IMPERIUM INSECTUM

“Mom, are we there yet”

“No, not yet.”

“hmmmmmmm, how about now.”

“No, Istevan”

“When are we getting there then?”

*sigh* “We will get there when we get there.”

I am so glad my children aren’t this annoying. I looked out the window. We have been travelling for about an hour or so. Whilst not as fast as flying, a carriage is still pretty quick and now. As we journeyed, the forest gradually faded, making room for lush green grasslands and farmland. We even saw the occasional house.

*DING DING*

“What was that?” Appolinaris asked.

“It’s to tell us we’ll be arriving shortly. In the next 10 minutes or so.”

“YAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY”

I winced. This child is really pushing my patience. One more outburst like that, I'm going to wring his neck.

“ISTEVAN! Sit down! NOW!”

“Sorry!,” He slammed himself into the seat. Nice to know this woman has some control of her children, and speaking of children, I've told mine to stay in the forests. I'll come back to them, but for now, they should just focus on surviving. The forest had all but disappeared and been replaced with fields, houses and farmland. Soon our carriage started to pass some humans and even some carriages. I leaned against the window to get a better look outside, but all I could see was a long grey monolithic stone wall stretched for miles. The wall got larger and larger as we approached the entrance of the town, and soon it towered over us like a skyscraper. Why the hell would they need a wall so incredibly large? Just what the hell is in that forest? Suddenly, our coach ground to a halt. Appolinaris looked around, confused, as A muffled conversation between the driver and someone could be heard soon. Eventually, the conversation stopped as Loud footsteps approached my window.

The guard knocked on my window. “Identity passes, please,” said the guard. He wore a worn steel helmet with a yellow tunic with a dragon symbol on it. Underneath the tunic was a mix of leather and chain mail armour. I turned my attention to Mrs Ashdown, reached into a compartment built under the seats, and pulled out her purse. She swiftly pulled out 3 silver cards and handed them to the guard. He then looked at me and Apollinaris.

“They are travellers we met on the way here. They don’t have ID.”

“Well, they will have to pay the toll. 5 silver pieces each, please.”

Appolinaris reached into her pockets and pulled out our small brown money bag. She quickly counted out 10 silver pieces and handed them to the guard. He promptly inspected them and nodded.

“We will keep the money for 1 month if you acquire any form of valid identification in that time. Feel free to return to the guard's office and claim back your money.”

“Thank you”

The guard looked Appolinaris over one more time before walking away.

Soon our carriage started moving.

“Nice to know Doonvatel is well protected.” Appolinaris chimed in.

“Has to be.” Mrs Ashdown replied.

“It’s the last bastion of civilisation before you hit the consecrated Forrests.”

“consecrated Forrest?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, we call it the consecrated forest. I’m guessing you spirits give it a different name.”

“We don’t name it. We just call it home.”

“Oh,…. I see. Do you miss it? Your home?”

I looked towards Appolinaris. The smile on her face wavered slightly.

“Sometimes. But I’m happy with the mistress. She does look after me. And I’m grateful for her saving my life.”

She let out a bright smile, but I knew the true feelings behind that smile. There were no happy nostalgic feelings. Only an overwhelming tide of sorrow, misery and pain.

“Well, as long as you are content.” Mrs Ashdown lent back into her chair as the carriage moved through the city. We passed dozens of shops, from blacksmiths and tailors to bakeries and general stores. The town was surprisingly large and very, very busy.

“Is something happening? The town is very active.”

“Ah yes, a week from now, the town founding festival will begin. We will be celebrating the founding of Doonvatel. If you think it's busy now, give it a few days. I hope you stay long enough to see it.”

“I’m sure we will”

I looked towards Appolinaris, who sent a pleading smile back to me. You really wanna see this festival, huh. Fine with me. I'll make time for it. The carriage travelled further into the town, and Soon, the shops faded to give way to lush green parks and expensive houses straight out of a fantasy film. The carriage travelled further, revealing more and more extravagant homes until it stopped at the most luxurious of them all. A monolith of stone and marble with more windows than I could count and a garden so large that t would make most national parks blush with envy. Soon, the carriage pulled up to a large mansion with a black gate.

“Looks like we’re home,” she said, stretching her arms. “Thank you for earlier; if you want, I can introduce you to my husband now?”

“Thank you for the offer”, Apollinaris chimed in. “But we are exhausted from our travels. Maybe another time?”

“Of course. How about two days from now in the evening? My husband is having a meeting with some of his business partners. We could introduce you to a few of them?”

“Thank you! That Sounds perfect.”

“Perfect; I look forward to meeting you both again.”

Soon the driver opened the carriage door. Allowing me and Apollinaris to grab our stuff and Finally leave these people.

“Oh, before I leave. If you're looking for a place to stay, there is an Inn down the road. Called the Jaded Rabbit. It’s a great place. “

“Thank you” Appolinaris bowed as the black gates swung open and the carriage pulled into the house.

“What a god-awful ride,” I said as soon as the carriage pulled out of earshot.

“It wasn’t too bad. She’s nice.”

I glared at her before turning around

“Dont get too attached to them.”

“why? Wait, are you planning to-“

“Yes. I mean, I need to pay the daughter back for her previous rudeness to you and me, and the mother is quite good-looking. I wouldn’t mind a piece of her.”

Appolinaris groaned.

“to be honest, I shouldn’t be surprised at this point.”

“Besides that. We are probably going to be enemies with these people soon. And you need to stop being so soft. You will never achieve your goal of wiping out the city with that attitude.”

“Don’t worry. When it comes to them… you will see a different side to me.”

I looked over at her. Gone was the friendly exterior she was showing to the Ashfords. Now her face had the same burning anger and hatred she showed in the forest.

“Good.”

We followed the road towards the Inn. It's honestly hard to believe this place is a town. It feels larger than most cities in my old world.

“Just how big is this place?”

“Big? I mean, I’m not sure about other human settlements, but compared to the city of spirits, it's tiny.”

Wait, this place is tiny in comparison to the City of Spirits. Just how big is that city?

“What's wrong? Your face has just frozen.”

“Oh, nothing. It just changes the scale I was aiming for. Other than that, nothing has changed.”

“Oooookay?”

We kept walking. There weren’t many people walking on the streets up here, but those we did stopped when they saw Apollinaris.

“Is that...”

“wow..so rare.”

Appolinaris's face went beet red.

“Looks like your popular.”

“Shut up, Diva.”

The praise and compliments continued until. Finally, The Inn came into view. The Inn had a logo of a gold rabbit sleeping in a bed. Under the logo, there was a sign written in golden letters, “The Jaded Rabbit.”

“Finally. Can't wait to put my foot Up.”

I rushed over to the large oak door and pulled it open. Appoolinaris appeared beside me.

“Woahhh, This is amazing.” She said. And she was right. This place was amazing. Orange glowing orbs hanging from chandeliers illuminated the lobby in a soft orange light. Music played softly as people walked across the lobby towards the bar in the distance. I took the first step on the red carpet decorated with gold lining.

“Come on appolinaris. Let's go book our room.”

We started walking. All eyes were on us as we walked across the carpet. Well, there goes any chance of us laying low, I guess.

“Is that a moon spirit?”

“I heard they bring good luck where ever they go.”

“Who is that lady, and how did she get ahold of moon spirit.”

I looked towards Apollinaris, who was doing her best impersonation of a tomato. It didn’t take us long to reach the reception desk made of dark black granite and silver marble. The name of the Inn was carved into the tabletop. The receptionist was a beautiful blonde-haired, brown-skinned human.

“Greeting and well come to the jaded rabbit. How may I be of service?”

Appolinaris stepped forward.

“Ah..uuhmm…yes, can we have a room with 2 single beds, please.”

“Sure, let's see if we have any rooms like that available.”

She turned around and grabbed a thick brown book. She placed her hand on top of it. Suddenly the blook glowed gold before opening by itself and flipping to a random page.

“And what sort of room would you like? Our standard goes for 50 silver pieces per night, whilst our premium rooms go for 1 gold piece per night. Each, however, with the price of the premium room, you get free drinks on us, free room service and breakfast, lunch and dinner all included in the price.”

“I see. I'll take the stand-“

*Ahem* Apollinaris snapped her head towards me. I shook my head against the standard room. I've been travelling way too long. I'm not staying in the standard room.

“I'm sorry; well, take the premium room for 14 nights.”

“Perfect also, I forgot to ask, is it your first time in Doonvatel?”

“Yes.”

“Perfect. If that’s the case, your first 4 nights are on us. That will be 10 gold pieces.”

Appolinaris reached into the money bag and gave the lady the gold pieces.

“Thank you. Here are your keys. You are on the top floor, room number 6.”

“Thank you.”

We moved towards the lavish stairs and made our way up.

“Why the premium room? It's way too expensive.”

“Yes, and? The last time I checked, I wasn’t poor.”

“It just seems a little too excessive. We don’t need a room like this.”

“Sure, we don’t NEED it, but I want it. Apollinaris, stop thinking and enjoy it.”

She sighed but didn’t reply. It didn’t take us long to reach the top floor and our room. Our room was at the far end of the corridor. Behind a thick dark wood door with the number 6 carved into it. Appolinaris took out the key and unlocked the door.

“Woah,” She said, freezing in the doorway. “ this is” I slightly pushed myself past her to get a better view, and what I saw made my mouth drop. The room was fit for a queen. The floor was made out of polished marble tiles. The walls a smooth matt white with the occasional painting mixed in. Floating white orbs illuminated the room. We both walked into to get a better look. Inside the room were two single beds with a chest of draws by its side. On top of the drawers was a shiny silver bucket filled with ice.

“Oh, please tell me that's what I think it is.”

As fast as a cheetah, I rushed to the ice bucket, and what I saw confirmed my suspicion. Inside the bucket of ice sat a frosty green bottle Of wine. I wrapped my hands around the bottle. The condensation chilled my hand to the bone. I turned the bottle over, which revealed a golden label.

“Palldrena, From the emperor's own vineyard and aged to perfection.”

I unwrapped the gold wrapper from the top, revealing a dark brown cork. My eyes searched the room, looking for glasses, until my eyes fell onto the top drawer of my bedside table.

“If I had to guess...”

I pulled open the top drawer, where inside sat a bottle opener and several chilled wine glasses. I looked over to Apollinaris and called her over.

“You ever had wine before,” I said as I took the Cork off with a bottle opener.

“No, we could never afford it.”

I took out 2 chilled glasses and poured some wine for both of us.

“Well, there is a first time for everything.”

I gave her one of the glasses. She looked at it with wonder. She took a sip and immediately gagged.

“W-w-what is this! It’s so bitter! Why would anyone drink this.”

I laughed and took a sip. It had a bitter initial taste followed by a sweet fruity aftertaste.

“It’s not that bad. You’ll get used to it.”

Her face twisted in apprehension before taking another sip. I left her alone with the bottle of wine as I went and explored the room. The room was quite large, with 2 double doors on each side. One of the doors led to a large bathroom well; bathroom was an understatement. This room had a large tub that could fit 5 people and what looked like a sauna in the corner. Additionally, several glass shelves stuck out of the wall filled with different expensive-looking soaps. 

The other door opened into a large walk-in wardrobe filled with mirrors and make-up for us to use.

“Now, this is what you call premium.” I closed the door and walked back into the main area. One thing that caught my interest was a large curtain that looked to be covering something. Curiously I walked over and pulled it open. Revealing a glass door leading to a balcony. My hand grabbed the handle and swung the door open.

“Wow. This is amazing.”

The city was immense. I stared off into the distance as Tiny lights started to switch on as the sun started to set; I looked down to the street. The sounds of people chatting and laughing filled the air, Accompanied by the smell of delicious food. I followed my nose to the open-air restaurant below. So that’s where it's coming from. Maybe I should book an evening with Apollinaris. I turned my sights back to the town and drank it in.

<Such a beautiful place. I can’t wait to burn it all down>

My lips curled into a smile. I can't wait for that to come. But first, we must deal with the city of spirits. The humans annoyingly have to wait. I pulled away from the balcony and walked back into the room where Appolinaris was lying in bed, a glass of wine in hand. She took another large sip. And started giggling childishly. I looked at the bottle in her other hand. It was still pretty full. How could she be drunk already?!

“Errr, Apollinaris, are you okay?” I said as I approached the bed.

She snapped her head towards.

“Yesshhh. I'm totally *hic* finesh” she flailed her hands towards me. Nearly spilling wine all over the place.

“Apollinaris. Are you drunk?”

“IM NOT, IM NOT, DRU *hee hee* WOOOOOO I can’t get muh words now. Errrr what was I??? Oh yeah. IM NOT DRUNK. Juuust a bit Funny is all” She stood up from the bed and “attempted” to walk towards me. It’s a miracle she hasn’t spilt wine everywhere.

“How many glasses of wine have you had, Apollinaris.”

She stopped and looked at me. She could bearly stand still.

“Ooooooooh I don’t *hic* know 1 or 2 glasses maybe *hic* it doesn’t matter I’m not, HA ha HA, Drunk.”

 “Apollinaris I've stopped enough drunk drivers to know your drunk. Now give me the bottle.”

“I’M nawwwwwwttttttt” I tried to grab the bottle she swung it away from me.

“I can proooooove it *hic*”

I raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah, and how would you do that?”

She narrowed her eyes and walked toward me, stopping right in front of me. Her mushroom cap just coming halfway up my chest.

“Ehhhh!?, ur toooooooo tall! can you*hic* crouch.”

I rolled my eyes and let out a deep sigh

“Thank you!”

“Apollinaris, I don’t see how MMPH?!?!?!?”

Without warning, she planted her lips onto mine. Her drunk tongue fought heavily and greedily against mine. Once I found my bearings, I started to fight back against her tongue. I wrapped my hands against her hips and lifted her up to my level. At the same time, she wrapped her legs around my back. The air filled with the sound of sloppy kisses as we made out. Appolinaris's hands felt up every part of my body, sending electric shocks through me. Curses, why did this have to happen when I’m out of eggs. Every part of my body yearned to slam her down on the bed and impregnate her and make her fully mine. Fuck! Guess ill just have to settle for this. I moved my hands around to her tiny ass and gave it a firm squeeze. We kept making out until, finally, she pulled her tongue away. Both me and her were panting heavily. Her face was bright red, and her eyes were wet.

“Seeeeeeee, I told you I wasn’t drunk.”

I gave her a kiss on the forehead. “I guess you weren’t.”

She smiled and rested her head on my shoulder.

“Deeevaaaa I’m tiredd”

I rubbed her head.

“Yeah, it’s been a long day. Let’s call it a night.”

With her legs still wrapped around me. I carried her over to her bed. I tried to pull her off as I approached her bed, but she just ended up gripping me like a vice.

“no *hic* I wanna sleep with *hic* you.”

I sighed and walked over to my bed. As soon as I approached, she unwrapped her legs from around me and fell onto my bed. She started removing her clothes as I walked over to the other side. I slipped out of my cloak and shirt and climbed into bed just wearing my underwear. Apollinaris did the same. Soon we wrapped around each other in the bed sheets.

“Heyyyyyyy Diva”

"Hmmm?”

"I –  I  really, really like you.”

A smile crept onto my face.

“I like you to”

After that, we didn't say anything else, and we soon drifted off to sleep.