[914] – Y04.014 – Trouble on the Road I

[914] – Y04.014 – Trouble on the Road I

“Where does the wind flow?” the older one armed, one legged Iyrman sang lightly, holding the twins within his chest.

“Thoo my home!” the twins called out, the sister louder than the brother.

“Brisk.”

“Cold!”

“Where do the hills flow?”

“Along the huhrizon!”

“Tall.”

“Wide!”

“I call it my home.”

“I call it my home!”

“Where the wind flows. Where the hills flow.”

“Brisk! Cold! Tall! Wide!”

“I call it my home.”

“I call it my home!”

“The path outside is treacherous,” the old man said, brushing his cheek against theirs.

“Buhrootal! Buhloody!”

“Where do we march?”

“To war! To war!”

“What are we?”

“Ready!”

“For.”

“Death!”

“To whom does death call?”

“To all! To all!”

“I walk the treacherous path.”

“Buhrootal! Buhloody!”

“I am ready to be called!”

“Death! Death! Call to me!”

“Brisk.”

“Cold!”

“I call it my home.”

“I call it my home!”

“Tall.”

“Wide!”

“I call it my home.”

“I call it my home!”

“Brutal.”

“Buhloody!”

“To war.”

“To war!”

“Death.”

“Death!”

“I call it my home.”

“I call it my home!”

“Death.”

“Death!”

“I call it my home.”

“I call it my home!”

Jirot cackled at the end of the song, clapping her hands excitedly. “Again! Again!”

The older Jarot smiled, kissing her forehead. “Should I teach you another song?”

“Prince Morkarai?” a knight whispered. “Whose that?”

“The fire giants from the east,” the other replied, motioning with a hand towards the carriage.

“It may be a trick.”

“It would be a good illusion, but the details on the flamedarksteel...”

The carriages stopped, and the servants from the middle carriage swiftly approached the front carriage to allow the noble lord to step out. He was a man with few wrinkles across his face, though his light hair, an extremely dirty blonde, or a sun kissed brunette, was sprinkled with white. He was adorned in full plate, that which was afforded to him due to the mass murder and pillaging which allowed him to claim the civilized title of a noble fellow.

“Count Westmoon,” Jaygak whispered.

“Prince Morkarai of Shakador, I am Count Joseph Westmoon of West Fort,” the noble called out, his face stern and humourless. “I had heard rumours of your travels within the land.”

“I travelled for some time, but it is time for me to return home,” Prince Morkarai stated, shutting down the eventual request to be hosted.

“It is a shame you were not able to admire the maleficence of the greatest fort in all the nearby lands, but perhaps in the future you could visit the city.”

“I will take your words to heart.”

“Would you care to speak over dinner?”

“I would enjoy the company,” Morkarai stated.

The servants swiftly dealt with the tents and the food, all the while the Prince, the Count, and the Ray spoke. Jurot and Kitool remained nearby, standing at attention, while Adam and Jaygak remained at one side.

“There’s got to be some trouble,” Adam whispered in the Iyr’s tongue. “It’s all going far too smoothly.”

“The Count may trouble Lucy and Mara, but Ray Vonda should be able to defend them.”

“Yeah.” Adam inhaled sharply. ‘It should be fine since Vonda’s around.’ “Isn’t my wife the best?”

Jaygak smiled, doing her best not to roll her eyes.

Thankfully, the Count didn’t make a fuss about the demons, instead chatting and drinking with the Prince, before allowing him to be on his way, handing over a bottle of wine as a gift, and a promise to host the Prince in the future.

“Well that was easy...” Adam glanced over his shoulders towards the leaving carriages. “I don’t like it one bit.”

“Do you always worry this much?” Morkarai asked.

“You haven’t even heard half of the story.”

As they made camp for the evening, Lucy approached Vonda. She sat down beside the Ray, who prayed lightly over her meal, thanking Mother Soza’s grace. Once she was done, she smiled politely towards Lucy.

“Hey,” Lucy said, her voice raspy.

“Lucy. How may I assist you?”

“It’s not that... I just wanted to apologise, and to thank you.”

“Why do you need to apologise and thank me?” Vonda asked, tilting her head slightly, though the gentle smile on her face revealed her delight.

“You know why...”

“You don’t have to apologise or thank me, but I am glad that you are so appreciative of my assistance.”

“I didn’t realise I was going to be so troublesome,” Lucy admitted. She hadn’t realised the news of her presence was going to cause so many issues, nor that every fort was on the lookout for her.

“I am not surprised it was going to be so troublesome, since Jirot adores you so much.”

Lucy remained silent for a long moment, only now realising the young woman had become Jirot’s mother. The shadow of a smile appeared on her face for a moment, though it was swiftly forced away. “I am really sorry, Vonda.”

“You do not need to be sorry.”

Lucy shrugged her shoulder, unsure if she agreed with the Ray’s words. “Do you miss them?”

“My children? I do. I hope I can spend more time with them.” Vonda thought of Konarot, who didn’t seem to have accepted her yet.

“I miss them too...” Lucy played with the hem of her sleeve with her thumb and finger, staring down at the thread. “Would you walk with me in East Port? I’d like to buy the children something nice.”

Vonda smiled wider. “Of course.”

“Thank you.”

The pair ate together, though Vonda struggled to eat the porridge, staring down at it for a short moment. She glanced towards Lucy, who ate the porridge quietly. Mara remained to one side, allowing the pair their time alone.

‘It’s the last month of dawnval, isn’t it? Hopefully this month goes smoothly...’

They passed through the next last town before East Port, though there were many days before they could reach the duchal capital of the region. Adam grew more tense as the days continued to pass, unsure of what was about to happen.

‘Are we going to meet another Divine? Is it going to be a Major Divine? Vonda said they would come in dreams since they’re so powerful. Will a Lesser Divine of Order come, then?’

‘Is he really expecting so much trouble?’ the Prince thought. “Is this how it always is?”

“Last year it was that way,” Jaygak confirmed. “The previous year was full of trouble.” A smirk made itself at home upon Jaygak’s lips, who thought of the trouble they had come across the previous year, and the escalating trouble they would no doubt come this year.

“...”

As thought he young woman spoke a prophecy, a day away from East Port they saw it.

‘There are some here?’ Jaygak thought, while Kitool and Jurot darted forward to go fight.

“Where-,” Adam began.

“There is a child,” Jurot shouted, while Morkarai reached down to grab a stone he had picked up along the way.

“A child?” the Prince asked. “Adam, what-,” Morkarai said, glancing back to see Adam’s body blinking out of existence. ‘What?’

Uh oh.