Chapter 12 - Entering a city! (1/2)
After travelling for quite a while Ark started to hear more and more noise, at first it was a little bit annoying but as the sound got clearer it soon didn't bother him at all, this was because this was the sound of the people! This made him very excited since he had been yearning for some human contact ever since he had gotten into this world, because even though there was amazing things such as magic and a whole new world filled to the brim with various wonders of nature and animals, there was nothing that could replace interaction with ones own kin.
So no matter how much he loved magic and no matter how invested he got in this new world this thought would always be nagging at the back of his head. When the bustling noises was close enough to notice that it was coming from just outside of the carriage, it suddenly came to a stop, this was because of the check they made when someone wanted to enter the town, they couldn't just let anyone in, you also had to pay a small fee. But since this was a pretty backwater place the fee was almost non existent.
After having successfully entered the town Ark grew quite restless, just imagining all the different sights and various places and culture that he was missing out on made it feel like his heart was bleeding, but he was still very grateful that they had let him come with them at all, so he calmed down pretty quickly. After about 5 more minutes they rolled up to the Hughes estate, it was quite big from the perspective of a commoner but to someone like Annette this was barely a shed.
Stepping out of the carriage for the first time, the first thing Ark saw was the decent sized mansion that was currently in front of him, the garden was pretty big and was very well taken care of by the gardener who worked here. Even though the guards had just let their entourage in they didn't check the carriage since someone of a really high status was in there, so seeing a wolf suddenly walk out brought them quite the shock.
The wolf was carrying a majestic aura compared to theirs, since it was actually just a blue wolf they had already guessed that the aura came from the weird patterns that were covering it's body. They instantly went into battle stances though, all but one, who had run off to inform everyone else. The guards slowly encircled Ark, even though they knew they wouldn't be able to beat him they still decided that they would be able to buy some time for the rest of the household to come up with a plan to deal with this wolf.
When they came too close though Ark summoned up a wall fused from water and fire to keep them away, he didn't want to battle them at all so just forced them to keep their distance, since the princess would explain why he was there anyway. As soon as he thought that, Annette emerged from the carriage accompanied by a set of royal guards, seeing this made the manors guards very confused.
”The wolf is with us!”
The guards instantly backed away as they realized that this entourage had immense auras leaking from their bodies, which meant that there was probably something up, not that it really concerned them, as long as the wolf wasn't dangerous it didn't matter, it was probably the young lady's mount or something of the like.
”I'm sorry my lady, we failed to notice that this was your mount.”
Hearing this made Ark a little displeased but he knew where the misunderstanding came from so he just chose to ignore it and let Annette explain.
”No problem”
Hearing this Ark curled his lips a little as he shot Annette a look which clearly showed that he was very displeased to be called someones mount just like that, as to which he received a radiant smile. Seeing it made Ark feel like he was just silly and question how he could ever give such a pure lady a look like that. As soon as this thought flashed through Ark's mind he suddenly gave her a fierce look and went into a defensive stance, he clearly felt that she had used some sort of magic there to affect his thinking, so he thought that she had intended to harm him.
”You really don't have a sense of humor!”
Chuckling a bit Annette made a gesture telling Ark to follow her as she proceeded to walk towards the mansion, what she had just used was a sort of magic called charm magic, this magic worked wonders when it came to influencing peoples thoughts and d.e.s.i.r.es, this magic could only be used by women though since men weren't able to for some reason. This magic was often used to seduce people, but it only worked on people who didn't have a will and mind that was strong enough. Of course this was also relative to the mages power.
Realizing how Annette had only been playing with him Ark started to follow her, his head held a little bit lower than his usual bearing since he was quite embarrassed, he felt that he had overreacted a bit just then. But what was done was done, and he should probably just act like nothing ever happened, in hope that she would forget it, this was the best solution, at least that Ark could come up with.
When they had just arrived at the entrance of the mansion the doors suddenly burst open, and out came a little squadron of guards, in the center of the guards were a middle-aged man, a woman who seemed to be just as old, and two teenagers of opposite genders. The middle-aged man had emerald green eyes as well as bright blonde hair that went down all the way to his shoulders, he looked quite fierce as he had a well built body and sharp facial features, which made him look like a warrior.
The woman on the other hand looked very gentle and nice, her hair was a sleek black that would probably blend greatly into the darkness, her eyes were a crystal blue that looked as deep as the ocean, she looked like she was someone who had connections to the water spirits, just from her gentle bearing and ocean eyes.