The Dark City of Vyock

The city of Vyock, nestled in the sharp and imposing crags of the Vyock Mountains and lurking forever in the shadow of the grand Vyock Castle, was an anachronism. As much as Jake and Alex saw Elysia's world of Ekodyne as an amusing mix off middle ages and magical steam punk fantasy, the city they had entered felt more like the dark ages. Low, unkempt buildings lined the streets, which themselves were cracked and broken. Even the air seemed to get darker and colder as they entered the city.

“Hey Jake, remember when we had our old Hammer horror movie marathon and I said it’d be cool to live then because of all the monsters and ladies with big boobs in tight corsets?” Alex asked.

“Yeah?” Jake answered.

“I need you to go back in time and smack me,” Alex said.

“Sure you wouldn’t rather get a corset?” Jake asked with a smile and a raised eyebrow.

“Kraelin! Stop the truck! I’m gonna do a murder! Nobody thinks about my boobs in a corset!” Alex called out.

“I agree. We need to stop before I kill both of these idiots,” Saphira said, wedged in between the two in the backseat.

“Now kids, calm down before your father and I turn this car around!” Elysia said playfully from the front seat.

“I’m older than all of you,” Saphira said.

“Look. There’s a tavern,” Kraelin said, pointing towards a dingy looking little place called the Plucked Phellax. He quickly pulled up to the side of it, shutting the truck off. “Now, everybody get out of my truck.”

“Dad is angry,” Jake said.

“What’s a phellax?” Alex asked, looking at the sign.

“Looks kinda like a goose,” Jake said. “With four legs.”

“They taste like fat and shame,” Saphira said, reattaching her mask. “You don’t name a respectable place after a naked phellax.”

“Are you paying attention, Jake? There will be a quiz later,” Alex said as they walked into the tavern.

It took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the dark. The tavern wasn’t simply dark. It was unnecessarily dark. It was claustrophobically dark. Men of hunched shoulders and long beards drank at tables and bar stools as their eyes wandered to the newcomers who opened the doors and let the stabbing light in. Stick ran up Alex’s body, curling around his neck in fear.

“Jake…are we gonna die?” Alex asked.

“Yes. Yes we are,” Jake said as they walked in.

“I’ll go order us some food, see if they have some rooms,” Kraelin said, walking to the bar.

“Male sure the food is dead!” Alex said.

“So, are these the types of places you’ve hung out in since leaving us?” Elysia asked Saphira as they went to an empty table.

“Reprobates don’t ask questions. They also don’t look you in the eye,” Saphira said.

“Maybe they should ask more questions,” Alex said stepping over a passed out man. “Like, how did my life get to this point, or oh god, why?”

“Are we ones to talk?” Jake said, ruffling Alex’s hair. “Hell, we should still be in school right now.”

“You still go to school at your age in your world?” Elysia asked as she sat down.

“Yeah, for us it’s basically school until we’re, like, 25 or something,” Jake said. “My dad was all about which schools I was going to get into, how I would be a credit to my legacy!”

“Do you miss him?” Elysia asked, her tone containing sympathy and a bit of guilt.

“You clearly don’t know Mr. Young,” Alex said. “Hell, what is your dad’s name? I always thought it was Mister. Anyways, the guy is cold. Like, you could be all cozy in a cabin with lots of blankets, big fire roaring, but the guy walks in? Freezing.”

“You can stop talking any time, dude,” Jake said.

“Hey, its not like my family life was any better. The days I wasn’t ignored were the days Steve treated me like crap.” Alex sighed, not even realizing he was handling his father’s old watch as he talked.

“You called your father by his first name?” Saphira asked.

“Steve was not my father,” Alex told her, sounding more serious than she had ever heard him. “Dad got sick and died. I think mom barely cared. She was cheating on him with Steve before he passed. Then he rolled in and took over.”

“I…I never realized…” Elysia said, looking at them both. “Coming from such homes, yet both of you are so kind.”

“And stupid,” Saphira snarked, leaning back in her chair.

“Stick. Jump,” Alex said. The whiptail uncurled from his neck and jumped onto Saphira’s chest playfully, knocking her over.

“It’s not us being kind,” Jake said. “If anything, it’s hate. I hate the person my parents wanted me to become. Another spoiled, rich asshole who would make them look better.”

“I hate my parents. Well, mom and stepdad. Not my real dad. He was the best,” Alex said.

“Its so odd,” Elysia said. “Elder Augarium was strict with me, but I could never imagine hating him. Like your father, Saphira. He was always the life of the party.”

Saphira sat back up, grasping Stick tightly. “Don’t. Launch. The rodent. Again,” she said before tossing Stick back to Alex. “And yes, my father is wonderful.”

“What happened to him?” Elysia asked. “After the accident, he vanished. We all assumed he had fled in shame over what we did. Do you still keep in contact with him?”

“No…he doesn’t deserve to have my mess screwing up his life,” Saphira said, slowly and softly. “I left him long ago in the middle of the night. He saved my life. He saved me from my mutation. I’m not going to force him to save me a third time.”

The four of them sat there awkwardly, not knowing where to steer the conversation next. Fortunately or unfortunately, Kraelin arrived then with their food, a tray of gray and mottled bird meat and some type of greenish orange slop in a bowl. “Why do you all look as depressed as this food?” Kraelin asked.

“Jake, is it too late to go back to being beaten up in an alley?” Alex asked as he held a shriveled drumstick, looking like he might  cry.