My legs were killing me. So much so that I had major trouble falling asleep. Someone please make it stop. Even though we’d finally managed to hop onto our well-deserved caravan ride, my legs were still in rough shape. And I had bloody four of them! Call me a weakling all you want but man, does walking suck. I’d never before realized how much I missed the means of modern transportation. Maybe I should invent the bicycle? I’d make millions of … gold doubloons? Not like I had any flipping idea about how a bicycle worked, but still! Man’s got to make a living. And I might as well steal inventions from my old world to do so. What sorts of currencies did they even use in this world? If any, actually. I’d probably read it somewhere in one of the old man’s millions of books, but my mind was, as always, failing me. Maybe reading wasn’t the solution to all of life’s problems after all.
You get me, right? I looked over to Rheka, sound asleep and snorting away to her heart's content. How one could snore this loudly at six years of age was beyond me.
Everyone on the party bus was fast asleep. Well, except for humble me of course. And the one piloting this monstrosity of a caravan. At least I hope so. Time to doublecheck. You there buddy? Yeah, he’s there.
Getting into an accident would have been disastrous, given the fact that there was a whole load of nothing out there! Don’t get me wrong, the countryside was nice and all, but I’d gotten my fair share of walking for the next 10 years or so, thank you very much.
“Can't sleep?” Vrintas sat up next to me. His eyes were still closed, and his voice was raspy.
“My legs won't shut up.”
“Ah. Well, don’t worry. This one should take us all the way. No more walking.”
“That’s what you said last time too. Great how that one worked out.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about, son.”
“Right.” You old bastard.
Sometimes I pondered over what was going on inside the old man's head. He always had this mysterious, puzzling almost eerie aura around him. You wouldn’t notice at first glance, not without looking closer, that his face was riddled all over with scars. Fine, white scars you only really got to see way up close. I always wondered what the old fart had gone through in his life. Surely, his vest couldn’t have been all white. Maybe he even partook in some of the same suspicious activities as I had in my previous life? The truth was I knew jack shit about him. Heck, I didn’t even have a clue about how old he was.
“I didn’t know you spoke that weird language.”
“Ah, well, it doesn’t have much use to be honest. Kelmic. That’s what the Vannder call it anyway. Apart from them no one really speaks it.”
“Vannder, huh?”
I’d read of those before. According to my trusty Chronika Solida, the Vannder were seafaring people who lived somewhere northwest of Juskarria, which, let's not forget, was the country we were in at the time. Meaning they were probably our neighbors. As far as I’d read though, most of them were zealous but peaceful merchants and explorers, not whatever these Eternalists were supposed to be.
“A bunch of morons, from what I could tell.”
“Aye to that.” Vrintas grinned.
“So, the boy’s a Vannder too? Why didn’t he speak Kelmic with them then?”
“I’m not sure, but it’s understandable. I sort of dislike the language too.”
I chuckled in response. Why’d you learn it then, idiot?
The sun began to rise. I couldn’t quite recall ever having watched a sunrise in this world. Or in my old world for that matter. I’d never gotten around to doing anything nice, I suppose. Six years later and I could still sometimes catch myself wondering if this was all a dream. That at any moment I could wake up in my old cranky bunkbed again, trapped in that block of concrete to rot away for the rest of my life. If you’d guessed that I’d often missed my life before prison, you would’ve been right on your money. I craved it. The freedom. The excitement. All that ended when I got my ass busted. Still. Compared to prison this was heaven.
"Gramps?"
"Mmh."
"Do you ever feel... out of place? Like... as if... you don't belong?"
Vrintas turned to me with a raised eyebrow.
“Philosophical today, aren't we?”
He paused for a few moments.
"All the time,” he said, scratching his beard. “It's just part of the burden we carry on our shoulders... Enkefalos’ Curse - the weight of knowing. About all the mistakes you made. Maybe... even long ago. Those things never leave you. They only grow stronger with every passing day until eventually they become the very fabric of who you are..." he trailed off quietly for a while, as per usual. When he spoke again, he seemed calmer and less emotional than he had been since our departure.
"But that's... not necessarily a bad thing, you know. If nothing else, I've found that understanding your past makes some of those mistakes worth it."
Yeah, but I’m philosophical, right.
I didn't quite know how to respond to that. Heavens, would you? Of course, I was the one who asked him in the first place, but I just blurted it out without thinking much.
I don’t think any of my past mistakes were worth it really.
The more answers I got from the old man, the more questions I wanted to ask. Even if he had the tendency to ramble, talking to him was truly something else. And there wasn't a topic or subject he wouldn't talk about once prompted by me. That geezer knew everything about this world, after all. History, politics, philosophy, art, literature, religion, you name it.
“That’s deep though.” Ah shit, I thought out loud.
“Deep?”
“Uhh. It means profound. I read that somewhere.”
He chuckled. “Of course.”
We silently stared into the rising sun for a few minutes before I picked up the conversation again. I thought carefully about how to phrase what I was about to say next.
"Gramps?"
"Mhmm."
“Can I tell you something important?”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Go ahead.”
“But you can’t tell anyone else.”
“Alright? Your draconic secrets are safe with me, kid.”
I hesitated. “Well, uhh... To tell you the truth. I’m...”
Bloody hell. Pull yourself together! What am I – twelve? Inhale – exhale.
“I’m not fro-”
"There it is! Look at it! Its huge! " Before I could finish, the redheaded demon of curiosity had awoken from its deep slumber with the wings on its head beating hard.
As our caravan slowly reached the top of the hill, the giant structure we’d been heading towards began to cast its shadow over us. It was still a minute away, but the closer we came the more frightening it became. A singular enormous tower that seemed to pierce the skies above it.
"That, my children, is Rhodentum, capital of the Retania province, which furthermore is the province our dear village also belongs to."
Capital? As in capital capital? The capital of the region we lived in was supposed to be the single tower always looming in the distance? I was surprised when I managed to pick the odd village out of the landscape now and then, but I’d figured the towns couldn't be much further away. Now I'm told these people like to cuddle it out in towers like these. That was about the extent of my immediate thought process.
As we drew closer, the lone tower showed its final form: one endlessly tall and broad spire soaring up for hundreds upon hundreds of meters. The actual sight of this monster made me feel very small indeed. Its surface extended outward slightly in many places. Forming narrow ledges with terraces at their edges, which seemed to extend again, sometimes up to three or four times. Windows dotted the outside of its white walls with stairways, wooden bridges and elevator-like contraptions allowing people to travel along it from ledge to ledge. Both vertically and horizontally. The entire thing looked almost organic in nature, flowing into each other seamlessly. At the tower's pinnacle a colossal turret stood in place. Its roof crowned by a glowing silver dome adorned by two towers, creating the image of a pair of wings spreading across the sky above.
The architecture of this colossus was beyond me. It was just... too big. Sure, I'd seen my fair share of modern skyscrapers and such in my old world, but nothing could compare to this. The size and structure were simply incomprehensible to my mind. It was like looking out on an entirely different world altogether. That, and the fact that they apparently called it the capital, only added to the baffling feeling.
"Pa! Grandpa! How... how many people live in that?" Rheka asked with eyes wide open and hair wings fluttering. Vrintas glanced over at her with a knowing smile before answering.
"Thousands!"
"Woah." she said quietly without further question. A bit later she spoke up again, "It looks so... exciting."
Seeing the sparkle in her eyes made me chuckle a little.
The tower's surface was bustling with activity. People, animals and even smaller carts ran up the stairs, moving between ledges through all sorts of transportation methods. I saw them gather around what looked like shops and stands, as well as construction sites, on which the next layer of expansion was already clear to see. The only thing I didn't see was an entrance. No colossal doorway, no metal gate. It could've been on the backside maybe, but there was no road leading there either. It seemed to end right in front of it. And then I saw it.
“Look! Up there!” Rheka pointed at the enormous wooden platform lowering down from one of the tower's spires. From it hung ropes stretching along what must’ve been no less than half a kilometer across a series of pulleys and gears turning slowly as it descended from above. We stepped off the caravan shortly after we’d reached our destination, still standing a couple hundred meters from Rhodentum and its towering majesty. As the old man exchanged some words with the caravaneer, Rheka approached me with excitement in her eyes.
"I'm going to go look at that! You coming?" she asked, shaking frantically while pointing towards the platform.
"Yeah sure."
She began running away ahead before stopping to turn back to face me once more. Her expression turned from curious to frustrated almost immediately as she watched me take my time ambling along. "Come on, let's go!" she finally shouted after a few moments of watching my slow pace.
"Don't your feet hurt?" I asked rhetorically, flapping my wings like a helpless bird while I trotted along behind her.
She stopped to poke me on the head. "They do! Because yours hurt."
Hold up. Didn't we forget about something?
I turned around to see Tavrin tumble off the caravan as it began to move again. His body whizzed through the air like he'd just been shot out of a cannon before landing hard onto the ground below. By the time his head rolled to a stop the caravan was already long gone. I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of him sprawled on the grassy hilltop. I hadn't yet forgotten about what he'd done during yesterday's well, brawl I’d call it. So, in my eyes this was justice served right. He spotted us already halfway towards the platform and began to chase after us, gasping for air as he ran.
"Let's go!" Rheka shouted. And off she was again. Poor lad couldn’t even catch a breather. Not talking about myself, of course.
When I finally reached the platform Rheka had already inspected half of its expanse with interest. A couple dozen people were waiting next to us, most of which greeted me with the same demeanor as the villagers in the center yesterday. I started to wonder what place dragons were supposed to have in this world. If any at all, really. Then it occurred to me that maybe there were no dragons around these parts of the world? Maybe they were actually a rare sight in general? And a menace to whomever crossed paths with them too? Damn, I haven't even done anything yet and already everyone acts like I'm the villain. Can't you just stop gawking? Bugger off, you twat.
Tavrin managed to reach the platform just in time before the people on it shifted from glaring at me menacingly to simply complaining.
"Oye, how long's it gonna be?" One of them called out.
"What's the holdup?!"
"Ugh... Come on..."
Cries of impatience. I couldn't help but laugh at their desperation. Rheka giggled along beside me while Tavrin's face was still recovering its original color.
Slowly but surely the wooden platform began to rise upwards again. As we rose higher, I saw Rheka's excitement reach critical mass. She stood there on tiptoes, pointing out in every direction as the wings in her hair fluttered with vigor. Her eyes seemed to pierce through everything around us, never blinking or stopping for a second.
"Argi! Argi! How high are we going?"
"Argi! What’s this stone made of?"
"Argi! Do you think we'll see other dragons here?"
Then she leaned in really close with an eyebrow raised.
"Do you think they know...” She looked around. “Magic?"
Beats me. Is all I thought. If a child like her had approached me in my old life like this, I’d have instantly shooed it away in anger, disregarding it as an annoying waste of my time. Curious how things can change.
I nodded my head yes to every question, even if they weren't yes-or-no questions. Hopefully, that would be enough to soothe the redheaded demon of curiosity.
And then it hit me. This feeling. This sudden jolt of a realization. One I hadn’t quite experienced before. Neither in this life nor the other. My heart began to race as the platform became unsteady beneath my feet. How... how high are we going to go? Oh crap.
Yep. You guessed right. I’d become afraid of heights. I wasn’t sure when it’d happened, but I had the feeling my fall to death during the prison riot had something to do with it. I certainly didn’t remember going through something like this ever prior to that.
Ahh. Someone?
I heard Rheka say something to me with a worried expression as my vision went blurry.
Alright, concentrate on something else. I need distraction. Wait. Hold on actually - where's the old man? Oh no, we've lost our guardian. Alright, Argius. I guess it's up to you now. I won’t disappoint you, Pa! I shall be the guide to your granddaughter until your return! Which is hopefully soon, because I have no goddamn clue where we are going.
The platform ascended into one of the bigger forward extensions of the structure, finally coming to a stop, some- I don’t know- 200 meters above ground. It was bloody high alright?
Most of the sunlight from the outside had disappeared by this point. Yet, the inside of the tower was, much to my surprise, lit up quite decently. Massive iron fire pits and bowls decorated ceilings and walls alike, giving the inside of Rhodentum an overall warm glow. It was truly impressive. A number of stone walkways, bridges and stairs led all around what I'd assumed to be some sort of marketplace. Here, everything was made of the same stone as the tower itself. The signs, the stalls, even the benches people sat on. Visitors and Vendors alike moved back and forth between different shops carrying their wares with them. The place certainly felt alive, but still quite relaxed, despite the constant stream of people running through its streets. There were many more floors barely visible above, from where people looked down upon us from their terraces. While others passed below us in single file like ants through a hole in a log. All in all, it gave me a bit of Deja vu, yet at the same time it was completely unlike any cityscape I'd ever seen before.
“Should we wait for Vrintas?” Tavrin asked as the three of us stepped off the platform. I ignored him. My mind was set on what was before me. Set on doing a bit of research. Because the atmosphere here had a smell. A very certain, distinct smell.
The smell of money.