The carriage gently trodded in the direction of the massive skeleton whose outline became clearer the closer it got to it. The skeleton looked like it was from a crocodile but its behemoth size showed it was the farthest thing from it. Part of its tail had even extended to the Giliai Ocean next to it.
Leo drove the carriage through a small gate that was currently unmanned. The gate was in between the ribcage of the skeleton and was wide enough to fit in two carriages. They got on a winding white cobble-paved pathway once they got through the gate.
Dyr had already snuck his head out through the tarp as he admired the massive skeleton up close. Despite how many times he saw it the awe was always at the same level every time as he fantasized about how big the beast must have been when it was alive. He once heard from one of his friends that the skeleton wasn't originally a part of the village but was something that was brought over. This drew his curiosity even further which made him turn to Leo for answers.
Leo at Dyr's questioning had offhandedly remarked that once upon a time there were some people who had tried to test the depths of the Saarthguard village. They employed some underground organization to do it. The contracted organization was skilled in using beasts and was famously known for having a behemoth as its mobile base. The organization tried to be stealthy and tried kidnapping a few weaker people from the village to get a lay of the land before they put their major plan into motion. They had no idea what den they had stepped into.
The kidnapping plan they planned to use as a source of intel was reversed on them as the members sent for that operation ended up being the victims themselves and were squeezed dry of every bit of intel they could provide. As for what happened later, it was self-evident as after the village dug out all the info weeks later a behemoth was dragged to the village by some of the elders, and a month-long barbecue party was held. The underground organization hired to attack the village was never heard from again. Rumors of its destruction floated around which led to a certain marquis family locking itself in its own fief and has never left for the past 200 years which was when the incident took place. Dyr tried digging for more information from his father such as the name of the underground organization and the marquis family but his father was too engrossed in his hobbies to be a decent storyteller.
As Dyr was busy gleefully taking in the sites, the carriage was already in the heart of the village. It was already vibrant and active despite it being early. Even though the place was known to many as the Saarthguard village, it did not look like a typical village even discounting the behemoth skeleton. Scale wise it was small but in terms of infrastructure level, it rivaled that of any city. There were well-paved roads, a small but sturdy harbor at the shore, the buildings were all finely built. There were brown and white cottages with well-maintained compounds and a few livestock pens here and there. On the roads, there were long metals with large luminescent stones attached to them just like the one in Leo's storage shed.
Folks could be seen already out of their houses. Some were moving to the shores, others had just finished milking their cows, others were from checking the chicken pen for eggs while others were pouring the daily feed for their various livestock. In other places, there were those just opening their shops to start the day, while others were already in as there was the hammering of metals while some shops had a thick pleasant smelling waft of steamy air coming out of them.
They would all nod at each other with smiles on their faces as they went about their businesses.
Five young men who looked to be in their late twenties in leather vests, shorts, and sandals made from the leaves of a glowing candlewick plant were making their way toward Leo's carriage. In the lead of those men was an older man who looked to be in his early 50s and had the same candlewick sandals as the rest of the young men.
The leaves of the glowing candlewick plant made the softest of soles for shoes and had an accompanying gentle warmness to them. Due to the high availability of the plant, shoes, and sandals made from its leaves were a favorite among commoners around the world.
"Hey Leo, seems like you have an early start today." One of the men cheerily greeted from behind the elderly man.
"Hey, Cefin.Yes, there are some things I need to get from a merchant store in Bremdal town and early mornings are the best time to get the good stuff plus Mira also has ingredients she needs me to get for her," Leo answered as he stepped out of the driver seat.
"Good morning Elder Alun" Leo quickly offered his greeting to the calm-looking elder at the front. Even though Elder Alun looked to be in his early 50s the energy coming from his body was like that of the burning sun. His vitality felt stronger and brighter than everyone present.
"Morning Leo, Morning to you too little Dyr."
"Dyr come say hello to Elder Alun and the rest."
Dyr who was still at the back of the carriage laying on the blue sapphire wool as he admired the skeleton quickly climbed off the carriage and rushed to Leo's side.
Leo quickly removed some of the wool stuck in his hair which made Dyr laugh in embarrassment as he scratched the back of his head where he suddenly felt something sticky on his hands. On bringing his hands forward to examine what the sticky thing was, he was surprised to find a black almost muddy substance. He brought it closer to smell it.
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"Isn't this...…Dad, it must be him!!" Dyr silently thought to himself as he shot an angry glare at his dad who conveniently ignored looking in his direction as he went to shake the hands of the other 5 young men behind the elder.
Dyr quickly focused back after he had decided to get back at his dad later.
"Good morning grandpa Alun…Good morning Cefin, Bunner, Harries, Rosser, and Delwyn" Dyr quickly greeted Elder Alun and the other young men with some cheer in his tone.
"Morning little Dyr."
"It's almost your 4th, are you excited? It's almost time for you to start training in mana."
"If your father doesn't teach you well be sure to find me."
"Me too, I have much more experience than someone who plays with strange creatures all day."
"If we are talking about experience then I have the most among all of you. I have already trained my daughter and she is the best in the village at her age."
"Cefin this shameless braggart again. He always uses any opportunity to brag about his daughter."
"Yeah, and wasn't his daughter scared silly by Leo's dog the other day when they were sneaking at his place with some other kids? Cefin I can see the true feats of your 'training'."
"Rosser what do you mean by strange animals? I better not see you at my place asking for some gold honey and rainbow eggs. Matter of fact pay up the few silver coins you owe me from last night."
The five young men and Leo quickly started bickering with each other. Clearly, this wasn't the first time something like this happened.
Elder Ayun in the meanwhile was scrutinizing Kel with some curiosity in his eyes. Kel's heart was racing at the moment. It always felt terrified every time it came to the village. The fear was more intrinsic in its basic animalistic nature. It always felt that any single passerby except children below 16 years of age could kill it effortlessly. The villagers never showed any outward animosity toward it in fact they rather spoiled it a little with their various farm products every time Leo brought it along. But that deep fear never went away. When it was a young colt it never felt it but as it matured and its strength along with it, that feeling got more distinctive.
"Leo, seems you have been training your kelpie well. His transformation seems smoother than before. Though it is still miles away from what I've seen those kelpies at the great green isle plain do," Elder Ayun said as he moved around Kel with his hand on his chin as he closely observed it.
"Actually Elder Ayun I wanted to meet you later to see if there are areas in Kel's growth I may have overlooked. Dad told me you have researched the hippocampus and some other magical beasts from the green isle marshlands. Your insight will be useful in helping me plan further for Kel's growth," Leo asked.
"Sure you can find me later, though I'm not sure how much help I will be. Hippocampus are vastly different from kelpies even though they are both water-based horses. But it will have to be much later in the day. We are going deeper into the Giliai Ocean to fish for some game for the mana awakening ceremony. This year there are more kids around 4 years of age, unlike the past years. Since there're many kids this time about to activate their mana and start training, the chief suggested we hold a small festival in celebration of these little ones. It's rare to have this many at the same time, which is a good thing for the village. It shows our numbers are growing. That by itself is a worthy cause for celebration." Elder Ayun said deeply impassioned towards the end.
It was understandable why he would get emotional. The people of Saarthguard village had difficulties in conceiving. Most families would have one kid or at most two which was a rare occurrence. Sometimes a couple would spend all their lives never able to conceive. This resulted in the numbers of the village being low. Some of the village's behavior, stances, and outlook were borne out of how small their numbers were and how difficult it is for them to conceive. One such stance is they are overprotective of any of their members. They repeatedly emphasize on survival above all. That's why Leo's skills in escaping are highly valued. Being skilled at escaping is one of the core training of the village.
"That will be great. Have you decided on the date?" Leo asked with some excitement in his tone. The fish from Giliai always had a unique flavor to them.
"It should be two weeks from today. Most of the kids will have already reached their 4th birthday by then." Ayun calmly answered.
"If there is anything that I can provide be sure to tell me."
"Well, now that you mention it there is that fine-tasting gold honey. We need buckets of it, would you please." Ayun asked with a tiny drool forming in his mouth while his face still maintained the same calm unperturbed expression. Everyone collectively pretended they didn't see the small drool on his face.
"Eeeeh sure, sure." Leo awkwardly agreed as he too pretended he didn't see the drool with Dyr on the side trying to signal his dad with his eyes to look at that sneaky drool on Elder Ayun's face. Leo ignored the eye-pointing looks from his son wondering why he couldn't read the air and pretend he didn't see it. Dyr had glee written over his face and a glowing look like he had discovered something amazing and was still intent on sharing the discovery with Leo despite him sending abort mission warning signals of his own.
"We will be off then. Be safe on your travels and don't forget the village's most important rule when you are out there." Elder Ayun said as he made his way to the shore with Celin and the rest following.
"Survival above all else." Leo solemnly answered as he got on his carriage soon after making his way out of the village with Dyr rushing to his favorite spot. Leo nodded and waved to the other villagers as he made his way out.
The people of the Saarthguard village just like him and his family had the same blue hair, blue eyes, and dark golden pupils. The tone of their skins varied some light, dark, earth red, and brown. There were even halflings around, some elvish and blue orcs but they all had the same colored hair, eyes, and pupil. This was the identifier of the people of the village. Anyone out there would automatically know someone is from Saarthguard due to that look.
The people from this village drew fear in others, envy, jealousy, hatred, admiration, and weariness. All these weren't due to their blue hair, eyes, and golden pupils but due to the one fundamental thing that carried weight in the Trilunar planet, which is fearsome undeniable strength.
This tiny village whose population numbered less than 5,000 people had the ability to topple any kingdom and shake the foundations of any empire severely.