104 Draken Capital

Lead by a single drop of rain, were thousands of other water droplets. They fell diagonally to the world, pushed by the wind. On a now-muddy path, a single carriage pulled by two horses forged onward. The driver held his hands above his head like it would help his soaked clothes and skin.

"We're getting close!" Wade yelled over the wind and rain to the cabin, where Thomas, Doevm, and Frey sat in warmth. He cursed and whipped the horses to go faster. "Let's get there before I catch something." His expression was as dark as the clouds above.

Frey poked his head out of the cabin's window, letting the rain go past him and onto Thomas. "Frey get your head back in and close the window." Thomas snapped.

Frey did as he was told and looked at the dark spots all along his and Thomas's brand-new clothing, gifted to them by Reginald before they left: "Sorry. Wade said that we are getting closer, but I don't see any cities nearby. I even used life essence to enhance my sight. We are just heading towards that mountain range." He kept looking out of the window, like the city would appear faster if he stared for longer.

"That's Draken capital," Thomas said as he wiped the water off his seat. "It's a city that is on the inside of a mountain, built by Maximus Draken and some unknown people. Some theorize it was the Dwarves, but the construction is too detailed for that. Anyway, the point is that it's close, so we won't have to be trapped in here for much longer."

"You poor thing!" Wade's muffled voice rang through the carriage walls and over the pitter-patter of the heavy rain.

"Why is Draken Capital under a mountain?" Frey chuckled. "How would they grow any food underground? Does the whole city just live in the dark?"

Thomas shook his head: "They do grow their own food, but from further underground. Not all plants need light to grow, although the city isn't dark. It's always sunny there. The weather is permanently nice, although the air is a bit stale to be honest."

Frey pressed his face against the glass, trying to look ahead without opening the window again. "Always sunny my ass. It's pouring out there. Also, how can it be sunny on the inside of a mountain? Is there a hole at the top of the city?" He crouched down, getting a better angle at the top of the mountain. "The mountain's tip goes above the clouds, so I can't tell. Oh I get it. The mountain goes above the clouds and then opens up, so it can't rain in there." He looked to Thomas for confirmation, but the young noble only shook his head again. "Will you just tell me?" Thomas turned away, tired of explaining. Frey put his hand on the window's handle, and a sadistic smile stretched out across his face.

The sound of the window's handle made Thomas jump up and grab the other side of the window: "Stop, we'll both get drenched." Frey's smile grew wider as Thomas's face lost color. "You wouldn't dare."

"You're going to crack that thing." Doevm interrupted the two. "And then we'll all be soaked the entire journey. Frey, it's better if you see it for yourself."

"Fine," Frey sighed as he let Thomas close the window and sat down. "But this is taking longer than-"

"We're here!" Wade called.

"Never mind." Frey walked to the single door of the carriage. He had just touched the handle, but the door flung open. An annoyed and wet Wade held the side of his face, which was imprinted with the carriage's handle. He cursed as Frey apologized. Doevm and Thomas laughed as they stepped around the idiot, but grimaced soon after, realizing they stepped into a massive puddle of mud.

They were at the base of the exterior of the mountain. The entrance was in front of them, a great stone door connected to steel walls which were dug into the mountain. Fourteen guards surrounded the carriage. Their leather armor had been covered in oils to keep themselves relatively dry. Etched on their breast pieces was the symbols of Draken Capital's royalty, a crown.

Wade showed them the Virility symbol, but they were searched like any other person. When Wade tried to argue, the guards mumbled something about new orders and waved him off. During the search, Doevm, Wade, Thomas, and Frey were taken underneath some shelter over by one of the steel walls.

"What is the meaning of this?" Thomas asked the squad leader, who was fiddling with their things. "I don't remember any new orders and I was here six months ago."

"The order came in just a month or two ago." The guard didn't even bother to look Thomas in the eye as he searched their belongings. "Please just cooperate and you'll be on your way." Doevm sighed and handed the guard a couple silver pieces. The guard froze.

"Surely you can let our bags go," Honey dripped from Doevm's voice. He leaned in close to the guard, as if they were having an intimate exchange, but in reality, he was leaning in so the others wouldn't see the magic circle.

"I can let a couple go." The guard repeated as he put their things back into their bags and handed them back. "These orders came about with the tournament getting closer. We are ordered to take off any commoner's shirts and inspect them for a tattoo of a broken lock on the back of their shoulder. That's all I know about the new orders. Nobles are exempt from this, but still are required to be searched."

"And what are you searching for?" Doevm caressed his cheek, adding another succubus coercion spell into the mix. Frey, Thomas, and Wade wanted to both puke and clap, as they had a very different idea of what was going on.

"Black cards." The guard shook his head. "What just…never mind. You're all free to go." He counted the coins as the four exited.

'I guess royalty aren't lax on their men,' Doevm looked back at the squad leader. 'I wish I could have interrogated him more, but he resisted the spell. Maybe I should have used soul magic to pressure him further, but that would have been too obvious. That move was enough of a risk, even if the other thought the squad leader was talking because of the bribe. I can always ask questions later.'

The door was opened with a rope and pulley system. The howl of the wind was drowned out by hundreds of voices. The patter of the heavy rain was nothing compared to the footsteps of those inside. The four had to squint as a bright ray of light caught them in the face. The doors parted like a curtain, letting them see the stage they would be performing on for the next few years. The carriage rolled into the light. After their eyes adjusted, Frey's jaw dropped.

In front of them were rows and rows of packed houses made of either stone or wood. There was no diversity in the housing besides the materials which made them. Square houses stretched out, stacked on top of each other, stuck to each other, in a repeating pattern. The streets had floods of people walking in every direction. The paths were not pathed with gravel, but solid white stone, which ran on through the entire district. The doors slammed behind them, closing off the exit. There was only one way now, forward.

Hovering over the orderly houses and chaotic people were the mountain's walls. It was not brown like the outside but painted over to look like the sky. Stars were made of little light crystals which shown even during the night. The walls stretched on in a giant cage, but Frey didn't feel cramped, more like he was small, insignificant.

Towering above everything, where the mountain's walls all converged in a cone, was a ginormous skeletal hand which held up the ceiling. In its palm was the "Sun", the biggest light crystal in the world, which shown like a lantern in the dark. Frey had to look away from it, as staring at it for more than a second hurt his eyes.

Entire arm was not visible because there was a castle stretched around the bottom of it. Its stone walls wrapped around the massive bone, able to be seen even from the entrance. Attached to the rows of symmetric housing, were little light crystals that traveled on in repeating patterns.

"Welcome to Draken Capital," Wade said as he whipped the horses onward.

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