It’s been three days since the secret congregation came to an end. The three men who managed to flee, along with the three teens who escaped prison were still on the run.
While some guards knew somewhat how they looked, there were many people in the town. It didn’t help that there were migrants coming in every day.
Efar and Zara also noticed this.
“What’s the deal with all these people?” asked Efar.
“It wasn’t like this until now, did your teacher do something, Alberto?”
Alberto was smirking, thinking about all the many things he had heard from his one teacher.
“Yes, in fact. For quite a while now our town proved to be much safer, even when talking about the huge city! Especially now, when there is a nasty plague going around.”
“A plague? Never heard of anything like it,” mused Zara.
“Yes, that’s because Teach has been giving advice directly to your father Zara. Yours as well, Efar. Gard keeps the streets clean in more ways than one while Fox fends off any outside threat. Or inside, as he did a few days ago. There is more to be learned about the world than we can imagine. I can’t understand even half of what he’s saying and it makes my blood boil!”
Alberto was so enraptured in his own monologue that both Efar and Zara got the words in one ear and out the other.
“Hey, what do you say we go to the ruins? Fox just recently got rid of that pesky band of thieves,” said Efar.
“Wouldn’t he or other mercenaries take whatever’s there?” answered Zara.
“He was in a hurry to get back to town so the quest was technically finished. The others seem way busier nowadays with other things. What do y’all say?”
Zara and Alberto were curious as well. Both of them studied to a certain degree the local history and were aware that many things were unwritten. Nobody was sure what even happened a hundred years ago.
“I’ll talk with papa.”
“I’ll talk with Teach.”
And so they convened to leave in a few days.
*
Teroh and Devas, together with the preacher, were walking along the road. Their robes were torn during their escape so they threw them. Now with their faces in the sun, they grimaced.
“I hate this sun. Why does it always seem that it’s hotter here than anywhere?” inquired Devas.
“Maybe it’s closer to the sun.” answered Teroh.
Devas snickered.
“Never gets old.”
The preacher was out of the loop and listened curiously. Devas smirked and told him what was so funny.
“Y’see, we once had to burn a whole village as offering but the good old torch was not fast enough for it. So we hired a lunatic who kept babbling something about a black powder and how the voices in his head made him think he was a dancer. Honestly, he was actually good at it. Ah, it’s worth mentioning that it was also terribly hot there, Teroh kept complaining about it.”
“You did it more. And your other little experiment almost choked me to death. Prick.”
“So what happened? To the village I mean.”
“He told us to stick the powder sacks to some hogs and put them on fire. However, we found some old tunnels underground. Man, I tell you, we kept making that powder for a year! I counted! Anyway, when it was time to set it on fire we literally blew the village up! Physically! And with that, it was actually closer to the sun!”
Nobody except for Devas laughed. Teroh checked the surroundings when they arrived at a crossroad.
“Where do you want to go? I know these places fairly well,” said the preacher.
“Perde. There are some fellows waiting for us. The folks around here seem to stay within their little borders so it works fine for us,” answered Teroh.
“This way then,” pointed the preacher to the right.
“Now that I think about it, you speak about us as if you are from another place. Where exactly do you two come from? You look different from most fellows I’ve met,” he said referring to their slightly paler skin and narrower eyes. Their words were sometimes weird despite their best attempts at mimicking the local dialect.
Devas, who’s got over his silly joke, intervened.
“We’re from the east. Get past the Drunken’s Pass and you’re not far from our place!”
The preacher was curious more than ever.
“The east? I heard that place was cursed.”
“It’s not, though it might as well be. The Ice Queen’s reign is nothing short of madness. She makes the tyrants of the south look like lambs,” said Teroh, his eyes clouded.
“I know firsthand what it means to fight her army. Living ice and dreadful storms. The Druid of the Emerald Forest would be similar, that one you know of, though at least he prefers to stay in his place.”
Devas’ cheery mood dropped slowly as memories came into his mind. That was the one person he would never want even his enemies to meet. Out of pity, mostly.
Despite them not looking like it, the preacher thought that they were veterans from some insane war. Not an unusual sight, all things considered. The last war in their region was twenty years ago. By all accounts, it was as peaceful as it gets.
Now that the Land of Mountains and Rivers was united, most threats would, he imagined, come from outside.
*
Efar, Zara and Alberto were walking on the beaten path towards the ruins, Efar held most of their things in his backpack, together with his bow and arrows. He held a spear though he wished to eventually have another weapon, despite him having two axes at his belt.
When inquired about it he’d always say that the spear wasn’t “fierce enough”, whatever that meant. The axes weren’t great either.
Alberto had the smallest backpack as he put most of his things in Efar’s. His copper bracelet seemed to be the most expensive object any of them had together with a necklace also made of copper. Precious stones were few and often taken to Ravos before appearing on the market so he had to make do with what he had. Even his teacher didn’t use precious stones unless necessary.
Zara had some strong boots, bronze plated, and a set of gauntlets dangling from her backpack, also bronze plated. She didn’t have that many unusual things except a book that she would often read when they took a break. It was made out of rabbit skin which Efar and Alberto hunted constantly for weeks so that Seon could write a copy of the monks’ book.
Efar knew the way to the ruins as he had been close to that place several times. It took Fox a great deal of strength and convincing to keep him in place that time.
Now that they were together, few things would stop him from doing as he pleased. While walking they spent their time speaking about all kinds of things, from silly jokes to serious subjects. Eventually, Alberto and Efar told Zara about that unusual method of stopping magic, though after the first few words Efar disappeared into the forest.
“Sounds weird,” was her unenthusiastic answer.
“Truly. Do you think it would affect you? You told me that the monks use the soul in a similar way as the wizards use magic.”
“It’s not entirely impossible. However, you’d need at least equal mastery as your opponent to properly use such a technique. With magic I guess it matters not. At least this is what Seon told me. Our souls are rigid compared to magic.”
“I see.”
Their talk was interrupted by Efar, bringing a few rabbits as his stomach rumbled. They were hungry too.
On the side of the path they made a fire together, Zara and Alberto bringing wood and Efar stoking the fire.
Alberto was then tasked with maintaining the fire while Zara and Efar would go to the river and skin the rabbits. It was an unpleasant job, as such they left Alberto out of it as he always grimaced at the gore.
~
Some time later the sun went down and the rabbits were ready. While rudimentary, it was a good meal. Each one of them had a small vial of salt, courtesy to the monks. With it no meal was bland. They also brewed some tea with a bunch of medicinal herbs that Efar had found while returning with Zara from skinning the rabbits.
“Say Efar, what are you gonna do when you come of age?” asked Alberto while munching on his rabbit.
Efar, who also ate heartily, pondered for a moment.
“I think I will go explore more. This world is vast. The forest I came from is still a mystery so I want to see what’s there, who’s there.”
He seemed upbeat, but Alberto knew that Efar had a deep trauma from that place. In his eyes Efar was brave to go back to the place he had suffered the most.
“You want to make a name for yourself?”
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“No, I just enjoy going to places I have never seen or can’t understand. Still, why do you ask?”
It was Alberto’s turn to tell his part.
“My teacher wants me to go to Ravos. He says that there are other teens our age who learn the secrets of nature and magic. I… don’t know if I should.”
Efar and Zara looked at each other. Zara thought about it for a bit.
“It’s up to you what you wish to do. But never forget that never practicing at length what you learn will make you similar to that mute guy Efar beat. He was undoubtedly stronger than any of us, but he lacked actual experience.”
“She means that she wants you to hang out with us.”
Zara puffed her cheeks but didn’t retort. Alberto was happy that he was wanted somewhere. Just like Efar he carried some baggage. Maybe someday he will be able to tell them everything without endangering anyone.
“You Zara? I heard that Seon wanted to actually take you to the Monk Villages. Isn’t that great?” questioned Efar.
“In theory, but there are no women in those villages. I would be happy to make a way for other women, but it is weird only for me to go there. Unless I am strong enough to stand face to face with the Grandmaster, I will stick with you guys.”
Zara was different from them as she had a somewhat normal life despite her mother being absent. She never talked about it but Alberto realized quite soon after they met what kind of situation her family had been in. He could relate to her somewhat.
“Tomorrow we will arrive at the ruins. Finally, we are on the frontier of discoveries!” said Efar with excitement. Zara and Alberto shared the sentiment. The heavy weight on Alberto’s soul would always lift whenever he was with them. That made him happy.
“Teach always said that few adventurers could actually explore until now because of a crisis that happened more than a hundred years ago. Our fellow men were always struggling to survive. Couple that with the war twenty years ago and most people would be anxious to stray too far away. Maybe we are the odd ones in the end.”
That made them snicker.
Three teens, pioneers of the unknown and forgotten. Under the starry sky, all earthly woes seemed to disappear for a moment as they’d weave a new story.
As they came closer to fall asleep the gods looked from above, their faces unseen, cold.
~
The next day they arrived at the ruins, memorizing every detail they could either from a decrepit wall or from a half fallen column. Despite the wear of this place it still felt important. Time is a wonder, maybe a spell, which always changes even the most immutable stone.
As the sun neared its zenith they set up their camp. Each one of them equipped their weapons, expecting either wild animals roaming or some brave thief trying to make a quick coin.
Unlike such thieves any discovery they made in this place had to be given to either Gard or Alberto’s teacher, Decen.
Despite not having any proper writing tools Alberto still knew a spell which temporarily recorded a limited number of images in his head. The spell was highly volatile and too much of a physical harm could also affect his permanent memory. Efar and Zara knew of this so they took it upon themselves to protect him.
“Efar, there is a high column up ahead,” said Alberto while looking at a scene inscribed on a column.
Efar nodded then ran and climbed a tall pillar of marble. With quick, experienced moves he got at the top in no time at all. Standing there the wind blew slightly stronger against his face.
His senses were much stronger than a normal man, a gift which he used often when hunting. He could see a bit farther than the ruins thanks to this. After a few seconds he noticed motion and a few figures. They seemed to fight but were also quite far, near the river so even his enhanced sight could not properly discern them.
After checking the surroundings he came back down.
“There is a fight near the river. I counted five people, three against two.”
“We should check it out. Who knows if the victors will be against us or not,” concluded Alberto.
So it was decided. But before they did that, they hid their luggage by propping it on a pillar. Then Alberto made the earth rise and covered their things with a blanket of earth and grass.
Having done that they approached the place hastily, only hiding when they came near the other people.
To their surprise, it was a three against one fight, with the one lone fighter always being on the offensive. He was clad in an unusual armor as such: his face was covered by chainmail and the helmet was of unusual artistry. He wielded a two-handed axe which got Efar’s attention. Behind him, a few meters away, was a man dressed similarly to a messenger: light clothes but still covering his entire body.
An even bigger surprise was that they recognized the three assailants. They were the sect members they fought a few days ago. It was clear whom they should help. The sect members were already their enemies.
Efar looked at Zara and Alberto. It was customary for Alberto to set the stage. He put his left hand on the grass and spoke a few words. A mist slowly appeared around, eventually taking everybody’s sight.
The warrior noticed it in time and used riskier moves whose weakness was compensated by the lack of visibility. He started yelling and laughing at the same time, likely in excitement. Eventually, one could barely see in front of himself.
Except for Efar. His senses helped him greatly and got around Devas and Teroh and reached for the preacher. He didn’t seem like a fighter.
“What the…”
The preacher was caught by surprise but still fought back. He had two knives, with another two on his belt. Efar took his axes and parried him several times before catching one of his hands with the nook of the axe head and cutting his arm with the other until he met the bone.
The preacher yelled in pain and jerked back, alerting his companions. Blood spilled on the wet grass and kept on dripping as he tried to stop the bleeding.
“So it’s red. Unusual, for an insect.”
Efar mocked before attacking him again and again. Though the man was a mess he managed to dodge the more threatening blows.
Devas and Teroh were confused by this situation and thought that their enemy did something and tried to step back.
Devas was taken by surprise when Zara hit his head with her gauntlet fists then followed with a knee in the back, putting him down, face in the dirt. Then, stepping on his back, fire erupted from her boots, scorching Devas’ clothes and skin.
He was in pain, that was certain, but he barely made any noise. Zara was frowning.
Teroh was appalled at the sudden surge of flames and realized who they were dealing with. The armored man used this opportunity to go even more on the offensive. Then, at the worst possible moment, Teroh tripped over a sharp stone and injured his leg. The armored man was laughing maniacally as he swung the axe for the killing blow.
It took less than 2 seconds, but Devas, with inhuman speed and strength, threw Zara off him, rushed to the warrior and pushed the axe enough to miss his friend.
The warrior did not seem surprised and tried to headbutt Devas, only he was faster and dodged. Zara stood up and sprinted into the action.
Devas kept dodging between Zara and the warrior in a dance-like movement. He did not counter attack even once, though he seemed to have wanted to.
Teroh seized the opportunity and hurried to the last place he knew the preacher was to. His bleeding leg was warm but he managed to walk. He was almost taken by surprise by Efar and Alberto but he dodged them and hurried further.
He looked at the man and felt sorry for the preacher as he laid there, bruised and cut but fortunately alive, probably because Efar tried to ambush him. Teroh didn’t look at his face but he guessed he was swollen beyond recognition. He took the fallen preacher on his shoulders and whistled at such a high note that Efar had to cover his ears.
Alberto channeled the surrounding water of the mist into a whip which proved to be useless as Teroh made a weird motion of the hand and dispersed the water. Soon, Devas went by them at an astounding pace, took Teroh up as he held the preacher and ran at the same speed far away. Zara followed with a fiery sprint, leaving scorched grass behind her, but Devas was too fast and so she stopped a few tens of meters away.
“They got away again,” said Alberto, frustrated.
“We’ll get them eventually. They can’t hide forever.”
Alberto mumbled something and the mist settled down. The warrior was standing in his place where he was first found: a few meters from the other man.
“Tsk, they ran. Weasel guys,” clicked his tongue the warrior. His voice was deep and had a weird accent that none of the teens ever heard.
“Nice moves girl. I see that the southerners are more ferocious than we thought. And the boys must be good too, shame I didn’t see much of them.”
He was also unusually talkative for a warrior. The other man walked closer to his escort as Efar and Alberto also came closer. The man had an unusual accent too yet somehow different from the warrior, a bit similar to theirs.
“Greetings. I presume you are adventurers?” he asked.
The teens looked at each other and put Alberto forward.
“Not officially but adventure we do anyway. If you wish, may we have your names?”
The man blinked several times at Alberto.
“My name’s Silv and I am a messenger from the town of Sirius. Are you perhaps a noble?”
“No…I am afraid there are no nobles around here, unless any of you esteemed sirs identify so.”
Alberto was a bit taken aback but he proceeded with the talk.
The warrior stood to Silv’s left and used the axe as a walking stick to relax a bit.
“No noble would ever take an axe in a fight, mage. One wouldn’t move his arse to begin with,” said the warrior roughly.
Silv pondered for a moment, but before he said anything Alberto spoke first.
“You did say you are a messenger, right? I don’t know what business you need, or where, but if you follow this river you will get to the nearest town, Onoa. Our town.”
Silv was taken back from his thoughts and smiled.
“Thank you for the tip. Would it bother you if we made camp next to each other? I have many more questions to ask of you.”
Alberto looked at his friends. Efar, maybe due to his fascination, had his sight only on the big axe while Zara was indifferent.
He sighed.
“Very well.”
“Marvelous! We’ll bring our things at once. Hakon, can you help me?”
“Sure.”
As Silv and Hakon the warrior went to some stones where they left their belongings the three teens would strategize while walking to their place.
“What do you say, Efar? Do they seem trustworthy?” asked Alberto.
Efar looked at the two men as they were walking. He had another gift that many would kill for, that is, a good instinct at discerning people. Well, less of a gift and more of a survival necessity. Life hasn’t always been nice to him as it is now and he wouldn’t take it for granted.
“They are not thieves and they actively fought the sect members. Whoever fights these insects knows what they can do.”
“I’ve also seen him fight. He seemed to know them well enough to not be surprised. Maybe the sect is much grander than we thought,” intervened Zara.
They soon reached a consensus: the two men were not dangerous. Next was a sort of after-battle talk. This was something that Zara and Alberto decided to do as a way to be better.
“Let’s see first what we learned about them. What did you notice, Efar?” asked Alberto
“That preacher is their weak link. I don’t know why they keep him around, he’s holding them back.”
“You think only of martial prowess, but that man might be the most dangerous,” said Zara.
“In the last year the number of sect members went up. I don’t know when he came, but if he arrived around a year ago then he must have a great charisma to get such a number of men and women. There were almost fifty members, not counting the newbies who weren’t there, despite our efforts to eradicate them.”
“Zara is right. The two fighters could be disposed of by simply getting someone stronger than them, but a preacher can move hearts. Stand enough with him and you might agree with his ideas.”
It was then set that if they met again the preacher would be the first to go. Well Efar did half of the job by now. That man needed lots of stitches.
Their next subject was about the two fighters, of which Zara had the most to say.
“I can say for sure that they also practice the Way of the Soul. One of them withstood my flames and moved at an unnatural speed.”
Efar and Alberto looked at each other worried. If they were that strong then they had slim chances of fighting them on equal footing.
“It’s not like we can’t ambush them like we did this time, but they will be prepared. Next time we’ll need something more chaotic. Also, they definitely hold a grudge now.”
Despite their victory they were aware that Hakon did most of the fighting. The gap between them was big. However, there was nothing they could do now except be more cunning and chaotic than them. Where experience and strength failed, quick wits and a penchant for chaotic recklessness would thrive.