Aether Beasts

It was a few hours after our discovery of Markem's betrayal that the storm died down enough that travel was no longer a struggle. The hail had vanished and the rain was no longer pelting us with enough force to leave red marks, not to mention that the wind no longer felt like it would blow me away if I stood still for too long.

From what I could tell of our surroundings we were only around an hour away from Orton and had probably left behind the twin horn disciples. From what Markem and the other guy had said they had assumed we wouldn't be traveling in this and would be taking the long path, which meant at this moment they were still probably waiting for us. Getting back to the camp might be a problem, but we'd figure that out later. We still had to reach Orton and with our luck who knew what would happen.

We stayed quiet for the most part as we traveled. The revelation that Markem, someone we'd trusted had betrayed us was still sinking in, and nobody was in the mood to talk. Sandra looked to be in shock but every so often rage would appear on her face, and even Misty seemed quieter than usual. For my part, I felt rage too and I couldn't help but think about Lucas and the others. His family would never get to see him again and all those people who'd been had met horrible fates. The image of the woman being dragged away played in my mind, but I pushed it all down, choosing to focus on the mission.

We ended up stopping for the night, even though we could have kept moving, but I could tell everybody needed a rest. Markem and his allies would be thinking the same thing but they would assume we were still far from Orton and taking the long path. As long as we woke up early in the morning then there would be no problems.

"Do we have anything besides jerky, cheese, and bread?" Sandra asked.

I searched my ring then shook my head. "I'm afraid not."

Sandra sighed and took the jerky and bread I handed her reluctantly, while I dug into my own.

"How about you Misty?"

She shook her head. "That troll gave me a lot of essence and blood. I'll be ok for another day or two, though, do we have any baked treats?"

Her voice was hopeful and felt bad for having to let her down. "I'm afraid not—"

"I do," Sandra interrupted me. She pulled me a small bag from her own ring and handed it to Misty. "I thought I'd like it, but it's far too sweet for me. You can have it all."

Misty looked taken aback at Sandra's offer but then she smiled. "Thank you."

I looked between the two as I tried to puzzle out what had changed. Was Sandra being nicer because she wanted to or because she knew Zirani and I would like it, or for another reason? I opened my mouth to say something but I felt a burst of emotion from Zirani.

"Don't get involved in this," Zirani said. "It's between them and you'd just make it awkward for them."

"Point taken," I replied.

After a night of sleep, I woke up feeling better the next day and we quickly began the final part of the journey.

The land around us slowly got flatter and flatter as we moved, and forest eventually became grassy plains, and just off in the distance, I could see it. The city of Orton.

"Finally," Sandra said with a sigh. "We made it. I guess I should thank you, Aiden."

"No need," I replied. "I'm just happy it worked."

Sandra shook her head. "Even so. We would have never found out that bastard was a traitor if we hadn't moved through the storm."

The area that we approached the cavity from was barren of people which made sense since most people would be using the actual paths. In the distance to our east and west, I could see caravans and people on said paths, moving away from and towards the city. It was quite lively and soon the sound of chatter could be heard clearly.

"All right, take these."

I pulled three brown hooded cloaks from my ring and handed one to Misty and Sandra. There was nothing against disciples from a sect entering the city, but no doubt there would be spies and members of the twin horn on a lookout for disciples of the steel heart, and while we'd made it to the city we still needed to reach the mayor and the city hall.

"You think we'll run into them here?" Misty asked worriedly.

"No doubt about that," Sandra replied. "They think they own the city, and that it's rightfully there. If they win this war then it probably will be, and knowing them they are already sure of their victory so no doubt they're causing the city a ton of problems."

"Which is better for us," I added. "This letter combined with all the trouble they've caused will most likely force them to act, hopefully in a way that's beneficial to us."

We put on our cloaks with the hoods covering our faces and made out way closer to the city

We quickly moved into the line of people to blend in and slowly shuffled forwards with them, taking care not to attract too much attention. We got a few looks, but we weren't the only ones wearing cloaks and it was still lightly raining so we didn't look too odd.

As we waited to make our way into the city, I inspected it. The walls were made of stone and looked to be around twenty-five feet high, and unlike those back at West Vale, these had actual battlements and guards patrolling the top. There were also a few towers atop the walls and the wall had a few holes which I assumed were for seeing out of or even attacking out of. It was definitely a well-defended place.

"A three-core beasts from the great scar or beyond could probably tear this place apart. All the beasts in the plains only have one crystal core and those with two or more cores only have them at the smoke stage."

"Are they really that strong?" I asked. I knew it was a stupid question but I was intrigued.

"Yes. I really do hope that war is over soon so that we can get back to your training. We haven't even touched the surface of what I need to teach you. There's also the fact that I've got Sandra and Misty to deal with."

"I hope it ends soon as well," I replied. "I want to grow stronger and learn more and this war has only caused me and my town problems."

We eventually made it to the city gates and after a few words and a nod, we were let inside without any hassle. Immediately was bombarded with a multitude of sounds and voices, and my eyes moved from building to building and person to person.

Luckily I had Sandra who dragged me off the main road and to a nearby storefront.

"Ok, I know you've been leading so far, but now that we are in the city, I need you to follow me," She said. "I know it the best from its slums to the higher parts. I can get us there the fastest."

She looked nervous as to what I would say, but I just nodded. I'd been assuming she would take the lead and I didn't have a problem with it. I'd probably get lost, and the city was nothing like West Vale. My town was small and nothing like this.

"Oh, ok then, well before we move, I want to let you in on a few things. First, keep everything on you in your ring. If you have anything on you like a coin pouch or purse you become a prime target for any of the pickpockets, and don't flash any coin or show off your ring."

"How would they get my ring?"

She grimaced. "Trust me, you don't wanna know, just don't draw attention, and you."

She pointed to Misty. "Keep your face covered. You're far too attractive and will get us too much attention. We don't need some prissy rich kid or arcanist bothering us. You'd be surprised what the rich and powerful think they are entitled to."

Misty nodded with wide eyes and pulled her hood up closer over her head.

"And finally, don't get distracted. This place is big and if we get split up it might take a while to get back together. Just stay close to me and I'll get us to the town hall. It's located in the upper district of the city. When we get there we're going to have to show that we are from the steel heart to get in and the guards could be on the twin horn payroll, so they might alert them to our presence here in the city, so when we get there we need to move fast, got it?"

I nodded, taking in the slew of information. She really was knowledgeable about the city.. Without her, we might have gotten into a lot of trouble.