“If you watch carefully the flower gets crinkly and wrinkly like an old person,” the child explained to Luke.
Luke for his part tried to appear interested as he listened to little Tris’s fantastical forays into botany. He did not care but it was more interesting than listening to the adults complain. It was similar to any feast day, who wanted to sit with the grown ups who talked about random aches and the unfairness of taxes? He wanted to sit with the kids and hear how their stuffed animals would take over the world.
So after four days of whining, Luke had put Elder River in the back of the procession and replaced him with Harp and her gaggle of children. Luke absently nodded as Tris started expounding on the virtue of pine needle fairies. He broke one of said branches off and lit it on fire with Hestia’s Sickle. Passing it to Harp, she used it to stave off the cold.
Anything could burn if enough heat was applied and frozen wood was no different. Most of the people in the procession were carrying something that was on fire at the moment. It successfully pushed away the cold for the time being.
“How much farther do you think it will be?” Harp asked.
Her small frame struggled with the snow. She was not much taller than some of the older children and was saddled with some of the supplies they had managed to collect. A few of the supplies that had been in the bunker, some food made from the dog like animals they had found, and a few sets of spare clothes for the children.
Luke shrugged, “We could be there now, if the Caldera had no wall people would not be able to tell when they entered it either.”
Harp shivered a bit at those words. Luke was not sure if it was about a nation not having walls or not needing them. It would be dangerous to forgo walls unless the individuals within were so powerful that beasts were not a threat. Luke was not sure which case would be worse, negligent rulers or unstoppable rulers. Glancing back at Elder River, Luke decided that he would prefer to deal with negligent ones, they could be replaced if they failed their duties.
It took another full day of stomping through the snow for anything to change. They came across a road of all things. Despite the snow falling on it, it remained clear, if a little damp. Grey bricks were set in a fishbone pattern and went as far as Luke could see in both directions. The group of refugees gathered on the edge of the road, not setting foot on it as it might hurt them.
“Old man,” Luke yelled to Elder River, “Did your scouts mention anything like this?”
Roads like this were not uncommon in the Caldera, however, they were normally set aside as walkways in the upper class districts. Seeing something that should only be in a wealthy neighborhood sitting in the middle of nowhere was odd. It was something that a group of scouts should have reported on.
“It's a road, why would they report that?” Elder River said in the most condescending voice he could manage.
Luke raised an eyebrow, not appreciating the tone. Reaching out he grabbed the old man by the shoulder and tossed him onto the road. Elder River was only one hundred sixty pounds, it was easy to move him. He staggered to his feet spluttering with rage.
“Luke, you can’t just do things like that,” Eve chastised.
“Why? He adds nothing to the group and had he been competent we would have the information I asked for,” Luke frowned, “He’s tier three but can’t fight, he’s a leader of men but ruled during the death of his civilization, and anything positive I can accredit to him is due to the actions of others.”
Elder River glared at Luke, but could not refute anything he said. Luke had been sure the road was safe, but he wasn’t willing to bet his life on it. He was willing to bet Elder River’s life. The pathetic man could at least make himself useful and test anything that appeared dangerous.
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“All roads lead somewhere,” Luke said beckoning the group onto the path. It didn’t even matter which way they chose to go, no one built a paved road to nowhere.
Conni started ushering all the miners after Luke. He had been watching the whole event unfold with a smirk. Being from another plane, a more populated area of that plane most likely gave him experience with roads. Them being wary of one was probably quite funny to him.
Luke did not care. The entire thing was weird, it was heated to at least a single degree above freezing and there were no discrepancies from the ground shifting. It had the qualities of an artifact while being a massive piece of construction, why wouldn’t something like this be defended by traps?
There were no traps, and their speed increased significantly without the need to wade through snow. Most of the warriors had started gathering at the front and back of their procession. If an enemy arrived, they would come from the front or back.
Luke was not sure how long they walked, at least a day, but eventually, they came upon a fog bank. It sat on the road and ran in a straight line all along the landscape. He assumed it was a wall made of marble at first, due to how flat the clouds were. They just stopped, almost as if they brushed up against a giant sheet of glass, the movement of the fog being the only sign that it was actually a vapor.
That and the building set just inside the fog. It was only slightly obscured being only ten or so feet within the swirling vapor. The stone it was made from was damp and had moss growing on it, making it look ancient. Only the flickering light in the window alerted them that it was occupied.
Luke turned and made eye contact with Elder River. The old man clenched his fist, but he did not want to get thrown into the fog, “Our scouts did report the fog, though they thought it was natural due to finding it at night in the woods. It did not harm them, though this people’s soldiers have no difficulty navigating it.”
Nodding Luke took a step into the fog. Could Elder River be lying, yes, however, Luke did not need to breathe he could run on air essence from his kern. If it was a touch based toxin, those scouts would have died, as their physique was only a little more than a quarter of Luke’s quality.
“Wait,” Eve called out, before following Luke in. That dragged her whole guard retinue in and her Grandfather sent his own guards in as well. Eve jogged up beside Luke, “You can’t just risk yourself like that. You are more than our strongest member, you’re the only one with a fire artifact, if you die so do we.”
“So you can be practical,” Luke commented with a raised eyebrow.
“I’m not a burden,” Eve frowned, “I don’t know what gave you that impression.”
“Your grandfather,” Luke shrugged before refocusing on the stone building.
Now that they were closer, Luke could see that it was a castle of some kind. It shared much with Hadrid’s lab, the structure above ground was two stories tall and made of brick. His air sense could see a large pocket of air going straight down and under the road. Luke was impressed, these people had made the road collapsable to screw with travelers, or possibly supply chains. Blacklake had lamented it was a valid tactic that he couldn’t use due to elemental labor forces being so expendable and tireless.
The door to the castle slammed open and a young man stepped out. He was wearing a strange uniform, all white with wooden ceremonial armor of all things. It was composed of wooden pipes lashed together and painted grey with a red line drawn across the pauldron. The wooden pipe armor only covered his left shoulder and forearm, everything else was dyed leather. For the outfit to be practical it would need to be mythical beast leather.
Despite what Luke charitably called a soldier being so well dressed, he could not see this boy being in charge of anything. His stance was horrible for a fight, he would not be able to draw his sword from where it was positioned on his back, and he lacked the aura of confidence experienced men had.
“Wh-who are you,” The boy said.
“Go get someone with authority,” Luke said, “If they’re close, we can wait.”
He would not waste his time with a grunt when the result would be running off to find a superior anyway. There was no way this kid had the authority to accept refugees, even on a probationary basis. There should be a captain here if this group of people was competent at all. At least he hoped they did not leave a kid out here to guard the border alone.
The guard took a deep breath to compose himself, “I am the highest ranking soldier present, please state your business.”
Luke stared dumbfounded at the boy for a moment too long. Eve jumped in before the pause became awkward, “We are refugees, please let us enter or at the very least let the families with children enter.”
The soldier gulped, “Uh, hold on.”
He then blew into the pipes on his forearm and shoulder. They made a high-pitched whistling noise that was almost melodic. Luke tensed but when it had no effect he frowned. At least until the mist shifted and he felt a gaze lock onto him.