South Jaga City, Job Hall – Year 1344, Month 1, Day 8. Spring

Olea Munroe

After the initial rush and confusion as to where we would be on the convoy, Alex found us a spot on a wagon near the middle of the train. I will say I was glad for the lumpy cushion that was my current seat at the rear of one of the wagons. The roads were smooth enough with all the traffic, but the occasional rut was always a jolt to the senses. There was that slow lift as the large wheel climbed a small mound of hard dirt before the cart dropped down the other side to hit the road hard with the weight of the merchants’ goods. Yep, aside from that it was a smooth ride. Barely painful.

I had already spent several hours on the wagon. It was nice at first, seeing the city fall shrink on the horizon as we trundled across the rolling plains that were so prevalent on the southern edge of the great lake. I saw fields of varied crops, some corn, some form of peas, a great many fields of wheat, and something resembling soy. I really wasn’t the best judge.

But that was it, no changes after leaving the city behind. Just more farms, occasionally these were broken up as we drove through a section of road that traversed nearly a mile of forested area at a time. I had asked why they didn’t clear cut it all for an easier time of travel and the response came that these swaths of forest were left to supply small amounts of lumber and places to hunt forest game for the locals. I guess it made sense to keep some places open for alternate means of dietary sustenance, and lumber was useful. I found it almost worth thinking about.

Now, I was content to watch the sky. It provided a much steadier source of chancing scenery. The big, fluffy clouds drifting lazily overhead. Most were a light gray though some on the northern horizon contained an ominous dark color. Those obviously carried the potential for a storm. I was thankful that I felt the wind blowing north-west, it would most likely keep us dry so long as that didn’t change. A muddy road would most certainly make these occasional bumps extra annoying.

“Enjoying the trip?” came a questioning voice from behind me. I was sitting with my back to the rest of the wagon, but I had said hello to this woman a few hours ago after we had found our place.

“It’s wonderful.” I said not bothering to look at the woman. I did not want to be rude but the last time I had tried turning my head and we hit a bump on the road I had felt something give a warning protest in my neck. I was not doing that again. Who wants to end up in a new world and then die suddenly because they broke their neck while sitting up in a wagon while sight-seeing.

“Are you going to be with the group for the whole trip?” she asked sweetly, she was really pushing the grandmotherly appeal. She had been sitting near the front next to a boy who appeared slightly younger than I was, though I looked closer to fifteen than I was. Why did I need to be a young elf I could have been an older looking elf, though I guess that would just lead to an older crowd of admirers. Or at least a more overt older crowd of admirers.

“Nah, we are leaving off in Melnor.” I said in response.

“A pity, we could use some newer faces and you are quite pretty. I was just telling my Thomas here that it would be wonderful if you stayed on for the full trip.” She continued speaking of the many grand traits their family possessed as I could swear, I felt the heat from poor Thomas’ cheeks as they reddened. I could understand the desire to find ‘friends’ for your children and relatives but I don’t think they were nearly as into the entire thing when they were younger. Then again, we were in a world where the average age of marriage was still in the pre-twenty category for most, while on earth that number was climbing close to forty if people ever did.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

I put my mind my autopilot answering her inane questions with small non-answers as I stared up at the ever-flowing clouds. I had seen Brutus fly by on a few occasions carrying something that was most likely another rat. It was hard to tell as he was flowing quite high, though I did see the large brown object compressed in those thick claws. They had a steely glint to them; it would be quite intimidating if I did not know the beast to be such a wanton coward of situational manipulation. What did that mean? I don’t know, but I had planned to eat that last meat pie. He was a thief.

I took a break from cloud watching as the sky grew darker with the sun nearing the horizon. Looking further down the line of wagons, I saw Alex walking while keeping up conversation with some other passengers. I was quite jealous of his ability to walk at such a brisk pace and still have the wind for conversation. He would put mid-city speed walkers to shame with his gait. He didn’t even need to use exaggerated elbow checks while doing so.

Near the rear of the train a pair of men rode horseback with swords on their hips and short spears attached to leather straps on the saddle. They must be the muscle, should something serious happen. I had inquired earlier of another person on the wagon and had been told that they would likely not be needed as nothing would normally attack such a large wagon train and bandits did not normally frequent the more populous areas near the major towns and cities. As it was spring though, some larger creatures may still be lurking in unexpected places. It rarely hurts to be ready.

The wagon I was seated upon began to slow. Curiously I looked about noticing that we were being led off the main road onto a small track of packed dirt that led to a spacious clearing.

“Coming around!” shouted a man near the lead wagon. This cry was taken up by a few other men, and many of the children. Learning through imitation, or some such thing.

The clearing itself was just that, a clearing. The grass, where it grew, was sparse and kept short by grazing animals. There were four stone circles near the edges of the clearing with one in the center, probable sites of continued use as cookfires. Large trees of pine, oak, and a few elms circled the rear of the clearing as we were near a small, wooded area that covered maybe one hundred acres.

The wagons and carts were led in a circle around the clearing like a snake eating its own tail. Once that was finished, the people leapt from their places atop the wagons quickly doing tasks taught them by rote. Pots were pulled out by the women and children while men pulled tidied up the outer edges of the clearing collecting wood for the cookfires.

In no time at all a small city had sprung up. Tarps pulled taut over ropes staked into the ground provided shelter from the sky near each wagon. Fires quietly blazed in the cool evening air as the smoke trailed above. The smell of stew was heavy in the air.

Soon enough the people were settled into smaller clusters, groups sharing similarly colored clothing having gathered nearer to one another. I had not noticed the divide earlier as everyone was separated by the wagons and situated into split into several differing roles amongst the train. It seemed that there were, judging by the colors, eight different groups among the merchants. I wondered briefly whether the division was familial or merely a representation of a different merchant faction, though I suspected it was a bit of both while also being more convoluted than I would care for, but it did make for quite the sight.

There were some stragglers walking to and from each small gathering of people, visiting the various fires before taking a more distant route around the train, I suspected that they were the guardsmen hired on from outside groups. I also supposed I would fit into that latter category of strangers.

Sure, I was here with Alex, and he seemed to know people, but it felt more like hanging out with a friend while that friend is entertaining his family and slew of closer friends. I was the fifth wheel in a party of people who had a more in-depth understanding of one another. Yeah, the last person invited to the barbeque that no one expected to show up but always did. That was me.

“Bah!” I’d find myself something to do. As I completed that thought a small rumbling sound came from nearby. I needed food. Yep, food and then adventure!