Nova: Children of Gods - Chapter 01

Chapter 01


“Man, why is it that every escort trip is so freaking boring?” A man complained as he let out a tired yawn as he and three other men sat around a small campfire eating a small boar they caught before the sun rose in the sky. “Aren’t these Rayths supposed to be threatening and in many numbers? So where the heck are they, sleeping or some crap?”

“Hey shut it,” another man said sitting across from the fire. “We should count ourselves lucky that they aren’t out here, or at least avoiding the walled city since we’re so close.”

Another sneered. “Ha, we’d already be there if that dumb dolt of a merchant had the common sense to leave his pregnant wife back in their village, we should get paid more for having to put up with this crap!”  He then looked beyond the campfire to one of the men sitting along the ledge of the old crumbling forgotten castle tower with a rifle slung against his right arm as he eyed out to the horizon, the wind lifted his straight black hair that was styled in an undercut. “Hey!” the man called out.

A little fairy peaked out from underneath the hood of the man’s dark brown cloak, eyeing those by the fire for a moment before craning her neck back to look at the one who was being called out. “I think their trying to get your attention.” She said.

The man said nothing in response, he merely continued to stare out at the treeline in silence not caring if he was called out or not, it was always something petty with a few of these men, but not all of them were like that.

“Hey you deaf?” the man called out again waving an arm holding a jug of alcohol. “Hey!”

A fifth man with dirty blonde hair and green colored eyes came over to the campfire and grabbed the jug out of the annoying man’s hand before smacking him in the back of the head. “Quite already Mahram, you incessant yelling is going to bring all of those monsters here, do you want that?” when the complaining man snickered the man glared at him. “Same goes for you Bram, you want to fight Rayths so badly then go out and hunt for them. We should count ourselves lucky that we haven’t run into any of them out here thus far. We could be dead right now instead.”

When the four men had gone quite from the fifth’s ominous tone that had been given, the fifth headed over to the one watching the treeline.

“See anything?” he asked not noticing the fairy that flew out from the hood of the man’s cloak and perched herself on the top of a tall but thin wooden poll with a tiny hand shielding her eyes from the coming sun as she looked for any hostility. “Well Levi?”

Levi glanced at the man over his shoulder with piercing deep blue eyes before looking back to the treeline once more. “You didn’t need to go that far Allen,” Levi said softly as the wind blew slightly in a low howl. “We’re close enough to the walls; the Rayths tend to avoid this area more often than not.”

“I’m aware of that.” Allen said before glancing back to Levi once more. “You know I can take shift, you should get some sleep soon before we head out.”

Levi made no comment.

“Mr. Levi!” the little fairy flew over to Levi at quick speed from where she was and pointed out to the trees. “One’s coming!”

Quickly Levi got up from his seat and crouched down as he quickly checked his rifle.

Allen looked at him with a slight frown. “Levi?”

“How big is it?” Levi asked in a hushed voice so Allen could not hear him speaking as the fairy flew back into his cloak, her tiny hands resting against the knot of the cloak.

“It’s a Class 18,” she said looking up at him while he aimed his gun. “Not a major threat to us and the group but if…”

“If there’s one there’s bound to be more.” He finished for her as he shifted his weight just ever so slightly. “Lend me your power Tulla.”

With a slight nod Tulla reached up and placed her tiny hands along the bottom of Levi’s chin and closed her eyes while reciting old magic. In that instant Levi’s vision increased, his eyes now like that of a hawk, he honed in on the creature that wandered aimlessly as if it was lost. Its body was small and black with strange yellow markings that ran all over it like a bazar tattoo as its three fingers twitched and feet shifted.
With steady breathing he placed his hand on the trigger, his thumb pulling the hammer of the gun as the creature wandered aimlessly. After a moment Levi pulled the trigger, the gun went off with a slight bang causing everyone to go still as stone.

The Rayth was hit in the center of its head, or if it could be called that before falling to the ground and disintegrating into dust.

Levi set the rifle down before closing his eyes and letting out a breath, when he opened his eyes once more he saw things as he should be.

Allen let out a low whistle as he placed his hands on his hips. “That’s a good shot; you must have a good time at practice.”

“That was just luck.” Levi said as he reloaded his rifle. “There will probably be more coming; we should take the chance to get the merchant and his wife to the walled city.”

Allen nodded in agreement before turning and calling out to the others. “Alright you heard the gunshot; you know what that means get ready to go. Hurry it up!”

All the men dashed off to gather their things as Allen remained where he was as he then looked to Levi once more. “You know you could have joined the guards on the wall, with that kind of aim you’d be great at it.”

“Hmmm…” was all he said on the topic before he looked back to the line of trees, more of the same kinds of Rayths, low Classes of 18’s 19’s and 20’s. Which wasn’t bad but in the numbers that they were appearing was something to be concerned about, with his normal eyesight he could at least count twenty. Yet something about this was wrong.

“What’s the matter Mr. Levi?” Tulla asked as she stood on his right shoulder, her wide light turquoise eyes watched him as some strands of her rose pink hair that was tied back in a bun came out. “Do you see something?”

His gaze narrowed as the sounds of low moans and cries came from the forest.

“Levi!” Allen called to him as he got on his horse. “We’re heading to the city, come on don’t want to be left behind do you?”

Levi remained were he stood for a moment before heading to the rest of the men gather what they had so they could return to the city. Once they had everything they rode to the city’s walls and by the time they got there it was midday.

The wall of the city was over fifty meters in height and had odd carvings imbedded in the stone. It had been said that when the walls first became erected the carvings were done by those who could control magic to keep the Rayths out from entering major cities and land.

Though many would venture the lands heading to other towns and cities it wasn’t without its own dangers. It was something that Levi and many others who ventured out of the city knew very well about.

The large gate opened with heavy chains drawing it up so those who wished to enter could, but as they waited Levi found himself looking back to the large treeline, where many of the low Class Rayths wandered near the edge, as if they wanted to get closer.

Yet it was as the gates were closing that Tulla flew out from his cloak and looked on at the treeline with what he could only tell as surprised shock. With a frown he looked to the trees once again and saw what she was looking at.

A Class 5 Rayth, a monstrous shadow beast that walked on all fours like that of a wild dog or wolf, with a long narrow snout and narrow red eyes it too had the same markings as the others only it’s glowed a hellish red. And what’s more it seemed to be looking directly at the city wall before letting out a tremendous howl that would have caused many a man to quake in fear.

When the gate closed Levi discreetly placed Tulla in his inner coat breast pocket before reporting his findings to his commanding officer.


“There not supposed to be this close!” Tulla managed to say as Levi walked down the overpopulated and crowded streets of the lower area of the city. “I mean that was a Class 5 right? Those normally stay deep in the forest or woodlands why would it even be near the valleys?”

“Thinking like that will only make it worse.” He said as he moved his way through the crowd. “It’s not the first time we’ve seen a Class 5, you know that.”

“I know!” she snapped flying out of his coat to face him. “But this is different Mr. Levi, even you can tell that much!”

Levi sighed. “It was probably just hunting.” He said as he continued onwards.

Tulla followed him, hovering slightly over his left shoulder while keeping up with his fast strides. “But it was so strange, I don’t think they‘ve ever left the forest, at least not ones of that size.  Doesn’t that make you wonder?”

“Not really, a Rayth is a Rayth, simple as that. They kill and eat humans and other creatures from time to time. One Class 5 acting different is nothing compared to the smaller ones who always wander near the wall.”

“I suppose…” Tulla admitted. “But I still don’t like it.”

“I know you don’t.” Levi then turned down the corner of a street and into an alleyway to avoid the crowds of people. He glanced off to the side when he saw two men in long black hooded cloaks whispering to each other, using the hoods to discreetly cover their faces from being seen. The men stopped when they noticed Levi looking at them and quickly disappeared inside a building nearby.

Those men, they were part of an underground cult deep within the mountain, one that worshiped some particular god, or the like. Levi didn’t know much of this supposed god they believed in but then he never cared about that kind of thing. Seeing them out in the alley wasn’t particularly new but it was odd seeing them look almost worried.

From what Levi was able to catch they were concerned about someone who had gone missing, and that somehow this person, a women or so told, might have gone outside of the city walls and if that was true then something had to be done.

“Mr. Levi?”

Levi continued on his way then, walking in silence before reaching a small shop. The shop itself was old, with paint chipping and cracking from the age of time, it was called Tea Time or TT for short. It’s curving words on the sign that swung lazily on rusted chains above the door’s entrance was painted with an old dull yellow with little flowers of pink and blue, and a large window off to the side to allow those to look in and see the different kinds that were sold.

Normally a tea shop would do well with strong business, but with one in such a place it normally meant that it was there for another reason. It was also a place to get information, no matter how great or how small info on the city would always be useful after being away for so long, even if it didn’t make sense at first.

He opened the door, a bell chimed softly as he entered, lining the two walls from left to right were jars of tea, ones of common knowledge and others of rarity and bazaar.

At the far end of the store was a man in his mid to late fifties sitting on a chair behind a desk with his elbows resting on top of the old wood as his hands were interlaced and resting underneath his long bird like nose.

“Ah-ha,” the man said with a chortling laugh. “Mr. Levi, been a while since I’ve seen you. Back from one of your jobs are you?”

“Old Man Owen.” Levi replayed.

Owen waved him in. “If you’re here then you have something for me, correct?”

Levi walked further into the store and pulled out a brown pouch before placing it in front of the elder man. The man picked it up and took a strong whiff before letting out a satisfied sigh.

“Ah what a wonderful sent, strong and spicy. This is cayenne pepper is it not?”

“It is,” he said. “A merchant from a village brought this and many others with him and his wife. I figured you could use something like this if needed.”

“Oh I do indeed.” The man took the pouch and tucked it away in his coat pocket before he climbed off his chair and hobbled over to the right side of the wall. The man was short, a tiny man that only stopped up to Levi’s chest with dark tanned skin and greying dark hair, yet even with his stature he could still move at a fast pace. Owen reached up, going on his toes so he could grasp what was on the third shelf before pulling down a certain jar of tea. “The usual then?”

Levi nodded as the man hobbled back over to his desk and pulled out a brown pouch. “You always request the same thing, never anything different. I’m surprised you haven’t become wary of this brand of tea. But then it is one of the best.” He then paused and said. “By the way, you’ve heard about the commotion going on in the mountain have you not?”

“No.” Levi said. “I only just got back.”

“Ah…” Owen responded. “Then I’ll tell you, as thanks for the spice.” He paused again for a moment. “The Rayths have been acting up, more than usual. Howling none stop, almost as if they were crying.”

“We know that already.” Tulla said knowing the old man couldn’t hear her. “We saw one acting weird on our way back.”

“Not only that,” Owen continued. “But those people from the cult within the mountain have also been acting rather odd. Almost around the same time the Rayth’s started to act differently. It seems as if the men from the cult seem to be looking for something or someone in particular. Or at least so I’ve heard.”

Levi waited for a moment but when the old man said nothing he asked. “And?”

“And that’s all I know.” He said as he handed Levi the pouch of tea leaves. “Although I guess there is one thing. These men seem to be looking for a girl, I don’t know why since I never hear anything of what goes on within the mountain but they seem very persistent in their search. Going so far to even bribe or threaten people for information about this girl.”

Levi looked at the old man. “And this has to do with the Rayth’s because why?”

Owen simply shrugged. “Who knows, but many of the smaller ones may try to get to the wall, it’s as if both are looking for something.”

“Is that all?” he asked.

“Yes,” Levi then turned to leave only to stop and glance back when Owen spoke again. “And Mr. Levi, if you go outside the walls again, I do hope you are careful, I’d hate to lose a valued customer such as you to those beasts.”

Levi left saying nothing to the old man, not even a goodbye as he walked back to the populated streets.

“Why’d he tell us that?” Tulla asked as she sat on Levi’s shoulder.

“He’s old but notices things others don’t, this thing with the cult will probably go on for days before they find whatever it is their looking for.”

“I’m wondering why it’s some girl.” She admitted. “I mean that cult is run only by men of various ages’ right why would a woman be involved unless…”

“Don’t think about it.” he said cutting her off. “Besides it’s how that old man works, he gives info even if it doesn’t always make sense.”

Tulla folded her arms across her chest and gave Levi a sideways glance. “You think that’s because he’s partially clairvoyant or just crazy?”

“Both.” It was all that Levi said before the two of them disappeared into the crowd.