Triston's Journey;
I still can't believe I am following this mysterious person who I only recently met into a place where no person would ever want to go. This young man looks to be the same age as me and he claims to be a stage six cultivator, a king of a newly established kingdom and an Archduke of the Aregard Kingdom.
If anyone else his age had claimed all this I would have dismissed them to be a madman with delusions of grandeur. Those documents he gave me which incriminated our corrupt two-faced officials and the Aregard documents with the king's seal were each subtle hints that he is far from being a madman.
As we were leaving the palace I also saw the reactions of the proud palace guards. These guards have never once shown me this type of fear or respect as I left the palace and I am the king's cousin and a military officer to the court! As they stood at attention saluting Ben they acted like a monster was passing by them. It was as if they so much as blinked this monster in human form would have pounced on them and sucked out their very souls.
We immediately left the city together and my driver followed Ben's directions to a location just outside of the city. There aren't any signs or marks around to show we have arrived at the right place so I can only hope Ben knows where we are heading.
Ben said it would be better if I sent the coachman and cart back to the city. It wasn't possible to ride it into the dense forest and we wouldn't return for a couple of days. It was extremely rare for a profound beast to come near the outer perimeter of the forest but it would be a good idea to listen to what he said. I thanked the coachman and had him return to my estate in the city for now.
The two of us only walked for fifteen to twenty minutes through the trees before I saw a large clearing ahead of us. Inside the clearing was a tall wall about one hundred yards across and twenty feet tall. Spaced out evenly along this wall I could also see towers with some type of device on top of them.
The devices on each of the towers had a large circular plate on the front of them that continued to move from side to side as if it were searching for someone or something. Once we stepped into the clearing Ben called out to the people who were patrolling the walls.
As we walked toward those walls a square section of the wall began to open. A massive iron plate used to block the entrance was raised up into the fortification to allow us passage. I stopped next to the walls and curiously touched them with my hand. These strange gray walls were cold and felt like stone but they were smooth like the surface of stone picked from the bottom of a stream.
Ben simply said it was called concrete and it was a material only being used in his growing kingdom. Once we stepped through the entrance the thick iron gate was lowered closed behind us sealing off the entrance. Such a massive plate of iron would withstand countless attacks without giving way. I turned away from the closing entrance and looked out toward the forest.
I found myself standing on a concrete road that stretched out north as far as the eye could see. Just like the walls it was smooth and flat and seemed to be a better solution to making roads than what we used in the capital city.
I followed Ben toward a nearby walled-in compound that looked like a formidable place to defend against enemy attacks. There were men walking on the walls with bows and there were also a few in the corner towers.
Directly in the center of this compound stood a large concrete tower with a few buildings built around it. Ben told me this was an outpost where he would station his troops to guard the entrance to his road.
We did not go inside the tower but entered a large building with small sectioned off rooms with half walls. Ben asked the men working inside to saddle two horses. I wasn't sure what he meant by this statement but a minute later two large creatures with black and red accented coats were brought out of the sectioned off rooms.
The men began to put a humped leather seat and straps on these two creatures. When they were done I was given a lesson on how to climb up and mount this creature by using what is called a stirrup.
The creature I'm sitting on is called a horse and it is tame and calm. While I admired the creature I was told the commands this horse would follow. If I lightly tap my heels against its ribs the horse would walk, if I tapped again it would trot, and if I tapped a third time the horse would gallop as fast as it could. To turn the horse I simply had to pull the reins to the left or right and to stop it I would pull back on both reins together.
Ben smoothly climbed up onto the other saddled horse and we slowly rode them out of the walled compound. I have ridden on a mount before but the creatures we used were smaller and at times temperamental. When we rode them we did not have this leather equipment. We all rode them bareback and would control our mounts with leg pressure.
I was instructed to ride around out in front of the compound until I got the feel for the commands and found the horse listened and responded to every move I made. It is a marvelous experience to feel you are in perfect sync with a huge creature like this horse.
Ben rode up next to me and began explaining the area we were at. These troops of his had orders to allow merchants, traders, and their guards to pass through this fortification but if a hostile force were to approach they would seal off the entrance with two thick iron plate portcullises and send for reinforcements.
I asked if an enemy army could avoid the defenses here by circling around them into the forest and Ben pointed toward the tall wooden walls. He explained these wooden walls ran along the entire route of the road just like he had told the king. He also said the small towers with the strange devices were called magic turrets. These magic turrets could mimic a mage and shoot out explosive fireballs!
Any army who wanted to circle around the fortifications would need to travel about four miles into the forest to avoid the chain of these magic turrets stationed on top of the wooden walls along both sides the road. Anyone who walked that far into the Wayward Woodlands was bound to bump into profound beasts. A large army would quickly lose too many troops to the hostile beasts on the other side of the wooden walls and would be forced to turn back. The hostile profound beasts were working as outer patrolling guards for this roadway without even knowing it!
After a quick look around we began our ride north through the Wayward Woodlands. As we trotted along we would occasionally pass these solitary stone towers. Ben told me they were built for travelers along the road to spend the night or to simply relax in a secure location until they continued their journey.
This was a new concept and a great idea. If you traveled the roads through any kingdom you would be forced to sleep in tents or your cart. This left you to the mercy of the weather, bandits, and hostile creatures.
The horses we rode ate up the miles with impressive speed, but the Wayward Woodlands kept going on and on. It was soon getting near the end of the day and the sky turned orange beyond the green canopy above us.
We stopped at one of the stone towers and Ben brought out food and wine from a spatial ring he was wearing! This is one more clue telling we this young man is special. spatial rings are quite rare and expensive. Only people of royal families, high ranking nobles and high stage cultivators have the wealth and influence to purchase them.
As Ben was making dinner for us he asked if I have ever eaten spirit plants before. I explained on rare occasions I would purchase them to help develop my strength when I was seriously training. Being a military officer you have to be strong and have stamina if you want to survive in battle.
Ben just smiled and said I was in for a treat then and began setting out plates of fried vegetables, sliced fruits and thick cuts of meat with gravy. I figured this great looking food we were eating out here in the middle of nowhere was the treat he spoke of until I was part of the way through my meal.
'This...I feel like I have just eaten spirit plants! I can feel the special energy they hold circulating through my body!'
I asked Ben if he had added spirit plants to the meal and he explained it was actually the food we were eating! He called it spirit food and it was already famous in Goldcrest and was beginning to catch on in Wolfmere City.
I had wonder how a recently opened store had so many customers already when I first visited him. It was all due to the spirit food he sold! It was affordable enough to be purchased by commoners and they could benefit from the same effects high priced spirit plants provided.
The two of us sat at the table enjoying the lingering energy from the meal while we talked and drank a sweet dark red wine distilled in Ben's kingdom. He told me about the different things his kingdom produced and I told him about Wolfmere and the Ciral kingdom.
Before we went to bed Ben used a metal bar leaning against the wall to barricade the metal door and we went upstairs. He took out two fancy beds for us to sleep on from his ring which surprised me. Most spatial rings had a small area that could hold a few personal items at best.
The two of us slept peacefully in the tower located in the middle of the Wayward Woodlands. I kept thinking how strange it was to feel this safe in a place deemed to be the most dangerous place in these lands as I drifted off to sleep.
Ben made a delicious breakfast of fried eggs, back bacon, fried potatoes and sliced toasted bread for us the following morning and the spirit food woke me up and gave me the energy to start the day energized.
The horses were even given a small pile of these spirit vegetables and fruits to help restore their stamina and prepare them for the long ride ahead.
When the horses both finished their meal we continued riding north and finally came out of the forest when the sun was almost overhead. The road continued forward into a beautiful open grassland and we kept on following the concrete road toward the northern mountains far ahead of us.
Ten minutes later Ben pointed into the distance and I saw a huge plateau with walls and towers lining the top of it. When we were closer I noticed what looked like a small river encircling the entire plateau. If anyone wanted to attack this place they would need to swim out across the water with armor wet clothes and weapons to try and climb the plateau cliffs and concrete walls which are about seventy feet to the top of the walls.
Even if they could somehow make it across without drowning from being weighed down by all their gear and could climb the wall it would still be impossible. Everywhere I looked were gleaming polished metal spikes that looked like daggers pointing out in every direction. These intimidating metal spikes were embedded into the cliff face and concrete walls wherever I looked.
Before you could climb to the top of these walls you would have bled to death from the hundreds of slashes from these sharp spikes. When I began to think what would happen to someone who lost their grip and fell down through these metal spikes it sent a shiver down my spine.
Ben continued forward and led us up a narrow inclined road that appeared to be the only way to the top of this fortified plateau. When we reached the end of the road there was a section where the road was missing and we couldn't go any further. I was wondering how we would get inside now that the road has collapsed. My thoughts were interrupted by a humming sound from the tall concrete tower across the gap.
A large iron plate began to slowly decline away from what Ben called a Gatehouse. The iron metal plate which was lowered is called a drawbridge and it is used to cross the road gap and prevent attackers from getting close to the Gatehouse.
If an enemy charged up this narrow road they would find they could not get across the deep gap with the drawbridge raised. They would be attacked by archers on the walls and from inside the multi-story Gatehouse if they did not quickly retreat back into the valley.
Ben called this his place his fortress which reminded one of a walled-in city but the thought put into these defenses was ingenious. I consider myself to be an excellent military officer but I could not come up with a way to breach this fortress of his. It wouldn't matter how many men you have if you can't get close enough to break through these walls or climb over them.
We crossed the drawbridge and passed through the gatehouse when the two interior metal plates were both raised.
Inside the Gatehouse, I got to see first-hand how thick these surrounding walls were. It was truly incredible they must be twenty or thirty feet thick! It would take a couple years with iron pickaxes, hammers, and chisels to breach these massive walls!
Ben led me down the concrete street and I could finally see people walking around in here. There was still plenty of room to build inside the walls and I knew once this place was built up it would be the most secure city in the nine kingdoms.
While following Ben I found it strange that some buildings did not have any doors or windows. It looked like someone had built a perfectly good building and forgot to make an entrance. Ben apologized and said he did not mind if I saw the surrounding buildings but he could not disclose what they were to be used for. I could understand every kingdom had their secrets so I did not press the issue.
We stopped outside of another building like the one we got the horses from at the beginning of our journey. I was told it is called a Stables and it is where they house their horses. It allows the horses to have a warm and dry shelter out of the elements.
The men working inside took our horses and began to strip off their leather gear.
Ben had me follow him down the fortress street toward a large building. He told me this was the Barracks and it was where most of his soldiers lived.
I thought he wanted to go inside but we ended up going around the back of the Barracks. There was a huge open area here where hundreds of men were riding together on horses. There were also men on foot performing in mock battles and some were being led over and under various obstacles.
When Ben was spotted crossing the field four muscular towering men came over to greet us. Ben introduced them as his Generals. These men were his military officers and they trained these soldiers for battle here every day. The four generals were wearing shiny black armor with red accents and each of them has an intimidating presence to them.
The standard for the original eight kingdoms was to train and educate military officers. Military officers like myself would learn how to lead men into battle. If a war were to break out between two kingdoms the military officers would be given the recruited civilians to form armies.
We would distribute armor and arms and lead the kingdom's men out to battle. They might get a small amount of training in how to use their weapon before they went to battle but they were all just regular hard working men who would be sent out to fight without any battle experience.
What Ben was doing was unheard of he was training men to be full-time soldiers It was an incredible idea but no kingdom could afford to use this idea. There were only so many men in any kingdom's population and they were needed to gather resources or make a living on their own. Having two thousand men pulled from the population to become full-time soldiers would hurt the economy and drain the treasury.
After talking to his generals they went out and assembled all of his troops for inspection. It was shocking to see the armor and weapons they were given. Some of the soldiers are so heavily armored you couldn't tell if they are young, old, male, or female.
I was shown a division of two hundred men called Cavalry. They fight from horseback and their horses are also armored and looked like they could ride through a barrage of arrows without being wounded.
The archer division was made up of three hundred and fifty men and women. They were all handsome or beautiful. They appeared to be graceful and light on their feet and some of them have blue or green colored hair. The archers are not armored as heavily as the footmen and horsemen but they still wore impressive armor that was far more protective than anything used by our troops.
Once we inspected the troops the cavalry put on a display for us as they charged around the open field in different formations. At one point they turned and began to charge across the field directly at Ben and I. He told me to imagine I was an enemy frontline soldier right now and those two hundred armored men and armored horses were going to slam into us in a matter of seconds.
A voice in my head began screaming at me to run! If that line were to hit us we would be turned to red mush under their hooves! Right before the mounted soldiers reached us they split off at sharp turns to the left and right of us. They galloped off and left us to continue their training.
I let out a long breath I didn't realize I was holding and Ben looked over and began to chuckle. He told me the first thing most men would think when they saw that wall of armored horses coming at them would be to run but that only made it easier to wipe them out if they did. Once their frontline broke and scattered the horsemen would simply run them down from behind. It was impossible for any man to outrun the horse.
If running was the wrong thing to do I began to wonder how you could defend against this thunderous horse charge but I kept the question to myself. I doubted he would tell an outsider information on how to stop his troops. It was surprising enough he was allowing me to see these unorthodox but impressive techniques in action.
I had never heard of such tactics before having men ride a creature into battle. It could never work for us who use commoners as soldiers, only men who were trained day in and day out on how to ride together can pull this off. A trained military officer like myself has only so much experience riding a mount let alone a fisherman or a farmer.
Our Destilar(1) mounts are sometimes used in battle by the officers so they can relay orders around the battlefield but they are not reliable enough and have a mind of their own. If they chose to stay in one spot and not move you could whip them until they bleed and they would still refuse to respond.
Once we walked around and saw the troops train we went to what appeared to be an open-air restaurant. I thought it was strange that a king was walking into a public restaurant and eating alongside his people but they all cheerfully greeted us like it was a normal occurrence. Ben talked with each them and genuinely asked how they were all doing and inquired if they had everything they needed.
Before we could sit down at a table Ben had called out to a young girl who was walking by with a pink bag with a black strap over her shoulder. Ben's people all wore fashionable clothing for commoners but this young girl looked like she could be from a wealthy foreign noble family. She has beautiful long shiny blonde hair with a blue jeweled silver band holding it in place and wore a stunning blue dress and knee-high white leather boots. I could tell even from a distance when she grew up she would be a beauty.
When she saw Ben she came running to him and hugged him. Ben introduced her as his apprentice and a princess of his kingdom. I formally bowed toward her and she giggled with excitement. Ben explained they did not ask their people to perform noble formalities so Mythia was excited to see someone treat her like a princess.
Ben asked her to have lunch with us so we all sat down at a table together. While I was looking around wondering where the waitress was three meals appeared steaming hot on the table before us! I had only looked away for a few seconds, so where did this food come from?
When I looked up in shock at Ben he only laughed and held his index finger up to his lips. He told me unless I lived in the fortress I could not know how everything worked around here.
Free spirit food that appeared from thin air and working alongside troops who were better trained than me who was a top rank kingdom's military officer I actually began to think about moving here just due to the endless amount of miraculous things I kept seeing.
Even though this kingdom was still small and only had around two thousand total people it was a magical place that could defend against anything thrown at them. If my king wasn't my best friend and cousin I would have been asking Ben where do I sign up to live in his kingdom.
After lunch, we left the fortress on fresh horses and rode toward the Aregard border. Here was the other end of the road that also had fortifications to defend against hostile forces. Ben said the merchants would ride through the woods here for about a mile once the road was built and would end up on the western Aregard road which led directly to Goldcrest.
It was an incredible feat to see a road that cut through hundreds of miles of deadly forest to reach the northeastern Aregard Kingdom. It made me wonder how many men had died while working on this project or did this young king provide another brilliant plan to protect them as they worked south through the deadly forest.
The two of us looked around the area near the Aregard border and then began to make our way back toward the long forest road. We stopped and spent the night in a different stone tower which was built exactly like the one we stayed in on ride north. These small cozy towers are a welcome sight at the end of a long day's journey. It is thrilling to sleep under the stars on occasion but sleeping on the ground night after night quickly loses its charm when traveling long distances.
The next day we rode the horses out of the endless forest and into Wolfmere. Ben rode with me to the Royal Palace under the astonished looks of the surrounding people. I reluctantly passed him the reins to the horse I rode.
It is an amazing animal and I hate to part with it but I have no idea how to take care of it or where I could keep it. I watched Ben as he rode off into the busy streets after saying our goodbyes while leading the extra horse I rode behind him.
Triston turned around and went into the royal palace wondering if his father and cousin were going to think he had lost his mind when he told them about everything he had seen the past couple of days.
'It was a surprising and fun journey and I hope I get to see Ben King again someday!'
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(1) Destilar: A popular mount which looks like a cross between a moose and a horse. They are smaller than horse with long fur and are temperamental at times.