novelraw B5 Chapter 526: Recap & Dawntown, pt. 2
B5 Chapter 526: Recap & Dawntown, pt. 2
Worn spires of grey stone jutted from the soft rolling hills. They seemed out of place, like giants had hurled boulder after boulder across the land in the way a child might throw pebbles for fun.
Seeing them again left Kaius feeling odd: nauseous, but also light — a heady mix of anxiety and excitement that forced him to slow his pace. The foothills to the Wildguards. It felt like it had barely been weeks since he and Porkchop had hiked their way across them, yet at the same time it felt like he had aged decades.
So much had changed.
The mountains themselves were a constant presence on the eastern horizon. Rising like the spines of a dragon, they tore through the land. Sunlight reflected off the snow and ice at their peaks, like they had been capped with diamonds. As beautiful as they were, they barely held his attention. The northern flood of green had him by the throat.
It was an endless spill of trunks larger than any he’d seen elsewhere in the Frontier; a blanket that stretched from the far western horizon to lap at the eastern mountains. It surged up through half a dozen high-up passes, where he knew they spilled into an immense basin — all the while the trunks grew larger and larger as the mana grew denser.
The Arboreal Sea. Home to the greater meles, the elven Conclaves, and other, nameless things that lurked under its uncharted boughs.
His home, or at least, it had been once. One he hadn’t seen in a long while.
Kaius tore his eyes away from the Sea, searching the foot hills for any sign of their destination. There was nothing yet — no fields, trails, or abandoned camps. He was sure they were on the right track, Yanmi had given him pretty clear directions in one of her rare letters.
While they were further east than the old location of Threefields, he knew this place like the back of his hand. He and Father had ranged widely — he was pretty sure he even had vague memories of the plateau and rocky outcropping that Dawntown had founded itself around. The problem was that it was all quite…samey. Green grass, steep hills, and clusters of stone. Plus, the rough terrain made it difficult to get a clean lay of the land. Even if Dawntown was a sizable settlement, there was more than enough cover for it to be hard to find.
Especially since it was secretive by design. The Elders of Threefields had taken his warnings to heart: none of them wanted the attention that would come if it got out that the town was openly spreading legacy skills.
He could only hope that the Guild’s recent spread of their own list of potent Skills would take away some of that risk.
Still, they were within eyeshot of the Sea — they’d find it if they kept heading towards the mountains.
He sighed and gripped the edge of the Pegleg’s deck from his seat at the bow, before a flash of movement caught his eye. A large, long-necked bird with an axe-beak, freezing as it caught sight of them. It had just crested a ridge.
Kaius blinked, recognising the terror bird — and the half-visible shapes of its flock behind it. A scout — a poor one at that. The beast’s orange and brown plumage stood out starkly against the green and grey of the surrounding grass and stone.
“Hey, Ianmus, look! It’s your old friends!” he said, leaning back to grin at his friend.
Atop the companionway that led below deck, the mage perked up. Flicking between Kaius and the beasts that had once sent him running for his life, he scowled.
“Very funny.”
“Those are what sent you running?” Kenva said incredulously, “They’re about as subtle as a brick to the back of the head. You couldn’t avoid them?”
“It was right after the phase change! I’d never even heard of them when I'd set out from Mystral,” Ianmus spluttered.
Just beneath him, Niles was leaning up against the angled wall that held the hatch to below decks. It had become something of a regular spot for him. He watched the terror birds warily. It wasn’t outright fear, not like the first dozen times they’d come across monsters on the trail.
“How’d you escape them? They look pretty mean,” he asked.
“Oh, they were,” Ianmus replied. “But they were weaker — under level fifteen. Kaius and Porkchop ran right through them. It’s how we met. Strange, after they nearly did me in, but I think they might be pretty weak — strongest of the lot I can see is just over level sixty.”
“Overgrown chickens if that’s all they’ve managed with so much mana,” Porkchop huffed.
“How does that work, anyway?” Niles asked. “I thought more mana meant beasts would keep growing?”
“Some types will,” Kaius replied, turning to track the terrorbirds as they sprinted over the crest of the hill — and away from their path. “But not every creature is meant for greatness. Those birds have probably reached their limit — it’s been more than a year since the mana levels increased, and they don’t exactly seem like the slowly maturing type. If they want to climb higher, they’ll need to fight for it like everything else. Manage that, and the lucky ones might evolve their bloodline to something with a bit more potential, which would ease their climb through the second tier.”
Niles nodded, watching the distant terror birds thoughtfully. “I suppose that’s good. I’d still prefer to have normal animals back, though.”
Kaius smiled to himself — who wouldn’t?
“You still need to be cautious. It’s always a risk to assume how strong a beast will be just because you’re familiar with its kind, especially since you don’t have Identify. You’ll need to rely on your instincts, and your team. The wilds are a dangerous place, and plenty of creatures will grow beyond their natural limits if they live long enough.”
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Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Niles nodding seriously, much like he had every other time they’d given him advice. It was an odd feeling. On one hand, it was hard to think of him as anything other than a kid. On the other, he knew they were only a handful of years older than Niles. The kid treated their words like gospel, yet Kaius felt like he learned something new every day.
Somehow, he doubted he would ever feel wise, not when the world seemed determined to change every second month.
As the Pegleg’s steady, rocking strides took them over the next lip, Kaius scanned the surroundings — and spotted something immediately.
A handful of leagues away, clustered deep inside a half-moon of jutting stone, a small village’s worth of buildings sat in a sheltered nook between three hills. A road wound through the valley, heading east away through the mountains. It was just hardpacked dirt, but well enough trodden that there was little in the way of overgrowth.
“I see something!” he yelled back to his team, frowning slightly.
It didn’t fit the picture of Dawntown. Too small, and too easy to find. Sure, it was nestled in a sheltered valley, but if that road went far enough to hit the flat plains, it would be incredibly obvious.
That said, it was in the right place, and there hadn’t been any smoke. That meant runework. Simple runework, but more than a small village could afford without a local runewright, and a precaution that spoke to some attempt being made to stay hidden.
Kaius watched the village thoughtfully, eying the distant figures moving between the buildings. Just what were they walking into?
….
The Pegleg advanced up the road, moving at the comfortable pace of a more mundane caravan — Kaius had little interest in spooking the inhabitants. People that lived near the Sea were insular, and they’d be treated with enough suspicion without charging at their damn homes like mounted cavalry.
Only a few hundred longstrides away, the village was bustling. All work had halted as they had approached, even down to the blacksmiths stoking their forges, which would no doubt be a menace to get back up to temperature. Men and women alike clustered around doorways and in windows. Slightly further down the slope, guards with spears clustered atop the palisades that blocked off entrance to the village.
A small contingent stood outside the gate, headed by a stern-faced veteran with streaks of grey in his brown beard. Their welcoming party.
To his disappointment, Kaius didn’t recognise anyone.
“What a warm and inviting atmosphere,” Ianmus muttered softly behind him.
Kaius shrugged, “It’s our way. If you’re not local, or a Hiwiann trader, you’re probably a bandit. Few else come this far. They’ll lighten up, especially once they recognise Porkchop — but perhaps let me do the talking until then.”
As they approached, Kaius willed their vessel to slow and lower itself on its mechanical legs. Pushing himself off the bow, he dropped to the ground — landing lightly on his feet despite the drop of a dozen strides.
“Ho there!” he said warmly, keeping his hands free and visible.
Despite wearing only a simple tunic and trousers, he knew there was no chance that he was seen as anything other than a threat. He’d already felt himself get analysed a dozen times, and he’d arrived on the back of a walking boat.
The veteran at the head of the guards held his spear in a firm grip, watching him with hawkish intensity. To his surprise, the man felt strong
— mid Steel at the least, though he didn’t want to be so rude as to analyse the man. The Sea made the locals stronger than most, but not that strong. They’d adapted well, then. That was good — and another point in favour of this place being tied to Dawntown, somehow.
“And who might you be? Don’t get many strong delvers ‘round these parts, stranger.”
There was something soothing to the hostility in the man's words; a prickly suspicion that he’d missed. The rest of the Frontier might be rough in its own way, but the Sea? It was good to be back.
He grinned, “Kaius. Not from any particular village, but Threefield’s knew me best. Got news from Deadacre — Yanmi knows me.”
A low mutter spread through the gate guards, and their leader visibly relaxed.
“The wildling, aye, makes sense. Seemed a fair bet, given those,” the veteran replied, gesturing broadly at his temples as he eyed Kaius’s Eirnith glyph. “Can never be too sure though. Yanmi said you might turn up some time, so we’ve been keeping an eye out. Name’s Hektor — used to be from Gloomhollow, but we’re all from the same place now.”
They were on the right track, then. Kaius grinned, before he turned and gestured to his team to join him. They leapt down quickly — Ianmus helping Niles land on his feet.
As soon as Porkchop hit the ground with a heavy thud, every set of eyes in the village fixated on him.
“Forest king…” one of the guards whispered.
“Finally, I get some proper respect,” Porkchop said haughtily, though he kept his words to their group alone.
Kaius grinned at the joke, before he willed the Pegleg to return to the metal orb that was chained to his waist. It disappeared with a pop — only some of the guards jumping. They’d been well trained.
“We were looking for Dawntown, but I get the feeling we haven’t quite found it?” Kaius questioned.
“Aye,” Hektor replied, “Call this place First Light. It’s a glorified trading post and hunter’s lodge, really, though we do have a few folk stayin’ permanently who prefer to be a mite further from the hustle and bustle. Dawntown’s close, though I’m not surprised ye missed it.”
“Oh?” Kaius replied. He’d been searching hard, and hadn’t seen anything remotely suggesting a settlement until they’d stumbled upon First Light.
Hektor nodded, before he turned and pointed at a hill a league or two away — one that had been visible for days. It was tall, though flanked on both sides by peaks that were even taller. The main thing that had drawn Kaius’s attention to it in their travels was the rock formation that encircled the top of the hill like a crown. It was dense and jutting, and completely cut off his view from what lay at the top of the hill.
“It’s right there.”
He blinked, there was no way! He hadn’t given that a second thought. Even if it matched up to the natural stone defences that Yanmi had mentioned, it was so plainly in the open that he’d skipped right over it.
“I’ll take ye there me self, if ye can give me a good half hour to wrap some things up. Open the gates!” Hektor said, grinning knowingly, before he yelled to his men within the village.