The sun started to set, leaving the horizon in an orange and red hue. The heat of the day started to slowly cool and the duo of Baltar and Aleius put their heads back on the wooden walls of a bumpy carriage.
“It was really nice of Korjo and that old man to gift us so many things unexpectedly.” Baltar smiled holding the back of his head with his hands. He dawned a new extravagant white robe with red bird embroideries, white matching pants, and stylish martial arts slippers.
“Mmm.” Aleius nodded, but his expression was a bit tense, he also walked away with that dark blue robe with the white winding pattern he took a liking to, with a matching set of pants and slippers. “Your think they figured us out?”
“Probably, I mean they really did have a change of pace. Korjo even found us a nice carriage to the big city.”
Aleius fell silent for a while, the wooden carriage rocking them slightly as it bumped a long dirt road.
Aleius’s thoughts were interrupted by the scent of horse riders closing in from down the road. Soon, the galloping grew closer as they came towards the carriage. The carriage was only covered with a plain beige canvas, they could see the horse riders approaching down the road through the space in the back.
Two riders dressed in white robes that flowed in the wind, and wide bamboo hats that draped a white veil around the edge of their faces. They caught up to the carriage, but the coachman did not seem alarmed.
“I think we have some guests,” Aleius spoke up to the driver, but he just grunted back disinterested.
He seemed disinterested with this whole trip; he never made any sort of conversation with the duo in the back. Only steering the two horses and chewing on a weed on one side of his mouth and smoking his pipe from the other.
Maybe it was his age, he was an older man, but the last two old men they met were quite amicable.
The more likely reason was he was transporting just two men in a carriage that could fit at least six comfortably. Not to mention their new clothes were a bit more elegant than the crude mana weave Balshana made them. He probably thought they were noblemen leveraging some sort of familial power to hitch a ride back to the city. And without the coin to match their demeanor, he seemed a bit grumpy.
The two horse riders caught up just as the carriage ventured into a heavily forested path.
Aleius didn’t really know what to think. The white-robed riders matched the speed of the carriage, their horse hooves resounding from the sides of the canvas.
The coachman didn’t react to the two riders, just kept puffing his pipe.
‘Were they set up? Already?’
Aleius felt the magical presence of the two riders.
‘Weak’ he thought. ‘Much weaker than Korjo even.’
The one to the left of the carriage was stronger in magical presence than the one on the right. But to Aleius it was more comparable to two ants, just one was bigger in size.
He curled his fingers meticulously, a slight wind entering the carriage. He was just going to summon enough wind to nudge the riders’ horses off the road and into the thick of trees. A harmless gust of mana-infused wind, that would be impossible to sense coming from underneath the carriage canvas.
The mana twirled around his index finger, ready to be sent out, he verified his aim, first on the left, then to the right.
“Those must be the White Blades riding beside us.” Baltar yawned, interrupting his train of thoughts.
“Huh?” Aleius dissipated the mana around his finger.
“They like to stay close when we enter the forest.” The coachman replied surprisingly, still puffing on his pipe. “For soft hands like yourselves, you don’t know the dangers of the thick of trees. Brigands used to lay traps in the road and use the woods to hide.” He spoke between puffs of his pipe. “Would only take them a few minutes to make a trip rope over the road using the trees, and once your horses were disabled.” He made an axing motion with his hand.
“You sound like you’ve had some experience with Brigands before?” Baltar said to the coachman as he shifted seats closer to Aleius. He lowered his voice to a whisper.
“Your tense.”
Aleius sighed.
Baltar put his arm around his shoulder. “We’re surrounded by Mortals, there’s no need to be tense.”
“Yeah, but I feel like I’ve already been exposed. I don’t want to be found out and cause an uproar.”
The coachman recollected a time he was attacked by Brigands on this very road to Toyo. Baltar was sure it was a very interesting tale, but he was barely listening, only providing the lip service he needed to keep the coachman regaling to himself.
“Cause an uproar?” Baltar whispered. “You never know this realm could have multiple immortals at the apex, maybe even a few deities too.”
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Aleius looked at Baltar’s complacent face, “That’s the problem, mages don’t get along. Especially powerful ones.”
“Yes.” Baltar leaned his head onto his shoulder and yawned, his long auburn hair drooping down Aleius’s chest. “But who would be more powerful than you in this realm?”
Aleius pushed Baltar’s head away. “You for one! Now get off me, and wear your robe properly, you look like a common courtesan.”
Baltar kept his robe loose around the top revealing his pale shoulders. “But I’ve always worn it like this.”
“Yes, but you also used to be a mammoth of a man who was built like a Mana-iron War Lion. Remember your new appearance!”
The Coachman grunted, realizing no one was listening to his story.
“Ah, sorry!” Baltar called over to him. “You were at the part where you stormed the brigand encampment, with just you and your carriage.”
The coachman in the middle of a puff of his pipe started hacking smoke and spit.
“I what!?” he managed between coughs. “What story were you listening to? I was just telling you about my horses!”
“Oh, sorry, I must have misheard!” Baltar tried to placate the old man with a lazy smile still on his face.
The coachman grumbled inaudibly to himself, as Aleius shook his head in the corner chuckling silently.
“I wish I could be as carefree as you.”
The ride was otherwise uneventful, the forested passage tapered off, and revealed the road to Toyo.
The sky-high golden towers peaked through the trees, along with flying ships and wyvern--riders soaring through the reddening sky, heading towards the city. The ground path, unfortunately, to Aleius’s discontent, was full of traffic, horse to horse, carriage to cart. Everyone was stuck at a slow walk pace.
“Might have to settle in for the night, there is a waypoint up ahead that is guarded by White Blades, I’ll have to stop there to rest the horses.” The old man spoke to them indifferently.
“That’s good, I was getting sleepy anyway,” Baltar answered with a yawn. He looked at Aleius who sniffed the air, his eyes closing to a squint
Baltar nudged him with his arm. “Who knows what's in that pipe of his, I wouldn’t sniff so hard, might make you old and grumbly like him.”
Aleius smirked but it quickly faded. He lowered his voice to a whisper.
“I smell an immortal, and..” he sniffed again. “Morning dew on a foggy day. Mild rain, puddles.”
Baltar raised his auburn eyebrows, then tapped his index finger on his lips. “Fog… dew… rain and puddles…”
He tilted his head, his long hair falling to the side. After a moment, the duo looked at each other quizically.
“An Oracle? Here?” Baltar spoke in disbelief.
But Aleius just nodded his head, the scent was unmistakable. That thick aroma of puddled rainwater and the picture of fog that brought to his mind.
“I wonder what they would want.”
“I dunno.” Baltar relaxed his head back. “But they don’t leave the safety of their temples without reason.”
Aleius agreed, it was suspicious. Oracles were masters of prophecy and fate. To immortals prophecy and fate are easily defied, but to mortals, it is a power that governs their very existence. If you are fated to die, then you die. If you are prophesized to become an immortal, it can be a drastic boon to ascension or descension. Of course, it depended on the oracle's ability to write prophecies, some are easier to defy than others.
“If they try and manipulate your fate, I will slay them immediately,” Aleius remarked his fangs showing slightly as he lowered his head.
“That’s good.” Baltar yawned laying across the wooden seat. “I don’t have the ability to resist a prophecy at the moment.”
“And you’re not worried?”
“Why would I be worried, about some oracle? I have a wolf of legend with me. They manipulate my fate in even the slightest way and they are going to get killed. I mean you already sniffed them out which means they aren’t afraid of death which is rare for immortals, or they are here for something else.”
Aleius finally relaxed, leaning his white hair against the side of the carriage.
“Listen Aleius.”
He peered over to Baltar who was laying on his elbow, his eyes closed.
“We need to worry about those who underestimate us, those who do not know us. Those who have no concept of the Raiju and the Golden Phoenix. The mortals who have never seen passed the realms of man and beast. Everyone else…” his words started to drift off.
Aleius watched him sleep for a few moments. His form, it was still a shock to him; like Balshana had a twin brother. His mana-infused body didn’t need rest, so for the rest of the night, he was left to his thoughts. The scent of mana wafting through the air between the carriage traffic.
There were many different people, he smelled mana deficient commoners, to mages attuning to the mortal magic for the first time. Mages whose veins breathed in mana effortlessly, but still not to the level of the first man they met.
‘Korjo was his name?’ Aleius rubbed his chin. That man was not who he said he was.
“Since we are going slow, I’m gonna stretch my legs, I’ll walk next to the carriage for a bit.” Aleius stood up.
The old man grunted in reply uninterested.
He stepped out of the carriage onto the dirt road, he could see a full line of carts for as far as he could see. The carriages were all different from style to how they were built, and the materials used. Some carriages were basic, pulled by one horse. Some were lavish and massive pulled by 5 or 6 horses.
‘Seems there really is only one road to Toyo.’
The city wasn’t on a hill or mountain, so it was strange, to say the least.
He kept big strides to keep up with the carriage but the pace everyone was moving was truly pitiful, he just hoped they would make it in time for the tournament.
The night had begun to set in, but for his eyes, he could still see as clear as day. Carriages started adorning decorated lanterns and lamps to light the way. A few places ahead of them, there was a large carriage pulled by 6 white horses, the roof of the carriage was trimmed in gold, and a stylish blue lotus flower was painted on a white wooden background.
Other than the noble baring and expensive look that was typical in all realms. What was conspicuous to him was how the mortal mana being pulled into the carriage was being warped to chilly cold ice. The scent reminded him of a snow-filled wasteland, but not to the extent of some of the hell realms, but it did paint a picture. Whoever they were they were a long way from home. The mortal mana he has felt in this region was naturally of earth and wind.
“I’m curious of one of the carriages in front of us,” Aleius spoke to the old driver.
The old man lit and hung a lantern next to him, the then grunted at him.
“Uhm, It’s the big white one with a blue lotus.” He continued.
The driver rubbed his wispy grey beard, “I’ve traveled this road my entire life, I know of all the nobles and merchants as well as the honest men that ride this road. But I don’t think I know which carriage you are referring to.”
It was too dark to ask the elderly man to look for himself, so Aleius let it go. The immortal mana he smelled was still lingering down the road behind them, probably still a few miles out.
“The waypoint is up ahead. I’m going to stop for a half night, and It seems like many others will as well.”
Aleius only nodded and returned to the carriage. Baltar was asleep his robe exposing his chest.
‘Seemed his new body would require sleep, and maybe he would even need to eat.’
He could only sigh, they were drastically unprepared for the journey. They had no food or water and while Baltar didn’t complain, it was easy for him to not even notice he needed to attend to his new body either.