Bab 58: Athenela

As we made our way towards the gates of the city, Cythistia kept on explaining the rich history of this shining silver city and its inhabitants. I wasn't riding on the back of her as of now as I had wanted to go this last distance myself, plus I just wanted to get some exercise as my tail was beginning to feel a bit stiff.

"The dwarven artisans forged and crafted several special tools that made the towering structures you see before you. They used those tools to carve out the remnants of the tree into everything you see before you. Every building is all connected together as one, which is a sort of philosophy our people have adapted."

"As for the layout of the place, it's actually quite simple, everything is encroached by a circular path, dividing it all into several different sectors and a total of five quadrants. In the Northern zone you have the noble district, and the closer you are to the centre, the higher your status. In the Southern zone you have the commoners district, where all the commoners live, there's no real sense of importance based on where you live in the commoners district like there is the noble one, you're just lucky if you can even afford a home near the centre."

"In the East zone you have the market district, where people can buy and trade for things they want or need, whether you be a noble or a commoner. As for the layout of that district, you will find the fancier things more towards the northern zone and the more general and basic things closer to the southern zone. Then there's the Western zone, which is the working district, where people go to work obviously. It's mainly where the commoners work but you can find some noble working there and leading several workshops and the like."

"Lastly is the central district, which is where me and my brother live, along with our family and the rest of the counci's families. It's also the place where the councils meet to discuss important matters as well as announce them to the populace."

She then went on to explain more about the history of her family and the rest of the council and how they founded this nation by fighting a war against the human centuries ago by uniting the forest folk. Of course, they believe that the humans were holding because they are usually a greedy bunch of brats, something I wholeheartedly agree with, and that they wanted the resources but going to war for an extended period would destroy said resources.

She also explained that her family, the 'Velphine' family were one of the leading races against the humans, alongside the 'Cani' Eagle family and the 'Darkhide' Wolf family. There were currently eleven council members because for some reason the twelfth council family, the Yalathinil family of elves betrayed them and stole an artifact before leaving and siding with the human forces.

Eventually the war ended with the two forces reaching a peace agreement. It took ages but both sides came to a consensus on what the other party should adhere to. After that there was peace on both sides. Though, with my appearance, things might devolve back into a war filled hellscape. All because of what I've done.

I didn't have time to think about it though as we had reached the gates of the city. They towered above us, looming over us like steadfast guardians of the city with their knightly patterns that were inscribed upon them. The actual guards then slowly did checks on everyone before confirming that nothing was wrong and letting everyone in.

The gates opened with a booming creaking that probably resounded throughout the forest. Once they were open, I was led inside by Cythistia and was greeted by a scene I had never seen before.

There were several races filling the streets, wolves, elves, stags, eagles, boars, bears, various others types of birds, beasts and wildlife, except they weren't wild, they were just people, normal, regular people, like myself, I think I even saw some other serpents dotted about here and there.

The bustling noise of everyone wandering around, looking for something they need or might interest them. Stall owners shouting out what they sold and how they had better deals or prices and such. Clearly this was the market district.

As soon as people started to notice us, or more specifically Cythistia and her brother they started to crowd around her. I felt overwhelmed by the amount of people her surrounding us, sure I'd seen large crowds before in the desert cities but never as big as this and never did they congest around me. I huddled closer to Cythistia and held her hand for comfort but that just drew more attention to myself.

People started to shout and scream at me, wanting to know how and why I was holding hands with her while some creeps shouted that they should be the ones in my place.

Noticing the extreme unease that overwhelmed me Cythistia called upon her magic and stomped her hoof into the ground, sending a wave of magic over to the crowd, creating a barrier of sharp vines that threatened anyone who got too close. Due to the nature of the city

The rangers were then able to properly surround us and then escort us through the lively markets and towards the centre of the city.

Along the way there were many more instances of people wanting to close around us and find out what happened between me and Cythistia but the rangers held them back. This happened multiple times to the point where the city guard had to come and help out because news travelled fast here. Several wolf-kin and eagle-kin came and helped escort us to Cythistia's home.

When we got there, I was so tired from all of the constant attention. Cythistia noticed this and took me to a nearby room and helped my lie down on the sofa.

"I'll have the maids fetch us some tea." She exclaimed. She went off into the hallway to find someone to make tea for us.

Meanwhile I just laid there, resting. I was half expecting someone to ambush me or something but no, Cythistia came back and told me that she had informed a maid to get some tea. She then sat down on the opposite side of a table I had just notice. Well, calling it 'sitting' wouldn't be right, it was more like she kneeled on some cushions that were over there, probably made for quadrupeds.

'What about you're family? Shouldn't you let them know you're home?' I question in runic words.

"Oh no, we'll be fine in that regard as my brother will inform my family about our return, though, I'm not sure what he'll say to them about... y'know." She murmured towards the end, giving me the hint as to what she was referring to.

I was also pretty worried about how her family, or more specifically, the 'Velphine' family would react to me.

Soon a maid came in and I was surprised to see a green scaled lamia serving us. She brought a tray with a teapot and some saucers and teacups, four in total. They were very plain and simple in design, their main element composed of a white ceramic with streaks of grey webbing its way around like lightning, while a blue line encompassed the pottery with small flowers adorning the underside of the line, also in blue.

The maid poured us each a cup of tea and place them on the table next to each of us. I lifted myself up and into a proper sitting position whilst I let my tail hang off of the side of the sofa.