I stood looking at the morning light, those that were coming with me joined me, those that were staying behind stood a bit away, letting us check our packs one final time. Auntie Atie, Ida, and Ian, who I was refusing to call my uncle, were all offering last bits of advice, particularly to the young Chien. While I'd not been looking it appeared my aunt had apparently decided that she liked him, though in a way that reminded me of her treatment of me, if lesser.

Then there was the third wheel so to speak, who stood nearby, her own leather pack tied tightly.

“You know, you don't have to come with us,” I said to her.

“I am coming regardless, at least as far as that village. There are things that must be done, and I will be doing them.” Her tone brooked no argument.

Jina had apparently decided that the pool needed to be either sealed or at least watched, and there was nobody more qualified than herself to do it. She'd therefore declared that as we left she would be escorting us to whatever remained of Elayatol and taking care of the issue herself.

I found that I couldn't really argue against the idea of dealing with that place. Cino's actions had proved that it was too dangerous to leave alone, even if he'd been considered mad by most of the current crop of Elders. Was Jina the best person to do it? I honestly didn't know, but while she could be a grouch, and had a mean streak a mile long she didn't seem to take it out on innocent bystanders. There was also a feeling that she was giving off, like she hurt and wanted to do something about it.

There wasn't much fanfare as we made our way to the gate and out into the surrounding lands. Some of the guards knew what was going on, and a few even nodded to me as we went, but the majority of the populace didn't. Even then those acquainted with me were a little standoffish. The battle hadn't been so long ago and the land around was still scarred and poisoned from what I'd done. Before it healed my people, with our long memories were unlikely to change their opinions too much.

We trudged westward, the best way to start even if we didn't have a cranky old woman with us, and towards the mountains. Those served as one of the easiest to find and navigate borders, the large stone giants far less wooded than the thick forests, and faster to walk along even if crossing them was a pain.

“Planning your way out?” Jina asked as we ate dinner, seeing that I'd drawn some squares on the ground.

“Yes, as much as I can. Any thoughts? I'm sure you've been to one of these places.” I waved to the rough outline.

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“I haven't actually, but I'll make one. Start with the North first, then work your way around. I know grandfather had a good relationship, or as much as he could have, with the old ruler of the northern wood. He's most likely to be friendly. I'd also avoid the inner lands if I were you, Cino's people are going to be in havoc right now, and showing up won't be helpful.”

That made as much sense as any other advice I'd heard. There were no maps of our lands as such, but rather the ideas of territories, and the people who lived near the edges all knew where those borders were. This made navigation a bit difficult, if only because I had to try and find places that I had only verbal descriptions of. At least border disputes were rare, with wars like the one we'd just been in exceptionally so.

What I'd learned from the Elders of Atal and some of those who traveled a bit wasn't all that helpful. Most of my people were fairly well dug in, not liking to go to and fro, and those who did didn't often end up going into the territories of other Ancients. Even messages between them were sparse, meaning that some of my information could be painfully outdated.

Generally though our lands covered most of the Eastern seaboard, a thick rain-forest of dense growth up and along much of the coast. Going North from there though the climate cooled a bit even if it got more prone to floods. The northern wood was, if descriptions were to be believed, something more akin to a temperate zone, with less undergrowth and far larger trees. If anyone could really be considered a trading partner with the former city of Atal, it was the villages here.

If one went West through the northern wood then they'd eventually find the western coastline. That coast was dominated by a massive plateau Again information was sparse but it seemed that other than a small green belt along the side this geological feature dominated. One thing that everyone agreed on about this region was that it was bitterly cold, the altitude and winds meaning that the top of that plateau were frozen.

These three formed around the lands of the now deceased Cino. While the Ancient that I'd killed possessed the most land, something else everyone agreed on, it was also viewed as some of the poorest. From what I understood it was a large bowl of poor grassland, with few trees and fewer edible plants to speak of.

Below this, and sharing a border with both the lands of Atal and the West were two known fiefdoms, both were understood to be grassy, and well off. There was also more to the South of them, but that was where reports really broke down, with conflicting answers to how many, and what the rulers controlled.

It was my job to go to these various areas, find the Ancients who ruled them, and inform those old monsters of the deaths of Atal and Cino. This was a tradition, a message sent to tell them that those who came to rule those lands were gone now.

“Do you think any of them will try to take Cino's or Atal's lands now that they're gone?” I asked Jina.

“If there is another close to becoming a proper Ancient they might if we're lucky,” she answered, something which surprised me.

“If we're lucky?” I asked.

“Cino was a bastard, and we were at war, but if another his age decided to come and insert himself into the city people would breathe easier.” At my look she shook her head. “Yes, even me, so long as they ruled fairly. There are threats far worse than you've ever seen in this world child. Threats best taken care of by the old, a good ruling Ancient can handle things even I cannot.”

“But there are few,” I added.

“Yes, few. As we get older we fight others our age more. Many also end up fighting powerful monsters. Many fall before they are fully an Ancient, many don't even become Elders, their first few white hairs leading them to believe they can handle anything. It is the cautious, lucky, and powerful who tend to survive the longest.”

Those words caused me to sit and think until Chien came to tell me that dinner was done. I wondered if we could improve those numbers one day. It would be hard of course, but perhaps we could have at least a few dozen Ancients around to protect our people, that would certainly make our population safer.