Chapter 117: In the Wake of War

Kothar strolled across the bridge that crossed the deep chasm that surrounded the keep, he had a spring in his step after getting Rotan's assurance that he would contact the Academy.

While it wasn't a surefire way to ensure his own safety, at the very least it would keep Krieg off his back for the time being. 

[I'm glad that I managed to cheer Rotan up somewhat. Seeing him like that, it was troubling to say the least. I'm beginning to wonder how much Ophil's death affected Tam. I couldn't imagine seeing him wresting the throne from Rotan before this.] Kothar turned down a street that would lead him to the Army Stables, where he could easily request a mount for the ride west.

[I guess you won't know till you see your father.] Silane said, simply, she was at a loss as to what might have happened. She could easily calculate the humidity in the air based on seemingly random observations, but figuring out the intentions of a human, especially with emotions involved, was far too confusing for her. But, now that she was beginning to experience emotions herself, she was beginning to see why it was so difficult to get  a grasp on them, emotions could be completely illogical, and go contrary to everything that a person knew, but they would still be the major driving factor in some decisions.

Kothar soon made his way to the stables, where he once again, utilized his father's seal to get a horse and some provisions for the journey ahead, speaking as little as possible.

He picked a relatively plain looking hybrid, one that was indistinguishable from most horses except for the pale yellow bands that were all around its hind legs and ran along its haunches.

The stable hand had claimed that it was a horse with virtually inexhaustible stamina and Kothar put this to the test, riding until the sun had set, and the only light was the pale silver from the moon and stars.

The horse rode on, it was as sturdy as the stable hand had promised, and unlike Kothar's ride to Newport, he was far stronger now and with far greater reserves of mana, and easily rode on continuously.

The sun was beginning to rise again as the sun rose again, and the ground around him changed from the rough and unwelcoming rockiness of the west of Ursten to the swampy edges of Kalun.

A rush of memories flooded back to Kothar as he rode along the familiar path, coming into Kalun for the first time with Drummond and his caravan of merchants, rescuing Simon from the depths of the dungeons of Ranuth and their subsequent escape, and of course, the burning of the city which had precipitated the war with Ursten.

Kothar rode on through the dense jungle, the howls and screeches of jungle creatures filling the air, and the occasional crashing of trees as massive beasts moved through the trees.

Occasionally, Kothar felt powerful mana signatures, and upon assessing them with his Mana Sensing Lens found that they were massive creatures, with savage claws and powerful jaws, and decided that the middle of a jungle was no place for any recklessness.

Of course, it was fun to test himself against the beasts that lived in the wilderness, but that could wait for the time being. For now, Kothar's priority was finding his father and talking to him about Krieg as well as getting to the bottom of whether his father had decided to claim Ursten for his own.

Kothar rode on through the jungle, and soon, he spotted a small village in the distance. He saw a man standing on the road and waved, but the man simply yelled an incoherent scream and ran off. 

By the time he arrived, the village was deathly quiet. There were stalls all along the street, and a lone orange rolled across the street, recently abandoned. 

[It seems these people fear strangers. The war must have been hard on them.] Silane said somberly, as they noticed the eyes peeking out at them from behind closed shutters and through gaps in curtains.

[Or they fear the hawk on my chest. I hope my father hasn't become a terrible man.] Kothar replied, a sinking feeling in his chest. It couldn't be true, yes, Tam was a general, but he had never been cruel or unfair, there was no reason for these people to fear the Hawk, surely.

Kothar quickly rode away from the village, he didn't want to burden the poor villagers any further.

The other villages he passed through were mostly similar, if the people didn't hide, they would become silent and meek, not looking directly at Kothar or even walking near him.

It was as if there was an invisible space around Kothar that they all avoided. Some of the villages bore the marks of war, entire houses that had been destroyed by spells, the ground carved up by errant slashes from warriors, and craters from head to head clashes between combatants.

No wonder the people were all so afraid. Kothar rode for another day before he was near his destination, Kalun was a large country, islands of civilization dispersed through enormous swathes of jungle, swampland and wide rivers.

Kothar first saw the smoke on the horizon, it seemed that Simon's map had been accurate.

As he rode on, he saw the tips of the tall flags, the highest depicting the all too familiar blue hawk with wings outstretched, but there were others also.

Some he had seen before, but other strange designs that reminded him of Rana, the Southern tribe girl that had tried to take his horse all that time ago.

The camp seemed to have sprouted from the surrounding jungle, it seemed that Tam didn't give the jungle or its denizens the same consideration that the locals did, many trees had been felled to create a wooden palisade and an enormous gate had been fashioned from the logs. 

Kothar rode towards the camp, it was time for him to meet his father.