Kichi, Whitebeard, Ema, and Masahide fled Wythmere in the night and hurried until they emerged from the forest. There, a road wound its way through hills and toward the misty pink, which grew in the east, toward the great mountains at the center of the continent.
Kichi wouldn’t miss Ema’s possessed city, at least not for some time. Maybe she’d return someday and take care of their graveyard problem.
They napped in the cool shade deep in an elbow of two steep hills, where the earth was sandy and crawled with ants. Kichi rubbed her eyes when a hand shook her awake, but she popped up when Whitebeard bade her to train. They crossed swords, and she tried her best to hit him, but that wasn’t a reasonable goal yet.
She felt better when Masahide drew his sword, and she came close to touching him when his heel turned a pebble, though she would have died a thousand times if it had been real combat.
After the hills, the land fell to dry farmland, and they spent many days with less food than they’d like, for more than a few farmhouses sat abandoned. They rested in an empty house with a hole in the roof and crumbling walls.
After a short nap, Whitebeard removed his wide-brimmed hat and smeared dirt on his face when he rubbed a hand over it. “Oh, you’re still here.”
“To the end,” Masahide said. He’d given up on the comb, and his head was an overgrown lawn of wheat-colored hair.
Ema clung to Masahide’s arm, and he returned the affection, but he wanted to pace the perimeter. Her only real flaw was her large ears, which allowed her to keep her hair out of her face by tucking her red strains behind them. “I’ve never been off the mountain. I’ve always wondered how the flatlanders live. Now I know they’re all farmers.”
Kichi closed her codex, and Bin darted into her inner pocket. “Around here will be a town or city, just like in the mountains. It’s just that they’re spread out, so not so many inns and taverns until we find a city.”
Masahide stood on the tall foundation and examined what looked like blood on the wattle in the burst wall. His concern showed on his face and in his constant lookout at the land around him. “Whatever happened here, I think, is long gone, but it was brutal.”
Whitebeard rose, stretched his back, and yawned. “It will only get worse for the foreseeable future. Now, we’re almost to Dunaguard. Let us be off.”
Before evening, the city of Dunaguard appeared. It sprawled from the farmland and climbed into the foothills.
Whitebeard pointed above the city, where, nestled in the jagged mountains, rose a monstrous castle. Its walls began high up in the crags, and the towers sprouted from the lower peaks. “The Stronghold of the Land, they used to call it. The castle sits in these mountains that divide the continent in two. On this side is a lush world of green, and on the other, deserts and wasteland. When one of the four dragons turned its fury on the realm, it held agaisnt it. The knights gathered and smote the dragon at Dunaguard.”
Masahide shaded his brow to get a better look. “That was when the grand masters from the thirteen orders sat at the Round.”
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“There’s a sickness that’s spread through the realm and the orders. Since my departure, it’s grown tenfold. The cure begins here and now with Duke Akitomo.”
Kichi could never get any details, but she tried again. “What do you plan to do?”
Whitebeard’s teeth showed in a smile. “I’ve come to tell the duke a story.”
Masahide furrowed his brow. “I’ve heard rumor of this man, and I don’t think he’ll listen. He’s a schemer, and his form of justice concerns Mount Templar.”
***
The city gate stood open, and they walked under it and into a dreary city. The streets were stained with muck, the people looked downcast, and shops were mostly boarded up or had sparse customers. From the crowd, a woman with hollow cheeks bumped into Masahide. “Please, I have a child, don’t hurt me.” She flinched and sank with a hand raised in defense.
Masahide pulled her to her feet. “I would never do you harm. Please, do not shy away from me.”
The woman tore from him, sprinted, and cut into an alley.
Kichi didn’t like this place. Was every city in the realm falling prey?
“Strangers,” a short, grayed man said. He looked like he was meditating, but his eyes were slivers. “Forgive our hospitality. I know your kind, and it’s best you turn around and go.”
“Why,” Masahide said, “Did she run?”
“She doesn’t know better. She doesn’t know a demon sword from a pure one. The Duke’s knights carry the former, and splitting a commoner in two is a weekly occurrence. They say it proves the blade sharp and wielder skilled. I’m sure you’ve heard of the tournament, but it’s not an affair of honor. If you participate, you’re lending credence to the Duke’s wrongdoings.”
Kichi tried to hide her shock at the situation. “Who are you?”
The man bowed his head. “Just a blacksmith.”
Whitebeard returned the bow. “Thank you. The situation’s worse than I thought. But every night ends with the dawn. Don’t lose hope.”
The man opened one eye to look at them better. “We could use help, even if it’s lending an ear. Do you need a place to stay?”
“Yes, we do.”
The man was named Gibb, and his house was behind his smithy, where others pounded metal and looked at them with sooted faces. One of them had a huge arm, and struck the hot metal as if it were the cause of their troubles, throwing a shower of sparks each time.
Gibb let them into the small house with one large room and one small. “Make yourselves comfortable. You can rest here as long as you’d like.”
Whitebeard had to duck under the door. “We’ll go to the castle in the morning. I’m going to have a word with Gibb.” With that, he left.
But sleep didn’t come easy to Kichi. She was hungry but only had a few dried meat strips and a hunk of hard bread. Her legs and feet ached, so she sat reading until it was too dark to see the ink scrawl.
Bin stalked the room and found a mouse to chase, but upon catching it, just held it and stared at it.
There was something else keeping her awake. She feared what came next. The Duke and his castle sounded terrible. They treated these people horribly. What would happen to them when they strode to the caste door and asked to be let in? Whitebeard was powerful, but a duke would have knights and a sorcerer. It was like crawling into a den of snakes.
Kichi
Level: 5
Focus: Prescience
Secondary focus: Lava+1
Weapons: pure sword - 3% pure