AA3 23 - Forge Ahead (Patreon)

The caravan got back on the road late the next day, with Sebastian making sure to give everyone involved in the rescue time to rest and heal up.

The outriders were particularly busy as the caravan set off, with scouts heading in all directions to look for any other hidden surprises.

Thankfully, they found nothing of interest, and after a few hours, they all began to relax into the routine of the caravan once again.

The villagers that had been rescued were still travelling with them, but a passing comment from Sebastian during the evening meal told Verdan that the matter was in hand.

The villagers had all accepted Sebastian’s offer of a chance to join Clan Thrain and would be travelling with them for the time being.

Verdan couldn’t help but wonder just how many of the independent towns and villages ended up joining the Clans.

It seemed such a waste to let all this land between the mountains and the Clans go mostly uninhabited, as it only made the problems within it worse.

-**-

The next stretch of their journey went by smoothly, with only a few minor encounters to slow them down.

The first time, one of the outriders came back with a message for the Chosen, which immediately caused a tense atmosphere throughout the caravan.

Verdan had spent the next few minutes waiting anxiously for the call to move forward with the Chosen, expecting a similar situation as the Gormagyr.

In the end, however, the matter was resolved by Jarn and a trio of the more heavily armoured Thearns riding off for a few hours with a pair of trackers.

The group returned with only a few minor wounds, which Verdan had been happy to help tend to in the evening.

Talking to the wounded, Verdan discovered that a dozen of the Gormagyr’s Thralls had been travelling north-west when the outriders caught sight of them.

While a dozen Thralls were nothing to ignore, Jarn and a few hand-picked fighters were more than enough to deal with them.

The sighting of more Thralls did little to boost morale, but at the same time, it was reassuring that they had been so decisively dealt with.

Sebastian stopped by for a quick discussion with Hedda and Verdan, asking if they had any way to track the creature down if they saw any other signs. 

Unfortunately, Hedda’s method required her familiar-turned-dagger to be physically stabbed into the creature, which was unlikely to happen again.

For Verdan’s part, he had nothing that he could do without expending vast amounts of Aether, and even then, the range would be limited.

Verdan wasn’t a divination specialist; he didn’t have the right words or concepts for such magic.

A few more minor incidents occurred as they continued north, but none that required any healing, so Verdan only found out about them through camp gossip.

It was a nice change not to be responsible for everything that was happening, and eventually, Verdan got to the point where he was comfortable leaving things in Sebastian and Ciaran’s hands.

If they needed him, they’d let him know.

-**-

The next morning brought the first view of the Bristaen, the mountain that stood at the entrance to the heartlands of the Clans.

The mountain stood proud and tall; its tip lost to the clouds that lingered around it. Cracks and craters were obvious, even from this distance, but despite the damage, the mountain stood firm.

A number of smaller peaks ran to the south of the Bristaen, which were apparently known as the Steps of Govannon.

Hedda explained that an ancient path ran from the foothills south of the lowest peak all the way up to the top of the Bristaen. Local myths said that it was a hiking path favoured by Govannon, so every year, pilgrims would follow in his footsteps.

Govannon definitely seemed to be a large part of Kranjir culture, which was surprising considering how little representation the gods seemed to now have.

Anything to do with the gods wasn’t Verdan’s priority now, however, so he filed that fact away for another time.

-**-

Ten days after leaving Hobson’s Point, they reached the outer edge of Clan territory.

Moving into Clan territory meant that they spent the evening at a fortified village rather than the usual uninhabited shelters.

The rest of the caravan had become used to the presence of Verdan and his companions, and they no longer felt quite as ostracised from the main group.

Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for the people of the village they were staying at.

Verdan and Kai caught the worst of it, but Hedda and her familiar drew a lot of attention as well. Party, that was because the first thing that Hedda did on arrival was to search for any Witches living in the village.

A demonstration of Hedda’s magic and her control over it, along with a word from Sebastian, was enough to satisfy the locals that she wasn’t an immediate danger.

Still, it wasn’t the most restful stay for them, and Verdan wished he could do something to help put people at ease around Hedda.

The problem was that Witches had been without control for long enough that generations of people had been taught how dangerous they could be from an early age.

Verdan still didn’t understand how the Witches lost their control and their familiars, but that was also a problem for another day. Right now, all that mattered was showing them how to regain what they lost.

They left the following morning, with a slightly disappointed Hedda finding no other Witches to spread her knowledge to.

Now that they were firmly within Clan territory, they began to see more signs of civilisation as they pushed on. After almost two weeks of moving through the wilderness, it was a pleasant change to see things like farmsteads once more.

Verdan spent much of the day speaking with Barb about the structure of the Clans’ territory, trying to understand as best he could.

Ciaran had said that the Bristaen marked the heartlands of the Clan, and Barb explained that what they were passing through now was considered the fringe of Clan territory.

From what Sebastian had explained, it was into this area that the Darjee were pressing, which explained why their path back was firmly east of the mountain.

The Vespa would likely be located around the Bristaen or the smaller mountains to its south, so Verdan would hopefully be able to start his investigation into the Vespa once they reached their destination.

-**-

They made good speed for the rest of the day and the day after as well, taking good advantage of the relative safety of being within friendly territory.

The thirteenth day of travel saw them turn almost directly west rather than continue north, and after a few hours of travel, they began to see a change.

The main difference that Verdan saw was the lack of other travellers on the road. The few others they did see were moving in groups and had more people bearing weapons.

The tension in the caravan rose steadily as they continued on, and Verdan saw most of the other wagon drivers arm themselves during a short rest break.

An almost palpable wave of relief ran through the caravan when they came within sight of the village they would be stopping at for the evening.

Verdan wasn’t completely convinced, though. The village had quite a few guards patrolling, all in pairs, and there were already a lot of torches and lights being lit within the village. 

It wasn’t as overt as the lack of travellers on the road, but Verdan could feel an underlying sense of worry within the settlement.

“Be careful tonight. If you have to go anywhere, go with company, alright?” Verdan said to the others as they disembarked.

“I’ll come with you if you’re going to look for any Witches?” Barb looked over to Hedda, who nodded with a frown, her focus on the village.

“I will be asking around, but I don’t hold out much hope,” Hedda said, a momentary look of sadness crossing her features. “Witches often live outside of their local communities, making us easy targets. If the people here are this tense, I worry for those who live outside of the village.”

“Ask around, but be careful,” Verdan said, a creeping chill moving down his spine as he surveyed the area. He didn’t like seeing people this tense, not at all.

“Perhaps we should check in with the Keeper and see what he might suggest?” Kai asked with a raised brow.

Kai had healed well in the days since the fight with the Gormagyr and was almost at full strength once more.

Verdan had offered to accelerate the process further, but Kai had refused, saying that Verdan would be best served saving his energy.

While they had been able to let the Kranjir deal with everything, Verdan hadn’t felt like pushing the issue. Now, though, he would be making sure that Kai got some additional healing tonight.

The long days with little to do had let Verdan focus on his gathering spiral and research to a greater degree than usual.

The result was that he had finished his fifteenth spiral and was several layers into the next one while also having more of an understanding of the documents he’d brought.

The ancient texts were thick with unfamiliar terms, but Verdan was slowly working them out, and with each one, he felt as though his comprehension grew that little bit more.

The latest revelation was that an object had been designed to allow non-Wizards to interact with the runic devices he’d seen.

From what Verdan could establish, it was some sort of minor enchantment that held Aether, much like his constructs did.

The ramifications of such a small thing were dramatic, to say the least, and Verdan was already looking forward to going back and delving more deeply into the tower.

For now, though, it was time to see if they could lend a helping hand to the locals.