He also said that they would avoid towns and villages. Adolpha wanted to know why.
Wolf told her that he wanted to avoid humans as much as possible. He was afraid that someone would recognize them and contact Lord Michael. Adolpha was not convinced that it could happen. Wolf told her that Lord Michael has many connections.
Adolpha looks around after hearing that. Wolf took out the map and looked at it. He sees where they are and looks for a way to the gray wolf clan territory. Wolf also notices several red marks. They were east of their location.
Wolf saw a path they could follow. He shows Adolpha, and she agrees. Wolf now said he wanted a better weapon so he could protect them. They finish eating and pack their things. Adolphus was sleeping in his mother's arms.
Wolf and Adolpha head to a blacksmith's shop. After finding one that sold cheat weapons, Wolf looks at what he had. The smith was a dwarf, and he guaranteed his weapons to be high quality. Wolf bought a small sword. They had twenty-coin pieces.
After checking their supplies, Wolf told Adolpha that it would last them a couple of days. Wolf looks around and finds the way out of the town. They make their way to the entrance of the town. As they get closer, they notice that it is getting crowded.
The presence of soldiers also increased. Adolpha holds on to Wolf. They move through the crowd. Wolf sees families and merchants. He also sees warriors and adventures. Once they get past the crowd, human soldiers guard the entrance.
Wolf tells Adolpha to stay close. Wolf waits for the soldiers to look away, and they walk. Merchants with wagons were passing by. They use them to cover. Wolf sees a crowd and tells Adolpha to walk to them. The group makes their way out and then gets stopped by a soldier.
The soldier asks them some questions. Wolf and Adolpha continue to walk. Another soldier calls them. They stop, and the guard approaches. The guard looks at them and then asks them about their escorts.
Wolf was confused about what the guard asked them. The guard asks them again. Wolf told him that they didn't need an escort. The human soldier sighs and gets mad. He tells Wolf that he needs an escort if he wants to leave.
Wolf looks at the guard. Wolf tells him that he could protect his family. He also told him they were nomads, so he knew the land. The guard calls someone over. Another soldier that looked like his captain came over. The guard tells him what Wolf told him.
The captain looks at Wolf. He then looks at Adolpha, scared and looking at the ground. He also sees Adolphus and then back at Wolf. He then asks Wolf where they are headed. Wolf noticed that people were looking at them.
He could also hear that people were talking about them. He heard several people saying something about the wolf clans attacking humans. Wolf thinks and remembers that there is a territory that accepts all races.
"We are heading to King's Land."
The human captain tells Wolf they need escorts if they are heading there. Wolf again insisted that they did not need an escort. The human captain gets mad at him. He tells him to look at his wife.
"Listen here, sir. I know how strong your race is. But if you truly believe you don't need help, you are an idiot. I have seen these animals and monsters destroy a group of expert adventures."
Wolf didn't know why the human captain was talking to them like that. The human captain then spoke about a demon army that Wolf and Adolpha did not know. The human captain told them to return after hiring an escort or wait for the kingdom caravan. Wolf was confused about this whole ordeal. The human captain tells them to head back.
Wolf doesn't want to make a scene, so he takes Adolpha back. The people look at them as they head back to town. As they walked, a soldier began to yell at the crowd. He said that anyone traveling out of town should have an escort.
Wolf stopped to listen to what he was saying. The soldier gave them opinions on how they should travel. He said that they could hire adventurers at the adventurer's hall. He also said that the kingdom caravan that takes groups to the Umbridge kingdom and the King's land would be back soon.
The soldier also gave a brief update on the war that was going on. Wolf and Adolpha are shocked to hear that the humans were at war with a faction claiming to be demons. Wolf and Adolpha walked back to town.
Wolf and Adolpha look for a place to sit. While thinking of another plan, Adolpha suggests they check out the adventure hall. Wolf thought about it but didn't want to. He felt that the adventurers were a bad idea. Wolf looks and sees the ocean.
He then thinks and tells Adolpha about it. He asked her if she could way longer to see the family. Adolpha didn't know what he was talking about. Wolf suggests they sail to the beast kingdom and make their way from there. Adolpha asks how it would work.
Wolf takes out the map again and shows Adolpha the beast Kingdom. It was west of Ivory Springs. Adolpha looked at the map and didn't understand it. Wolf points to where the gray wolf clan territory was. It was a long way there. She didn't like the idea.
Wolf tries to convince her that it is their only way to get out of town. Adolpha looked unhappy to hear it would take longer if they did that. Wolf pleads with her that they must go if they were to leave.
Adolpha asks him if they have the supplies to make it. Wolf told her they would stop along the coast to hunt and gather what they needed. Adolpha looked at Adolphus, who was sleeping, and made up her mind. She agrees to his plan.
Wolf becomes happy and promises again that she will see her family. They get up and head back to the docks. They took some time to get there. It was getting late, and the sun was setting. Wolf and Adolpha got to the docks and walked to their boat.
Wolf stops because he sees two human soldiers looking at their boat. Other soldiers show up and tell the ones looking at their boat that no one knows to whom it belongs. One of the soldiers tells the other that they will move it.
Wolf grabbed his sword and was to draw it when he heard a familiar voice tell him not to. Wolf looks over and sees the older man from the fishing boat sitting on a bench. Wolf tells him that he must get his boat back.
The older man tells him that he must not fight the soldiers. Wolf said to him that he could take them. The older man laughs. He tells Wolf that it will cost him his freedom. Wolf realizes what the man meant and gets in front of Adolpha.
A soldier saw and approached them. The soldier asks them if there is a problem. Wolf gets nervous, and the older man speaks up. He told the soldier that he had scared them. He explains to the soldier that he is waiting for them.
The soldier left after hearing that. Wolf was still not sure what the man was thinking. The older man complimented their clothes and got up. He then tells them to follow him. Wolf asks him why.
Adolpha was scared through all this. She was holding Adolphus tight. The older man said it was getting late. He also told them that their collar was showing. Wolf looks at Adolpha and touches his neck. You could not see them. The man laughs.
Wolf did not trust the man. The older man stopped and urged them to follow him. Wolf looks at his boat being taken away. The older man tells them that it will be fine and that there will be a hot meal for them. Wolf was still not too sure. He hears the marching of soldiers.
Wolf tells Adolpha to run if anything happens. Adolpha was worried and didn't want to leave him. Wolf and Adolpha follow the man. They walked for some time and got to a two-story building.
The building was away from the town. Wolf and Adolpha saw lights and heard talking. They also saw people coming and going. As they got close, some people greeted the older man. They passed them and also got welcomed.
Wolf and Adolpha were confused but continued to follow him. The older man grabs the door to the building and opens it. He invites them in. Wolf and Adolpha get close and look inside. They see people eating and laughing.
The older man steps in, and some people see him. They greet him and ask him to sit with them. The older man refuses and calls a person serving some people. The person that showed up was a girl in her late teens. She wore a dress that other girls in the building were wearing.
The older man tells her to call someone. Wolf was staring at everyone in the building. Adolpha was amazed at what was happening. The older man tells them that they will take a seat. They follow him to a table. When they sit, a girl comes over to them.
The girl was wearing the same clothes as the previous girl. The girl greets them and calls the older man Fisher. The older man smiles and tells her to bring some food for them—the girl smiles and leaves. Adolpha could not stop looking at them.
The older man tells Adolpha that they work there as waitresses. Adolpha asks what that was. He told her it was like a servant, but they get paid. After some time, the girl brings them some soups and meat. She also pours water into cups and places them on the table.
Wolf still didn't trust the man. Adolpha smelled the food and began to eat. The girl returns with milk and tells Adolpha it was for the baby. Adolpha didn't know what to say. She then hears the voice and an older lady that told her to say thank you.
Adolpha got scared and turned around. Wolf and Adolpha see this older woman look like she is in her sixties. The older woman wore a long green lace dress. She has wrinkles on her pale skin face. The older woman also has gray hair and blue eyes.
Adolpha met her eyes and got scared of the older woman's stare. She was glaring at them. In an angry tone, the older woman told Adolpha to thank the waitress. Adolpha reacted and thanked the girl. The older woman walked to their table.
The older woman stood over them. The older man greeted her and called her madam. The older woman talked to the older man and also called him Fisher. The older woman then introduces herself.
"Hello and welcome to Ivory Springs. My name is Cynthia Borrows. Some people call me Madam, and I run this inn."
She looks at Adolpha and shakes her head. She tells Adolpha she is a mess and should look ladylike. Madam calls two of her servers and tells them to take Adolpha to the back.
Madam takes Adolphus and has the girls take Adolpha. Wolf gets up, and Madam hands him Adolphus. Wolf didn't know what was happening. Madam tells him that everything is all right. Adolpha calls for Wolf. Madam then asks Wolf for his name.
Wolf told her what they called him, but she wanted to hear his real name. Wolf hesitates, and Madam tells him she will only help if she knows who he is. Wolf introduces himself with his real name. Madam smiles and offers an apology. Wolf was still confused.
Madam look at the older man she called Fisher and calls him an idiot. Madam looks and Wolf and tells him what he needs to know. She tells him that she helps enslaved people break free and get home. Wolf didn't know what to say.
A little bit later, Adolpha came back clean and with new clothes. People in the inn stopped eating and talking. They looked at Adolpha in amazement. Madam clears her throat, and the people return to what they are doing. The two waitresses smile at each other.
Madam also smiles, and Adolpha runs to Wolf. The older man tells them to call him Fisher, and he excuses himself. He goes over to the bar and gets a drink. Madam tells them to finish eating because they will talk later. She also excuses herself.
Adolpha wept as she told Wolf what they did to her. Wolf comforts her and tells her what Madam told him. Adolpha stops crying and becomes surprised. She asked Wolf if it was a trap. Wolf didn't know. They finish eating, and a waitress comes and gets them.
She escorts them to a room in the back. They pass the kitchen where chefs are cooking. They reach a room, and the waitress knocks on the door. Madam tells them to go in. The room was an office, and Madam was sitting down. She was looking at some papers.
Madam stops and offers them a seat. The waitress left them. Adolpha and Wolf sit. Madam looks at them and asks them where they are from. Adolpha looks at Wolf, and he nods. Adolpha tells her who she is. Madam gives them a suspicious look.
Wolf notices and tells Madam that Adolpha is telling the truth. Madam sighs and then asks Adolpha if she has the mark. Wolf didn't know what she meant. Adolpha told her that it had been removed. Madam thinks about what to say.
Wolf asks her about the mark. Madam saw that Wolf was confused and asked him where he was from. Wolf told her that he was part of a nomadic clan. Madam realizes and asks them if they know anything about what is happening.
Wolf takes his time answering. He then tells her about the island they were on. Madam becomes surprised and asks them how they got there. Wolf said to her that he didn't know. Adolpha spoke up and told her that she used light magic.
Wolf tells her not to say anymore. Madam smiles and tells Wolf that she won't do anything. She then informs him about the island. She tells him that the island was a legend told by sailors. They didn't know if it existed. Wolf didn't know what to say.
Madam told them about the legend. She said that the island belonged to the fairy king. Wolf said that there was no such thing as fairies. Madam laughed and told him that it was what she had heard. She continues by saying that the island was made by him and was supposed to get bigger. The story ends when she tells them that the island sank into the sea.
Wolf and Adolpha were shocked. They didn't know what to make of it. Madam then asked them about their owner. Wolf told her that Lord Michael was their captor. Madam becomes upset. She said to them that she had heard his name many times.
After hearing about them, she tells them what has happened. She told them about the war that was going on. She said the human kingdom is at war with a race claiming to be demons. Again, Wolf said that demons don't exist.
Madam told him that he should listen to her. She said that demons had appeared from the sea and attacked. Wolf then remembers seeing strange creatures and the human army right before he woke up on the island.
Wolf then asks Madam why she doesn't believe Adolpha when telling her who she is. Madam trusts them and tells them what has been happening. She tells them that the wolf clans have broken their ties with the humans.
Wolf becomes shocked to hear that. Adolpha didn't know what it meant. Madam told her about the kidnapping of the daughter of Chief Alarick. Hearing her say his name made Adolpha happy. She tells her that he is her father.
Madam was not fazed by her saying that. She then tells her why she can't trust her on that. Madam said that when the Umbridge Kingdom heard about her kidnapping, they did nothing, even when Chief Alarick told them about it.
She said that after breaking their pack, the wolf clan closed their territories and attacked anyone who entered. She continued by saying that the wolf clan had desperately sought her. Fights against nobles and humans made King John act.
After some time, they place a reward for her rescue. Many people came forth and presented wolf girls to claim the reward. Madam said they eventually quit looking for her after many seasons of no progress. Adolpha became depressed and began to cry.
Madam saw how she took it and told her that even if she weren't, she would still help her. Wolf was lost in thought about the whole situation. Madam told them it was late and called someone. A waitress came.
Madam told the waitress to take them to a room. They will talk the following day again. Wolf agreed and helped Adolpha get up. They walked out of the room and followed the waitress. Madam sat in her office thinking. She then pulls out a piece of paper with reward written on the top.