On the Road at Last – 3B-QO

Chapter 3 – Getting Underway (continued)

The sun was still high in the sky when the seven of them were let through the east gate of the city. Once they were out of the way of people coming and going through the gate, Kaylen took a moment to observe his party. For the moment they were on foot, leading their horses and ponies.

Closest to Kaylen was Lyria, her brown hair held back in a ponytail as she walked alongside Dinnae. Kaylen was struck in that moment how similar the two looked in many ways. Not quite the family resemblance he shared with his sister, but both families had dark brown hair and blue eyes, though the Gallowglass’ eyes were a brighter more vivid hue. In her armor, Kaylen’s sister was not especially stealthy, though it made less noise than he might have thought on first sight. Her great sword was sheathed across her back with a light crossbow and a dagger hanging from her belt, and her gear was mostly in her black and white stallion’s saddle bags, though she kept a few things in belt pouches.

Like the swordsman, Dinnae also wore her chainmail armor openly, with a medium sized shield slung over her shoulder and a light battle-axe at her waist. The girls had selected a weapon with a spike on the reverse of the axe head, and a spear tip on the top so that it would be versatile in combat. They’d gone with an axe over a sword due to her already having familiarity with similarly constructed tools. She also had a wicked stiletto dagger hanging from her belt in the back, hidden by her cloak. She wasn’t fully comfortable with her brown speckled pony yet, but it was a very calm creature that was doing a good job setting her at ease so far. Dinnae had the fullest figure out of Kaylen’s companions, at least as well as he was able to tell through their armor and clothes, with an above average bust and wide hips.

Just past the two brown-haired girls, Sister Alanthea was standing next to her pure white gelding just a short distance from where Lyria was helping Danny into her pony’s saddle, her piercing blue eyes regarding the pair intently. The priestess’s grey cloak was thrown back, showing her blue robes of office and belt of swords along with her satchel of knives. She was the tallest of the girls besides Ursa, nearly level with Kaylen’s height, though her thin frame and ethereal presence made her seem taller.

A little further on, Talindra and Janel were having a conversation too quietly for Kaylen to overhear. The elf’s silver hair was still coiled around her head with just a short tail emerging from the back, the hood of her green cloak was down, and through the front part one could see her black breastplate over fine chainmail that was also darkened for stealth. For a moment, Lynn met Kaylen’s gaze past the tanner and priestess between them, conveying without words her desire to speak with him when they had a chance. Her bow was slung unstrung in a pouch attached to her quiver on the opposite hip as her gracefully curved long sword, and unlike most the others she carried no pouches and didn’t have any visible pockets either, though she had filled up her grey mare’s saddle bags pretty thoroughly. Talindra was an inch taller than Kaylen’s sister, putting her only a few inches shorter than Kaylen himself, and while she was slender, her armor obscured the details of her figure except for a bit of lean muscle definition in her arms where they weren’t fully covered by her chainmail sleeves or bracers. But her grace and fair features in her face made her quiet appealing, particularly her large emerald eyes.

The kitsune was the shortest member of their team, though not by a huge amount, and her robes and wraps in dark to neutral colors concealed not only her presence when she was being sneaky, but also much of her figure, including of course most of her bright red hair and matching fox ears. It occurred to Kaylen that Dinnae probably didn’t know what Janel was, and he wondered what she’d make of her greatest advocate among the team once she learned that bit of information. Janel’s short bow was slung loosely over one shoulder still strung, while tucked through the sash at her waist was a sword of foreign design, curved like Talindra’s, but shorter with no pummel and a small disc guard. She had a few pockets that Kaylen had seen, but they were inside her robes, rather than carried on her belt, and her mottled brown pony was packed similarly light to maintain speed and mobility.

Finally, Ursa Cloudwalker, the half-giant, stood tall in the front looking out over the landscape ahead of them. Her shield and a heavy pack were slung over her shoulders, though it didn’t appear to weigh her down at all. She wore a few pouches on her belt and a sword scabbard on her right side, while a long heavy spear was held in her right hand, the butt end on the ground as she used it like a walking staff. As she turned back to regard the others, her black hair tied back into a tail with an equally black ribbon flowing in the light breeze.

Talindra turned towards Kaylen as she finished her conversation with Janel, and approached him while the others were still occupied. “You and I must speak.” The silver-haired elf said once she had drawn close.

“Of course.” He replied. “As I said before, I did not intentionally try to charm you.”

“I know. I may not be a mage, but I know a little about magic. I’ve never heard of a spell going awry in the way you described.”

Kaylen nodded, “I may have put a little too much mana into it, and that widened the overall effect.”

“Has this or something like it happened to you before?”

“No, it hasn’t.” Kaylen admitted. “But that seems to be the most likely explanation.”

“Heightened emotions can cause a mage to lose control of their magic.” The elf suggested.

“I don’t think that was the problem.” Kaylen replied.

“Well then, if it is not presumptuous, would you permit me to keep an eye on you when you are casting spells, just to see if I can glean some insight if it happens again?”

“I have no problem with that.” Kaylen assured her. “But hopefully it won’t happen again in the future.”

She offered a soft smile, “It is better that whatever the issue may have been you learn to handle it rather than simply avoiding it. If you can reproduce the effect, you could make use of it to yours and our advantage.”

“That is a good point.” Kaylen smiled back.

Talindra nodded, and turned back towards her horse.

Then he stepped forward a little behind Talindra and called each of his teammates to attention. “Does anyone want to take a quick look at the map before we set out? The more eyes we have on it, the less likely there is to be any confusion over the route we’ll be taking.”

Lyria moved up in front of Kaylen as Talindra turned back to face him, with Alanthea and Janel just a little behind the silver-haired elf. The brown-haired tanner stayed on her mount and Ursa stood back so as not to crowd the smaller members of their group.

Kaylen retrieved the map he’d purchased from his scroll case, along with the quest directions. “The village that reported the sightings we’ll be looking into should be right here.” He held up the map and pointed to a small spot some distance away from the city they’d just left.

“We can take the main road part way there, so long as we don’t miss the turnoff for this smaller road that leads north into the forest. If we make good speed, I think we should be able to make it to the logging village before nightfall. Any questions?”

He handed the map to his elf companion, and she took a moment to examine it before passing it to his sister. Janel took a moment to look over it as well, but the priestess declined when it was offered to her. Ursa held the map gingerly for a long moment when it was handed to her, but then looked to Kaylen and to his new **** girl, sitting astride her pony.

“Oh, I don’t really know how to read maps.” She admitted before the parchment could be offered to her.

“Perhaps I could teach you at some point.” Kaylen suggested.

“I would like that.” She agreed, nodding.

When Kaylen got the map back, he put it away along with the quest papers, and then vaulted into the saddle of his own black and brown mare. Then as soon as everyone else was mounted up, he gave the order to move out.

They rode as the sun moved slowly across the sky, dipping down towards the horizon behind them. They passed by the occasional merchant caravan who always seemed eager to exchange news, and a few lone travelers who stayed on their side of the rode and didn’t speak to them.

They’d been on the road for a few hours when a shadow passed over Kaylen’s group. He looked up and spotted what appeared to be a horse with great feathered wings; Kaylen remembered it was called a pegasus. Riding the creature was an armored figure with a collection of spears and javelins, and close behind him were three more airborne adventurers, two riding on a flying carpet, and one wearing priestly robes with radiant wings of his own bearing him aloft.

They moved swiftly to the north and a little to the east of Kaylen and his companions, and it was only a moment after he’d observed them that Talindra pointed ahead of where they were flying. “Look there, a wyvern!” She called out. Straining his eyes, Kaylen could barely make out a shape in the distance over the forest that was their destination, and sure enough it appeared to be directly in the path of the flying heroes above them.

There were murmurs among his teammates as Kaylen himself closed his eyes, and spoke a careful incantation to enhance his sight. When he opened them again, he narrowed his focus to that spot in the distance, now clearly able to make out the details of a winged dragon-like creature flying above the trees, alongside about a dozen smaller creatures that resembled large birds with humanoid heads and torsos; harpies, he realized after a moment. They seemed to be circling something they could see on the ground, and then the wyvern began a dive, and the harpies followed, disappearing into the canopy.

At that point, Kaylen dismissed his spell and turned his attention to his allies’ conversation. “…of our own someday?” Janel was turned in her saddle to address her question to Kaylen.

“What of our own?” Kaylen asked, “I was using a bit of magic, so I didn’t hear the first part of that.”

“I asked if you think we could get flying mounts of our own someday.” The red-head kitsune repeated.

“I’m sure we could get to that point eventually.” Kaylen offered. “But I don’t know how far off that sort of thing is. Let’s see how profitable our first few missions end up being.”

Janel nodded, and looked forward again, to where the four flying adventurers were rapidly disappearing.

It wasn’t much longer before they reached a poorly labeled crossroad. There was a sign that was little more than an unusually tall mile marker, though it only listed the city they’d come from and the next big city further on. The smaller road to the north had no label, even though on his map the logging village in the forested foothills it led to was called Glenvale.

Talindra pulled alongside him as he was checking his map, and between them they agreed this was the correct turnoff. So as a group they began riding north, leaving the highway behind.

It was another hour, as the sun began to close in on the horizon to their west, that Kaylen called a halt to their journey to rest for a few minutes and eat some of their cheese and trail bread. They put their mounts on lead reins to graze while they each found a place to sit on grass or rocks.

After retrieving some food, Lyria moved to sit next to Kaylen. “I was talking a little with Danny.” She began, “It sounds like you really came through for her and her brother. I was a little apprehensive when you came back with a ****, I thought you just needed to see the reality of it for yourself. But I’m glad to hear what happened, and I wanted you to know I agree with your decision.”

Kaylen smiled fondly at his sister. “Thank you. It means a lot to me that you approve. It still feels like maybe I could have handled the situation better.”

She responded by giving him a one-armed hug, though with her armor it was not as comfortable as it might have been otherwise. “Hey, don’t doubt yourself, Kaylen.” She said softly, then after a moment she added. “I’ve missed you, you know. I’m really looking forward to getting to know you all over again.”

“I’m looking forward to that too.” He agreed, enjoying her momentary embrace.

They each took a few bites of their food, but then his sister lifted her head from his shoulder as Alanthea walked up to them. “You two look very close for being brother and sister.” She observed.

“Do we?” Lyria seemed more amused than offended by the idea, giving Kaylen a playful squeeze before releasing her hold on him. “Did you need something, Sister?”

Alanthea knelt down in front of them, smoothing the skirts of her robe over her lap. “I heard Talindra speak about the magic you used at the **** auction. I would have liked to see that.”

“Didn’t the high priest say you’d been admonished for studying magic?” Kaylen asked, causing Lyria to glance at him then back at the priestess, as this was news to her.

Alanthea shrugged, her pale blue eyes sparkling. “I’m not at the Cathedral anymore. Surely you don’t mind me simply watching, Master?”

Kaylen sighed, and shook his head. “I see no harm in you watching me.” He didn’t think asking her yet again not to call him that was going to make any difference at this point.

“Oh, Master likes to be watched, does he?” Lyria teased, her brown eyes glinting with mischief.

“Don’t you start.” Kaylen turned to her, but couldn’t hold back his own smile.

The two of them shared a chuckle, but then Alanthea got to her feet. “Thank you, Master.” She offered a deep curtsy, then with a smirk of her own she turned away back towards her own mount, pausing briefly to speak with Dinnae.

“There’s something a little strange about her.” Lyria muttered once the priestess was out of earshot.

“I agree. But I’m sure she’ll grow on us.”

Lyria grinned playfully at him, “Oh, so you secretly do like that sort of attention.”

“I didn’t say that.” Kaylen shook his head. “Let’s just say it’s not as annoying as it was the first few times. But honestly, she was raised in the Cathedral, she probably doesn’t even realize the connotations of what she’s doing.”

“I suspect she does, even if she might not have the words for it.”

Soon they were on their way once more, and as they moved along the narrow road towards the mountains, they passed only one large cart carrying a stack of huge logs. They rode in pairs once they entered the forest, with Lyria and Talindra in the lead, and Ursa bringing up the rear on her own. Kaylen found himself just behind his sister alongside Alanthea, who would occasionally watch him from the corner of her eye, but didn’t seem inclined to strike up a conversation.

“Do we need to have a talk about the whole ‘Master’ situation?” He asked, after they’d been in the forest for some time.

“I do not believe so.” She replied, glancing his way again.

“Didn’t you say you would resist the temptation to call me that?”

“I did. I’m not doing a very good job at it.” She explained. “Is it terribly bothersome for you?”

Kaylen sighed, “No, but it…” He trailed off, uncertain exactly how to explain what the issue was. “It doesn’t bother me personally, but I’m worried other people will get the wrong idea. People will think I… have an unsavory relationship with you.”

She blinked at him, “Oh.” She looked ahead, then down, then back to him, “I didn’t realize. I suppose… I don’t mind having a relationship with you, but it shouldn’t be unsavory.”

“You do know what that means, right?”

“Unsavory? It means morally sinful.”

“Yes, though, I mostly meant that people would see it as distasteful or disagreeable. Like I was manipulating you and taking advantage of you.”

“Or I could be manipulating you.” She suggested.

But before he could respond to that, the horses ahead of them slowed, and Kaylen looked up to see Lyria and Talindra calling a halt and turning in their saddles to face the rest of the group.

“There’s something up ahead.” The elf marksman advised them. “Off the path, to the right, maybe a hundred yards.”

The group strained their senses, looking out into the trees, and sure enough there was a rustling through the underbrush that stilled almost immediately.

“Should we investigate?” Lyria asked.