"Did we walk into Undwote's grip or something!?" Baltanthan swore as he rubbed his arms in an effort to generate warmth. I had offered for him to come closer to me and share in the warmth generated by my sparks, but he had refused.
"Why did it suddenly turn white anyway?" I asked as I watched my breath turn to steam as it left my mouth. Repressing any urges to act like a dragon unlike this little kid walking near me with her parents.
"It's because we entered the gods-damned snow-belt." he told me as he carefully avoided a shiny patch on the ground. Everyone seemed to be taking it more carefully now, in fact, railings were now present on the road as to before where everyone just kept their distance from the edge. The guards had even begun to rely on floating platforms over the previous method of walking besides the crowd between checkpoints.
"So this is a snow-belt..." I muttered quietly while looking at what I could through the thick cloud cover that engulfed this area of the mountain. The crunch my boots made against it was satisfying to hear, even if I could barely hear it over the nice of the many hundreds of people within only a few dozen paces of me. I had looked on up at Urtuoi-kischu many times as he leapt between close peaks, and it was nice to finally experience what he must have taken for granted. Maybe I could ask him about how it was regarding his climb up this mountain?
Everyone here was moving so carefully so he must have been moving slower than a slug!
"Yeah, I am not doing this, we are going to an inn earlier today." Baltanthan told me before he wiped his red nose.
"Ok, when do you want to get to one?"
"Maybe after the next checkpoint? If we are quick about it we might be able to get a decent room."
"The rooms have been great, though, the staff kind and welcoming...?" I said as I got confused by his last statement.
"I mean a room that is plenty warm, unlike our last few stops, getting a nice, toasty-warm room is far more important this time."
"How are we going to get ahead, though? The crowds are not moving fast and we are not in a vehicle."
"We don't need the crowd to move fast, you just have to want to get somewhere warm!" he told me as he began to gesture for us to just beeline through the crowds and shove as necessary. Something that I was very unsure of as we had seen many a trouble causer be sent away by the guards or dragged off by them.
"I don't know..."
"It's not illegal to shove past someone, so let's get going!" he told me as he moved to grab me before one of the guard platforms suddenly stopped above us.
"Attention, those within the designated square will be brought forward for increased inspection." they said as me, Baltanthan and everyone remotely close to us was suddenly lit up in glowing square.
"Damn it..." Baltanthan swore.
"Don't be like that, we were told before that they did this as a precautionary measure."
"Yes, but why did it have to be us...?" he snapped at me as the platform landed and opened up so we could all get on it. Sticking close to the freezing man as he muttered insult after insult while I just went along with it quietly. I was rather curious about this procedure, actually, and I was also happy at the idea of getting out of the cold as it meant I could stop using magic. Something the child near me seemed to be disappointed by.
"No! Keep doing it!" they whined before their father reigned them in.
"Sorry about that, she just really likes seeing witches." he told me with a smile as he kept her close to him.
"That's quite alright, I don't mind entertaining her if it helps her keep calm if that is the current issue."
"Hear that, sweetie? Witch is going to let you play with her for a bit." he told his daughter as he sent her forward a little. Her small body bouncing around as I held out my hand and thought about doing the most common practical joke amongst my people.
"Hello, I am Einervaene, nice to meet you." my gloved hand raised before her, ready to shake it if she understood what to do.
"Hello! I'm Oyeihfee!" she said with a smile, her hand, however, did not rise to meet mine, "Why are you holding your hand out?" her head tilting as she asked it.
"For you to shake it." returning her smile with my own.
"Ok!" she said before she grabbed it by the fingers and moved it about. A frown developing before she pulled her hand away and looked up at her father.
"Your hair has gone all funny." he said with surprise as his daughter moved to play with it. Laughter coming from her as she realised her hair had begun to stand up for what must have seemed like no reason to her.
"Attention passengers, please exit the security platform and spread yourselves out into your travel groups." the man seemingly piloting the platform ordered. Soon waving goodbye to the little girl and her family as me and Baltanthan found ourselves on our own again. Somewhat, anyway, we were not sent off into a room, we were just standing inside a different type of checkpoint building or a different floor of the ones we had previously gone through.
"You two, with me." a new guard said as he walked by with some kind of thin, metal block. And following a gesture to stop, we were scanned by some kind of device then prodded a few times by another one. Worry filling me as the guards near us discussed something in private while constantly looking at me specifically.
"You, in here." a guard told me as another moved his weapon to be directly facing me. A nervous jitter taking me over as I walked into a small room and sat down on a plain seat while being harshly stared down by a guard.
"Name."
"Excuse me...?"
"The name you gave us at prior checkpoints, say it."
"Uh... Ein... Einervaene Bosphama."
"Thank you. Now, the reason you are travelling up to the capital of the Uhroppess Republic?"
"To attend the Suhurlodst Academy and meet up with a friend?"
"We have an issue then."
My blood ran cold, "P-Pardon? That can't be right... I know I said something along those lines to the guards of previous checkpoints."
"And yet, one of the men who brought you here reports you entertaining a child, why would a children's entertainer go to a school specializing in arcane engineering and the pioneering of combat-focused witchcraft?" a small grin forming on his face before he broke down laughing with a few other men in the room. A laugh I tried to get into my system but I was just too scared too.
"Ignore my colleague, Einervaene Bosphama, he is just having some fun. Everything matches up, you are free to leave the room." another guard told me while he handed some kind of datasheet to the one who had apparently messed with me. I was still worried, admittedly, but it was nice knowing it was just that. A joke and little else.
"Baltanthan!" I called out as I got back to him, glad I could seek counsel amongst a familiar face.
"Why are you so happy to see me? You weren't gone long."
"I just am, okay?" I said to him before going quiet and calming myself down. My eyes looking around as everyone began to go back to their groups before a soft warmth washed over us.
"You may now arrange lodgings at the connected inn if you wish, thank you for your time. We hope your journey remains safe thanks to the Thrurstradturian Guard of the Road and it is in our interest you carry on compiling until you are out of our jurisdiction, thank you." the most decorated of the armoured men present said as we were ushered down the path. Some of us were confused and scared, but most of the people here were quite used to this, it seemed. They must have been natives to this city?
"Well, this has gone better than I had expected." Baltanthan comments with relief as we moved on from the dull and practical set out of the previous building and into the gilded stonework of the inn. Sweet smells and the heat of plentiful fires doing a lot to get me back into a peaceful mindset. And while I was distracted by all the gorgeous patterns on the carpet, I accidentally ran into Baltanthan.
Rather, walked into him.
"Sorry!" I said frantically as I came back to my senses.
"Wait until we have a room first before you get tired." he told me as we went down the stairs. The heels of my boots echoing throughout the local area as we looked on at the sea of clothed tables, sofas and other furniture pieces. It really was amazing how vast these inns were and I still hadn't gotten over looking at them as we travelled them.
They were small towns in and of themselves!
"Should we get a meal first?" I asked as I looked up at a display that seemed to suggest they had some kind of fruity cake and creamy soup as their main dish of the day. Or, special, as I have come to know it as. I found the name a little odd, though, the dishes weren't special, just plentiful, so why were they called that? Back home the main dish of the day was called just that, the main dish of the day.
But here they call them specials... What an odd people these Jhermonikrans were.
"I'd rather get a room."
"Then why don't you get a room, and I get us something to eat?"
"Maybe I want room delivery." he contested, clearly looking to avoid any help from me.
"I can get you something that won't make a mess of the bed from here, no?"
"Just get yourself something, I'll find you later and tell you where the room is. Or, who knows, maybe I can get the staff to do it." he said with a refreshed sigh. The stiffness in his posture melting away as he walked towards the reception counter at the far end of the great hall.
"Alright..." I said in disappointment as I found myself alone in this gargantuan building. A finger twirling about my hair as I wandered towards the scent of food while looking at the main entrance of this place. It was odd, looking at those doors, actually. There were lots of people using them but it still felt incredibly empty as many doors were not getting used.
But, the meals and dishes prepared on the valley-long set of tables, however, did not look odd. It looked enticing and my stomach was growling just looking at the array of foods presented. I almost felt intimidated as it was almost endless, and all of it was fresh and juicy when applicable. And despite the intimidation, this was one challenge I would not step down from as I wanted to devour so much and become fat!
Actually, that was a lie, I wanted to keep my current proportions but I would probably eat so much I'd become fat anyway! If the food was truly delicious, then maybe such a problem would be forgivable... But, it depends, as some of it still felt like something I wanted to avoid. So many foreign dishes just like the other inns...
"I guess I should be extra thankful to you then, hmm?" I said to no one here as I made reference to my previous host in Tryhpeltzweig. The one who had enabled me to get this far, to begin with. His cooks made me food that was like food from my home and he went out of his way to replicate familiar comforts. And now, I was in a place that accommodated the comforts of another people...
Yet, I was willing to give it a go, it only made sense I started eating the foods of this land! Even if I did it at a slow and steady pace...