15th day of Zun’s Rest, twelfth month of the year, 983:
The low cost carriage rocked along the Imperial Roads of the North. Lacking the usual metal engravings and exotic beasts of charge, it strolled on top of the ancient roads. The Imperial Highway was a transport grid that connected all the grand cities, giving a quick response to the mobilisation of goods and men to meet the ever growing demand of both in the imperial market.
The war was in full swing in the southernmost provinces, letting the north take its first baby steps on the road to industrialization, slowly turning into the steel heart of the Empire. Most vital to this endeavour were the forges of the ‘Steel Count’, Alfred Snowfall, of the Snowfall Household, count of the north west. He provided with an abundant array of steel armour and weapons thanks to their legendary fire mages; surprisingly, those shipments had been in decline against all expectations but those were, still, the backbone of the Imperial Army. The reason for this sudden decline in the forging capabilities in the centre of the Empire was the focus on intensive agriculture of the central provinces; they had been transformed, in spite of their already booming industry, as they were too vulnerable to the republicans tactics of carpet bombing with their harpy mages.
The roads themselves were built with perdurance in mind hundreds of years ago, having been blessed with extreme care and architectural thinking. They consisted of layers of different materials, the deepest ones being a backing of diverse stones giving the overhead concrete something to grab hold of to act as a backing; the cement of the middle having been made from the recipe of marine concrete; and resistant levelled stones as the superficial layer which it was ridden on. This gave the spacious road a good basis on which magic enchantments could truly shine and fulfil their purpose. With freeze resistance, water shielding and increased smoothness these were one of the biggest marvells of the Empire.
They had been here for half a millennium and they would withstand two more if need be.
A road of 10 meters wide and uncountable meters long, it connected the outermost barony capital with the very palace of the Empress. However, while they served their purpose very well, they were but common roads, not improving the comfort of a journey above what it could be expected,
“Nightfall will come soon, my Lady.” Said Sorak, after leaving her place on the formation to get near the front of the carriage, where both Noct and Soral were, the lady trying to hold her nausea.,
Noct was the one leading the beasts of burden, being these ‘mufalos’, a northern variant of the deer, with bigger and more complex antlers, a height of two and a half meters at maximum and a good quantity of white fur. These were part of the megafauna of the north, roaming free on the cold plains. Another one of this megafauna was what Sorak was mounting, a warg. An intelligent and bigger version of the northern wolves. They used to be considered monsters, even without the capability to use magic, thanks to their high cunning, their even bigger body and their aptitude to almost completely learn the languages they grew up with.
Used as mounts thanks to this last characteristic, if you could manage to tame and train a warg it would turn to be the most loyal companion you could ever have, and the most dangerous too, as they had a length of almost four meters, four and a half for females, and more or less two meters of height. The sheer size of their fangs and claws would pale the common man, proving as lethal as they looked.
“Should we camp then?” Not having the energy to use on thinking by herself, she asked Noct.
“You already found a place right, Sorak?” Proved Noct, not moving his eyes from the mufalo, as they were trotting almost as fast as a horse run. “I should thank myself for enchanting this rectangular piece of crap.”
“Found? We can just rest on the roadside.”
“Ah, right. Old habits die hard and all that.” Noct drily said, finally starting to slow the mufalos down and looked to the sky. Sorak was right to warn them, as the sun was already setting. Leading the car towards the side, he started to prepare a fire spell by muscle memory before stopping in the middle as it misfired and a migraine settled in.
“Soral, prepare the bonfire. Sorak, your mount is no longer needed. We won’t be able to evade the brewing storm. Send it back.”
Once the coach stopped and he freed the mufalos, he prepared a water spell and fired it, bathing the near snow on light and creating a mini lake for the animals to drink, as it turned to water. While the guards mounted the tents and Soral started the bonfire, he fed the mufalos some grass from his shadow.
“This year’s winter sure is getting cold.” Said Itmas, an harpy soldier, while being thankful of leaving the crowded carriage. He tried to stop himself from shivering while he crouched near the starting fire.
“At least you have a lot of feathers, It, I only had this cheap ass coat.” Grumbled Likos, a dwarf, the head of his warhammer already freezing a bit thanks to the water Noct had conjured. “I already miss the forges and it has only been a day!”
“Wording.” Said Tiamat, an old mercenary from the ‘Guilds’ while eyeing Noct, who was still tending the animas. His daggers were perfectly hidden on his belt, his stance that of a….dealer of problems that could not be spoken aloud. His new and, surprisingly, unwavering loyalties lied with Likos, who was loyal to Noct.
Already puffing, Likos ignored that killjoy of a comrade and, helping Soral feed the bonfire, he asked the forth and last member of their group, “You heard that, long ears?! I don’t know if you’re holding up well in the cold but the campfire is already taking shape! Thank you, Lady Soral.” Soral silently nodded and went to prepare her tent.
“So you are useful for setting things on fire, huh. Remind me to never take you home.” Smirked Lia, the fashion of elves already showing on her green clothes. Her longbow firmly tied in her back, testament to her strength, she walked towards her old, in human time, friends and sat down on the snow. Doing her best to contain her shivering, she asked. “Do we really have nothing for this snow?”
“Well, we can always have Likos drink it but I do not think he is going to down that at the same speed he goes through his ale or his pocket money.” Itmas merrily laughed.
“If you offer a pay!” Laughed again Likos. Despite his earlier complaints, he was the one most unperturbed by the snow, only having made those comments to let his friends complain with relief at not being the only ones suffering the cold. Nevertheless, as if to mock his well meaning efforts, it started to snow again.
“You already milked me of my every coin, bastard!! You are way too good at darts!” Itmas cried out.
Soon enough the merry four were laughing together. Having been together the last months training together, this was their first real mission, outside of cleaning the taverns they used to frequent, hence the maybe too comfortable atmosphere they had. A try to quell their uneasiness, but an enjoyable time too. They continued with a few more jokes and, as they partied around, they tried their best to not feel the bite of the cold.
As Lia sneezed, a heavy and furry coat hit her on the face. Quickly grabbing it, she and her comrades looked up to see Noct waving a few spell circles. As he finished the snow flowed from below them, leaving the frozen dirt below, and the bonfire gained momentum.
After finishing it, he picked two more coats from his shadow and passed them to both Itmas and Tiamat.
Already leaving them, Noct said. “I will do the watches today. You get used to the climate, this journey is no training ground. Do not expect the cold to stop because you are tired. Next time bring something more warm. “
“Yes, my….. And there he goes.” Tried to salute Likos, not quick enough to get it right before Noct got out of earshot. Smirking, he realised something ”For what I see, our beautiful Lia is already warmed, huh?”
Having her teammates turn to look at her reddened face, due to the cold, she could but say, “Buzz off!!”
………….
“The tents are ready?” Asked Noct.
“Ye…yes.” A sneeze cut Mulia’s response, before she could continue she got hit by a coat of fur launched by Noct. Quickly dressing it, she thanked him.
“What is with all of you and not grabbing coats?” Sighed Noct, more to himself than to anybody.
“Well, I think nobody expected the Frozen Planes to be this cold.”
“It says it in the very name.” Attacked, exasperated, Noct.
“Emmmm, innocent overconfidence?” Coquettish tried to joke Mulia
“That’s not gonna help you when you freeze to death. Whatever. Is Soral better?”
“She got better once she set her feet on land, my Lord.”
“Great. Good work mounting the tents by the way, not bad for a first timer.” Congratulated Noct, looking at the 9 tents neatly mounted. They were his old military tents and he had spent a good deal of his early days there, so a bit of nostalgia was making him more approachable.
“Not at all! Caesar and Mulligan did almost all the work.”
“They are veteran mercenaries, you being able to get them to help you is already an achievement in and out of itself. Speaking about them, give these to them.“ Noct picked three more coats and passed them to Mulia. ”Include Max in the offer. This year is really getting cold.”
“Will do. But, if I am not being too bold, we don’t have enough tents for everybody, why only mount nine?”
“Well, tents can break, and we will be travelling for at least a week. Better to arrive with more in the carriage than with less than necessary. You will sleep with Soral. The rest will manage between themselves.”
“And you?”
“Keeping watch.”
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“All night?”
“Sorak will switch with me.”
“I see!” Trying to stop a yawn and the grumbling of her stomach, she gave up. “Well, I'm going to go grab something to eat. Good night, Noct.”
The sound of crunching snow marking her retreat, Noct walked far away from the campment and started to prepare the alarm spell on the ground. Once he finished the twelve, they all flared up, linking around the campment, and stopped shining afterwards. With the preparations complete, he activated the alarm, a spell that formed an spheric, invisible area around a point on the center of the anchorages. If anything crossed that realm it would warn the user.
Looking back at the campment, the merry atmosphere of a group dinner proved too much for him at this moment. A lot of memories of different times were trying to resurface and he had to hold them in. Climbing a nearby tree, he sat on a wide branch and looked at the forest. As night had already fallen in earnest, he could see but black. Activating a spell of dark vision he stood guard, unbothered by the snow that was piling on him.
A few hours later, when everyone should have been asleep, Sorak got out of her tent and started to walk towards him. Once he reached him, she sat with the back against the tree, relaxing.
“So, why am I here? I do not think this farce of having guards and all that is necessary. You are here after all. And, to be honest, while I am happy you consider me necessary, ballrooms and I don’t go together.”
“Why not ask Soral then? Is interrupting my job that rewarding to you?”
“I already did, she gave me the usual of ‘having a paladin with me betters my standing and you can tell lies’. Nonetheless, she didn’t recruit us all on this commitive, you did.”
“I think that is reason enough, don’t you think?” Not waiting for the reply he already knew what was going to say, he continued. “I am neither omniscient nor all-powerful. For all the conflict between us, I know you are loyal to Lady Soral. Your progress is good enough to let me sleep easy even if there was a plot to kill Soral. I trust in your capabilities, is it that hard to believe?”
“I see.”
For a few minutes nothing more could be heard but the night sounds common on a winter night. The sounds of Sorak accommodating herself on the tree resounded with more force than she intended.
“You fear something may happen?”
“I fear I may do something rash once the shit I expect to happen happens. A baroness that is learning both combat magic and swordplay? They are going to chew her out if they even realise her presence. She doesn’t even know how to sew.” Said coldly Noct, hiding the fears he had of the nobility plots. Lots of idiots had tried to get him in their graces by offering to kill Soral; he could not be everywhere to protect Soral, nor that he thought he had the right.
“So, am I a shield against you?”
“Isn’t the thing I pay you to do already? Why the stupid question?”
“You do not pay… Aaah. You tire me already.”
“You flatter me, Sorak.”
“....You know my background, Noct. How do you know I won’t join you in your madness?”
“Because you are better than me.”
She didn’t pick a lie nor a shadow of doubt in the simple and calm words of Noct. Looking at him, he kept looking at the nearby forest. Giving up, she looked at her feet and asked a question, trying to remind herself he didn’t deserve salvation,
“I heard you almost started a war. Did you really murdered a high merchant?”
“A slave merchant but, yes.”
“Does your pride matter more than the life of your subjects?”
“You know of the debt my ancestors took to build a better Bonfire? Well, my mother had almost paid it off before she was brutally murdered,” Nothing coming to his voice, he kept going, “Well, what could you do? The association was so kind as to stop the collection of our debt for three years, while I grew up and all that flattering favours.” Nostalgia setting in, “You know the best thing, they kept counting the interest of the loan. Every month, for thirty six months, they kept counting, hiding his true intentions behind smiles. I was young and knew no better. The almost paid quantity quickly skyrocketed, as the simple interest was of the initial quantity. They saw a youngster as a regent and they didn't even doubt about scamming him of everything he had inherited. The rebellions didn’t help, nor did anybody in a position of power in that regard. You know where the money for the recent innovations and upgrades of the city came from? Yeah, you fucking guessed it. From this year's payment.”
Sorak didn’t like where this conversation was going, she tried to stop him but his lessening voice forced her to focus on listening.
“And I arrived at a brilliant conclusion. I am a criminal, so another crime to the list is of no consequence. I will use this….half a year to better this barony to the point my sister will be able to both meet dead ends and invest in her lands, and the association….won’t be able to accuse her of nothing because….they truly believe she is a puppet of mine. Brilliant, right?”
“....why did you kill them still?”
Sliping to sleep from both the journey and the exhaustion he had accumulated these days, he blurted without knowing his true reason and promptly fell asleep. “I saw myself….on her.”
Sorak let him sleep, keeping her watch.
……………….
“Is this the place?” Asked Albestus
Looking at the map his scouts have drawn, Andras signalled a not so far tree and nodded. Riding on horses, they rode towards where they thought the spell circle was. Before they could cross the nearby trees that obscured their vision, a most unexpected development happened before the forest eyes.
“At least clean after yourself. What do you mean you forgot a spot! Is this a spot?! Zun, grant me patience or I may very well bury myself.” An angry voice cursed, resounding in the forest.
Quickly dismounting, Andras prepared himself for the worst while Albestus started to make some spells in preparation. Crossing the undergrowth, they arrived at a small clearing with a humanoid clacked in full plate armour, a tower shield and a high quality sword, crouching and looking at the ground. Seeing them arrive, they quickly got up and saluted.
“Praise be the Sun! Is that you, High Commander Andras!?” They quickly tried to hold in their voice, coughed and, now calmer, continued. “Pardon me, I have heard of your exploits during my travels from the east and I did a poor job of hiding my excitement.”
“A paladin of Zun? Your kind is rare to meet in these parts.” Gazing at Albestus, who gestured to be very wary, his eyes telling him there was danger, Andras continued. “I do not take myself for someone deserving of such praise, but, if you do not mind, could you show us your faith? I’m sorry for the disrespect, but brigands are usual on these lands.”
“I take no offence at a man doing his job with dedication.” Unsheathing his sword, which Andras took especial care to observe as it was both beautiful and familiar, it catched a white fire quickly. Albestus corroborating its veracity with a hand gesture made Andras relax a bit.
“My apologies, one can never be too cautious.” Signalling to Albestus to start investigating, he tried to distract him by talking, Albestus could not stop himself from cursing in his mind, they were playing a dangerous game, ‘An undead, here?! He is choked full of grey mana, I have already tested it three times! Fuck. Oh, here is the spell….wait, a water spell this big?!’
“I take no offence, High Commander Andras. You set up a good example for all Imperial men. If I may ask for a favour? I think I got lost in this forest so, if you could escort me to ‘Bonfire’ I would greatly appreciate it. My travels have been long and I fear it will take longer than necessary to reach my destination.” Looking at the, now hunched over, High Mage Albestus, completely focused on the spell circle that was very well hidden, he asked. ”I found this one walking by, does it pose a threat?”
“Did you find it by chance?” Proved Andras, Albestus discreetly paid attention with his enchanted ring of detect lies. It had yet to test a lie, thing he had grown nervous with.
The full armoured humanoid laughed awkwardly and, scratching their helmet, confessed. “Well, as you could tell, I was talking to myself. This forest can be a creepy sight to some souls, and I take no pride in admitting my inclusion in that cowardly group.If you haven’t noticed, “Said, while contorning his armoured leg to show a rusted spot. “,laziness took over me after my last trip and, more to ease my nervousness than anything else, I started to curse myself. I feel unworthy of my battle progress, acting scared in a forest in broad light, but….” as if to mock them, an eerily but quiet laugh resounded from nowhere and everywhere. Jumping a bit, they cursed again, “ Damn it. There’s that. Its reputation as an eater of brigands is no joke I surmise.”
A reaction too human for an undead, Andras felt himself relaxing a bit. Laughing a bit, he said “We think the same. Care to help us a bit, Paladin of Zun? If you know something about that spell, we would be very grateful. Escorting you, on the other hand, will prove impossible, we are on a mission. Just follow our footsteps.” Said, signalling to their horses.
“Well, more than that is a grey mana runic spell, I know not…..”
“That’s simply impossible! No spell circles can handle grey mana. Still, thank you for your missguided input.” Said angrily Albestus, nothing angered him more than idiots presupposing things they knew nothing about.
“....can you repeat yourself? I know lots about the Theocracy of the Sands and their nobles have mastered this art.”
“Let me correct you, the monstrosities of the east have learned how to write falsehoods. Vampires are no mages and it is heresy to say the contrary.” Said Albestus.
Getting angry now, the paladin rebutted, “It does not matter what a simple sorcerer thinks, the proof is in front of your very eyes. You being so close minded to not see both the advancements and just society the Theocracy has built from the ground up is not their problem.”
Andras trying to stop the confrontation that could very well end in the beheading of the idealistic paladin, butted in. ”Calm down, paladin, joking has limits. We ought to not joke about the…”
“Joking? I can very well speak my mind and think whatever I want, what are you going to do, execute me for heresy?” Puffed the paladin.
“....we may very well do so. I do not see this as a joking matter.” Said Andras looking at Albestus, his old fears completely rebuked by now.
The paladin started to laugh and continued. “What a good cause it would make for the ‘Courts’!! Paladin detained for speaking his mind!!”
Albestus now butting in with a pitying gaze, “Courts are only for the nobles, paladin.”
“...Care to repeat? They are what?”
“You sure come from an open country. I thought of you as an Imperial paladin, my mistake. You don’t have your old rights here, so keep those jokes about the theocracy outside of the Empire.”
“Wiat, you do not have equal law rights?!” They shaked their heads. “No liberty of thought and speech? No right to a proper judgement? I thought better of this country!”
Andras, now a bit angry too, counterattacked, “It’s a country in which vampires do not rule, paladin. Your faith may be praised in the theocracy as a light of hope but we all know it's a tool of control.”
Danger coming to the eyes of the outraged paladin, “A rightful country is a nation without discrimination? Then send me to the Nether, I think I would be more comfortable there. Nonetheless, if I may, High Commander Andras, a warning word, do not test a sapient’s faith.”
Realising now that the paladin was not a human and sure had suffered from those, Andras tried to backtrack but Albestus was quicker. Hitting the paladin on the shoulder, the dull light of a spell remained undetected by the other two. “Do not take us to heart, paladin. You talk too much and that could get you killed.” Looking at Andras and signalling that everything was alright, he granted. “We will escort you to ‘Bonfire’ as an apology.”
“Thank you for the kind gesture.” Said, nodding, the paladin.
The questioning look of Andras answered by a metal whisper of Albestus, “Already copied the spell, I will need my disciples to mull it over. That paladin may be right, this could be a…..grey spell circle.”
“Then let's march towards the city.”
………….