Spring had come into full bloom, and it was Corrin’s favorite time of year; warm enough that he could enjoy the outdoors to their fullest, but cool enough that he didn’t sweat too much. Plus, it was the season when he could really appreciate his favorite place in the valley. To the south of town, further down the river was a sprawling meadow of wildflowers amidst the rolling hills of green. He’d promised that wandering spirit knight that he wouldn’t return to the spirit glades, and Corrin considered himself a man of his word, at the very least. The meadow was the next best thing, the myriad colors of the flowers reminded him of the glade itself, with its flowers and topology that seemed to defy explanation.
The spirits seemed to agree that it was familiar, congregating in the area as they drifted lazily among the flowers, intermingling with the bees. The most prevalent were the spring spirits, taking the forms of flowers and blossoms floating on the wind.
The dungeon had continued to prove an utter disappointment. The monsters were so weak it was like fighting children. He’d received more injuries falling from trees in his childhood than he had from any of the dangers of the tomb. The silver lining was that they were able to clear their quota quickly and leave the dungeon early every day, leaving him with plenty of time to enjoy Straetum and all its monotony.
At least the flowers were nice. He was laying on his back on the side of one of the hills above the meadow, watching the flowers below sway slowly in the light breeze. The windfall mountains surrounded the valley on three sides, north, south, and west, with the eastern side open to the rest of the world, towards absolute freedom. The expanse of plains stretched off so far, and so flatly that he felt like he could even see to the edge of the Northern Plateau from his perch on this hill.
He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, letting out a deep, long sigh of utter relaxation. Yeah, this was nice.
“Figured I’d find you out here,” Wyn’s voice interrupted.
Corrin tilted his head towards the sound and cracked open a single eye. Wyn was sweating lightly, his sword still at his side. He’d probably gone to practice more after they’d cleared the tomb—Corrin had won their duel today. “What’s up? Can’t you see I’m trying to relax?”
“Figured you’d want to know that the caravan is here, but I guess not.”
Corrin shot to his feet, “Well why didn’t you just say so! Let’s hurry back, I’ve got stuff to buy!” Relaxation was great, but excitement was where it was really at. Their stipends had just come in a week ago, and Corrin’s pockets were practically bursting with money compared to usual, a small spending spree to celebrate couldn’t hurt now, could it?
The walk back to Straetum wasn’t too long, and soon, Corrin could see the large wooden carts of various construction on the eastern edge of town. Some were large and sturdily constructed, with wood or canvas roofs, but some were tiny things, just barely large enough to hold the goods and yoke the horses, mules, or in one case, a giant feathered turtle. There was a sort of ‘town square-out-of-town’ set up for them, a large circle of dirt that had been ringed in small cobble walls, save for the exit on the main road. It was complete with benches and paths that were only ever used on the rare occasion that the town had such visitors.
It was still early enough in the day that people had only just begun to trickle in as the merchants set up shop. It was an understood courtesy to let the travelers rest a bit before everyone rushed over to buy things. Soon though, it would be buzzing with activity: Corrin wasn’t the only one who liked to hear news about the outside, and plenty of the villagers would come out here to buy the “latest” eastern technology.
Corrin hurried his pace, leaving Wyn behind as he approached the caravan. One of the merchants—a young man only a few years older than Corrin—saw him coming and waved him over to one of the mid-sized carts, “Hello Corrin!” He yelled.
Corrin grinned, this was one he knew well, since he’d only been a boy himself when they’d met. In a sense, they’d grown up together, spending time playing during the weeks the caravan was in town. “Kellen! How have you been?” He reached out his hand, and pulled Kellen into a one-armed hug, pounding his back.
Kellen smiled and returned the gesture, “I’ve been well. My father retired at the end of last year, so the cart’s mine now. I’ve been running up and down the plateau trying to reach out to all his contacts and stay involved.”
“I was wondering why I didn’t see him. Sounds like you’ve been busy,” Corrin whistled appreciatively.
“No kidding, though I hear you’ve been up to big things as well. Guardian of the tomb? That’s a big title out here yes? How’s adult life treating you?”
“Not too bad,” Corrin said, “I’m still living at the church while I figure stuff out and save up some money, but we’re getting there.”
“Unfortunate timing for our arrival then, since we both know how much you like to spend when we’re here.” He poked Corrin’s side playfully, “Speaking of which, you wouldn’t happen to have stashed away any magic stones to sell to me on the down low would you?”
“Sorry man, I can’t say that I do. Maybe I’ll keep one or two in my pocket for next time,” Corrin winked.
“Alright alright, I’ll buy them at full price then,” Kellen said, “They’re already so cheap here I almost feel bad, why do you guys charge so little?”
Corrin shrugged, “Ask Wyn not me, maybe we just don’t need all the money. It’s a pretty small village after all. Anyways, I’ll look at your items as soon as you tell me your best story since last time.”
Kellen grinned, happy to continue their little ritual. They both took a seat on the wall ringing the carts. Then, he leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, “I finally went off the plateau.”
“No way!” Corrin exclaimed, “You’re messing with me.”
“It’s true it’s true,” Kellen laughed, “First thing I did when I took over.”
“East or South?”
“East obviously, what would I even do on the grass sea?”
“Ah man what a waste. Still, you would’ve gone into Falmouth right? It’s a proper kingdom! What was that like? And you must’ve seen the plateau from below, how high up are we really?”
Kellen looked up thoughtfully, “Hmm, well… really high.”
“I’ll punch you.”
“Seriously!” Kellen laughed, “It’s hard to even describe… think about the spearwood right? If I’m remembering that tree right, well, it doesn’t even compare. Maybe if you stacked thirty or forty of them it would be close. It’s like a giant wall that reaches up to the sky itself, which makes the Windfall’s even more ridiculous that I used to think.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Corrin tried to imagine that, looking up into the sky to picture the cliff face, but he simply couldn’t get his brain around it.
“Ah, hey Wyn, welcome back,” Kellen said.
Wyn sat down across from them on one of the benches, “Sorry, I had to get Corrin, but he ran back ahead of me. What are you guys talking about?”
“Kellen left the plateau.”
“Oh, damn really? East or South?”
Kellen laughed, “East, what’s with you two?”
“Corrin asked the same thing, didn’t he?” Wyn said with a wry grin.
“Word for word.”
“It’s a natural question to ask,” Wyn defended himself. “What was Falmouth like?”
“It was strange. The way they speak is different than it is here, not a different language, but the same words sound different, and a few of the words are different.”
“It’s called an accent; they have a different accent. Well, the different word things is a dialect I think…” Wyn said.
Kellen rubbed his chin, “Really? Where’d you learn that from?”
“I like to read.”
Corrin pressed more, “That’s weird. So they sound different? Do they look different? What about the buildings? The land?”
“Well, they look basically the same I’d say, and the land is the same too… actually no, there’s more trees and forests. The buildings are bigger though, and most are made of stone. One of the towns had a wall around it! It was almost as tall as the church here.”
Even if he knew it wasn’t the most exciting thing he’d heard on paper, Corrin listened, enraptured by the descriptions of different towns and people Kellen had met. For someone like him, who had never left Straetum in all his life, each new detail he gleaned was worth more than any item the merchants would sell.
Soon though, the townsfolk began to wander in, in greater numbers, and the merchants stopped relaxing to prepare for the rush.
“Sorry Corrin!” Kellen apologized, “We’ll talk more later, but I don’t have anyone to sell for me, so I have to go, I know you want to talk to Harv anyways. He’s got a story you’d love to hear.”
“I’m going to hold you to that, we’re hitting the lake at least once before you leave,” Corrin joked, shaking Kellen’s hand again before he got up to leave. Wyn said his goodbyes as well and followed him towards Harv’s cart.
Harv was the usual leader of the caravan, an old man who’d been coming to Straetum to trade since long before Corrin and Wyn were born. He was an accomplished merchant who’d traveled much further into the continent than any other person in town. And he always had the best stories. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been here the last time the caravan had come to town months ago. Apparently, he’d been off doing something else to the far south and hadn’t been able to make it.
When Corrin approached, Harv was already talking to several of the village’s men about something. His cart—the largest in the caravan—was being staffed by his niece and her son, who he took around on his trips. Harv never traded during the first rush, so it must’ve been their own insistence. He always liked to spend the first day catching up with the people of Straetum and giving them news on developments outside the plateau. Despite his age, he still had a shockingly full head of hair, with long white locks tied up into a high bun, and a short, pointed beard on his wide, wrinkled chin.
“— a few skirmishes here and there,” He was saying as the men listened intently, “but the peace is still holding strong for now. I’d say it’s fifty-fifty on whether another war breaks out in the next ten years. That threat is keeping the kingdoms in line, which is great for business!”
He laughed at that and took a sip of his drink, though his eyes went wide when he saw Corrin and Wyn. “Ah my favorite youngsters! How have you been?”
Corrin and Wyn spent the next few minutes greeting him and going through simple pleasantries before it was comfortable enough to change the topic again.
“So,” Wyn started, “You were talking about the war with Nladia? Didn’t that end years ago?”
“Aye it did, but we still have some colonies in the north, and they have a few strongholds on the southern peninsula, so there’s still some issues left to be resolved.”
From what Corrin remembered, the continent had been at war with another for almost fifteen years before he and Wyn were born, during that time, the previously warring kingdoms on Aeora had united against the common threat, putting aside their differences and fighting together, somewhat ironically leading to one of the greatest periods of prosperity in the continent since the reign of the five kings.
None of that really mattered to Straetum; the Northern Plateau wasn’t owned by any of the kingdoms and was the furthest place on the continent from the war. The only people it affected were traders who exchanged goods with the outside world, benefiting from the uptick in trade. Though the war had ended five years prior, according to Harv, trade was still as good as ever.
“Kellen told me you had a good story to share?” Corrin said leadingly, earning a murmur of interest from the gathered men.
“Did he now? I was going to save this for later, but I suppose I can tell you.” Harv winked, “On my last trip I happened to make a journey down to a small town near the edge of Elysia, the jungle to the south. While I was there, I heard about a knight expedition to the east. Now, the junk of a knight from the capital is a treasure out here, and that means there’s money to be made. So, I talked one of the local guides into leading me through the edge of the jungle to reach the supposed expedition point.”
Wyn frowned, “Don’t they call that place the green death?”
Harv nodded, “They do.”
“That seems… unwise then.”
“Oh, it was! But at this age I’m not risking too many more years of good health!” He cackled before continuing, spinning a tale of danger, adventure, and exploration that seemed to get more ridiculous with each passing moment “…we took a mountain path around most of the dangerous areas, but towards the end we had to go into the jungle and get on a river boat of one of the local tribes. Let me tell you, it was three days of hell, bugs were everywhere, and it was hot and muggy, and by the time we were done we all smelled like carcasses.”
“So, you made it to the end alright then?” Corrin asked.
“Almost, on the last day we got attacked by this giant creature in the water, and the boat capsized. At that point we had to trek through miles of jungle, all soaking wet. You can’t see ten feet in front of you in all that crap, so we’re just praying to the spirits the locals know what they’re doing. My buddy is complaining the whole way about how much his rear hurts, but we don’t have time to stop.”
A round of chuckles went around the circle.
“Somehow, we finally reached the village, but we had half the jungle on our trail, and we were getting chased by this these giant humanoid creatures with arms poking out of their eyes. I didn’t know I could still run so fast!” He laughed some more, as if his near-death experience was the funniest thing that had ever happened to him.
At this point though, Corrin, Wyn, and the rest of the villagers were all listening intently. You never could tell if Harv’s stories were real or not, but they were always entertaining.
“Then, just as I was certain we were about to be the next victims of the jungle…” he paused, looking around the circle of listeners, “There was a bright flash of light. And the giants were blown away! The knights battalion saw us coming from the towers around the village and came to help. I couldn’t believe it, though I did get a stern talking to from their commander, he was a mean guy I tell you… Anyways, we don’t stop until we reach the town walls, and my friend starts complaining again about how he’s in so much pain. He keeps pestering us until I finally tell him to drop his pants and let me check. Well, lo and behold he’s got a leech the size of my hand stuck to his ass!” The villagers erupted into laughter.
“What were the knights like?” Wyn asked, surprising Corrin and apparently Harv, who paused mid laugh as he looked at the boys with mirth.
“Ah, figures you’d want to know, though I would’ve expected Corrin to ask first.”
Wyn shrugged, “I’m just curious.”
“Well, they were incredible frankly. They had a spirit knight with them leading the charge. He slew dozens of the giants by himself with a huge flaming sword.”
“A flaming sword?” Corrin leaned forward. That sounds so cool!
“My reaction was the same! Watching him cut down the throng made me feel like a boy again, it was something to watch.”
“Ahhh I’m so jealous!” Corrin complained.
Harv answered more questions from the whole group, most of which were from Corrin and Wyn, and even told some more stories, though he said he’d save some for later in the visit. Eventually though, the conversation turned to more serious matters, and Corrin found himself tuning out. It was better to go haggle for some goods than sit and talk about trade routes and purchasing rights.
He left Wyn with Harv, and began to shop around to see what the traders had brought in. They’d usually saved the best items for later in the trip—something he didn’t really get—but that didn’t mean there weren’t good things on display now.
Grass wine from Precipice, lightstones, firestones, and even a spirit-lure, was that a sword cast from icesteel?
Corrin whistled appreciatively at the cool, blue-tinted sheen. Spirits, was that a birch bark grip? They really had brought a good haul this time. All his new funds were burning a hole in his pocket. He grinned, walking up to the merchant that had the blade on display, “Hey how much for the sword?”
He may not have liked the job, but Corrin loved having money.