The morning after they had arrived in Arcis, Lewis and Emily had been woken early by Cecelia. Despite the sun still having yet to rise, they found that they weren’t the only ones sitting in the bar eating breakfast. They had barely finished eating when Winston appeared, a long brown coat over his white shirt, ready to leave.
Just as dawn was breaking, Winston’s horse-drawn cart trundled out the northern gate of Arcis. With their bags in the back of the empty cart, Lewis and Emily sat alongside Winston, watching the city disappear as they began to wind their way down the other side of the hill.
It wasn’t long before Arcis was gone, replaced by endless green fields. In a way, it reminded Lewis of the view they had had when they had escaped from the castle. Only this time, there was no snow to impede their journey.
For the most part, their journey was made in silence. At least it had been until they made a quick stop for some lunch before setting off north again.
‘What’s that?’ Emily asked, pointing out a huge mass of ruins that sat in a valley that led down to the sea. From the road that ran around the basin-like valley, it was hard to see much more than a jumble of stone buildings.
‘That is Oldiron,’ Winston said as he glanced away from the road for a second. ‘Or it was at least.’
‘What do you mean it was?’ Emily asked.
‘No one lives there anymore,’ Winston explained. ‘It’s supposed to date back to the precursors. Supposedly, it was destroyed in the war.’
‘Are there other precursor towns?’ Lewis asked. Once again, he found the term precursor coming up in conversation.
‘There were a lot of smaller towns, but they were either destroyed in the war or just disappeared. Oldiron was the second largest precursor city that anyone knows about,’ Winston said. ‘It was about twice the size of Arcis before it was destroyed.’
‘It must have been massive,’ Emily said. ‘Arcis is still far bigger than Tristan is.’
‘What was the largest precursor city like?’ Lewis asked. He couldn’t comprehend anything that could be larger than the ruins that sat in the valley below them.
‘That was Arcadia. They think it was four or five times the size of Old Iron,’ Winston said.
‘They can’t tell from the ruins?’ Lewis asked.
‘No, it isn’t that,’ Winston said. ‘The entire city was flattened. All that was left were half a dozen buildings and part of The King’s Palace. The experts think that there must have been six or seven million people living there.’
‘How did an entire city get flattened like that?’ Lewis asked. Even in a war, to destroy that much of a city was incredible. Before them sat a city that had been destroyed in the war, yet there was still a good amount of it standing.
‘No one really knows. The day that Arcadia was destroyed was the last day of the war,’ Winston said, taking his hand off the reins for a moment to run it through his hair.
‘Was it the same people who destroyed Oldiron?’ Emily asked.
For a moment, Winston paused as if he were trying to recall the details from deep in his memory. ‘The Precursor War is something that is never talked about,’ he said as he glanced around to check that there was no one in sight. ‘I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone where you heard this. In fact, it would probably be better not to speak about it, especially in Eraea or Arcis.’
‘Okay, we won’t,’ Lewis assured him. After hearing so much about the precursors, he might finally be about to find out something about them.
‘Alright,’ Winston said, checking that there was no one around again. ‘As you know, we base our years on the number of years since Arcadia fell. This year is 121 After the Fall of Arcadia. The Precursor War dates back a lot further than that, though. It was about three-quarters of a century before Arcadia fell that The Precursor War started. Up until then, Oldiron didn’t exist. The precursors all resided in Arcadia.
‘For the most part, the precursors believed in keeping their bloodline pure. In the end, there was so much inbreeding that it started to cause problems with their powers and their health. That was when one man, Royce Fortin, proposed that the precursor should be allowed to have children with normal humans like us.’
‘They weren’t allowed to?’ Emily asked in shock.
‘Well, they could,’ Winston shrugged. ‘If they were found out, they were often exiled or, on some occasions, killed. The precursors were determined to protect their blood purity. That was where the rift between the precursors came from. Many others believed that Fortin was on to something. The precursor race became divided into blood purists and those who believed in having more freedom.
‘In the end, Fortin was driven out of Arcadia. That was when he came here and began to build Oldiron. At first, it was nothing more than half a dozen houses, but as more people began to see the health problems that the inbreeding was causing, the city grew.’
‘But how did the war start?’ Lewis asked. ‘Couldn’t they have just separated into their two factions and carried on with their own lives?
‘That’s what you would assume,’ Winston said. ‘Unfortunately, the precursors were becoming mentally unstable as they aged. They thought that everyone, whether they were in Arcadia or Oldiron, should abide by their laws. It didn’t help that Arcadia was always noted for using huge numbers of humans as slaves. Oldiron wanted the humans freed, and Arcadia wanted the precursors of Oldiron killed for treachery. In the end, they came to Oldiron and destroyed the city.’
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‘What happened to Arcadia then?’ Lewis asked.
‘So the stories go, the son of a high-ranking councillor in Arcadia was exiled for his father’s crimes,’ Winston said. ‘Like Fortin, he would have been happy to forget all about Arcadia. After Oldiron was destroyed, Arcadia turned its attention to the new city that had been established. When they were threatened, Arden Vandemark went to Arcadia to protect his city.’
‘Wait, Tristan was built because of the precursor war?’ Emily asked.
‘It was. Winston nodded as the cart began to trundle downhill, Oldiron disappearing from view.
‘How was Arcadia destroyed then?’ Lewis asked. ‘Surely one person couldn’t have brought an entire city to the ground.’
‘I’ve never seen the powers of a precursor, but you should never underestimate them,’ Winston said. ‘Although I do doubt they would be able to level an entire city the size of Arcadia,
‘So how did Arcadia get destroyed?’ Emily asked.
‘No one really knows. Arden Vandemark went there and never returned,’ Winston said.
‘How did you find out all of this?’ Lewis asked, glancing around as Oldiron briefly came into view again before disappearing.
‘A lot of it I was told by Sebastian himself,’ Winston explained. ‘Since the end of the war, it has been very rare to ever hear anything about the precursors, especially close to Oldiron.’
‘It sounds like it’s a good job that they’re all gone,’ Emily said.
‘I don’t think they died out completely. No, I think there are still a handful of them around,’ Winston said.
‘Where do you think they are now?’ Emily asked curiously.
‘To tell you the truth, I’d rather not know,’ Winston said. ‘The world is getting by fine without them. Hopefully it can stay that way.’
Sensing that Winston was no longer happy talking about the precursors, Lewis decided to change the topic. ‘So how far are we from Eraea?’ he asked.
‘Not too far now,’ Winston muttered. ‘You see those hills up ahead? Eraea is just on the other side.’
‘Winston, what’s Eraea like?’ Emily asked, looking away from the hilly landscape she had been watching.
‘It isn’t all that different from Tristan,’ he replied. ‘At least not from the Tristan that I knew when I was there. How are you planning on finding Thomas?’
‘I hadn’t really thought about it,’ Lewis confessed as they passed a large wooden sign that welcomed them to a place called The Valgate Pass. ‘I figured we would just ask around and see what we could turn up.’
‘You’ll want to be careful who you ask,’ Winston said as they approached a huge stone arch that stood between the two rocky faces of the hills. ‘I’ll explain in a minute,’ he added when he saw Lewis’ questioning look. Turning away, Lewis saw why he had been reluctant to continue. Standing in front of the arch were two guards dressed in red, one with his hand raised to stop the cart.
Raising his eyebrows, Winston brought the cart to a stop in front of the men. ‘What is your business here?’ called the man with his hand raised.
‘My name is Winston Perryman, owner of The Golden Cannonball. I’m here to collect a delivery of Eraean white whisky,’ Winston said calmly.
‘These two?’ the guard demanded, eyeing Lewis and Emily.
‘Helpers,’ Winston said, raising his scarred hand for the men to see.
‘Anything to declare?’
‘Just our travel bags,’ Winston said as he reached into the back of the cart, holding up the three bags for them to see.
‘Very well. Have a nice day,’ the guard said, stepping aside with his partner to allow them through. With a nod, Winston urged the horse forward again.
For a few minutes, Winston stayed silent as the cart trundled out of earshot of the guards. Just as Lewis was about to ask him what he had been saying before they were stopped, Winston picked up the conversation. ‘That is why you need to be careful who you ask. The people of Eraea are suspicious of everything, especially outsiders.’
‘How are we going to know who to ask then?’ Emily said as she glanced back at the archway that was disappearing into the distance.
‘The truth is, you don’t,’ Winston sighed. ‘Your best bet is to try one of the bars or pubs. White whisky is pretty powerful stuff. Any more than a couple of drinks and it will take the edge off of anyone’s suspicions.’
‘What if other people are listening in?’ Lewis asked, remembering the way he had felt people in The Golden Cannonball were listening to their conversations the day before.
‘That’s a good point,’ Winston muttered. ‘In that case, it might be worth speaking with the bar staff. You won’t be able to loosen their tongues with a drink, but mention my name, and they might talk.’
‘Thanks for the advice,’ Lewis said, watching as another deep valley came into view as they turned a corner in the road.
‘Don’t thank me yet,’ Winston laughed. ‘I don’t know if it will work.’
‘Is this Eraea?’ Emily asked, more interested in the patchwork of different-coloured buildings that covered the hillsides. In the distance, they could just about see the sea.
‘It is,’ Winston confirmed as he took the left-hand fork in the road that headed down the hill towards the town. ‘A lot of the bar staff here know me,’ he said, continuing the conversation he had been having with Lewis.
‘Where do you think would be the best place to start?’ Lewis asked as houses with large gardens began to appear along the side of the road.
‘I visit most of the pubs and bars here when I come for a delivery,’ Winston said. ‘It would probably be best to start at The Red Clover or The Three Swords. You’ll probably stand the best chance of getting your answers there; they know me well. If you can’t get anywhere with either of those, try the vineyard. After that, I don’t think I can be much use.’
‘Where are the pubs?’ Lewis asked as he spotted the vineyard on the hillside to their right. It looked as though they would have to walk back up the hill and take the other fork in the road if they wanted to go there.
‘The Red Clover is in the centre, right next to the gardens,’ Winston said, pointing at the large green area in the middle of town. ‘I can drop you off at The Three Swords; it can be a bit tricky to find if you don’t know where you’re going.’
‘Thank you for doing all of this,’ Lewis said as the houses began to press in on the street more closely. The beautifully kept gardens that he had admired as they had come into town were shrinking considerably.
‘It’s no trouble. After what you’ve told me about what happened to Sebastian, it was the least I could do,’ Winston said as he began slowing the cart down. ‘Why did Edmund send you two, if you don’t mind me asking?’
For a moment, Lewis considered Winston as the cart pulled up in front of a large building that had been painted grey. Hanging from the wall above the door was a wooden sign with a picture of three crossed swords in the centre.
‘Emily worked at the castle, and I’m supposed to be a relative of some sort,’ Lewis said as he jumped down off the cart after Emily. Grabbing their bags, he walked around to the door to The Three Swords.
‘Wait! You’re related to Sebastian?’ Winston asked suddenly. ‘I thought I could see a resemblance.’
‘Thank you for the ride,’ Lewis said forcefully. Turning his back on Winston and his cart, Lewis walked over to the door and entered the pub. He had no intention of waiting for Winston to question him further. Behind him, he heard Emily thank Winston as well before she followed him into the pub.