Chapter 32 - 32 Castra City

Chapter 32: Chapter 32 Castra City

Suddenly, without any warning the Lightning Fox spun around in one quick motion. With that same frustrating speed that annoyed hunters, it sped off in the opposite direction, leaving in its wake, a bewildered crowd, astonished and gawking as they watched its fleeing form.

Nora, feeling something akin to wondrous curiosity, shifted her gaze back on Nexus. Her eyes roved all over, from his ominous all black gear, to the carefree (but calculated) look in his eye, to the way he seamlessly held on to his sword, his taut muscles, and his near-perfect jawline.

She did not know anything about this stranger. But one thing was for sure. He was certainly not a hunter.

"Mister Nexus," her voice clicked with a self-assured rhythm;

"I haven't thanked you properly for the kindness you showed me. Simply handing me the fur of the Lightning Fox is no small feat. Especially after I and my men have spent entire seasons trying to get to it."

There was some slight snickering behind her.

"So, allow me to treat you properly outside of this forest. I'm formerly inviting you back to my home," She looked at Crystal and added blandly; "Your friend is welcome as well."

The soft jab was not lost on Crystal at all. In fact, this was the first time Nora was acknowledging her. It irked the succubus because she was squarely responsible for catching the Lightning Fox in the first place.

Nexus paused for a bit.

In truth, he was still skeptical about hunters in general. But Nora's gang seemed different. Also, he had been itching to get out of the woods for a while now. But never had he considered where he would stay once he got into town. He had no money, and no marketable skill.

He needed a place to stay temporarily. At the moment, Nora's offer was a good place to start.

Nexus' eyes tinged with gratitude as he inclined his head slightly and said;

"You're very kind Nora. I accept your invitation." he glanced at Crystal and corrected himself;

"We accept your invitation."

"Splendid!" she then turned, and barked at the fur-clad men who were huddled behind her;

"We're gonna have guests stay with us this night, let's roll shall we?"

"AYE-AYE." They grunted together as their leather boots shuffled in preparation for the move.

The hunt was over. Yet, somehow, for both Nora and Nexus, adventure was still in the air.

Thus, the group set out northwards with Nora in the lead. Nexus walked abreast, with Crystal hot on his heels, and the hunters following up close.

Without turning back, Nora spoke from ahead;

"Our horses are just a few yards up ahead, but I'm afraid you and your friend are going to have to share a horse for the rest of the trip."

"Thanks but you don't have to do that you know. We're more than happy to follow on foot."

"Nonsense," she said dismissively, "I'm sure Grimwald won't mind giving up his horse. Won't you Grimwald?"

The loquacious hunter boomed from behind; "NO MY LADY!"

"Good man." she lifted her eyes to the sky above; "We can make it back to town before dusk if we ride fast enough."

Just as she had said, the horses were there. Large, groomed majestic creatures. They were tethered to three different tree trunks, happily munching their way through the heaps of hay at their feet.

Within a minute of arrival, everyone in the group had saddled up. Nora kicked her horse with a;

"Hiyaaahhh!"

One by one, they all fell in line behind in her, trotting in gentle gallops, gradually easing their way onto the traveller's path. Nexus knew next to nothing about horses. It was a stroke of luck really that he had been saddled with Crystal as a riding partner. He allowed Crystal to take the reins, and she was only to happy to do so.

Holding the reins tightly, she felt Nexus' arms wrapped tightly around her waist. With every gallop, she also felt the comforting nudge of his dick on her buttocks. It was good. That would keep his attention on her- and not some lady hunter.

But Nora had her own activity lined up.

A few moments into the trip, while they were all still in the neck of the woods, she eased her grip on the reins, and willed her horse to slow down, bringing her neck-to-neck with Nexus' horse.

She swung her head casually in his direction;

"I have to seek your pardon for my men Nexus. They are by nature, wary of strangers."

"Oh that's no problem at all."

"Ah but it is. We still have quite a distance ahead, and I don't know about you, but its far too a distance to travel in uncomfortable silence–"

Nexus tensed.

"–so, Why don't you all go ahead and introduce yourselves?"

There it was. He did not like it one bit, but he ended up saying;

"Sounds good to me. I'm Nexus."

"So Nexus, who are you? And what is it that you do?"

Nexus wanted to say he was also a hunter. But he had pretty much blown that option to bits when he let the fox go.

So, he cleared his throat, and looked at Nora evenly;

"I'm actually new to the area."

Too vague.

"I'm just a chap looking for some adventure in this life."

Short, simple, with the right amount of spice to make it sound ambiguous enough.

"Adventure huh? Well you've certainly come to the right place."

Up ahead, the path spread into a much broader road. This was what everyone seemed to be waiting for- even the horses. There was a collective 'Hiyaahhhh!' and the animals responded accordingly.

With hooves beating against the earth in percussive thuds, they lurched forward energetically while snorting gasps of air. All around them, their surroundings began to whip by real fast. The forest screamed silently in green and yellow tones as they tore through it.

Nexus clapsed Crystal's waist tightly, not daring to ease up for even a second.

Eventually, the vegetation began to grow sparse. The trees began to get a lot less scanty, and the plant life appeared to be diminishing with every yard they covered. Just as Nora had predicted, Nexus knew they were approaching the exit.

In the diminishing light of the evening sun, they left the greenery behind.

Ahead of them, the magnificent form of a valley spread out in all its brilliance. It was too far for his eyes to make out anything concrete in the distance, but there was no mistakening the faint outline of what appeared to be a town- or in this case, a city.

Nora screamed above the din of hooves beating loudly;

"WELCOME-TO-CASTRA!!!"

Nexus, although not a stranger to city life, found his heart beating faster and faster. It was the first time he was leaving the forest. He realized he was not completely sure what kind of civilization laid ahead.

The earthy mould beneath the horses feet finally gave way to a stony, bronze colored wide road. It was impressive. The road was wide enough to fit ten horses side to side. The group drove her horses even harder, willing them to move faster.

Focused, Nexus trained his eyes ahead, not glancing even to his sides. He was eager to see just what kind of civilization this was. Up ahead, at what seemed like the entrance to the city, was a procession of caravans. They flooded the right side of the road in long queues.

It was like traffic, only of the more medieval kind.

Oxen driven carriages, filled to the brim with fresh farm produce dotted the road. Merchant caravans, with horse drawn carriages also added some diversity to the mix. There was sheep fleece bursting to the brim in bags stacked high upon each other.

There were exotic birds in cages, clocking his every movement with their unblinking eyes, and peripheral vision. Long lines of lambs in vertical formations dominated decent sections of the road. He stared hard at a very peculiar set of people, and saw that they were a travelling circus.

And of course- the people.

They came in all ages, sizes, genders, and occupations. Most of whom were clad in simple beige coloured tunics. There were traders, farmers, travellers, entertainers, merchants, and the occasional suspicious looking character. At every twenty feet or so, guards in chain mail, helmets and spears, stood in pairs, maintaining the peace.