Luke dusted the red rocky soil off his boots. The sun started to bear down on him, standing in the same spot near the tora. The canyon felt like a wind tunnel as the airspeed ramped up. He put Xera back in her scabbard but kept Whispering Edge out, just in case. Wraith Wail would be perfect to use if this tora tried to leave.
The tora coughed and glared at the caravan leader, “Dirty merchants, always trying to act like you don’t skirt the laws yourself all the time. Hypocrites.”
“You may perceive us merchants as you like, sir. However, we most certainly do not endanger dozens of lives with our trading. Something you have done with whatever recklessness you’re up to.” He snapped his fingers, and another caravan member trotted over. “You called Trader Hendel?” the member said.
Hendel gestured, then spoke directly into the member’s ear. The member walked back over to the caravan. “I’ve told Trader Jacob to prepare the caravan to leave. If you refuse to tell us the truth once they’re ready,” he pointed his hands to Luke, “I’ll have to ask Aspirant Luke to alert the tower guards less than twenty minutes away.”
The tora man mulled it over, and the atmosphere became tense. His eyes scanned Elnora, then Luke. He stayed silent.
Luke’s patience cracked; he’d saved this man despite his actions putting his life in danger, and he couldn’t be bothered to speak. His last modicum of decorum vanished. He emoted with Reaver’s Link, and Sooty glided over.
“Sooty, this man has fruit he’s hiding from you. Show him how foolish that is,” Luke said.
The tora man became confused, “Fruit? I’ve got no food on me, let alone-“
“Too late, Sooty doesn’t care.”
Sooty landed on the tora man, and she started to use her beak to search the tora’s body. The tora began to laugh. Sooty had done similar to Luke in the past; she had a way of making people ticklish when she was sure you had food she wanted.
“Stop! Stop! I’ll speak.” The tora man began to roll, a shadow of pain crossed his face.
“Wasn’t so hard, was it? Sooty, the man says he ate it and will buy you some more when we reach Sylen. Right?” Luke said.
The tora smacked his lips, “Fine, I was trying to steal a monster cub for the Red Gorrids. But the Mishipeshu across the entire canyon were gathering. They were belligerent and territorial like they lost part of their sanity.” The man looked annoyed, “A few of their ascended pack members caught me, and I barely got away from them. They nearly maimed me, the stupid scale cats. A pack of runts tracked me down.” The tora man revealed.
Those were runts? I thought Elnora wasn’t serious.
Trader Jacob approached Hendel, “Hendel, the caravan is ready to leave. Here’s the contract paper you wanted.” The trader handed the parchment over and left.
“Sir bandit,” Hendel started.
“I’m not a bandit. Damn trader,” The tora said
“Your name then?” Hendel said, blinking once.
“Lavern,” The tora spat.
“Mr. Lavern, this parchment here is an offer. If you sign it, you’ll be required to serve the Fasa Commerce Chamber in a protective capacity, free of charge, for two months. In return, you’ll be provided room and board, as well as pardoned for putting dozens of lives in danger while breaking not one but two ducal laws.”
The caravan leader paced back and forth and said, “Make your choice, Mr. Lavern.”
Elnora visibly shuddered and looked down to the ground; she got up and left. Luke knew trauma when he saw it. He let her have space.
Lavern yelled, “You can’t force me into that. Even if I sign, I can run off, and you’ll be unable to do anything about it.”
Hendel was calm in his response, his breathing even, “You’re very much correct, Mr. Lavern. Magical indentured servitude and slave contracts have been banned in the Edge Lands for centuries now. Instead, you are being offered a different crime sentence through this parchment, as the convention approved long ago.”
He stopped pacing, facial muscles rose, and a merchant's gleam colored his eyes, “You are free to break the time-limited criminal sentence but will be subject to the full extent of Ducal law for your crime. The original time of service, need I remind you, is either three years enlisted on the front line or ten years in the prison mines.”
“That’s outrageous! You have no proof,” Lavern said.
The merchant pointed to a crystal pinned to his chest pocket. “I used this recording crystal the second I spotted you endangering my caravan. It has witnessed everything since that moment. A visual recording of you redirecting the monster pack and your vocal admittance to procuring ‘goods’ for a black market organization is within.”
With these events unfolding, Luke remembered not to get on a merchant’s wrong side. At least not in an illegal way. Lavern became flabbergasted. Luke noticed the tora man began to calculate visibly.
He’d been around that appearance multiple times during his enlistment and in the second year of the vanishing. Lavern was calculating murder math. Luke acted, he wasn’t going to risk the criminal tiger man going on a rampage because he got caught.
Frost blew from his body, and an aura pressed down on Lavern. Ice formed, a thin layer covered Lavern and the ground nearby. He shivered, and the frost from Frost Fall Reave rapidly dropped in temperature.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
His teeth chattered, and he began to look at Luke with fear in his eyes, “I’ll sign, damn it. You better keep your word, merchant.”
Hendel subtly moved away from Luke, avoiding the cold. “A merchant always keeps their word in business, Mr. Lavern. Glad to have you temporarily employed by the Fasa House Of Commerce.”
The tora man signed the parchment. Reluctance extruded from him as he did so.
Luke upended Frost Fall Reave, with the crisis averted. He learned that no good deed went unpunished and that certain people were gifted ingrates. Before Luke let the thought that saving this man’s life only put him in danger ruin his mood, Luke left and sat next to Celen on his assigned wagon.
Hendel and Lavern settled into the front wagon, and the caravan set off. They crossed the Crystal Arch bridge, left the canyon, and passed the mentioned guard tower on the other side. Once Luke had time to cool down, the old monic began to speak with him, “You did the right thing, son. Some youngsters only learn through hardship; don’t let it get to you.”
Luke got over it already; the solution for some people could only be summed up as minimal contact. He said, “He owes Sooty some fruit.”
Celen let out a hearty, joyous laugh, “Right, that companion of yours is a gift. I’ll let Hendel know to send some fruit over wherever you stay in Sylen. Treat it as thanks for keeping an old man safe.”
“You don’t have to mention it, Celen. It’s my job on this trip, and even if it weren’t, I doubt I’d have done things differently.”
“All the more reason to help an elder spoil Sooty. She has to go along with a stubborn master.”
Luke lightened up, and the two men continued small talk once more.
________________________________________
“My granddaughter makes me proud; she found her way into Elaria’s Capital. I could introduce you if you want,” Celen offered.
Luke stopped mid-way in his response, “I’ll take you up on it when the- wow.”
Their wagon had gotten to the top of a hill, and the caravan in front had gone far enough down that Luke could see miles out. The vision stat enabled him to see for incredible distances under the right conditions, the clear weather he enjoyed being one of them. An immense city sprawled out in the center of his vision. The sun close the position of the golden hour. No clouds reined over the city.
An impassable mountain range flanked the city on both sides. The only pass between the two occupied by the settlement. Its dark gray walls towered at a distance. Surrounding the mountainside facing Luke was rocky terrain mixed with dense pine tundra. He saw so many lumber mills and mines that his eyes glazed over.
Behind the city, he beheld a significant body of water and what looked like a port. But with the distance, it started to be vague by that point. A silver-black tower pierced into the sky, the tallest building in the city by an order of magnitude.
“A wondrous sight, isn’t it?” Celen said.
The wagon dipped back down the slope, and the carriages now covered the sights in front of Luke.
“Incredible,” Luke said, waving his arm, “the city’s position is genius. No wonder it’s called the front-line city. You have to get past it to reach the Duchy’s interior. What’s that tower in the center?”
Celen had a citizen’s pride as he said, “This city is the bulwark of Elaria. When the tides come, the lion’s share is stopped here. The Duchy’s interior is much more peaceful as a result.”
He reined the Gronols, and they slowed, “One of our bread baskets and ports is part of the city as well. But the tower,” His expression darkened.
Luke read Celen’s expression, “You don’t have to explain if you don’t want to, Celen.”
“No, son, you’ll learn soon enough. And if you’re going to be a Defier like you told me, it’s going to end up your most important training ground in this country.”
Luke straightened his posture and became more alert. “Give me the details, Celen,” he said.
“Knew that’d catch your interest. Always does for you Aspirants. That tower gathers any negative mana in the area, assisted by three smaller dungeons outside the city. Hunters and Defiers clear it as best they can. If they don’t, economic impact aside, an overlord creature will appear once too much time passes as the negative mana accumulates.”
The Reaver grew curious, “Overlord creature?”
Celen’s expression tightened, and the usual mirth left his body, “A middle-tier four monster or worse. Too many of those, and the Duchy’s power structure will collapse.” He let the silence permeate for an uncomfortable amount of time, “We’ll become the next Mercanta if that happens, whether we anger a god creature or not.”
The young man accepted the Duchy’s circumstances. “I see. Sylen has a heavy burden to bear.” Luke looked up to Sooty, who perched on the canvas covering above him. The times in the tomb ran through his mind.
Celen agreed, “Yes it does, son, yes it does. It’s not the only tower like that, either. The other two countries in the Edgelands have one. The Shattered Blade Empire’s silver-black spire is a more substantial specimen. Mercanta used to be the same, now…” Celen reined the pack beasts pulling the wagon, “That tower shattered; Succoria’s ‘diplomats’ called it their merciful act and left. The rampant negative mana produces waves of monsters the Duchy fights at the border to this day.”
Their wagon made it down the slope. The road undulated, and the ride became less stable. Luke observed the tundra forest and mountainous soil. He couldn’t see any signs of beasts or monsters, only a handful of insects and docile animals, like rabbits.
“This part always makes my back pain act up,” Celen said. “Can’t wait for a water massage from the parlor.”
“You’ve got plenty to look forward to at the city, it sounds. How long are you staying, Celen?”
“Until the monster tide begins and ends, we’ll be waiting in line for hours, I’m sure of it. All the villages abandon their fields and flood the towns or cities. They have to. A monster tide will wipe them out without proper protection.”
“Is that the ‘event’ I’ve heard mentioned in passing? What causes a tide?” Luke said.
“Look around you first,” Celen said.
Luke swiveled his head around. The environment felt peaceful, the temperature as he preferred. Night sounds of noisy bugs and the trickle of water overtook his hearing. Then, his eyes settled on the few lumberjacks and miners out and about.
All of them looked over their shoulder constantly. Their eyes darted, and the work order disrupted. Many seemed aged, and their clothes in unkempt condition. Luke heard constant unintelligible mutters.
“If an eventual wave of monsters is so close, why is anyone outside a set of walls?” Luke said.
“The wheels only stop turning when there’s no choice. Those men have families to feed, sons to raise, wives waiting, and daughters to take care of. If they don’t work in these conditions, no one will. At this time, the city gives hazard pay to entice the more reluctant.”
“And,” Celen said, “People have to be around. Those guard towers must be manned to give advance notice of the coming tide to the towns and cities. Some will die, so others can live.”
Luke thought of the wooden tower he first came to. If those tower guards couldn’t get to Kelser or one of the border towns when the tides came, they’d all die. Luke hoped they’d make it. He still owed Argel a favor after all he’d done for him.
“It’ll be any day then? Let’s switch the subject, think I know enough now,” Luke said
The conversation with lighter topics between the two took up the remainder of the journey; they entered a jammed line over half a mile from the city gates. The elderly monic sang praises about his grandchildren and how he’d be happy to see his wife in Sylen.
Their wagon came up to the gate, which was wide open; entry was only stopped by a small army of guards. The city guard passed over the two men quickly when they handed over their sigil stones without a fuss. The cargo’s inspection took ages, however.
“All clear,” the guard said, tilting his head to the gate, “may Sylen’s shield keep you from harm.”
“World Spirit keep you,” Celen said.
The Wagon entered the city and stopped at a cargo clearing. Celen patted Luke on the shoulder.
“Welcome to Sylen, young man, Elaria’s citadel and my home.”