Chapter VII – Devils Out!

It was early afternoon and the streets of Van Drewmans Port were teeming with people going about their business.  Merchants hawked their wares out the front of their shops, wagons full of goods made their way towards the docks where they would be loaded on to ships and transported to distant ports in both Taswegia and the mainland.  The smell of the ocean was strong and the cries of gulls echoed loudly above the noise of city life.  

‘Stupid bl**dy wolf’ thought Reggie to himself as he flew invisibly beside Shyne while the group made its way through the busy streets towards the White Stag.  
‘There’s only room for one familiar in this party pal and that’s me!’ he thought angrily before throwing a rock at the wolf as it walked obediently beside Alyse. The throw was wide and it narrowly missed the wolfs head.
‘And what sort of name is Nancy?!’ he fumed ‘Oh run for your lives, it’s Nancy!  Hide your children from the wicked Nancy! You’ll get yours….’Llona hardly noticed the many appreciative glances cast in her direction as she walked the busy streets.  She was clad in a forest green coloured shirt and light brown vest that accentuated her ample bosom.  Her trousers were a dark brown moleskin style that clung to her like a second skin.  Her long brunette hair fell loosely about her angular Elven face, while her green eyes roamed the streets before her searching for potential marks….and threats.  Out of the corner of her eye she saw a tomato flash past her and hit Alyse’s wolf flush on the top of the head.  By the smell that hit her she realised that it must have been well and truly over ripe.  The wolf snarled as it whirled about and sought out its attacker but there was none to be seen.  It shook itself off then began sniffing the air and growling in the direction of Shyne, before it turned and loped back to the side of its master.  
Llona thought she heard someone say “Yes!’ but she couldn’t be certain.  She turned to Shyne who was walking a few paces behind her.
“The incident with Grumpy could have gone badly” she said without preamble.
“I agree” replied Shyne with a look of consternation on his face.
“I think that we should be ready to make a hasty departure in case we find ourselves in any more trouble”.
“A wise suggestion” said Shyne “I’ll tell the others to pack when we get back to the Inn”.

Ten paces behind the two Elves Elvis stopped while he waited for Slobba to conclude his bargain with the merchant that he was dealing with.  At around 6’4” Slobba was a big man with long blonde hair that was held in place by a thin gold circlet just above his bright blue eyes.  He was clad in custom made full plate armour but did not wear a helmet; he chose extra vision over protection for his head and the angle of his broken nose showed that sometimes that was not a wise decision.  Across his back was slung a large shield embossed with his family crest; an un blinking eye, a red heart and the letters ABBA.  In his left hand he held a long broad bladed spear, while hanging from his belt was an unadorned yet serviceable war hammer.  A small silver hammer, the holy symbol of his God Thor, hung from a silver necklace around his neck.

Slobba nodded his head in agreement at the merchant as the deal was struck, reached into his purse and withdrew a handful of coins.  After counting out the agreed amount he handed them over to the merchant before picking up his goods.  He bid him farewell then walked over to where Elvis was waiting patiently for him.

 “What did you buy my friend?” asked Elvis as he mopped the sweat from his brow that was caused by the harsh summer sun. ‘If I am finding it hot how can Slobba stand being encased in all that steel?’ he thought to himself.

“Some more drawing supplies for our new posters” Slobba replied with a smile.  “I have the master copy here, would like to see it”.

“Of course!” said Elvis excitedly.

Slobba pulled a roll of parchment out from his backpack, unravelled it, and then handed it to Elvis.

                                                                                   

           

Elvis

&

The TWATS!

Appearing at the White Stag Tavern

For 7 Days Only

On Their

Red Devils Tour!

Entertainment With Attitude!

                                      


“You have out done yourself” said Elvis as he rolled the poster up and handed it back to Slobba.  “I see that you used Llona as your inspiration for the devil in the bottom right hand corner and that is clearly Alyse in the bottom left, but who is that in the top right?”

“Shyne” replied Slobba with a devious smile “After Llona and Alyse he is the next closest thing to a woman that we have in the party!”

Elvis laughed loudly at his friends words causing some of the people around him to stare in their direction.  After he wiped the tears from his eyes he had one further question for his friend. 

“And the devil to the top left?”

“My ex-mother in law” Slobba responded with a grin.

It took nearly five minutes before Elvis could regain his composure so that they could continue their journey to the White Stag. 
As they walked along the busy road Slobba took in all the sites on the journey.  Compared to his home in the wilds of Lors this was civilization indeed.  Buildings as high as 3 storey’s lined the cobble stoned road along the route to the tavern.  They had also passed a number of marble temples and numerous gardens containing fountains and monuments. 

As per the Larencian custom in every city there was also the Glade of Contemplation for people to sit and commune with nature and seek wisdom from the Druids who tended them, as well as the Walk of Heroes, which was an avenue through an ornate garden that contained statues of great Larencians such as The King, Alex Purpleworm Bane and the Dukes Biltong and Rex. 

Certainly sites that would not be found in his homeland.

As they continued a small patrol of Larencian soldiers rode through the crowd with bored expressions on their faces.  Slobba could see from their uniforms that they from the Royal Vandrewman Household Guard.

“Parade troops” he snorted to himself in disgust before he noticed that Elvis had once again started talking to him “Does he ever shut up?” he thought.

“What was that?” he asked

“I said how many copies do you intend to make?” Elvis repeated.

“I shall produce another 10 which I will post around the city.  Alyse and Shyne are also going to walk the streets crying out the details” replied Slobba.  “With luck we shall have a fine audience to view our show.”

“About the show” said Elvis.  “I have been working on a new act which I’m sure will be a huge success.”

“A new act?” said Slobba in a troubled tone.  “There is nothing wrong with your old one.  You’ve enthralled audiences on our journey from Biltonia to here, why would you change things now?”

“I just think that I need to change things up a bit and explore new avenues for my music” replied Elvis.

“That’s understandable, you have been singing the same songs for a long time now, I am just nervous that you would choose to do this in such a large city.  Reputation is everything for performers and I would not like to see ours sullied” said Slobba nervously.

“Be easy my friend, everything will be fine” Elvis reassured him.  “One last thing” said Elvis as they arrived at the White Stag. “I must admit that my interest was a little piqued by what the Magistrate said about the obelisk.  As you move around the city this afternoon see if you can find out any information about it and I will do the same.  We’ll compare notes before tonight’s performance.”

“Will do” said Slobba as he pushed open the door and entered the building.