A New Light (The Astral Wanderer Book 1), D'Artagnan Rey [best romantic novels to read .TXT] 📗

these tales, but this one has always stayed with me. Blossomed bloodflowers are indeed beautiful, but that story always runs through my mind when I see them. I find some solace in that.”

“You do?” the young swordsman asked. “How so?”

The wildkin looked at him. “I plan to assist the Templars, grow with them, and see them restored to their former glory as thanks for what they have done for me. And I know that I too will one day have to kill both monsters and villains as many of them have. Seeing those beautiful flowers and thinking of that story reminds me that even when we must do something we prefer not to—or even in tragedy—something beautiful can come of it.”

He was struck by her words and even Jazai’s eyes widened before he smiled and closed them as he lay back and shifted to make himself comfortable. It appeared that she did indeed have some wise words to say.

Devol took one of her hands and she looked at him in surprise. He returned her look with one of calm and gratitude. “I do understand what you mean, Asla. Thank you.”

Her eyelids closed for a moment and she squeezed his hand softly and nodded. “You are welcome.” She withdrew her hand gently and they said nothing more. It was already quite late and they needed to rest so they could reach their destination by early afternoon on the morrow.

His fears had not abated but they did not haunt him further that night. Thankfully, he was able to sleep more comfortably than he had expected to.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“We’re almost there!” Devol called as he bounded down the hillside. “You can already see the red trees.”

“They are hard to miss,” Jazai told him before he blinked away from his friend, who laughed. Asla bounded past them both as they approached a large archway that welcomed travelers to Rouxwoods.

It was a quaint little village nestled deep in a wood of the perpetually red-leaved trees from which the forest and town took its name. Red-and-white cobbled roads stretched from the gates into the town center, where it split into several directions. The town bustled with villagers and passersby and the houses all seemed to be made with the dark timber from the trees—an amusing detail Devol noticed as they walked under the swirling arches that were built in front of many of the buildings where the slanted roofs met.

“We made it,” Asla said smugly as she looked at all the people with frank interest. “It wasn’t a long trip at all.”

“Well, not for us.” Jazai chuckled and his gaze paused at one of the establishments. “Hey, this courier we’re supposed to meet—he will contact us, right?”

Devol took out the card Nauru had given them. “Yeah. I’m not sure how exactly, but we have to wait for him. He’s traveling from farther away.”

“Then we might as well get something to eat.” The diviner pointed his thumb at an inn a short distance ahead. “We can also see how much rooms will be if we have to stay the night.”

The other two looked at one another and nodded together in agreement with the older Magi. “Sounds good,” the young swordsman said.

Their friend smirked and cracked his knuckles. “All right. Let me haggle for the rooms. It’s one of my specialties.”

“Damn conmen,” Jazai grumbled and sipped his spiced juice.

“It’s not like it was our money,” Asla told him and swirled a cup of berry juice. “We took that from the bandits.”

“Still, we could have kept more of it.” He sighed. “I wouldn’t have thought a place like this would have such a bustling tourist economy.”

“It is very pretty,” Devol pointed out. “And it’s also something of a waypoint for merchants and travelers since it’s so close to the border of Britana.”

“Still, a whole shard for a couple of rooms?” The scholar huffed and took a swig like his drink contained alcohol with which to drown his woes. “I was hoping I could lower it to three splints. It would have saved us two, at least.”

“I’m sure you have other specialties that are of use, Jazai,” the wildkin responded.

“Like what?” Devol asked and earned only a shrug from her as the scholar glared at them both.

A female server stopped at their table. “Your food is ready,” she announced and put a plate of fish and rice in front of Asla. Grilled chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy followed for Jazai and slices of steak and seasoned vegetables for Devol. They thanked her as she replaced their empty breadbasket and began to dig into their meals.

“So, any idea when we’re supposed to meet this courier?” Asla asked as she began to cut into her fish with a knife and fork. It amused the young swordsman to notice that she was not that proficient, given that she normally used her claws.

He considered the question. “Well, if he’s coming from the capital, he has a far greater distance to travel than we did,” he reasoned as he speared a piece of broccoli with his fork. “I don’t know if he was using any portals, but we would have to wait more than a day for him to arrive.”

“I guess we’ll get some use out of those rooms,” Jazai muttered as he took another sip of his juice.

“But if he began earlier than we did, he should arrive soon, yes?” she asked.

Devol nodded. “Assuming he can move as fast or faster than we can, it shouldn’t be a difficult trek, merely a long one.”

“How is he supposed to find us?” Jazai stirred the mashed potatoes on his plate with his fork. “Or how do we find him?

He shrugged and swallowed the vegetables he had been chewing as he patted his left pants pocket. “The card doesn’t specify but the signal word is ‘caw-caw.’”

“Oh right, the bird’s call,” the diviner mumbled as he cut into his chicken. “That won’t be suspicious at all.”

“We discussed that it could be an avian wildkin,” Asla