Ethan looked at the angry bandits and their newfound leader and judged the fight to be little more than he wanted, especially without heavily injuring someone. He was unwilling to have a long, angry talk explaining himself to the guard if Willow had any. After all, he did not know if the bandits had any aspect abilities. Those would surely injure or kill some of the onlookers.
“Ladies, it looks like I might take you up on your offer after all,” Ethan said, jumping in the carriage. Claire immediately shut the door behind him and pushed a button on an armrest to her left. Something clicked in the doors just as the lead bandit was about to reach them, and the carriage took off at speed.
Ethan was launched face-first at Claire’s lap as the momentum of the carriage ramped up. Seeing her friend’s reaction to the sudden appearance of Ethan’s face in her skirt, Alice chuckled.
“My, my, dear guilder, let’s not be hasty. We still have not gotten to know each other that well,” Alice teased him, waving a palm at her as if to calm down.
Ethan pulled himself back to his seat in front of two women and shook his head. Then he looked out through the carriage window, noticing the fast-changing scenery, and asked in surprise, “What happened?”
Claire looked at him, not understanding his question, and said, “What do you mean? I started up the carriage as soon as you got in. That vulture was about to chop into the wood and ruin the enchantments. My father would have my hair if he managed to do that.”
Ethan looked back at her and asked, “Wait, what? You could have escaped them all along?”
Claire shook her head, “No, only when they were not touching the carriage. It is a failsafe the makers introduced back in the capital once one too many of the tipsy owners fell out of a moving vehicle. So now, if you were about to open the door, the carriage would stop. The same if you would stand outside, touching it. That is how the bandit managed to keep us from running away.”
Ethan nodded as if it made sense to him, having seen firsthand on Youtube what dumb stuff people did with moving vehicles. So such a safety mechanism seemed logical to him, albeit unusual in a medieval world with magic.
“Back to Veer then?” he asked, dismissing his inquisitive mind.
Alice nodded, “Yes, we will be back there in no time. Too bad we did not get those pillows. The bastards!”
Claire’s eyes widened, and she lightly smacked herself on the forehead, “Alice! We forgot about Benson! How will he return to Veer if we took off without him?”
“He will manage, Claire,” Alice reassured her with a wave of her hand and turned her attention back to Ethan. “Now, let’s get to the topic at hand. Ethan, how did you arrive in Willow with no team? One look, and anyone can tell you are not from these parts.”
Ethan looked at her judging glance and then at Claire’s interest and decided to explain how it was. What is the worst that can happen after all? he thought for a second. I already earned some goodwill here, and it is not like they will call the guard to arrest me while we are on the way.
“Ladies, if I tell you the truth, will you at least hear me out till the end? No matter how crazy it might sound?” he started. Both of the ladies eagerly nodded, awaiting Ethan’s explanation.
He sighed and began, “I am not from around these parts. But that is further than you might think.”
“Oh,” Alice asked, pointing at him, “So you are from across the Wide Sea? From the Islands?”
Ethan looked at her, holding back his retort, and shook his head, “No. Further away than that. Many weeks ago, I woke up here in the north without knowing how I got here. You are among the first people I have properly conversed with.”
“Ethan,” Claire began, sensing that there was something he was holding back, “what happened? I know you must see us as strangers, but you can trust me, us, that it is.” Alice nodded eagerly in confirmation, awaiting another juicy bit of information this mysterious stranger was about to provide.
Ethan scratched the back of his head and laid it out how it was, “Well, here is the thing. I am not from this place. And by place, I mean the land, I do not know, planet. Nothing here makes sense to me. Magic? It is something the place I come from does not have.”
A look of understanding and surprise dawned on Claire’s face as she said, “You are a plane-walker? That makes so much more sense now. It must be why you are sticking out like a sore thumb. It is our first time seeing such a tall man in these parts, and many would argue in the whole kingdom.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Hold your reins, Claire,” Alice interrupted the excited Claire, looking at Ethan. “Let’s assume you are one of the rare plane-walkers who somehow managed to arrive in the north. What happened once you arrived here? What did you do up till now?”
“So you believe me?” Ethan asked.
Alice shook her head, “It is not about believing but understanding what happened to you. You see, plane-walkers are as rare as they come. They are even rarer than paragon-rank beasts, which is beside the point. The real issue is that they appear only once summoned by forces not well understood in Erde. Some even associate such people with the various sects praying to powers outside this realm. And Morwhea has only one - the sect of the Serpent.”
“They wear hoods like these?” Ethan asked, pulling out his cloak from the storage space. The move startled the women as they jumped back in their seats, Alice pointing the finger at him.
“You cursed creature!” she scrambled to stop the carriage as Ethan waved his hands in dismissal, seeing that he had made a grave mistake.
“No, no, no! I just found this cloak on some fat fuck back at the castle! He attacked me, and I took it off his hands.” That seemed to calm them down for a moment, and they looked at him, awaiting an explanation.
Claire asked slowly, “Wait, by the castle, you mean the castle of Gloom? So you found that place?”
“Seriously?” Alice asked, eyeing Ethan and the cloak in his hand.
Ethan looked at their sudden change of demeanor and said, “Well, yes. I appeared in the middle of the forest near it—no living person in sight besides some huge monster. I ran away from the beast, scared shitless; pardon my language. Next thing I know, I find some cave with a door leading me up to the castle.”
Claire blinked and said curiously, “Oh, my. I cannot believe it. So what happened next?”
Ethan sighed and looked at the ceiling of the carriage, “Next, I stayed in the castle for god knows how long. Found some water, food, and shelter. I wanted to leave as soon as I found my first rat monster in the castle. Surprisingly, it did not do much damage to me at the time. I had no powers, so I just fought it barehanded.”
“Did not have? You mean, you just found some aspect seeds in the place?” Alice asked in surprise.
“Well, yea. I found one called the [Seed of Flux] in some forgotten library and another called the [Seed of the Soul]. I got that one together with the cloak, boots, and other things. Some noble brat, I guess. As it later turned out, some others came to the castle to make a mass sacrifice.”
“What?” both of them exclaimed. “You met the sect of the Serpent and lived to tell the tale? How?”
Ethan looked embarrassed and scratched his head again, “Well, it is a somewhat long story, but the gist is that I tried to sneak off and was attacked by some armored people. I guess it was my fault that they mistook me for one of the sect’s guys, the same as you did, as I was wearing that cloak. But the result was that I fought some rogue-looking guy, fell off a cliff into the river below, and was washed up on the shore away from the castle.”
“And you got to Willow through the northern forest? Alone?” Alice asked, shocked at the implications of someone traveling the dangerous forest.
“Well, yea. I fought some weird leech monster on my way and escaped others. Oh, right, this turtle attacked me with ice, but I also ran away from that one. Also, found a snake, but it was already dead. It looked dangerous, but well - here I am. So yea, I count myself lucky.”
Both women stared at him for a second and then laughed for a good minute at the ridiculous notion that the man before them survived the northern forest. Many adept ranks would not dare to brace with an entire team. But this man went ahead and survived alone? Ridiculous.
“Ethan, I do not know what is more hilarious, the fact that you made all that up or that you really are not from Erde. You do not realize how rare it is for plane-walkers to appear and not be summoned directly by the sect?” Claire asked rhetorically once she calmed down.
“I mean, the last one we know about was summoned by the current leader of the sect of the Serpent. And let me tell you - every guilder in Morwhea would rather have his head on a pike. So be careful whom you tell of your origins,” she added, shaking her head.
Alice nodded to that and chimed in, “It is not like we would give you up, as you saved us. Not very sect-like behavior, mind you but be careful. What was your plan after getting out of the woods, as unlikely of an occurrence as it was?”
Ethan shook his head and responded, “No plan, really. I just focused on surviving the thing. I just thought of getting out of the castle and did not have the time to think up the specifics. It all came very suddenly, as I was just thrown out of the safety of the castle and had to find a civilization as soon as possible. Now that I think about it, getting to Veer and going to a library or something makes sense. Ask some questions to understand how to get back home. Magic is a thing, after all, it turns out.”
Alice chuckled, “It has been a thing for as long we have been alive. But one does not just go around Veer and ask bizarre and pointed questions. You would find yourself in a cell in no time or worse if you dared to share your origins with the wrong people.”
Claire nodded, “Yes, yes. However, do not worry. We can help you out with that. Before we get to Veer, we have much time to explain some things that might help. Also, you could stay with us for a while. I will think something up to explain to my father.”
“That would be very kind of you, Claire,” Ethan said, taking her delicate hand in his and looking her in the eye sincerely, not noticing the slight redness painting the girl’s cheeks.
“Well, what is that you would like to know then?” Alice interrupted.
Ethan took his hand and leaned back in his seat before saying, “Tell me - what are the aspect seeds?”