Taking this as a clear dismissal, El went outside again, and looked for a way to pass time. About five-hundred feet from the guild, there a was big tree, with big boulders underneath to serve as benches in order to provide shade. Seeing that there were already some people occupying some of those benches, El sat on one of the boulders, happy to pass the time by observing people. Within what seemed to be ten minutes of waiting, three huge wagons, pulled by what seemed to be monstrous beasts, slowly rolled to a stop near the tree.
These wagons, perhaps by necessity, were different from the ones on earth. The first noticeable thing was that the wheels were a solid circle instead of having spokes. There were many more wheels than one would think necessary, but it made sense taking size of the wagon into consideration.
The wagon itself was around twenty-five feet long, ten foot high and approximately 5 feet wide, with wheels in the front, middle and rear. Each wheel was paired with a smaller wheel, facing the inside of the wagon.
The wagons themselves were completely wooden, and had a boxlike structure, with some overhanging space on all four sides, where it seemed people would normally sit during travel.
As the wagons stopped, a smaller man, about five foot tall, with a handlebar mustache that even Wyatt Earp would envy, came out from the first wagon. He wore a dark blue cloak, very thin so as not to overheat the wearer, with a gray tunic, gray pants and black shoes reaching up to the shins.
After exiting the wagon, the man took in his surroundings and pointed to one of the other men around him, saying something. The other man immediately began to bark out orders to the rest of the individuals that had come along with the wagon, by which point the mustache man had already reached the Guild and walked inside.
The beasts of burden were very particular on these wagons, for immediately at a glance one could tell that they were not made for speed, but rather endurance. There was only one per wagon, and yet they were almost half the size of the wagons, with the driver being mounted on the beast instead of sitting on the wagon.
After receiving their orders, the mounted Wagoners swiftly unmounted and started to lead the beasts towards the tree. They reached for one of the lower branches and after cutting it off, fed it to the animals. The beasts, which El did not know the names of, started to eat the leaves.
One of the Wagoners noticed El looking at him and smiled “haven’t seen one of the Tuatara’s before huh”.
El, reciprocating the smile, replied, “yes sir, they are gigantic”.
The man continued the conversation, “they usually travel in herds closer to Rine in the grasslands, but they are exceptionally good for longer travels”.
This hinted to El that perhaps they were traveling to Rine now, so he questioned, “All the way from Rine? Are you returning soon?”.
The man nodded at this line of questioning, confirming El’s doubts, “We depart in a few hours”.
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By this time, the mustache man had finished his business inside the guild and exited, which elicited the Wagoner to say, “Seems like Master Renodet has confirmed the escort with the guild.”
Renodet, seeing all benches but the one El was on was taken, walked towards them and said to El.
“Do you mind if I take a seat, lad?”.
El moved a bit to the side and opened some more space for the merchant to sit.
“You look like you are ready to go somewhere” the merchant remarked after seeing El’s bag.
El smiled and replied, “It seems we all have the same destination sir.”
The merchant, after hearing El’s reply, laughed and said, “You must be Elephon, then”.
El nodded and asked out of curiosity, “How did you know sir?”
The merchant replied, “The academy asked me to help escort you up to Rine with my cargo. We should be underway as soon as the Guild gets all the adventurers ready”.
“All the adventurers?” El questioned, thinking it would just be one team going to Rine.
“The road is extremely dangerous; you need at least a few silvers and some Iron teams to make the journey. Especially with cargo.” Renodet replied.
The merchant continued to make small talk with El while waiting for the adventurers.
After around half an hour of waiting, the waiting group finally saw a throng of people arriving to the guild, and six of these individuals went inside the building, seeing which, Renodet himself also got up to go into the building.
While going, he mentioned towards El to follow him, since El would need to meet the adventurers specifically hired to protect him if anything were to happen.
Following him in, El saw that the inside of the Guild had changed. All the smaller tables and chairs had been cleared and instead, a long rectangular table had been placed, with more than ten chairs. At the head of the table was the minotaur, who was still reading his book. The chairs on his left were occupied by 3 teams, while the chairs on his right had two occupants, and the merchant Renodet went to that side of the table.
El, not knowing the proper etiquette in this situation, followed the merchant and took one of the chairs on the right side.
Unnoticed to him, the six individuals on the table observed him, so as to figure out why a boy had taken the right side of the table.
Once everyone was seated, the minotaur put down his book with a thud, which prompted the attention of everyone on the table.
“There is much to do and little time”, He started.
“The Golden shards have all perished attempting a dungeon”.
There was an absolute silence in the room as soon as these words were uttered. Unbelieving looks were seen in the face of some in attendance, while others seemed to just soak in the silence.
“This puts us in dire straits,” He continued.
“It will more than likely extend the journey by at least a few weeks, if not a month. The guild has prepared supplies accordingly.” There was a nod of heads from five individuals in the room, while the merchant Renodet had no reaction.
The minotaur continued, “Captain Respen has an additional task by the academy to prioritize the life of one Elephon, as instructed by the Academy, if anything were to happen.” While nodding his head towards El.
A man on the right side of the table also turned towards El, nodding towards the minotaur.
“We have been informed, Guild Master” He replied.
The Guild Master, after saying all this, looked at El and said, “You are no longer needed here. Wait outside until it is time to leave.”
Without protest, El left the table, but he could hear muttering as he got closer to the door.
After taking his place under the tree again, El waited along with the merchants’ men for the meeting to finish.
The sun had migrated to the middle of the sky when the six men exited the Guild, and the man next to the merchant during the meeting walked with the merchant towards the tree.
The man pointed at El and grunted, “You. Follow me.”.