Tales of Aosi

He stopped. His excited smile had turned to a smirk of annoyance. Dmitri looked around, they were surrounded by men in black robes.

"Why thank you gentlemen, I know I give good performances. Now, for my next one, I'll need a volunteer, you sir,..." he pointed toward one of the robed men. "Yes, you sir, right there. Don't be shy now."

All of them started walking toward Dmitri and Lazreal. Both Dmitri and Lazreal kept pace by walking away from them.

"I just need one now guys, come one."

Soon, they had been pushed out of the temple plaza. As soon as they were out of the gate, the priests closed the gate, grumbling something incomprehensible.

"Yep, not too nice friend." Lazreal pointed out.

"I noticed that." Dmitri replied cynically.

"What exactly where you doing in there anyhow friend?"

"I just wanted some information."

"Maybe I can help, what'cha need?"

Dmitri eyed his new companion, a scrawny fellow, tousled brown hair, no feature really spectacular about him. Except for his silly smile. Not exactly the sort of expression he'd imagined would be imprinted on a master magician. "I'm looking for the Tower of the Gods, happen to know how to get there?"

Lazreal's eyes flashed, "The Tower of the Gods? I know a man who was part of the group who was sent there, if you want to meet him."

"Any catches?" Dmitri asked suspiciously.

"From me? That hurts friend. All I ask is a good days conversation, nothing more. Well, and maybe a name. I'm not big on talking to someone without attaching a name to them so I know my words get to the right place."

"Dmitri."

"Well, Dmitri, I'm Lazreal, and I'm sure you've heard of me. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The two walked out, back into the streets of Tangrelle, talking together.

"What do you think of Tagrelle?" Lazreal opened up the conversation.

"It's a beautiful place Lazreal, none like I've ever seen before. The people, though, seem like another story my friend." Dmitri replied

"Yeah, they can be that way, sometimes, this place can get downright oppressive. But, I can understand it, people are dying, and there's nothing we can do about it."

"The world's always been a bleak place, they should get used to it."

"It's just..." Lazreal tapered off a bit "It's just that they cling to this hope of better times around the corner, and every minute it delays, they get, well, a bit miffed. I can see where they're coming from."

Dmitri sneered, "They should do something about it themselves then."

"They have Dmitri, the guy I'm introducing to you, he went to the Tower of the Gods to try to get them to help us out a little. They never made it, but, they tried."

"What happened?" Dmitri's curiosity was sparked.

"I never really asked, I never really talk to the old man much."

The two continued to walk down the main boulevard of Tagrelle, an exquisite street flooded with gleaming marble everywhere. The houses here had an enchanting quality to them. They each were spaced out a little ways, this looked like a little town right in the city, each of the houses were exceptionally large and had a haunting quality about them. They looked a bit lonely compared to the building stacked on one another down the road.

Lazreal let out a laugh "The Crown District is spectacular for newcomers alright." Lazreal himself was taking in the sights.

"I take it not just anybody lives in this place?" Dmitri asked sardonically

"Nope, just all the self-important people, those who tend to think that the world revolves around them type." Lazreal said with a smile.

All of the sudden, yelling could be heard down the ways. Dmitri and Lazreal stopped for a moment to try to figure out what might be going on before heading closer. Soldiers appeared out of seemingly nowhere, sprinting with all there might toward the noise ahead.

"My liege, what is going on?" Lazreal quickly yelped out to one of the soldiers passing by.

Gasping furiously, the soldier stopped for a moment "Attack, the..." the soldier caught his breath, "The death-dealers, they've been spotted on the western horizon, please, return to your homes immediately, there's nothing to worry about." And, with that, the foot soldier ran off toward the wall.

"A death-dealer attack? This oughta be fun to watch, you up for it?" Lazreal asked slyly.

"Death-dealer?" Dmitri asked puzzled, "They sound dangerous."

"They are my friend." Lazreal snickered, "But, this is Tagrelle, it's not like this doesn't happen Dmitri. The soldiers deal with them all the time. Plus, I know this great spot" Lazreal pointed off to this raised lane that overlooked the west wall. "We'll get to see all the action from there."

Dmitri shrugged. He did kind of want to see what exactly was going on, and his companion told him time and again that it was perfectly safe. Why not?

Lazreal took him through some of the alleyways he passed on his way. Lazreal knew his way around this city quite well, in fact, some of the paths they took Dmitri couldn't have even made out there was an opening there before Lazreal showed him. The colors of the walls began to blend in more and more, hiding little alleys gently tucked in-between buildings. Before long, they reached the landing Lazreal had showed him from the ground.