De'Vas Chronicles Book 4: Chapter 35

Hitomi hummed to herself as she walked through the market of District 1. The early morning sun beat down on her, but the shades and sun hat she wore kept her relatively comfortable as she made her way down the street from stall to stall.

She stopped at one selling fresh produce.

“What district are these tomatoes from?” she asked.

The old minotaur smiled warmly at her.

“District 133,” he answered.

So, Italy’s eastern coast.

“I’ll take five,” she said.

Her tails flicked as she considered what to make with the tomatoes. Her thoughts arrived at Cioppino, an Italian-American dish she had recently seen on one of her cooking shows. That meant she would need fish, and she knew just the stall. She thanked the minotaur before she made her way deeper into the market.

“Good morning,” she greeted.

The catkin smiled and sat a little straighter in her chair, her tail twitching. Hitomi usually purchased something from this stall each time she came to the market.

“It’s good to see you again,” the catkin said, eager to make a sale. “What wares from District 114 would you like this time?”

She pointed to a large fish, and the catkin bagged it for her. Next, she moved to a rack of small books and selected a copy of the latest Madam Vines.

“Thank you for keeping these in stock,” Hitomi said as she flipped through the latest issue.

“Thank you for being a customer,” the catkin answered, counting her money.

Hitomi waved farewell before looking for other stalls that would have ingredients for the meal she was planning. The next stall she arrived at, a man stopped to stand behind her as she examined herbs on sale.

“What can I help you with, Councilman Loki?” Hitomi asked, not looking at the cloaked lizardkin.

“By telling me what you are up to,” Loki growled.

She smelled the fresh herbs before selecting some and paying the vendor.

“Whatever do you mean, Councilman?” Hitomi replied as she left the stall.

Loki, of course, followed right behind her.

“Councilwoman Blackthorn is missing, and I know you or one of your lackeys is involved,” he growled.

Her lips thinned at the reminder of the mess Piper had made.

“I thought Blackthorn had a habit of vanishing, sometimes for extended periods of time,” she answered.

Loki placed a hand on her shoulder, and Hitomi snarled. Instantly, the market she was walking through vanished in a flash of light, replaced by a dirty alleyway. She summoned a wall of fire, and Loki released her, backing away. She glared at his tattooed face, covered in the same runes as the portals he built.

“I was shopping, you jackass,” she growled. “If you were going to teleport me somewhere, couldn’t you have picked the other end of the market?”

Loki crossed his arms and glared at her.

“What did you do to Blackthorn?” he demanded.

Hitomi shrugged.

“Why are you asking me? I’ve heard rumors Councilwoman Piper has it out for her. You should check with her,” she answered, moving toward the entrance of the alleyway.

“I know Piper is one of your pawns. What are you playing at, Hitomi?”

She stopped and turned back to smile warmly at the damn reptile.

“Maybe I’m just trying to find a way to fix this mess you got all of us in?” she said cheerfully.

Loki’s eyes widened as Hitomi turned around and walked out of the alleyway, humming the tune she had been humming while shopping.

Thankfully, the lizardkin left her alone after that, and she made her way back to her home on the top floor of the kitsune restaurant.

She turned on the TV and found the episode where they made Cioppino. Then Hitomi followed along as the human on the TV prepared the meal. The stew was boiling on the stove when her phone chimed.

Victor: I found him. We need to talk.

She sighed, looking at her stew. With a few silent curses, she turned the burner off.

Hitomi: I’m on my way.

A few minutes later, she sat in one of the private dining rooms of the restaurant, sipping green tea as she waited for the dragon to arrive. She had asked the waitress to send someone up to her floor to finish the stew. Not even Victor would stop her from having a good meal tonight.

The door opened, and Victor stepped inside, carrying a black trash bag reeking of blood. Hitomi arched an eyebrow as the dragon set the bag onto the table before slamming the door shut.

“Kaito?” she asked.

Victor untied the trash bag, revealing the oni’s head.

“I didn’t want him dead, Victor,” she said, taking another sip of her tea. “Just punished for letting Piper go.”

“I didn’t kill him,” Victor sighed, taking a seat at the table. “I found his corpse outside the Exiled Princes Castle.”

Her eyes widened.

“Vas,” she said, staring at the oni. “Did he try to go after Ash?”

She set down her tea and pulled the head from the bag. Lightning-shaped burn marks covered his skin. Her fingers traced them as she drew a deep breath.

Instead of smelling blood or the aroma of her tea, she smelled smoke. The smoke of the kingdom she called home back on Vas as it burned to the ground. Flames raced around her as she wandered through the streets, killing anyone who crossed her path. She had wanted to leave that place, and nothing would stop her.

“The area you found him in, what did it look like?” she asked, still staring at the burns.

Victor sighed.

“Corpses everywhere, some that had been cannibalized. It seems Kaito’s foolishness cost us the Flask of the Starved King.”

She would have raged had he told her that at any other time. The flask was a powerful relic and one that could turn the right individual into an almost unstoppable force in the right environment.

“The buildings and trees, did they have burns like this?” she asked.

Victor thought for a moment, then nodded.

“So he did it! Ash did it!”

Hitomi laughed as her tails twirled in excitement.

“Kaito is dead,” Victor reminded her with a scowl.

She just smiled at the dragon.

“And his sacrifice just gave us a weapon far stronger than the Flask of the Starved King or any of the others we have gathered or created!”

Grinning, she closed the trash bag and stood.

“Thank you, Victor. Please, double our efforts to find Piper. Her importance as a bargaining tool has just increased,” she said, moving toward the door. “I entrust you to dispose of Kaito’s remains.”

She saw the scowl on Victor’s face as she left. She knew the dragon wasn’t happy. He might have his rough edges and a ruthless demeanor, but loyalty was important to him. He saw Kaito, Piper, and Scarlet as his friends. He would put that loyalty above all else, spouting some nonsense about the noble nature of dragons.

Hitomi wasn’t born an apex predator like him. She had clawed her way up from the gutters of the kingdom she called home, the one she burned down when her awakening had been completed. Those early years taught her that a friend was just a sweet word. One to call the person who would one day stick a knife in your back.

As she climbed the stairs to her floor, the aroma of the cooking stew struck her. Opening the door and stepping into her kitchen, she saw a three-tailed kitsune stirring the pot.

“I’ll take over, thank you,” she said.

The three-tailed bowed to her before hurrying out of the door. Hitomi lifted the lid, seeing the mixture of tomatoes and seafood cooking in it. The smell made her mouth water, and the stew looked to be done.

Humming, she moved to the wine rack and selected a light red. One of the rarer ones she had. After all, tonight was a celebration.

She turned off the TV, which had been playing a random show based on her algorithm. Then she started setting the table for her dinner, even lighting a candle for ambiance.

The Cioppino was delicious, and after her meal she sipped her wine in thought about the future. Her goal to break the district system was a constant struggle, especially after she lost her position as Councilmember and was confined to District 1. There had been gains and losses, small victories and setbacks. Sometimes she thought the endeavor was pointless, that the humans had already won.

At least until she heard the story of a lightning elemental appearing in District 44, she grew more interested when she heard Blackthorn’s vassal had also been there, a human with an elemental scar that many referred to as The Storm.

Then she saw him at the restaurant, saw the scar and the ring covered in runes. Runes, she realized, were meant to stall the elemental within him. She was amazed a human had progressed so far with an elemental scar.

She also knew he would never make it past the final step, at least not here on Earth. Magic was still too dispersed here for him to push through the final transformation, to become like she was. That was why she had Victor bring him to Vas, so he could achieve the potential she saw in him.

A smirk graced her lips as she finished her wine and stood, making her way to her office. There she took a seat at her desk and opened a drawer, retrieving a small wooden box.

“Perhaps it’s time I met with Ash again,” Hitomi said as she opened the box.

Resting inside was a dark metal collar etched with runes.