I chuckled and walked out of the alley, the others in tow. Eris wasn't privy to most of the features players had available to them. I pulled out a small scroll from my inventory—a summoning scroll, specifically, for mounts, pets, and familiars.
I poured a little mana into the scroll to activate it. One of the only times I ever used my limited mana. The scroll unfurled itself, and a bright circle formed on the parchment. It was a smaller Script circle; only a few lines of script flowed over the shining blue pentagram. With a flash, the scroll shredded, and the magic circle transferred to the dirt road next to me. Lacuna appeared in the center of the circle amidst a shower of brightly lit sparks.
As soon as she appeared, the circle faded and disappeared from the world. I walked over to the gigantic horse and stroked her face. "Sorry for leaving you all alone."
I helped Eris on Lacuna, and she, in turn, helped the kids on. One of the children, whose names I still didn't know, sat in Eris's lap. Need supplies and horses for the trip. Last I remember, there’s a general store near the entrance. I'll need to ask after the horses, though.
Lots to do. And I didn't want to linger here any longer than we had too. Lonny had almost certainly realized I'd escaped by now and probably reported back to the Alliance and the Cardinals. It would take nearly a full day for the information to spread through the kingdoms, but I wanted to be long gone by the time it did.
With a goal in mind, we made our way through the busy streets. Eris and the two spiderlings sat atop Lacuna as I held her reins and walked beside them. They'd concealed their eyes once again, and Eris was wearing her cloak. From a distance, no one could tell her apart from a human.
We were forced to stay in the center of the street as we walked along, too many people on either side of us weaving in and out as they hurried along. Over the next few hours, we made our way to the East Kingdom entrance without any serious trouble. Nearly running into half a dozen people as they obliviously walked out in front of us didn't qualify as trouble to me.
I spotted the store right where I had remembered it. We hurried across the street. Weaving as best we could through the masses, we reached the front of the store. I hitched Lacuna and Lyahgos and the others came with us inside the store, as it was their supplies we would be purchasing. Let them pick out what they wanted and pay for it.
The store was a simple two-story wooden affair, and even though it was unadorned, you could tell it was crafted with time and care. As we made our way inside, the same level of care could be seen on the interior as well—not a speck of dust or item on the shelves out of place. Manning the counter was a spry youth in his late teens or so. He must be running the store for his parents.
"Afternoon, all. What can I help you find today?" he asked. His voice was light but held traces of masculinity. It teased what it would mature into. His hair was a dark brown, so dark it looked black in the muted light of the store, and he was sporting the beginnings of stubble on his face.
"We need a weeks' worth of provisions for six people," I told the lad.
"Of course, good sir, any preference?"
I jerked my head towards Lyahgos. "Ask him."
The rabbitman approached the counter and began discussing the types of provisions they would all need. I let him do his thing. Eris and the children walked through the aisles, browsing their wares. It was her first time being in an enclosed shop like this, so she browsed while the others purchased what they needed.
I browsed myself and picked out some more supplies for Eris and myself. I topped up my health and mana potions, bringing both back to ten and two weeks of rations. Nothing fancy, but I bought plenty of dried meat of all kinds. Rather not live off game for the next week. I paid the youth two gold, even though it was more than what my supplies cost. I slid the extra gold to him with a warning. "You never saw us, and we didn't buy anything, got it?"
He took the gold with a nod of understanding. "Good lad," I said, turning and leaving. With my purchases secured, it looked like the Lyahgos was finished buying what they needed as well. They all had new cloaks that covered them nearly to their shins and sturdy traveling packs that seemed to be stuffed full to bursting with supplies.
We regrouped at the entrance to the shop. With all of our supplies taken care of, it was time to get horses and get out of the East Kingdom. Asking the lad at the counter, he pointed us in the direction of the entrance, telling us that there was a horse merchant near the front gate. I tossed him another gold for his trouble. Hopefully, that shuts him up.
We left the shop and had a late lunch, scarfing down our food quickly and setting off again. After helping Eris and the kids back on Lacuna, I set a steady pace, and we made it to the gate in twenty minutes.
After a few minutes of rest, we started looking around for the horse merchant. I found him a few minutes later. The lad had given us the wrong directions, or the merchant had moved, but he was not, in fact, next to the main gate. He was about five minutes further
