Sometimes it seemed like this journey would never end. Days upon days passed, and though I missed the comfort of being at home, and the friends I'd left there I didn't hate where I'd come to. We picked our way south, slowly advancing after our short break.

What we eventually came upon was a town, a proper town and not some small village. It stood at the mouth of a great river, between the forest and a massive saltwater marsh. People were going about their days as we approached, but looked at us strangely, like they'd never seen anyone not from here before. None approached though, and being that we had business we didn't bother them either.

We approached the wall, a small, fortification that circled the hill the town had been build upon, grown from briars and trees. There were people nestled above them somehow, some kind of platform or similar allowing them to look out over the landscape, but there weren't many. There were also none at the gates, though more and more people began to give us looks.

“We're getting a lot of attention,” Isha whispered to me.

“I don't think they get many visitors. Luckily they don't seem to object to us, just curious I think,” I answered her.

People were everywhere, and if I estimated this place had several hundred residents. That alone was a good sign, though an odd one, since most of the villages we'd passed had at most a couple dozen. It also meant that whoever was here would be slightly more entrenched, and with the setup I didn't doubt that they had more experience than the average village leader.

There were also no obvious shops, though with a community this size would there really need to be any? If only a handful of people made or did any given service then they'd just be known, and you could go to their homes for what you needed. That was tiresome, but not completely unexpected, as most villages were the same, but it did mean no inns or the like.

I wondered if we'd need to find the local leader, but of course that worry was worthless, because he found us.

“Greetings strangers,” came the voice from off to our side.

“Good day Elder,” I said as we turned looking toward him.

The elf in question was clearly older, half his hair white and eyes that showed almost a tiredness from his years, but he still smiled.

“Welcome to my town, it is seldom that we get visitors from afar.”

“Afar?” asked Chien.

“Your skin, and style are too different from normal to be from either our north or south. You aren't pale like those from the matriarch's home, nor do you have the clothes of the swamps. Not that many of either make it to this edge of the world. Where are my manners though? My name is Lokan, a pleasure to meet you.”

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We quickly gave our names, and offered one of the knives Chien and I had made, it was poorer than most of our work, but an iron knife was still far and above what most people in this world had.

“A wonderful gift, allow me to return you one. You should stay with me for the night, as my home has the most extra room.”

It was no secret that it would also allow him to keep an eye on us and prevent any trouble from brewing, but that was fine since we needed to speak to him anyway.

He led us to his home, and there were several servants there, marked up like those in Atal had been to denote how many years were left on their time, and excused himself. Regardless of where they were, administrators were always busy.

As for the room itself, it was cozy if basic. In the center there was a firepit, lined with stones, and a large sleeping area filled with soft grasses and the like lay off to one side, it almost reminded me of my first home, though the building was a bit more strongly built than that hut had been.

We were invited to dinner, a large affair where all the people of the house sat around sharing the frankly massive quantity of food that had been brought in. As guests we were sat beside the Lokan and his family so we could talk.

“Ah, Lokan, I was asked to check on the one mountain on the way here.”

“Were you? I appreciate that, since our hunters seldom like to get close to it.”

“Yes, there's a large skeleton there, and...” I wasn't sure how to phrase it so that it didn't sound too alarming. “A large number of eggs.”

The elder sat back, eyes going a bit wide. “My, you got close indeed to have seen that.”

“I don't know if you need to send someone...”

“I don't, those have been there since before I was born, and will likely be there for well into the future. The bones you saw belonged to the beast whose heart now heats Icehome, supposedly slain by old Neera, though,” And he leaned close as if sharing a conspiratorial secret. “I suspect she merely found the beast dead or injured after laying those eggs and harvested its heart.”

“Good to know that it's not a worry then.”

“None at all my young friend.”

“Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?” I inquired.

“Of course not, go on.”

“The elders in our area didn't know anything about the situation in the swamps, if there was an ancient ruling them, or what had happened. Could you clarify who's in charge for me?”

“No.” I must have shown how taken aback I was on my face because he continued. “It isn't that I don't want to Justin, but that I cannot. We get visitors from the villages just to our north every now and then, one or two a year perhaps, but from the south? It has been over a century since any have come this way. That last one was to tell us their previous leader had died, much like your own message.”

“Are they so insular? Do they not send out any traders at all?” I asked, stunned at the lack of communication.

“You've never been to the swamps have you?” he asked, amused.

“No...”

“Then you haven't a clue of the scale. First of all, most of it is empty of our people. Nobody likes living in a bog, well, almost nobody, so the majority of it is just open land.” He reached down in the dirt and began to draw a map as he spoke.

“I see.”

“You're from Atal right?” At my nod he added that to the map, making a line upwards. “You must have traveled north and around, through the forests, and the ice.”

There was a sense of scale to it as he went, our lands were medium sized, but as he moved northwards he showed the enormity of the frozen wastes. Then he moved downwards, adding mountains and the slim strip of coast we were on now. From his drawing I could see that the lands within the circling mountains that had previously belonged to the ancient Cino were quite a bit larger than the forests of my birth.

“And the swamps?” I asked.

“Down here. Most of the people live around a large inland sea, bigger than any lake upon a series of three great hills, those aren't as tall as our mountains supposedly, but high enough to avoid the waters. Here and there within the swamp are other settlements, places were the land is dry enough to make small woodlands, but most of it is home to nothing but beasts, bugs, and those who would rather be left alone.” As he spoke he drew and pointed out the structures he told me about.

The swamp we were looking at wasn't some small thing, it was massive, almost as large as the ice shelf. I could also imagine the 'joy' of crossing such a thing and frowned. The lake he spoke of and the hills we were likely to find whatever leader there may be were also at the very point of the map.

“What you thinking boss?” Chien asked, leaning in.

“We're gonna need a better way to travel.”