The scent of wet earth reached their nostrils as the wind carried the airship to their destination. Midhir watched the dense forests below as they flew northeast. The terrain became more mountainous as they moved, and the old growth thickened.
It took them half a day to reach Bareon territory, and three more hours to arrive at their destination. As the airship began its rather shaky descent, Arwen approached Midhir, tightly grasping her staff with both hands. She was pale, still not used to journeying via airship. Behind her was Alistair, who leaned on the railing and scoured the view below them.
Midhir glanced over his shoulder to look at Willow. The cheerful noble was chatting with one of the crewmembers, seemingly without a care in the world.
“It’s a very distant town,” Alistair pointed ahead. The town had entered their field of view. About a dozen small buildings had been constructed in a half circle, and a small monument stood at the centre of it. “And I can see why messengers from here didn’t even attempt to reach Bareon – it’d take weeks to pass through the overgrown mountainous region.”
Arwen narrowed her eyes. “It seems… old.” She commented, then gasped with fear as the airship suddenly lost a lot of altitude. The airship stabilised almost immediately, but her eyes remained wide open, and her hands visibly trembled. “I really hope we land soon.” Her voice was but a meek whisper.
“We will. Look,” Alistair pointed down, to a grassy plateau bordering the town. “You should hold onto something.” He suggested as he grasped the railing with both hands.
The airship landed with a loud thud that knocked all three of them off their feet. The wooden hull let out painful creaks and a rather worrying crack, and the wings of the airship nearly snapped from the sudden landing.
“Apologies for the rough landing!” A woman’s voice echoed from a crystal attached to a post on the deck. “You can blame the weather for this. The ramp is out, so feel free to leave when you want. We’ll be here until you come back!”
Arwen practically leapt off the airship, and only breathed a sigh of relief when her feet touched solid ground. “Finally!” She wheezed as she took deep breaths in an attempt to calm down.
Alistair and Midhir followed her, both relieved to be on the ground once again. This had been an even bumpier ride than their journey to Lunum, especially towards the end. Despite being somewhat used to airships, they too needed to take a few short moments to recollect themselves.
Willow walked off the ramp shortly after them, seemingly unbothered by their journey.
The plateau they landed on was covered in long grass that nearly reached their knees. The small town of Lohssa was just north of here. A man, followed by half a dozen people carrying small boxes was hurrying towards them.
“Ah, Mayor Banain!” A woman shouted from the airship’s upper deck. It was a young woman with curly short hair dyed bright blue. She was leaning on the rails, waving enthusiastically towards the approaching group. “It’s been a while!”
She was clearly not form Eldoria, not with that dark skin colour, and her exotic silken clothes. Her baggy pantaloons were a bright blue colour, and her top only covered her chest and her left shoulder. A half cloak fluttered behind her with the strong winds of the plateau.
She must be from the north, Midhir decided. Probably from near the desert. Curiosity tugged at the back of his mind, but he turned around to look at the approaching group.
“Indeed!” The mayor shouted as he waved at her with a tired smile. He was a middle aged man, with some white in his brown hair. He was thin, almost dangerously so, and as he approached the dark circles under his eyes became more apparent. He was pale, and his left hand was bandaged, though he did try to hide it under his coat.
“Welcome,” He greeted them with a weak smile. “You’re Miss Valien’s students, am I right?”
“We are.” Alistair replied. “You are the Mayor, sir Domnall Banain, I assume?”
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The mayor nodded. “That I am indeed.”
The men behind him started carrying the boxes towards the airship, not paying any mind to Midhir’s group. They all seemed strong, at first glance. But when Midhir took a better look, he couldn’t help but notice how pale they were as well. Their bodies were that of working men, but they seemed weakened. They grunted and moaned as they carried the boxes, as if they were too heavy for them to lift.
He rose on his toe tips to try and steal a glance of what’s in the boxes. “Is that… small plaques of wood?” He asked, confused.
Mayor Banain nodded. “Lohssa’s export is refined wood of all kinds.” He made a vague gesture towards their surroundings. “As you can see, it’s all overgrown forests around us, except for this plateau. Had it not been for the vigorous work of our woodcutters, this place would be forested as well.”
“I see.” Midhir muttered. Wood wasn’t quite so heavy – not heavy enough to make experienced wood workers grunt while carrying half a dozen plaques at least. Was it an illness that weakened them? Or something else – perhaps what they were sent here to solve?
“Shall we go?” Mayor Banain asked. “I’m very thankful to Solus Academy, and to miss Valien for granting us your aid,” he continued as he led them towards Lohssa. “As you can probably guess, we don’t get many visitors, since the airway station hasn’t begun construction yet. And even if it had, the winds here don’t make for the best flight experience.”
Arwen nodded vigorously. “It was certainly not the smoothest flight.”
“Indeed. So, as I said, we rarely get visitors. And help. Help is rare as well.” He paused for a breather for a few seconds.
Alistair looked at his feet. His clenched fists remained hidden from the mayor, but Midhir could see them, since he walked behind the young noble. “Do you have no aid from Lord Orlein at all?” Alistair asked, his voice dead calm.
The mayor shot him an odd look. “Bareon is very far from here,” He explained absentmindedly. “Lord Orlein has given us funding for the airway station, but transporting goods and people up to these mountains isn’t easy without air travel, and only smaller ships can land on the plateau.” He grimaced. “Besides, I doubt he has much time for a small town like Lohssa, he needs to govern a whole province after all.”
Alistair scowled. He inhaled, meaning to speak up, but he stopped as they arrived at the small town of Lohssa.
Built right next to the overgrown forests, Lohssa was a beautiful town. Stone houses with tiled roofs formed a half circle around the town centre. Flowering vines decorated the houses outer walls, climbing all the way to the rooftops where they bloomed. Moss covered most of walkway that made up the town centre, seemingly spreading from the rather peculiar looking structure at the middle.
“Ah, a shrine of the Old Faith.” Arwen blurted out as soon as she saw it. “But I’ve never seen one so… new.” She added with a scowl as her gaze lingered on the shine.
It was a piece of white rock. It was too clean to be as ancient as it should be, and its shape was too unnatural. It was clearly carved with care, given this flowing, peculiar form. It reminded him of the wind.
“It’s not new.” The Mayor said with a grimace. “We clean it once in a while, but it’s never really lost its lustre.” He shrugged. “The Old Faith has died a long time ago, miss. We may preserve what is left of it, but like the rest of Zamor, we have our church.” He shot a meaningful glance to the largest building in the small town – a church.
Midhir’s gaze lingered on the rose window above the church’s entrance. It depicted the Daughter offering a flower to the Sun, same as in Lunum’s church, though this one was clearly a much newer building. It’s garden was flourishing with beautiful flowers, though as he looked, he couldn’t help but feel like something was missing.
“Lohssa is beautiful,” Willow said in awe as she looked all around her, taking in her surroundings. “I’ve never seen so many types of flowers before!”
“Indeed.” Alistair muttered.
The mayor led them to the second largest building. It was a two-story inn, with an attached barn and a small, fenced grazing area for the horses. Bales of hay were put up against the side of the barn, clearly waiting to be hauled inside. A black horse, with brown spots on its neck and legs and grey mane and tail was grazing in the fenced area.
The mayor led them inside.
The inn itself wasn’t particularly noteworthy. A handful of tables decorated the ground floor. There were a few plant pots here and there, all in beautiful bloom, but aside from those and a rather detailed panting of the town hanging from the back wall, there wasn’t much in the name of decoration.
A young woman stood behind the counter, carefully wiping a bowl. She raised her head as they stepped inside. “Mayor Banain, welcome.” She said with a dry voice. Her face only lit up when she noticed the group following him. “Oh, newcomers! Welcome to the Blooming Rose inn!” She put down the bowl on the counter and hurried over to welcome them.
“Take a seat, what can we get you?” She nervously wiped her hands on her apron.
“We’ll get some water,” Alistair spoke up. “And whatever food you have available.”
“Of course!” The innkeeper nodded and headed back to pour them each a glass of water.
They sat around the table, their gazes fixed on Mayor Banain. The innkeeper brought their water before she disappeared into the kitchen.
“Please explain the issue Lohssa is facing, Mayor.” Arwen spoke up. Her bright green eyes were narrowed ever so slightly. “The town is in shambles. What happened?”