The plan was to leave in the evening, they had purchased some ox to take the cart because they were hardy and could pull a load. The original plan had been to get Lloras again because they could move faster and liked to trot. Plus, they were suited to eating not only the grain they would take for them but anything at all that grew on the side of the road. They were like goats, only larger, in that they were absolutely indiscriminate in what they could digest as food.
Ashra had a list of things that she planned to purchase. Ed and Rennish were on their own errand, to secure the cargo and get anything else they could. Including a basic map of any kind. Ed had mentioned something about having a better map, but the lands were too large, and they needed a better guide than what they had now. The best plan was to head south a few days and take the river into the Glass City, but she wasn't going to suggest it now with cargo. That would make them a target without escape depending on the value of the item from the Taxmen.
Her shopping had been mostly benign all afternoon. She purchased supplies and food, a canvas to make a canopy over the small carriage during the day, and a tent at night for privacy. She had purchased a small tent for Rennish also. He may not be the master, but he was his companion and as such should be given some compassion. She was still thinking of the night before and weighing out where her life was headed.
Ursal's shop had provided her with most of the provisions she had needed and agreed to deliver the items purchased directly from the warehouse as soon as a runner could be dispatched. They had promised it would be before dinner time though so plenty of time to still make it out before the day ended. She had a few things she wanted to get from her own personal list. Erust had provided her with a share of the gold from the golems and she had never had the chance to shop like this.
She wanted a new scarf to replace the one that had become her wedded gift so new cloth in a blue pattern. Her mate loved that blue coat of his and she suspected that if she wore something similar not only would they look good together when she needed to wear her cover it would make him happy. She also decided that a small gift would be in order. Erust had put his trust in her and now they were bonded together. He might yet still change his mind and make this purely business. He was free to build his own household. That was a completely normal thing for the males of her clan to have more than one spouse if they had a large or important household. And a prophet must be considered an important household. The thought that this was purely to solidify his standing was in her mind. For so long she had been past her prime as mate material that she had long mourned and gotten past the desire to bear children and build a home. The thought of starting now frightened her just a bit and still excited something insider her as well.
As she wandered the streets looking into windows and trying to find another general goods store that dealt in more household like items, she found one that seemed to have everything she needed. Bolts of cloth in muted patterned blues, greens, and yellows sat in the window. Small trinkets and even a dwarven works watch ticked away in the window. The prices were reasonable, and this made her ears twitch a little with excitement. Like a kid looking into a store with just the right candies on display, she opened the door and looked in. The difference in lighting made her eyes take a minute to adjust and at first, all she could see was the bright light from behind her.
"Welcome, welcome, please sit down and rest. Would you like some tea or a drink?" said a welcoming feminine voice from across the room.
That's weird, she thought. Normally they have shelves to walk among, not seats. She contemplated all the ways this was different for most stores as her eyes finally adjusted to the change and everything came into focus. Everything in the room was drastically different than what she expected based on the outside of the store. The door closed behind her as she walked in another step and she got her first real look.
The room was a warm array of colors that moved like living objects, swimming almost around the walls in soft pastels. A desk and chair sat at the other end of the room and a woman in a sheer white organza gown stood in front of her using her hand to signal that she sit in a certain seat. Drinks were on a small table between the two chairs. The cups and decanters were all glass and precious metals.
Ashra turned around to look behind her but the door was gone, she was in this room with no signs of escape. There was not a window or door to be found. Just furniture that looked a little too real to be real and the woman who stood before her. She looked to be human, with brown hair with slight curls to it and a face that would be best described as sisterly. She wore a gown that looked impractical, it was some kind of nearly sheer material like fine lace or organza. The face had what might have been a warm smile or possibly a knowing smirk.
"Oh please, don't be concerned. I see you don't know who I am." Ysennia said smiling and shaking her head. "I am not surprised; I am not really expected this far south. Even though my duties do include watching over your peoples also."
Ashra walked carefully to the chair that the goddess was pointing to and sat down. She lowered the hood on her cloak and pulled her hair out from around behind her and laid it on top of the cloak.
"Thank you for sitting. I insist on relaxing when talking. Consider this a talk between just us ladies." Ysennia said as she walked over to the drinks and poured out something that resembled orange juice into two cups and handed one to Ashra. "We absolutely must discuss something, just us girls. Our sweet loving E."
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The sun was heading across the sky and starting to touch the tops of the buildings around them. The shadows were getting longer as they finished packing up the food and other items that had come from Ursal's runners. A manifest had shown that Ashra had signed off on the delivery. Ed thought it odd that she hadn't shown up before the shipment but the work of getting everything ready had distracted him and she was always fastidious about time. He wanted to just trust her but in the back of his head worry was starting to set in.
Just as he was about to say something to Rennish to see if he was having the same thoughts both of them felt something pulling at their bodies. The force was strong enough that they both fell to one knee. Rennish tipped a little backward at the pull and fell off the back of the cart and landed with a thud on the ground.
"Good God! Man, that hurt!" Rennish cursed and got up slowly rubbing his back.
"Rennish, what the hell was that?" Ed said jumping off the back and heading towards Rennish.
"That was pure divine pull. Someone did something major…" he said looking off towards the south of end town where the pull seemed to originate from. The other porters and work hands looked at the two like they were drunk, talking of shaking and invisible forces.
They both stared at each other and rushed to the front of the cart to look south. "You don't think…"
"I try not to think. It seems to be not working out for me." Said Rennish before Ed could follow up on that thought.
Ed shook his head and looked over at the driver's bench on the carriage and found his satchel still safely tucked underneath. He reached down between the bench and the cart and grabbed his satchel. Rummaging around inside he pulled out the finder and opened the cover. It was sitting still and pointing whatever direction Ed faced.
"Picture it in my head…" he said. A thought of Ashra from just before he left formed in his head. He thought about her face and what she was wearing and the way she smiled before they left. Why did she look sad? And then poured mana into the Finder. It slowly moved and stopped after moving about 30 degrees to the left of his current position.
"Okay, I think that's it. It's towards the markets." He threw his satchel over his shoulder. He dug around inside and pulled out the Magical map and the purchased map that had come in with the supplied and handed them to Rennish. "Get the cart loaded and head south of town to the merchant road. Stop the cart on the second road stone south and wait for me."
Rennish nodded and held both of them in one hand. "Can I have my instruments just in case?" he asked.
Ed didn't even argue. He reached into the bag and pulled out his hammer again just in case and tossed the bag without even thinking. He held the finder in his other hand and kept his mind on her. Part of him realized the safest thing to do if divine powers were involved was to hold back, investigate, and then act when he knew what was going on. But the emotional part of him was angered that someone would dare take away the first thing he had ever accomplished on his own.
After running south, he noticed the finder moving slightly more left so the first major road he could find he turned. He noticed Ursals' shop on the right and guessed this must be the right way since their supplies had come from Ursal. Part of his merchant agreement meant that he could buy supplies at any store at a minor but convenient discount. After a few yards, the compass started pointing towards a side street that had people still traveling into and out of stores. She must be near here, he thought.
He darted up the street and the compass immediately shifted to his right. He walked until it moved to his direct right. He looked at the store it pointed to. It was abandoned, the glass was covered in paper and the door had a sign for a store that had long since gone out of business, but the brass pull had no dust on it. This told him that someone had been here recently.
He grabbed the door handle and closed his eyes. He did like he had practiced while walking from the cave in the desert and felt out with his senses for any kind of power. The door was absolutely absent of any kind of power, but the handle was humming at a low rate. It was a booby trap of kind. If you pulled the handle it would trigger something else.
Ed remove his hands and took a deep breath in and reached out in his own head to everything around him. He could find no other major divine powers. There were a couple of spirits in the area, a sprite was in the ground somewhere doing something, probably visiting a burrowing animal. The kind of power he had felt was not going to be produced by any of this.
Ed opened his eyes and looked around, people were ignoring him, thinking he was just another human who had been tricked to an empty store to be robbed. He sighed and looked at the finder to make sure it was still pointing towards the door. No change had occurred. With all the bravery he could muster he grabbed the handle and pulled the door. It was stuck, he could feel the divine power trying to trip something, but it was like the doorway was locked and he couldn't pull past it.
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In the room, Ashra and Ysennia were both sitting on the couch. Ashra had her hands crossed on her lap and Ysennia was sitting next to her, leaning over with a hand on her shoulder like a best friend. The color at the far end of the room changed suddenly from warm hues to angrier dark blues blacks and purples. Ashra had a lost look on her face, like someone who was waking up from a deep sleep and wasn't quite in tune with the world yet.
"Oh, it looks like our dear little E has come for you," Ysennia said, she removed her hand from Ashra and stood up. "I had hoped he would hold off for a little longer. You really are such an intriguing person. I see why he likes you."
"Does… He… Though…" Ashra said through the fog in her brain.
"Oh, he certainly does. Your prophet Erust is out there right now. He tracked you to the shop door you came through and is trying to force his way through on his own. He is pouring his own divine power into the door. It's not enough in his current state you see. Now my sweet dear Ed… he would have been able to command mountains and change worlds…"
Ashra looked at Ysennia, "Ed?" she said still foggy in the head from what had happened.
"Oh, never mind about that. Your Erust is coming for you. I think we are about done here. Too bad really, I have enjoyed having another girl around. The other divines are so, well, moody about having a nice woman to woman chat. For some reason, I remember those feelings. The motherly feelings of womanhood." Ysennia said walking over behind Ashra and putting her hands on her shoulder.
Ashra reached down instinctively to her stomach. "Motherly…" she said with a small crack in her voice. Something was wrong, why was she crying. Something was missing but she couldn't tell what. Where was she, she thought. She was shopping and this weird room.
"Oh, I do think it's about time for you to go now though. Before he gets any more forceful and draws attention. He can be quite protective, our lovely E." Ysennia said standing her up and helping to usher the distraught and confused woman to where the door would have been had there been one.
"Wait, I came… for… " she started and stopped. What had she come for?
"Oh, your purchases Ma'am." Said the voice behind her as her world suddenly snapped back. She felt like she had just hallucinated something awful. Some weird experience. The heat must be getting to her. She turned and the woman behind the counter handed her a wooden box, it had a bolt of light blue cloth with a pattern that seemed familiar to her. A few other items were in the box that she didn't quite recall buying as well.
"Thank you… I appreciate your help. I would have felt bad if I had forgotten those." Ashra said to the lady behind the counter.
"Not to worry, and please do come back. You are always welcome at my shop for a talk anytime." The saleswoman said to her and waved. Ashra thought how plain the mousey the woman behind the counter looked. So very odd. Who is banging on the front door?
She reached out and took the door handle and pushed to help pry the stuck door open. The door swung open and Ed was pulling with as much strength as he could fortify using mana and then some. The swinging door struck him square in the face and knocked him clean on his ass.
"Oh Holy Mothers and fathers!" he said to himself holding his nose. It wasn't broken, but it was bleeding.
"Oh, Master…"Ashra said putting her container down and rushing over. "I am sorry, the door was stuck."
Ed looked at her in disbelief. That store was closed and shut down, but she had walked out with a small crate like a container of purchases. This quite literally stunk of divine powers. He got up and shook his head. He had used mana to stop the blood flow, or at least slow it enough to be stopped. He looked at Ashra up and down. "Are you sure you are okay?" he asked.
"Oh, I'm fine, just a bump on my head. I feel fuzzy but otherwise fine." She said and smiled at him weakly.
"Okay. We need to get you away from here as quickly as possible. There is something going on and the sooner I get you to the carriage and into the open the better. The cities have too many places for the divine to hide." Ed said. He got up and grabbed her purchases and put his hand out to her. She took it and looked at him.
"Okay, is Rennish nearby?" She said still fuzzy from the hit on her head from the door. I mean that had to be it.
"No, I have sent him just out of town with the carriage. We are ready to go. You can tell me what happened when we get to him." Ed said to her and guided her away towards the road that leads to the merchant's highway. He was worried, something was off, the bump to the head could explain some of it but not all of it. He needed to get her away now and where he could really try and check her for exposure to other powers. If he found nothing, then maybe that pull was part of what he was here to fix. Either way, this was too dangerous to stay without any further information, he needed to get away and out into the open where he could hopefully see something divine coming.
Ashra followed him out of town silently. Erust was leading her. She was sure he was concerned but she couldn't quite tell why. Why was he so worried, she thought to herself as she looked at him. The more she looked she started to cry. Soon she was holding back tears and then letting them out and trying not to wail in the street.
Ed was terrified of what had happened. She was not fine, not in a million chances. Something had happened but he couldn't stop now to fix it. He had to get them safely away. He contemplated heading back to the Oasis and trying to fix this, but he needed to get to the oracle. That felt right, more than heading back to his home. He hoped when he got her in the cart that he could find out what happened. He stopped walking and pulled her close, he put down the crate and wrapped her arms around his neck to cry. He bent at the knees and grabbed the crate and put her rear into the crate. He focused all he could on his strength and lifted. It was heavy but light enough that he could still move at a quick pace.
"I have to get you to safety." He said and ran to the edge of town. All he could think of was figuring out which divine did this and why. What had this one girl done to them? Even is Ashra could remember the talk and all that happened, Ed would not have liked the answer he was never bound to get.