Heading to the village was an odd experience. Originally, there had been seven of us prisoners before everything happened. By the time we escaped that god-forsaken castle and had our freedom, there were only four. The deaths of Alex, Cyril, and Aradin weighed heavily on we survivors. Little was said around the campfires those first few days, other than a few short conversations, and the plans Ophelia and I made.
Though Dana had disappeared in the night early on, none of the others seemed to be concerned.
“Dryads are solitary creatures, and rarely seen.” Oesdin explained one day as we walked. I had been asking about her again, both worried and curious. “It's not likely any of us will meet her again in this lifetime, and she will be especially wary now that she has been captured once.”
Ophelia chimed in as well, adding a bit of information to the explanation. “Dryads are one of the longest lived creatures we know of. They live as long as their forests do typically, and only the youngest like Dana are ever seen. The older ones tend to keep hidden from all, only revealing themselves if they require assistance.”
Oesdin still didn’t talk much, except to chime in information when I asked questions. Too wrought with his own grief over the loss of his brother, it didn’t seem like Oesdin was at all curious why I knew next to nothing about the world around us.
We were currently in the Maugdlin woods, heading North towards Maugdlin village. Aptly named I suppose, but where was the creativity? Back on Earth, I would have considered this a boreal forest, filled to the brim primarily with conifer trees with long, pointed needles. Pinecones littered the ground, and new growth was pushing through the loose needles littered about. It was certainly early into the spring, but the air felt warmer than I would expect judging from the trees.
“It's spring here, right? How long is the winter?”
“Winter lasts about 5 months, from the first freeze to the last thaw. It will be planting season in a week or two.” Oesdin offered, his voice still low and almost robotic. I truly felt awful for his loss, but didn’t know how one could even comfort a minotaur.
“Why are there no leafy trees? It's all pine trees as far as I can see. Nothing with leaves.”
“Too cold. The winter doesn’t last long, but the winds from the north are brutal. It's dangerous to even leave your house in the coldest months.”
“That sounds harsh… What do you do with all that time?”
“Practice our crafts mostly. Many of those living in the village have taken up knitting and rug making. Then we sell what we made in the winter come spring and summer.”
Now that was a cool idea. No wasted time, and everyone had a skill to hone other than farming. I glanced over at Ophelia, who was a bit ahead of us. She acted like a scout, keeping an eye out for monsters and beasts on our path. So far, nothing had been truly dangerous, and most everything had run from us upon hearing our footsteps.
“Is your family’s home around here Ophelia?” I asked, jogging a few steps to catch up and walk beside her.
“Further North actually. About two weeks walk beyond the village, on the outskirts of the city Nightfrost.”
“And now I have to ask about that. Nightfrost?”
“Once you are past Maugdlin forest, the climate becomes much colder much quicker. Nightfrost is a city situated between two mountains on its east and west sides and as such rarely gets any light. Even in the summer, the cold winds from the north blow down, and everything is constantly coated in a layer of thin ice, hence the name.” She cheered up just a bit, talking about her home. I think she even smiled, the first one I had seen since leaving the castle.
“A city of eternal winter? It sounds like we should get warmer clothes in the village then, if we are going to head that way.”
Ophelia nodded, and let out a yawn. We would be in the village the next day, but still had a decent amount of time left before the sun set.
“Tired?” I asked, an eyebrow raised. She slept like the dead most nights, passing out into a snoring slumber any time she wasn’t on watch.
“Yeah, the sunlight makes me a bit sleepy I suppose. It's so bright and warm, compared to home.”
We passed most of the rest of that evening in companionable silence. Oesdin was, well, not content, but most comfortable not talking, and Ophelia and I had spoken enough over the past few days of travel that there wasn’t a lot to say if I wasn’t peppering her with endless questions.
As the light dimmed, and we started looking for a place to make camp, it became clear we were entering a place where people lived. Tree stumps began to become more common, and eventually we even found a makeshift dirt road with deep divots from some kind of wheel. A wagon probably.
“This is where they cut wood last year for winter.” Oesdin stated, and took the lead, bringing us a bit further up the road to a small, empty cabin. “This year, they will dig up the stumps and plant new saplings, but not for a few more weeks. The ground is still too frozen to dig deep enough to plant trees.” Sustainable foresting, now that was good to see. Better than humans did at this technology level. Hell, better than humans did now, in a lot of cases.
“What about replenishing the soil?” I asked, still curious about their farming methods.
“Organic waste from livestock, mostly. The village druid takes care of most of it himself though.”
Oh right. Magic. That probably made agrarian life much easier, even if you just had a single guy who could tell what the soil needed to replenish itself. Moreso if the druid could heal diseases or assist growth.
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We ended up taking the cabin, and for the first time since coming to this place, I slept with a roof over my head and no threat of death or attack. It was wonderful.
The next morning, we finally headed into the village. It was a collection of about 100 buildings, mostly homes of one kind or another, surrounded by a wall made of thick logs. On the outside of the wall were various farms and fields, and they stretched out a ways to the east and west. Oesdin brought us to the gate and introduced us to the guard, who let us in once he recognized the minotaur.
“Thank you, Niles, Ophelia. Without you, I wouldn’t see my family again.”
“Of course Oesdin. And, I’m sorry for what we couldn’t do.” Ophelia stated, likely more aptly than I ever could.
“Oesdin, if you need anything, let me know, okay? I’m going to stay with Ophelia’s family for a while, so please write if you’d like.”
As far as goodbyes went, it was short but apt. The minotaur never went into the village, walking around the wall and soon out of sight to his family's farmhouse.
“What do we do? We need clothes for the cold from what you said, but I only snagged a few coins from that jailer when I was looking for keys.”
Ophelia’s eyes went straight to my hip, where a small sack I had taken was sitting tied to the rope belt of my robes. I was the only one dressed cleanly, as the magical garments were enchanted to clean and repair themselves. It was hard to tell they had ever been through a fight.
I, on the other hand, was still covered in wounds. Each and every one of them would leave a nasty scar, but I had somehow avoided infection, and the cauterization of that flaming blade had kept me from bleeding out after the fight. Even so, I was truly surprised at how easily the journey had been made. I should have been bedridden for a few days waiting, but the wounds rarely had opened up on the trip, and when they did, it was only drops of blood instead of the deluge I had seen on TV in medical shows.
“How much did you get?” She asked, sounding skeptical but interested. I shrugged, handing her the sack. I didn’t know money in this world, but coins were coins so I had taken them.
She opened up the bag and started pulling coins out, handing them to me a couple at a time. “2 silver coins and about 30 copper… That should be enough for a pair of warm jackets and a night in the inn at least, with a bit left over. I’m glad you got this, I wasn’t sure how we were going to get money.”
Just then the wind blew hard, bringing a freezing cold with it. My robes billowed out, but the insulated fabric kept me surprisingly warm. In the forest, there hadn’t been much wind thanks to the plethora of trees, but the village seemed to almost funnel it down the streets. My nose twitched, a little chilly, but Ophelia immediately sneezed and began to shiver. She was dressed in the same rags she had in the dungeon, and they were clearly inadequate.
“Why don’t we buy you some proper clothes first, get us both some good boots, and then find a place to stay? My robes seem fairly well insulated, I could barely feel that wind blow by.”
“No, I’ll be fine, I’m quite good with the cold actually!” She was shaking her head when another freezing wind blew through the street. It seemed to almost suck the heat out of Ophelia, but it just breezed by my magical clothes. She sneezed again, and I could hear her teeth chattering. Was it really that cold? I could barely feel it, and Oesdin hadn’t seemed too bothered by the weather either.
I shucked off my robe top quickly, pulling it down over my arms until it hung around my waist by the rope belt. “Holy icicles, it's freezing!” My entire body felt like I had just jumped into an ice bath. THIS was after the thaw? What the hell was wrong with that minotaur? Did water not freeze at the same temperature on this planet, or were they just insane?
“No way. You are getting warm clothes, let's go, now please.” My teeth were chattering in the wind, and I quickly redressed myself. If it had been this cold all along, I wasn’t sure how she had bore it so well. It couldn’t have been more than 10 or 15 degrees, and she was dressed in about the same amount of clothing as someone exercising outside during the summer.
Ophelia looked like she was about to protest, but I just started walking, and she moved to keep up with me. I turned into the first clothing store I found, a small building with a sign that I couldn’t read out front, but plenty of warm looking clothes in the window. “Ophelia, I just realized something. I can’t read.”
She gave me a disbelieving look. “My device translates spoken words, but it doesn’t seem to work on things written down. I couldn’t read that sign.” I explained. The door shut behind us, and immediately, Ophelia stopped shivering. A crackling fire in the corner brought the room up to a pleasant temperature.
“Oh, guests!” A pleasantly plump woman with mousy brown hair and a happy smile on her lips quickly made her way over to us. “I didn’t expect we would get our first travelers so early! The army isn’t due to clear out the warg den for another week, and nobody dares travel the road until they are removed!”
“Warg den?” I asked, stepping to the side as she came right up to Ophelia and wrapped her in a hug.
“Oh yes! A big pack of the nasty things came in from the mountains and set up a den in a cave to the east. They’ve been harassing traders on the roads all winter, nearly starved us out they did. But now that the weather is warmer, army will be heading in next week to clear them out, and the caravans will come back soon after!”
The chatter quickly devolved into a back and forth as she and Ophelia discussed clothing. I will admit, I zoned out, getting flashbacks to mall trips with girlfriends and endless hours of shopping that I just had no interest in.
It didn’t take too long though. Ophelia came back out from a changing room dressed in a floor length dress with long sleeves, all in a deep royal blue with flairs of green and orange throughout. It hugged her somewhat, flaring out just a little below the waist to hide the movements of her legs. And it was made of some kind of thick cotton material.
“Is it warm?” I asked, more concerned with utility than appearance.
The proprietress smacked me over the back of the head, and tutted, “That is not what you say to a woman when she comes out in a new dress.” She turned to Ophelia and smiled. “You look beautiful dear! Just stunning!”
The dress really did look good on her. The contrast with her scarlet hair made it look like she had waves of fire sitting atop a lake where it contacted her dress, and the darker tones made her pale skin look flawless and bright. “She is right, you do look good.” I admitted, sighing. “But we are heading north, so she needs something warm too.”
Ophelia just gave me a look. You know the look. The ‘You are saying something stupid and/or obvious’ look. The one your mother gives you when you ask her a question with an obvious answer. Yeah, that look.
“I’ll take this and the two items in the dressing room!” Ophelia ignored my question, directing her attention to the other woman, who quickly bundled everything up in a bag and handed it to Ophelia. “That will be one silver and 27 copper!” I counted out the coins, and handed them over to the woman, having no idea if that was a good or bad price. Money was hard.
After that, we found a tavern with a few rooms to rent, and spent the night having a meal and drinking away the rest of our money. Once we made it to Ophelia’s home, she promised she had more than enough there to cover any minor expenses we might incur. We slept in separate rooms, and readied ourselves to set out the next morning.