Rated: Fiction M - English - Romance/Adventure - Chapters: 210 - Words: 496,403 - Favs: 2 - Follows: 3 - Updated: Apr 28 - Published: Jan 8 - id: 14315791
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Chapter One:
The Longest Road, Part 1
Days later, the ground shoots by beneath you as you soar in low, swerving between trees when necessary. You flap your aching wings, pushing yourself even faster, the wind biting at your face. The test of your inhuman endurance continues on and on, but you are up to the task.
Until finally, off in the distance... you catch a glimpse of your destination.
With a tired grin, you dive toward a small copse of trees, deciding to make the last leg of the journey on foot. You half-land, half-crash to earth, your feet skidding along the ground, using your wings to break your forward momentum as you slow to a stop. For several minutes you just kneel there, panting for breath, leaning against a nearby tree for support, before looking up.
The threesome you'd had setting out on this journey had left you flush with strength. You've burned it all—and then some—getting here so quickly, flying with little sleep for days on end. Still, you can't argue with the results. Far ahead, through a gap in the ranks of trees, you can see the distant walls of Hikeliar.
From what you've learned in your hurried study of the region, you're looking at the most important trade city in Vekmar, ideally positioned at one end of the road running through the Great Forest that connects Vekmar to Nelin. It's in large part the money flowing through here that makes this region the most politically powerful of the Five Duchies.
And unless you're extremely unlucky, Khaytala should still be somewhere inside those walls, having completed her latest stint as a caravan guard.
You reach down to you belt and pull out a dark green cloak, part of the ensemble Kelissa prepared for you. You fold your wings tight to your back and drape the garment over them, pulling the hood over your head. None of it will fool a determined observer, but the less obvious you can make your demonic features, the less trouble you'll have to talk your way through. Then you start walking forward, trying not to stumble with weariness and hunger as you emerge from the trees and make your way to join the main road.
It's not long before you reach the city gates. The guards give you a suspicious look, but a little extra coin for the toll and a bit of convincing self-abasement persuades them to allow the clearly-harmless tiefling to pass. And with that, you're inside the city.
Hikeliar is a large, bustling place, people of every race and type milling back and forth, trading goods with each other in the vast, open markets as their voices intermingle to create a loud, exuberant din. And the money. So much money changing hands. You've crossed paths with a few demons from the Fourth Circle in your time... and this sight would probably give them the closest thing they could ever get to an orgasm.
You allow yourself to be carried by the press of the crowd for a while, taking in everything in sight. You don't see Khaytala yet, and even if you had, you wouldn't want to approach her as weak and starving as you are. The first order of business will have to be finding some less-dangerous food to replenish your strength, before you can even think about your ultimate prey.
Fortunately, there are a few possibilities. The easiest and safest would probably be to hire a prostitute, of which there are quite a wide variety offering their services.
Alternatively, you notice a young human girl with plain brown hair, somewhere in her middle teens. She's wandering through the market, buying what appear to be supplies for a caravan. She seems a bit on the carefree, happy-go-lucky side, that lack of caution making her an easy choice for a meal.
Finally, you notice several houses in the more upscale residential districts, and you're certain that you can find a housewife in one of them that would be vulnerable to your wiles.
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