B6 Chapter 657: Wayward & Waylaid, pt. 1

Their route led Kaius and his team out of the dense hills of the borderlands, into a dense wood. Skeletal limbs clawed towards the sky, cloaking mists scorning even the midday sun to drown the frequent gullies they rode through. It was worse in the mornings when the entire region was drenched in a ghostly haze, its vitality gnawed at by crisp frost.

It would have been unnerving, if he were Bronze, or even Iron. As it was, Kaius saw only the macabre beauty of winter. Even with the must of rotting leaves heavy in the air, life did not pause entirely. Tenacious brambles and staunch brush fought back against the gloom, a carpet of vivid green that held strong through the chill. Corvidic beasts cawed in the barren boughs, while flitting amber-winged birds flocked in the berry-studded crowns of scattered hawthorn trees. At night, Kaius dozed to the sound of hooting owls and the distant cries of hunting beasts.

On the morning of their third day in Franlen, Kaius and Kenva lounged on the deck of the Pegleg as it made its way up a gentle rise. Kaius was making his way through a pot of tea, strolling back and forth to burn off charges of Slipstep. He was mostly working on his inscription Skill, Tonal Weaving, but Felmenia needed more attention than Drakthar, even firing off Nails would have been more convenient. Rhythmic cracks rang out every few seconds from the bow of the ship, where Kenva amused herself by threading arrows through as much of the gnarled canopy as she could.

If their rough adjustments to their map table were anywhere near accurate, the trees should thin out plenty by the end of the day. They’d be skirting south of the city of Montaug, before cutting south-east. A good chunk of their travel would be far from Franlen’s roads — but they’d need to use them occasionally to quickly cut through the forests. Thankfully, many of them had been cleared in the southern region of the country. By the time they left Franlen and started to hit the lowlands, they’d mostly be able to travel as the crows flew.

Right as Kaius was about to recast Slip Step, a distinctly human scream echoed through the woods. The soft calls of winter birds went silent, and a flock dove out of the sky to shelter in the thorned embrace of a hawthorn. Kaius stiffened. It was hard to tell how far the sound had come from — over the hill at the very least.

Sharing a single glance, Kenva launched upwards. At the apex of her leap, she vanished into the wind, rocketing high into the sky.

“You two hear that?” Porkchop asked, his head poking out of the Pegleg’s hatch.

“Hard not to,” Kaius replied, staring up after his friend. “Kenva’s checking it out now.”

Some hundred strides up, Kenva reappeared with her bow drawn. Loosing her arrow with a loud crack, she blurred into motion — five more shots following in quick succession. She fell, dissolving back into wind just before she touched back down.

“Problem solved!” Kenva said as she popped back onto the bow.

Nothing serious then, if it could be solved with a few arrows. Kaius relaxed, letting go of his grip on his sword.

“What was it?”

“Small merchant wagon broke an axle, by the looks of it. They were being attacked by a few Steel beasts. Hulking things, kinda looked like a bear, but too skinny with longer muzzles.”

“They didn’t have guards?” Kaius asked, surprised. Running into a Steel threat wasn’t exactly strange, especially in wild places like these woods.

“One, a Steel himself. Looked like their draught beast was helping though — got some nasty claws and natural armour. They're a league away at most — I could run ahead and keep an eye on them while you guys catch up?”

Kaius shrugged. “Works for me.”

….

Kenva whistled, waving them down as the Pegleg rounded a crook in the road. She stood atop a conspicuously empty wagon on the side of the road, its left wheel shattered and loose. Beneath her a sheepish-looking man in leathers and a green cloak stood next to a stern-looking woman with cropped short hair that was wearing a breast plate and chain. Pretty clear which one was the over-ambitious merchant of the pair, then.

Across the road, five large beasts with black fur and jutting fangs lay still and cold. Four of them faced the Pegleg, arrows buried to the fletching in one eye. One of them seemed to have tried to run — its arrow puncturing the back of its head and out the bottom of its jaw.

It was clear the merchant hadn’t survived the attack thanks to his guard alone. His draught beast was hunkered down behind him, the boney plates on its back and chest still sporting bloodstains. It was bipedal, with a mousey face, powerful legs and a hunched over posture balanced by a lengthy tail — almost like a mammalian version of the blade raptor they’d faced in Vainblood.

Thunderstrider - Level 163

Beast, Skirmisher

The creature yawned, sparks crackling across the flat teeth of a grazer. Kaius blinked — given the claws tucked close to its chest, he had expected it to be a hunter more than anything else.

For provenance, these lines came from the posting without the author's permission; the author benefits when readers use that chapter.

Calling the Pegleg to halt in front of the broken wagon, Kaius gave the merchant and guard a friendly nod before focusing on his friend.

“Where’s all their supplies?” Kaius asked.

“In our Vault,” Kenva replied. “Mick here is heading to Montaug. I said we could take them to the crossroads, and offered to sell them our spare wagon to get them the rest of the way.”

“We literally just replaced it! The Fates must be conspiring against my designs on wagoneering,” Porkchop grumbled, drawing an amused eyeroll from Kaius.

“I can’t thank you enough,” Mick said, giving them a small bow. “We would have been lunch if you didn’t show up!”

His guard scowled. “I damn well warned you, didn’t I? We need more men, and you need to stop being a tight-arse!”

Mick had the good sense to look embarrassed.

Moving to Kaius’s Will, the Pegleg hunkered down so that its nose was just above the broken wagon. The pair would be able to use it to clamber up on the deck that way. Even if he didn’t mind giving them a lift, he wasn’t about to give them an eyeful of a map containing the locations of Imperial ruins — that was asking for trouble.

“Your beast going to be able to handle being around Porkchop?” Kaius asked. More than a few creatures got nervous around his brother.

“Oh, yes!” Mick nodded emphatically, before he waved politely at Porkchop. “Miss Kenva already warned me about that. I’ve had Charles since he was a kit, and I've more than one handling Skill.”

“What are you doing out here anyway?” Ianmus asked the pair. “There’s no settlements in these woods. No offence, but you don’t exactly look like you were prepared for an expedition all the way into the Dukedoms.”

“We definitely weren’t,” the caravan guard scowled. “Mick’s been running supplies to the two borderposts every second month for years. Despite my warning, he’s been underspending on security because we normally trail behind the guards heading there for a shift change and make our way back with the other group.”

Kaius noticed a distinct lack of Franlen guards in eyeshot.

“Things didn’t go to plan?” Kaius hedged, crouching down to give the merchant a hand up as he clambered up the wagon.

“They didn’t!” the man huffed. “First they let me follow them without even a warning that they weren’t sending anyone back, and then they refused to let me sell to the Greenseed outpost! I got stuck with half of my goods — I’ll be lucky to break even!”

How very curious. Kaius doubted they were preparing for a full blown invasion, not with a dozen borderguards. That said, doubling the shift numbers, harassing travelers, and cutting off the Greenseed outpost from resupply definitely pointed to saber rattling.

Thank the fucking gods that wasn’t his problem! He’d let the duke know, and then it was Cedric’s mess to sort out.

….

“That should be the last of it, I think,” Mick said, tightening the straps holding his cargo in the small wagon they had sold him. His thunderstrider was already hitched, standing patiently while it chewed its cud. It crackled every few moments, the smell of ozone heavy in the air.

It was early afternoon, the sun still high in the sky, and the skeletal trees of the woods had been replaced by fields that stretched as far as Kaius could see. Unlike the open meadows around Baanswell, these ones were surrounded by waist-high cobble walls.

The walls of Montaug were visible from the Pegleg on the northern horizon, a wide road snaking in the direction of the city from the crossroads where they now sat.

“You two going to be able to make it to the city by yourselves?” Ianmus asked, looking down on the pair.

“We’ll be fine,” the caravan guard replied, giving her employer a hand up onto the seat of the wagon. “Beasts don’t really bother with the fields out here — too exposed. Besides, this road is patrolled pretty frequently.”

Mick shuffled in his seat, before turning back to them. “You know, a wagon seems a bit dull after a ride on a vessel as nice as yours — you could barely even tell we were moving!” He shook his head. “The boys are never going to believe I got on a real landyacht.”

Kaius laughed — it was pretty nice.

“Where are the four of you headed, anyway?” the guard asked curiously. “We never asked.”

“To a greater gate,” Kaius replied. “One of them was found in the middle of the Temerian Swamp, so we’re heading to the southern border.”

Mick’s brow furrowed in confusion. “What are you doing here then? You’re going to have to circle the entire swamp to get to Millios.”

Kaius cracked a wild grin. “We’re not going to Milios.”

“You’re not?”

“Nope!” Kenva confirmed. “We’re going to cut straight through the no man's land.”

Mick looked at them like they’d said they were going to slap the king. “What, between Zerrakard and Quesro? Are you insane?!”

His guard just cackled loudly, slapping her thigh. “Oh the money I'd pay to see that — certainly not afraid of thumbing your nose at the idiots, are you?”

“It’ll be fine!” Kaius said, waving them off. “We’ll be moving fast, and everyone's attention will be on the greater gate anyway.”

Mick looked unconvinced, then he frowned. “I assume you’ll be skirting Baxlain on the way then?”

They nodded.

“Best be careful. There’s a few all-human and all-felborn caravans that operate out of Baxlain. I’ve heard some of them have been going missing in Leine Forest — it stretches either side of the border.”

“We’ll be careful,” Kaius assured.

He appreciated the warning, but they wouldn’t be changing their route over it. Besides, they were a whole lot more dangerous than the average caravan.

Sending the pair on their way with a few waves, they set off once more, heading towards the city of Baxlain.