"Hey, watch it!", an Ostrion almost squealed as he accidentally collided with Jane who wasn't aware of that some creature was walking towards her from below because she was entirely covered with a red cloak that had a large hood which obscured half of sight, making her unable to see passersby completely.
Karz had thoroughly secured it for their safety when they lodged at a tavern after secretly entered into the city through an hidden passage built near the south gate. He did this in order for them, especially Jane, to be unnoticed by any spy that may be planted by Akanon on their way to the central city where the headquarters of the members reside.
He had earlier being secretly notified by Eamus about the stunning return of Akanon and all that transpired during the council's meeting which Akanon interrupted including his desire to know the whereabouts of Jane and his threatening demand for a duel match as a way of taking over the city. Karz had informed Jane about it as well as going further to teach her the basics on how to skillfully use her powers to fight and defend herself against any external aggression. Although they didn't spend much time training at a small garden behind the tavern, Jane was able to grasp a perfect understanding of each moves but had not been able to attain some advance techniques that Karz demonstrated with ease. Karz told her to keep practicing those all techniques he had taught her which he believes would prepare her to face Akanon at the duel. Karz had told Eamus how they encountered three Tarnites foraging round the south gate in the dark and had cleverly hidden themselves from being attacked ferociously.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, ma'am", Jane apologized quickly to the Ostrion whom she recognized to be a mature female. who stood beneath her knees frowning at her making her grey scaly face to become rigid and rough which looks like a wrinkled face of an old man. Her face was medium size and round like a coconut which propped out of her small but pretty brown garment that covered her little body.
"Do you wanna have me crushed?!", The Ostrion named Bomus snapped,"You can't have a glimpse on the pathway because your face his halfway covered",
"I didn't notice you were walking in my direction perhaps I might have evaded you instantly beside I'm not the one with an abridged height", Jane answered calmly and suppressed a chuckle.
"What did you just do?", Bomus asked angrily which almost attracted attention from other passersby who were gazing at the scene. "Did you just try to laugh at me because of my height?", She almost exclaimed in fury because her anger has now flared up. She is fed up being insulted by those she encountered on the streets and had resolved like most Ostrion, to fight anyone who mention anything bad about her height.
"Not all ma'am, I was only explaining to you why we accidentally bumped into each other so don't feel offend....", Jane had hardly completed her statement before Bomus tried using her powers to hurt her which was blocked by Karz who the timely intervene.
Don't be angry with her because she is new here in this city and is still immature. So forgive her impudence", Karz pleaded because he knew that if he hadn't intervene Jane would gotten hurt because most Ostrion are powerful creatures in spite of their dwarfism and they are known to have a bad temper whenever they are insulted and in order for them not to attract more attention from the onlookers.
"I'll let it be this time around because a council member is interceding on your behalf but if it happens again, I won't spare that easy", Bomus replied and walked away angrily. Jane watched her took a turned into a nearby street until she was well out of sight.
"Let's continue without any further delay", Karz said as he pressed forward with Jane following behind, amidst few dispersed passersby who had been watching the scenario,"And don't attract any further attention from other plebs in order for us not to be discovered".
"Okay all right, I will genuinely obey", Jane responded meekly.
"That's very good. And about that Ostrion we both encountered earlier, they're known for their bad temper including their lavish spendings combined with some sense of almsgiving. Their powers are well matched in the city and were among the best fighters before the advent of the plague", Karz explained as they moved through the busy street amidst the lively scenario of the market place where the plebs arranged what they sold in catalogues. Some had their shops on the edges of the pathway facing others in opposite ends while others used the sky making full use of colorful flying creatures which delivered goods for shopkeepers. This creatures fascinated Jane a lot and wondered why Karz didn't use one in order to make the journey less stressful.
Maybe he did so in order to lie low from this so called Akanon", Jane thought as she steal glances at them as she walked behind Karz who remain focused and unwavering. At last they entered the central city where the whole scenario was different from the other sections of the city. Here the building structures were almost corroded and looked desolated so much that you would say that this place been totally abandoned and not catered for like the other sections. As they continue to walk along the pathway, Jane noticed that only a handful of the plebs lives inside the desolated houses and a few creatures paraded the street together with the alleys. They came across some ruins of a building that had collapsed and it's fragments were all charred leaving the whole place quite messy but it was sealed with a four layers of force field to prevent anyone from gaining unauthorized entrance into it. Jane was quite disappointed to see a different view and was wondering what happened here as well as why did it occurred because she had thought that the central city would be more fascinating and luxurious than the other sections of the city which turned out to be ironical and complete opposite. After walking for some time, she summoned courage to asked Karz what is going on.
"What really happened to the central city? I thought it would be way better and cooler than other parts of the city, I'm disappointed to see this because I hoped I would see more flying creatures in this part of the city", she promptly inquired.
"This all happened as a result of a plague called Lyoa-kill which occurred during the reign of the last chief. It effects on the plebs was devastating which almost wiped out a lot of species in the central city including most of the oglox we bought for meat supply from Asteria, which crippled the civilized lives of many. Thanks to the aid we got from Asteria and Ataxia, combined with the measures I and the other council members put in place to curb the spread of the plague since it started here, the plague was prevented from spreading to the other sections of the city using a large force field and was eventually eradicated when we discovered what caused the plague", Karz explained and took a detour towards the main path to the headquarters.
"So what actually caused the plague which inflicted a great harm to the city?", Jane curiously asked with keen interest.
"After a thorough investigation meant to be carried out to know the root cause needed to be done, so we organize a group of twelve that is capable of handling this task which includes six from Asteria and six from Tyron while I was among those who came from Tyron. After searching for clues for five moons, we eventually found out that a wild rare plant called Patcox was found in a sack inside one of the granary situated close to the building which we saw that is now in ruin. Which made us to believe that one of the foragers must have seen this plant and had thought that it was a medicinal herb used to cure diseases. So he took few into a sack and brought it to the granary unknown to him that he has been infected with the disease which started to spread after he died. After we derived an antidote from other herbs that could make its poison not harmful to us, we decided to give it to the survivors and those infected", Karz explained further as they reached the entrance of the headquarters and met two Sybad guards who allowed to pass the front door which they did, and continue to stride in the hallway that had beautiful design well decorated at both ends of the wall. There were white crystals at both corners of the wall which gave immense bright light on the hallway enabling to see their way through. Then they took a turned by the left and descended down the stairs to the council chambers.