Free Web NovelChapter 14: Welcome To Bestial City
"So, now that we all have each other’s numbers, I created a group for the four of us to stay in touch and coordinate our plans," Brittney chirped happily as they continued their journey to Bestial City.
The initial excitement from earlier had long faded. Some of the girls lucky enough to have window seats still stared outside with curiosity, but eight hours was a very long time. Eventually, even the novelty of trying to spot the beastmen in the convoy lost its appeal.
Aria pulled out the phone they had been given and opened the messaging app. Her mouth immediately twitched.
Girls Trying To Stay Alive (GTTSA).
Aria wasn’t entirely sure how to react to that name. One thing was certain though. She was never giving Brittney naming privileges again.
Not surprisingly, Trisha was the first to comment.
Trisha: What kind of weird-ass group name is that?
Since Brittney was seated beside her while Alek and Trisha occupied seats two rows away, Aria watched the girl furiously type out a response.
Brittney: It’s called creativity. Something you don’t seem to appreciate.
A moment later, another message popped in.
Trisha: If that’s creativity, then humanity is doomed.
The snort that escaped Aria caught her completely off guard. She immediately composed herself. This was no time to encourage their antics. They were headed to Bestiaris Academy, for crying out loud.
Unsurprisingly, a minute later, Trisha changed the group name.
Operation Stay Alive (OSA).
Almost immediately, a certain person fired back.
Brittney: And this is the best you could come up with? What are we? A military unit?
Trisha: Better than sounding like a support group for people with poor survival instincts.
Before the argument could continue, a new message appeared.
Alek: Essential things to grab before leaving the bus.
Just like that, the group chat quieted down.
Alek: Take as many bottles of water as you can carry. We don’t know the quality of the water supply at Bestiaris Academy. For all we know, the local beasts might find it amusing to poison us.
A small smile tugged at Aria’s lips.
Finally, there it was. Someone useful with enough common sense to think ahead. She knew she had made the right choice with Alek.
The message seemed to remind Brittney and Trisha why the group existed in the first place. So the argument died. Though not before Brittney quickly changed the group name again.
Friends On A Mission (FOAM).
Brittney looked up from her phone and grinned. "See? At least this acronym is pronounceable."
The girl looked like she wanted to be applauded. Aria ignored her.
For all her jokes and reckless behavior, Brittney didn’t seem remotely afraid of what waited ahead. Maybe it was because she didn’t have someone depending on her the way she had Davina.
And she intended to make it home to her sister no matter what it took.
Another message appeared.
Alek: Stock up on food whenever possible. Food shortages and food poisoning are both miserable ways to die.
That was the point Aria froze.
Aside from the packaged snacks they had been given earlier, she had almost nothing. At best, her supply would last a day or two if she rationed carefully.
Her stomach sank.
She glanced toward the front of the bus where Abigail sat. Maybe by the end of the trip she could convince the woman to spare some leftovers if any remained.
A new message appeared before the thought could settle.
Trisha: Don’t worry. I packed enough snacks to feed us for a week.
Brittney: Same. One of my bags is literally nothing but snacks. I refuse to spend weeks away from home without chocolate.
Relief immediately washed through Aria. At least starvation was no longer an immediate concern.
Still, the exchange left an unpleasant feeling in her chest. Everyone else seemed to be contributing something useful, while she was relying on their supplies.
Brittney: Though I’m going to miss actual cooked food. Why can’t one of you volunteer as the food tester? Imagine dying for your friends. We’d build a statue in your honor and everything.
Trisha: Then volunteer yourself. I’ll worship your statue and leave flowers until the day I die. That’s the least I can do.
The sarcasm dripping from her words was impossible to miss.
Before their argument could spiral into another commotion, Aria typed four simple words.
Aria: I have the map.
Immediately, three typing indicators appeared. Aria didn’t wait for any of them to finish and uploaded the file.
The moment she had switched on the phone earlier, the first message waiting for her had come from Eniola.
"An early gift to commemorate our business."
Attached beneath it were the files she had requested: the academy map and the records of previous Concordia participants.
The ease with which the information had found its way onto the device rubbed Aria the wrong way.
She made a mental note to acquire another phone as soon as possible. The thought of someone monitoring her messages made her skin crawl.
She needed privacy.
Alek: How did you get hold of the Bestiaris map?
Aria knew the question was coming and had already prepared her answer.
Aria: I have my sources. freёwebnovel.com
"Ooh," Brittney said. "Mysterious." She winked before opening the file on her device.
Aria rolled her eyes at the girl’s theatrics. Thankfully, none of them pressed for more details, respecting her privacy. While they had formed an alliance, Aria wasn’t naive enough to believe they weren’t keeping secrets of their own.
These were the children of aristocrats.
There was no way their parents had simply sent them off and hoped for the best.
If Maverick had been assigned to protect them, what was the likelihood their families hadn’t arranged additional layers of protection as well?
That had to explain why the likes of Charlotte seemed completely unbothered by the danger ahead. Then again, Aria couldn’t pretend to understand how aristocrats thought.
Just look at Brittney. The girl had been shipped off here with seemingly no concern for whether she lived or died.
Perhaps their parents had gambled with them too. They just didn’t know it yet.
The map was enough to keep the girls occupied, and Aria used the opportunity to send a message to her sister.
’Hello Davi, it’s me, Aria. I know you’re mad at me for leaving, but unfortunately, this is the way it has to be. However, I’m coming back for you. I promise. Please reply once you get this.’
Aria sent the message and took a shaky breath. In. Out.
Then she turned toward the window, watching the scenery race by while her thoughts drifted far beyond the glass.
They only made two stops throughout the journey, both for bathroom breaks and a brief meal before continuing on the road.
Although one had to give Karen some credit. The blonde had outright refused to use the gas station toilets.
In her words:
"You have no idea what kind of infections are breeding in those poor-people bathrooms."
So she endured the entire journey instead, limiting how much water she drank whenever possible.
They moved on.
Aria had to thank Brittney for keeping her awake through most of it with her endless stream of conversation. Because the moment the girl finally ran out of things to say, exhaustion, stress, and lack of proper sleep came crashing down on her all at once.
A sudden blaring sound jolted Aria awake.
Looking around, she discovered she wasn’t the only one. At some point, nearly every girl on the bus had fallen asleep. The long journey had finally caught up with them.
Abigail was standing in the aisle now, watching them with her usual austere expression.
She addressed them. "Buckle up. We’re at the border."
"What?!"
The girls practically shrieked the word.
Aria immediately sat up straighter. If they were at the border, that meant they had reached Blackwater Province.
Blackwater Province had earned its name from the river that separated it from Bestial City. Even now, the water flowing beneath the bridge appeared almost black, swallowing the sunlight instead of reflecting it.
The dark river stretched endlessly in both directions, forming a natural barrier between human territory and the lands beyond.
Aria stared through the glass as the border came into view.
Blackwater Province’s side of the bridge looked less like a border crossing and more like a military fortress. Concrete barriers lined the roads while armed soldiers patrolled every few meters with rifles strapped across their chests.
Watchtowers overlooked the crossing, and powerful searchlights swept across the black waters below even in broad daylight. Every inch of the area screamed vigilance.
For the first time since leaving Nova City, Aria truly understood how seriously the government viewed the beasts.
The convoy ahead slowed briefly. Soldiers approached the lead vehicles, checked identification, exchanged a few words, then waved them through. Apparently everything had already been arranged because their bus continued forward toward the opposite shore.
The atmosphere inside the vehicle was different now. The excitement that had filled the bus hours ago was gone. No one was talking about beast princes anymore.
Even Brittney had fallen silent, leaning across Aria to stare through the window.
Reality was finally setting in.
Then they saw it.
Unlike the human side, Bestial City had no walls, gates, and army waiting to inspect travelers. Instead, rising ahead of them was an enormous stone arch spanning the entire roadway.
The structure was colossal, towering high above the bridge like a monument built by giants. Age had weathered parts of the stone, yet it remained imposing enough to dominate the entire landscape.
A collective gasp swept through the bus because carved into the top of the arch was a hydra with seven heads.
Each head faced a different direction with its jaws parted and fangs exposed. Their eyes had been carved so deeply into the stone that they seemed almost alive, watching every traveler who crossed beneath them.
Beneath the monument, words had been etched into the stone in massive letters.
ENTER WITH HONOR OR LEAVE AS PREY.
Aria swallowed.
"Welcome to Bestial City."
