The Nextworld Invasion and the Death of Magic - 7. Chapter 7 - Olington

Halfway through the following day, the quartet saw a tiny hamlet in the distance. Unlike the moldering town of Edgedale, this little community looked healthy and vibrant. To the weary travelers’ surprise, they rounded a bend and stumbled upon a pair of teenage girls behind a huge tree. One was a Noktar, and the other was a Rothian. The two had been passionately making out, and they quickly pulled away from each other and looked very embarrassed at having been seen kissing.

Tigath spoke up to try and ease their anxiety. “Hello, friends! Sorry to be a bother, but can you please tell us where we are, and if there’s an inn in town? We’re looking for a place to stay for the night, so if you’ll just point us in the right direction, we’ll be on our way and out of your hair. And again, sorry to bother you.”

The young Rothian stayed where she was, but the Noktar approached. “That’s Olington,” she stated, indicating the town. “We live there.” She nodded back toward her companion. “There’s a pub, and occasionally people will come stay, but there isn’t much to Olington itself. I’m Oonnik, and that’s Tonint.” The Rothian ran up behind Oonnik and interlaced her fingers with the other young woman’s.

“We’re girlfriends,” Tonint stated.

“You two make a very cute couple,” Tigath replied with a smile.

Tonint looked gangly next to her stocky Noktar partner. The clothes they were wearing were made of fine leather, as were their shoes. The Rothian girl wore many bracelets on each wrist that clanged quietly as she moved. There was a little glittery eye shadow accenting each of her eyelids, and she had been wearing lipstick, but it was now smeared from kissing Oonnik.

Oonnik was about an inch taller than Tonint, and she was muscular. Her arms and thighs were thick, and she was wearing a wide belt around her robust midsection. Hair grew on her forearms and shins. Her eyebrows were bushy, and they connected at the center of her forehead, and she had a cute little mustache growing from her upper lip.

“Do you want us to take you to the Riverview Pub?” Tonint offered.

Tigath gave her a bow. “Thank you so much for your generous offer, but I’m sure we’ll be able to find it, and we’ve taken enough of you ladies’ time.”

“We don’t mind,” Oonnik replied.

“Where’d you four come from?” Tonint added. “Can’t have been Edgedale.” She grinned at Nuji, her fellow Rothian.

“Actually,” Nuji countered, “we did make a brief stop there,” and she quickly added before anyone else could comment, “but it wasn’t for us.”

“Yeah, they are a bunch of weirdos,” Oonnik agreed.

Tigath could not help but stick up for the people of Edgedale. “They’re just hurting. All of them have gone through a painful personal loss, and they’re each trying to work through it.”

Tonint did not agree. “They’re mean and full of hate.”

Othri smiled. “Well, you two seem just lovely,” he commented to the young couple. “Lead the way! And did you say the inn is called the Riverview?”

“That’s right,” Tonint confirmed, as she and Oonnik headed toward their town with the four travelers in tow, “the Riverview Pub.”

“It’s owned by a nice Urcai man,” Oonnik added.

“How delightful,” Tigath replied. He then changed subjects. “Do you two ladies happen to know about the Humans and Vuliburge?”

Both their faces fell.

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” Oonnik said in a somber tone. “Three survivors made it here like a week ago, but they continued on to the Yellow City”

“And a group of Olingtonites left the next morning to help,” Tonint added. “They haven’t come back yet though, and the Humans didn’t come here, so I kind of forgot, but it’s terrible!”

“Is that where you’re from?” Oonnik asked.

“It is,” Tigath answered before Nuji or Alydrael could say anything, and he continued. “Glad you’ve seen some people from Vuliburge, and the Yellow City is our destination as well. We’ve had no idea if anyone else escaped. Glad your town was spared.”

Olington was vibrant, and with the destruction out of sight, it also proved to be out of mind. Life was bustling in the village.

When the little group arrived, Othri admitted that he was more exhausted and sore than he expected, so once they had secured accommodations for the night, he and Nuji headed to the room to redress his wound. He had gotten used to her dealing with it over the past week of traveling. Tigath and Alydreal were escorted by the two local girls into the tavern for drinks and food, and Nuji joined them several minutes later.

“Othri’s resting, and he can eat when he wakes up,” she informed the others. “Now, the serious question is, do they serve nidriol here?”

Tigath scrunched up his green face at her. “You like that stuff?”

Nuji was confused. “You don’t?”

“Yes, we serve nidriol here,” the Urcai barman confirmed as he stepped up to their table. “One nidriol for our visiting Rothian guest, welcome!” He bowed to Nuji with a flourish of one hand. He winked at Oonnik and Tonint, and he cooed, “Hi, gals,” before addressing the other new arrivals. “What can I get you two to drink?” he added to Tigath and Alydrael. “And do you know what you’d like to eat?”

“What do you recommend?” Tigath asked.

“Get our hearty goose stew over green rice.”

“Perfect!”

Tigath and Alydrael ordered beverages that the barkeep prepared before serving them their meal, and Othri came down to the tavern while the others were eating.

“What happened to those two girls?” he asked.

Nuji replied to him between bites. “They already had lunch plans and needed to run. How are you feeling? Didn’t expect to see you down so soon.”

“My stomach was growling, and even though it hurts every time you change the bandage, shortly after, I feel much better. Hunger overcame pain. What are you eating?”

He also ordered a bowl of stew, and when they finished their meal, the four decided to head up to the rooms to rest for the afternoon, but Alydrael could not fall asleep. After laying on one of the beds for a little while, she rose silently and snuck out into the hall. She went back downstairs and made her way out into the town.

There was not much to Olington. It was quaint and small, but unlike the decrepit buildings of Edgedale, Olington was unified with the trees, and Alydreal liked being back in a community where the structures were not actively being consumed by the surrounding forest. Alydrael knew Edgedale was a dying town, and she liked being in Olington. She approached its eastern limit and looked out over the grasslands. The Yellow City was far too distant to see, but Alydrael wanted to go there. She did not want to feel the sorrow that everyone in Edgedale clung to; she wanted to go with Tigath, Othri, and Nuji to the Yellow City.

Alydrael was really starting to like Nuji.

The young Urcai woman turned to face the little town. The pub was only a few blocks away, and the western edge of Olington was only a few more blocks beyond it. The village seemed sweet, but Alydrael wanted more. She wanted to be back in a city, and she liked feeling alive again. The sun was still a few hours from setting, and there was not much else to explore in Olington, so Alydrael wandered back to the tavern and ordered a glass of nidriol.

“Here you go, my young friend,” the barkeep replied, placing the glass onto the tabletop. He looked impressed with her order.

Alydrael took a sip of the beverage Nuji had gotten for herself earlier, and she scrunched up her face at the terrible taste as she swallowed. She coughed and managed to wheeze out, “Well, that wasn’t good at all,” and she laughed.