Imaginary Lines

13
Imaginary Lines
~v~

Nicolette shivered in the frigid morning hours outside of the Sharyn fortress. Her breath condensed into little puffs of moisture that seemed to freeze in the air the moment they left her lips. The first sun was on the edge of the horizon, a gleaming hope of warmth to the young elf girl.

“Are you planning to help load up?” Johle asked, buckling a set of saddlebags on his horse.

“It’s s-so cold.” she complained, putting her hands in her pockets and jumping up and down. “I barely made it out the front gate without freezing to death.”

In the meantime, Seriina was fumbling with saddling the spare horse that Johle and Nicolette had brought with them. “How do you even mount these things on these beasts?”

Johle walked over beside the vinturne maiden. “Pull that strap through the metal loop as tight as you can, put the pin through, and take the other end and do the same on the other side.”

“Do we get breakfast?” the elf girl asked, hoping that the others hadn’t forgotten.

“As soon as we’re ready to leave, yes.” Johle said. “You know, you would be warmer if you did something besides stand there.”

Nicolette grumbled. Chores were dumb. She didn’t like doing them at home, and she hadn’t grown to like them any more since she had left the forest on her haphazard adventure with her new companion.

The tall metal gates groaned as they retracted, and the Mentor walked out with the fieldmaster and a few others at her side. This time she wore armour similar to the fieldmaster’s thick midnight blue metal plating, with some added engravings on her shoulders and collar to indicate her higher rank.

Seriina stopped what she was doing and touched her right hand to her left shoulder in salute.

“Unra, Seriina.” the master said. “I am on my way to visit the Housemaster and discuss a plan for our people’s defence. The return of the Enchantress is something that will affect all of our Families, and our kind must be prepared to stand on our own.”

Johle nodded. “What road would you advise us to take on our journey? I have not travelled this far north before.”

“There is only one road in and out of this region; the same one you came by yesterday. Follow that road south to the next town, Alsa. Seriina can guide you from there.”

“Many thanks,” Johle said with a bow.

“My pleasure,” The vinturne matriarch said with a kind smile. “I wish you peace and wholeness on your journey. Now we must be off.”

The Mentor and her delegation departed down the small road to the steps that led down to the city below. Seriina finished the saddling of her horse, and walked back inside for the rest of their baggage, proud of her accomplishment. In the meantime, Nicolette had found that the emissive glow of the nearby lamppost was good for more than just light and had her body wrapped around it for warmth.

Johle opened his mouth to protest Nicolette’s lack of help, but thought better of it. At least Seriina was there to make up the difference, even if she didn’t quite understand how to complete some of the tasks that she had never had need to learn before. He missed having Tyrnea at his side. They had learned to act together without a word between them, and it was aggravating to have to explain things that she would have known to do without any input from him.

“I think that’s everything. We can go and eat now,” he said.

“Yay!” Nicolette sprung off the lamppost with eagerness, only to feel the cold morning air again and immediately regret leaving her happy spot. She ran to the gate ahead of Johle, dancing and shivering on the frozen grass as she waited for the massive metal panels to open and let her in.

Johle found Nicolette and Seriina up near her quarters up in the third floor where she and all of the others her rank lived. Cushioned seats and carved tables had come out of their recesses in the rustic wooden floor. He sat down across from his young elven friend, who was awaiting their food with great anticipation. A lower ranked trainee came along and dropped off a few large plates with sizzling hot food, and smaller ones for individual use along with utensils wrapped in cloth.

“Be sure to leave some for everyone,” Johle said to Nicolette in a warning tone.

I do not think there is any worry of that,” Seriina said. “This is more food than I normally get in a week.”

Nicolette ignored the talking and focused on shoveling as much grilled lepora and scrambled eggs into her mouth as fast as she could.

Seriina looked over at the elf girl. “I do not remember elves having such strange eating customs.”

“No, she’s simply a messy eater,” Johle said, cutting his grilled lepora into neat bite-sized pieces.

“Hmmp!” the elf girl said in protest with her mouth full.

“Oh.”

Nicolette found some room in her mouth to talk. “So...you’ve met elves before? That bigshot guy with the white hair said that you don’t get many visitors.”

A hush fell over the space around them. Nicolette looked around. “Why did everyone stop talking?”

Seriina lowered her head. “That is the Fieldmaster,” she said. “We do not talk about him if we can help it.”

“Why not? Is he mean?”

“He is not a bad person. He is...strict. Demanding. But it is true; we do not get many outsiders, least of all here in the Tower.”

“Why is that?” Johle asked in between bites.

“Ever since Hayast conquered Tivadar, they have been heavily taxing people who travel through their borders. Some people disappear entirely. Not many people are willing to pay the fees or risk being kidnapped even for trading.”

Nicolette smiled. “Good thing we aren’t going that way.”

“That is the way we’re going.” Seriina said.

“What about that thing that got us here?”

“What thing?”

“One of the old Brenne portals,” Johle said. “We went from Cadarnelle to about an hour’s ride south of here in the blink of an eye.”

Seriina’s face brightened up. “A Luminary?”

Johle nodded.

“Amazing! Not many of the old Brenne constructs are still usable by others than their own kind. They have become infested with dark creatures.”

Nicolette shuddered. “No thanks. I think I’ve seen enough monsters on our journey here to last a lifetime.”

“I don’t know if we could even find it again,” Johle said.

“My people were once close to the Brenne,” Seriina said. “We have maps with the locations of all the Brenne constructs. The trouble is not finding them as much as knowing which ones are safe to use. The Skraelings seem to have found a way inside and have made their homes in most of them. If we were to travel in one now, we would risk arriving in one of their nests.”

Johle stood up from the table. “We will take the path of least resistance, even if it means taking longer. Any trouble that can be avoided should be. We’re burning precious daylight, and unlike you, the two of us can only travel during the day.”

“Right.” Seriina nodded. She and Johle stacked their plates in centre of the table whilst Nicolette wandered off.

The vinturne maiden’s head popped up in realisation. “I ...uh...forgot something. I’ll meet up with you at the pillars.”

Seriina rushed off down the stairs and out of sight. A trainee came by and picked up the plates and wiped off the table, removed a small token from their pocket, and pressed the crystalline button in the centre. Nicolette heard a tiny beep before the table and chairs retracted back into their recesses and their decorative metal coverings slid over them.

“Are you sure you have all of your things?” Johle asked her. “Once we leave, we’re not coming back here. At least not until our journey is complete.”

Nicolette nodded. “You only asked me that four times before we left our room.”

“Do you need to use the washroom?”

“Oh, come on! I’m not five!”

Johle shook his head. “I suppose there’s no reason for us to stay any longer then. Let’s get on the road.”

Johle led the way down the steps to the town on horseback. Once again, Nicolette walked her horse on foot for fear of falling over the ledge and down onto the rocks below. The water rushed down the falls to her left, crashing hard on the mountainside in a loud torrent.

The people in the streets below parted before them. As they passed the largest house, they were met by the Mentor, the Fieldmaster, and some other person who Nicolette guessed was of some importance. Unlike to two others, he wore no armour, but had an embroidered longcoat with bluish glowing arcane thread on the high collar and bell sleeves. His long crimson half-braided hair glided in the breeze as he approached them.

“Greetings, elvenkind!” he said. “My name is Andreas Mortenevii, Housemaster and administrator of the city of Roga. The Sharyn Mentor has told me of your mission to seek the help of the Archon Of Therra. If there is anything at all that I can provide for you, you need only ask.”

“I think we have all we need,” Johle said. “Your people are very generous and kind.”

The Housemaster bowed. “We hope you will visit again.”

“Hey, can we get candy?” Nicolette whispered in Johle’s ear.

Johle ignored her. “We should be going.”

“Best of wishes to you on your travels, master elf.”

The vinturne elders departed their company, and Johle led the way out of the city. Nicolette gazed at the massive floating pillars as they passed by, her eyes following the small specks of light that moved along the lines of circuitry embedded in their surface.

Seriina was waiting for them next to the last pillar on their right. Her eyes were red around the edges, contrasting with her snow white skin.

“Is something wrong?” Johle asked.

“I will be better in time,” Seriina said as she jumped into the saddle. “Shall we move along?”

“If you say so,” Johle said.

The three turned their reins south and rode for several hours at a time, taking brief stops in between to rest. The landscape slowly returned from its frigid pastel beauty into the more familiar greenery and rocky hills. The orange sun hid in the overcast sky as they arrived in Alsa, a small town in the northern highlands.

Melted snow had turned the dirt roads to muddy slush. Rough-looking people roamed the streets with piercing eyes, as if they were looking for an excuse to kill. Others walked with their heads hung low, trying to avoid trouble. There was a dreariness that pressed down upon the inhabitants.

Seriina covered her nose and mouth with one hand. “What is that smell?”

Johle sniffed the air. “I don’t smell anything out of the ordinary. Planks from wooden buildings that have seen better days, low hygiene standards, horse droppings; usual suspects.”

Seriina wrinkled her tiny nose. “It smells like something’s rotting. Hasn’t humanity learned how to bathe yet?”

“Human towns in general smell like that. They’re still learning about the concept of sanitation. The sooner we’re out of here, the sooner you can be away from it,” Johle said. “Where do we head now?”

“There’s a fork in the road on the other side of town. One goes southeast to Tisana, and the other goes through the old Tiva territory to Hayast. That’s the same road to where the Archon is.”

“So we’ll have to go through Hayast to reach him?”

Seriina winced. “Yes.”

“Wonderful.”

“Where did all of the people go?” Nicolette wondered aloud.

Johle looked around. He hadn’t noticed before, but the streets had emptied. Window shutters clattered shut. All of the people that had been walking around had disappeared.

“I hear movement,” Seriina said. “About two hundred steeds are headed this way.”

Johle scanned the intersecting roads they had stopped in the middle of. “Which direction?” he asked.

Seriina’s catlike ears twitched. “Southwest.”

“Sounds like it’s our time to leave. Lead the way.” Seriina’s horse accelerated forward, followed by Nicolette and then Johle. Mud splashed beneath them as they bolted for the other end of town. They found the fork in the road; coming from the other direction was a large unit of cavalry storming towards them.

Seriina unslung her staff. She pointed it at the ground and flash-froze the muddy slush into a low wall of solid ice chunks with a loud pop. Johle wasted no time in taking advantage of the change in the situation and led them down the other road. Nicolette looked back; although the barrier had given them pause, the army of horsemen has found a way around it and were continuing the chase through the winding valleys. The steep slopes on both sides funneled them into thin ranks.

“Roadblock ahead!” Seriina called to Johle. The three companions slowed to a halt. Directly in from of them was an arched stone gateway. The road was partially obstructed with wooden crates and soldiers with pikes, leaving only enough space for one rider to go through at a time.

A lightning bolt shot from the tip of Seriina’s staff. A nearby tree trunk splintered apart and the flaming tree fell on the road, blocking the path. The riders reigned in their horses to avoid colliding into it.

Johle drew his sword. “Any more ideas?” he asked his vinturne companion.

“We could ask the nice people behind us if they would mind letting us through.”

A fletched bolt hit Seriina in the shoulder and glanced off withut harming her.

Johle sighed. “I suppose that means diplomacy is out of the question.”

He handed Nicolette the leads to the other two horses. “Stay as out of sight as you can.”

Some of their pursuers had dismounted and came at them on foot. Seriina’s sword crackled to life. Before they could enter the fray, a man from the gate rushed in ahead of them. His hair was cropped close to his head, and he had tattoos all along his muscular arms. He drew a greatsword from his back. A dark rage burned in his eyes as he looked over his shoulder at Johle and Seriina.

“This is my homeland to defend.”

~<>~