carrarn
patreon
Kernstalion 16: Beyond Sart
🕑 Added 2021-03-17 15:39:35 +0000 UTCA kick against my leg woke me, and I wished I could go back to sleep. My body still ached; the double session Haltir forced onto me had taken its toll.
But it wouldn't happen again! Rolling up, groaning at every movement and feeling like an old man, I rose.
Agga already sat at the table, and I blinked as my mouth watered and my stomach rumbled. The whole table was laden with food, bread, fish, and I even saw some fruit and vegetables! Jumping forward, I didn't even bother to ask where it all came from as I dug in.
Ten minutes later, as I was slowly chewing on something like a carrot, I saw Agga look at me.
"You should thank Haltir later. He came by before you woke to bring all of this. He said it was your reward for surviving…"
I almost choked on the carrot. They were kidding right? I couldn't have actually died from this?
Agga got up and walked to the leather workbench. A thick package was there, wrapped in a blanket. When she handed it to me, I could feel it wasn't as heavy as it looked—not compared to the ax at least.
"This is my parting gift to you. I didn't make it myself, I am not that good with leather, and I had to trade the Worg you killed for it. But it should fit, and otherwise, I can adjust it."
Opening the package, It almost made me think of Christmas. Seeing the dark leather, I quickly raised it up and revealed a sleeveless studded leather armor. With leather straps binding the sides together, there was room for two, four, or even six arms if I wanted to.
Without hesitation, I pulled it over my head and began strapping it tight. When I finished, I somehow felt a whole lot better than before. I had clothes! Well, more than just pants and shoes!
Wishing I had a mirror, I blinked and summoned my status. In the middle stood my avatar, or me, or however you wanted to look at it. I looked positively dangerous with arms like those of a gymnast and a long wad of matted hair. Wondering if I could rotate the avatar, it complied almost instantly. Looking at my new body from all angles, I grinned. Although I desperately needed a haircut and a shower, I did look like some four-armed action hero. It almost made me want to skip learning magic. Almost.
Closing the window, I saw Agga smirking my way.
"Enjoy looking at yourself, boy?"
I grinned back, flexing all four arms at her. "What's not to like?"
She blinked in surprise before laughing loudly. It didn't last long, though, and after a moment, she looked at me somberly. "It's time for you to leave. Haltir is waiting for you at the west gate."
I nodded, and suddenly the prospect of leaving, perhaps never seeing Agga again, saddened me. It was stupid. I knew that. I'd only met her a few weeks ago, but somehow the last two weeks seemed longer than the last few years combined.
Feeling like I had lead in my shoes, I got my ax and moved to the door. Turning around, I saw that Agga had started working on a knife again. She had finished the first half dozen yesterday, and they were with Three now. These would probably be sold to the new batch of mercenaries.
"Bye," I said, turned around and closed the door. As soon as I walked through the city, staring at the now-familiar streets, the knowledge that I might be heading to Sandra perked me up. Not having seen her for weeks, I missed her company. If I hadn't been so busy with not dying and getting stronger, it would probably have been worse.
Looking up at the cloudy sky, grey and promising rain, I shrugged. A great day to leave if I ever saw one. Perhaps where I was heading had blue skies and tropical temperatures.
Haltir was waiting for me at the west gate, his ax across his shoulder, and a backpack on his back. Seeing him, seeming ready to leave, I blinked. He wasn't actually…
"Ah, Est! I was wondering where you were staying! Did you enjoy breakfast?"
I nodded, staring at his backpack with trepidation.
"So, let's get out of this hole and back into the real world!"
"You are coming?" I muttered, almost tripping over my words.
Smiling widely and innocently at me, Haltir nodded! Yeah, me and the lass both! Can't have you go die on me before you can show those stuck up sword-masters a thing or two!"
"What? Lass?"
Laughter came from the gate, and a figure stepped in front of it. Egilla must have been hiding around the corner. Was she coming?
"Don't look so surprised, arms! Let's go before the caravan leaves!"
Haltir slapped my shoulder, and in resignation, I followed him. A few minutes later, we were trudging along the road, towards the mines in the distance—a long line of wagons, pulled by lumbering black bulls. A thick carpet of burning red and orange hair lay from their head to their tale, and trails of dark smoke seemed to come from their noses. I could see the glittering red eyes, like burning coals in a fire even from this distance.
"What the hell are those?" I asked nobody in particular.
"Charbulls, arms. Strong as a giant and dangerous as a Warg unless you know what you are doing."
Hearing a ping from my status, I cursed inside. I really should stop asking questions!
Halfway there, I'd been looking at Egilla a few times from the corner of my eyes, and suddenly she stared straight into my eyes.
"Like what you see, arms?" She grinned as she looked me up and down.
I shook my head in mock wonder and snorted. I knew why Haltir was coming; he was one obsessed man. But Egilla?
"Why are you coming with us?"
She grinned as she turned her attention back to the massive caravan that stood to the side of the mining camp. "You are going to Flowhearts temple."
Waiting for elaboration, I finally couldn't resist. "Why?"
Egilla didn't reply, but her face fell. Even more curious, I was about to prod some more when Haltir slapped me on the back.
"Don't ask so much, Est! We all have our own secrets, and it's better not to pry!"
Shaking my head in wonder, I dismissed the thought as well as I could. Deep in my mind, the curiosity lingered though, I'd always been a sucker for secrets.
When we reached the wagons, I was stunned. They were incredibly beautiful oval shapes that seemed carved from a single piece of wood. All of the wood combined seemed more than we had in the entire town of Sart. Slender humans with pointy ears and green skin sat at the front of the wagons.
Elves, I thought.
The elf handlers held long shining cables that moved along the mouth of the Charles in front. At a glance, they seemed like metal cables.
A sniff from the side drew my attention to Egilla. I saw her stare at the elves with obvious distaste. What was her problem?
"Egilla!"
A loud, cheerful cry came from the back of the wagons, and an elf dashed our way. Long, dark green hair and a sharp face, he was the perfect example of what a tree elf would look like in my mind. The elf stopped gracefully in front of us and smiled widely at Egilla.
"Uncle Arralus," Egilla said in a low growl. Then she turned to the side and moved to another wagon. The elf's smile disappeared, and he stared after her with a pained expression. Then, without even giving either Haltir or me as much as a look, he turned and ran back.
"The hell was that about?" I muttered, staring at Haltir.
The other just shrugged.
"Let's head to the wagon of my friend. Egilla has her own ride!" Then he pulled me along the line of wagons.
From a distance, it had already looked like a massive line, but up close, it was even more obvious. I counted at least forty three wagons, each long and wide enough to be called a small house. There were sitting places on each side, the back, front, and top, and from what I could see, all were filled. Mercenaries were moving from the camp and climbing aboard wagons, greeting people cheerfully.
The back of the wagons were all adorned with blood-red daggers on a field of black skulls. We moved to the last one, and as soon as we reached the back, I saw Three and Four sitting there. Both Grablons had their eyes closed, leaning back against the wagon.
"Gastridon!" Haltir said cheerfully, and Three's eyes snapped open.
"Damnit, Haltir! I told you to stop calling me that! That's my birth name. I don't use that anymore!"
Haltir tossed his backpack next to the large Grablon and climbed on.
"Ahhh, shut it. I am not calling your Three, and you won't tell me your new name, so deal with it!"
Three, or Gastridon, or whatever his name was, glared intensely at Haltir. "One day, you will learn. For now, stop calling me that, especially in front of the nameless pup!"
I froze as I climbed up the wagon. Nameless pup? Great, and this trip would take how long again?
"Don't worry about them. They are always like this."
Three's voice didn't make me feel a whole lot better.
Almost an hour later, the caravan departed. The Charbulls moved at such a fast pace; I'd have to run to keep up. Haltir was right. At this speed, I would easily save the three days I was getting tortured by him.
I looked at Sart, slowly shrinking in the distance. As we got further and further away, we started moving up a hill, and suddenly, I could see the sea spread out behind Sart. It went from as far as I could see to the left but was quickly blocked by the forest's ever towering trees. Trying to see where that ended, I found it seemed to stretch beyond the horizon, flanking the road we were taking.
"How large is that forest?" I mumbled. I hadn't thought anybody would answer, but Four giggled.
"The Howling Forest? That stretches across the continent, splitting it in two. At its narrowest point, the Maidens last stand, it still takes three days by caravan to travel through."
I nodded. Someone had mentioned that before. Looking around, I was curious about the other things we would see.
My curiosity lasted for only an hour. We were surrounded by muddy hills covered in patches of wilting grass and low grey bramble bushes. There was no animal life from what I could see, nor any settlements. The grey hills in the distance almost seamlessly changed into the now steel grey sky. The low swaying of the wagon, combined with the constant chatter around me, began making me sleepy.
I must have fallen asleep at one point because I woke up with a start when someone nudged me.
"Wake up, Est!"
Blinking and rubbing my dry eyes, I looked up to see Haltir. Four and Three were gone, and he was attaching a leather hide to the backside of the wagon.
"Help me! Attach this to the front."
Groggily I took the leather corner, attaching it as he showed me on the other side. When his side was also secured, we were sitting in a tent of some sort, only the sides open.
Haltir stared out of his side, a worried frown on his face.
"What's going on?"
"There's a Hellblood storm approaching."
"A what?" My voice went up three octaves as I looked out of my side of the tent.
"You really don't know anything. Well, I'm not Agga. Just sit and watch."
I frowned at his back, wondering what got him so worked up. Five minutes later, the previously grey day was turning dark red. The corner of the sky I could see showed blood-red clouds surging in, lower than the steel grey that had been there before. A hazy red mist seemed to cover the ground below the red clouds. Rain. And from what he said, probably blood-red rain.
I was wrong.
Another five minutes later, the temperature plummeted. A soft pounding came from the distance, and the muddy ground splashed up as massive red hailstones pelted down. The hailstorm came closer so fast I barely had time to blink. Then it sounded like a mad drummer was beating on the top of the wagon beside me. Simultaneously, the leather hide looked like something was poking in it from the other side. Everywhere.
I couldn't hear anything but the deafening, rattling noise and couldn't see more than three meters in front of the small corner. Red-brown hailstones lay in the ground, turning into liquid within moments. The brown mud became softer, and I could feel the wagon wheels slide a bit.
After ten minutes, the storm showed no signs of stopping, and I wondered how long these things lasted. An hour later, it was still going, and three hours after that, I fell asleep to the constant beat of the hail.
When I woke, it was morning, and the storm was gone. It was quiet now. Haltir's soft breathing the only thing outside of the soft creaking of the wagon as it rolled forward.
Outside I could see an almost completely blue sky, something I hadn't seen many times since coming to this world. The hills were still there, muddy and with a red sheen to it. The grass seemed more wilted than before, the few bushes pressed against the ground and dying.
I couldn't blame them. If you had these storms to contend with, it was a wonder anything grew here at all. I felt cooped up and wanted out. But would the mud be dangerous to me? Looking at Haltir's sleeping form, I sighed. Waking him would probably not earn me any gratitude, so I sat and waited.
