The events of the previous 2 weeks still played through Barandir's mind as he overlooked the great natural wonder that was the world, he was currently standing on the deck while holding the Dryad baby. Janski had been executed also, and the story that they'd told at their first stop in the city of Firi in Dormaa was the same that they'd be relaying when they arrived in Salk. That the diplomat, in her mourning, with Janski had murdered a stowaway and stolen the child, and upon realisation of her horrible crime had then jumped from the zeppelin to her death. This way they'd simply avoid mentioning anything about the dryad or her baby.
Barandir had realised that he had had a strong compulsion to stop the executions as they had occurred. Although he had gotten over the urge to not kill animals, when he was in the forest, it appeared that he still had strong compulsions not to hurt people. It was almost certainly related to the original Barandir's will or soul, something of the man lingered in his mind and spirit, just how that would affect him in the future was hard to say?
Lonkar had used a simple illusion spell on the baby, he had explained though that he was not skilled in illusions, and therefore it would be easily detected and shattered if a mage bothered to do so. They had also given the child the pendant on again, apparently there was a small magical diagram with a mana agate inside, its effect was to pacify the wearer, although Lonkar reckoned that this would not work on anyone but a baby or small child. It wouldn't be good for the baby's development to wear it for too long, they had however decided to keep using it, in order to avoid drawing attention.
Caressing the small babe's thin hair, although its appearance human, he knew it wasn't. Luna Dryad, his uncle had said, what exactly was that race? It wasn't anything he had ever heard about, at least the dwarf he recognised. It would appear that this world would keep throwing surprises at him.
The wind ran through his hair and caressed his face, the blue sky and the bright sun colouring the natural canvas in front of him. Below he saw small clouds and passing forest, hills, farmland, towns and rivers and lakes. He found himself more contemplative than he had been in the forest, or than he had ever been before, was this too a side-effect of the body he inhabited? A look of melancholy and loneliness was expressed deeply in his violet eyes.
. . . . .
Avicia and her brother both sat in silent meditation, she had strong-armed her brother into focusing on his recovery since he was cleared of suspicions of murder. During the episode of the crime she had come to the conclusion that she still had a lot of mental growth to do as a warrior. After her brother had been taken captive, she had acted more irrationally, her actions and thoughts were unlike her normally composed and controlled self, this was a flaw! Her brother had not been in any serious danger either, she frowned vaguely as she stopped meditating and stood up.
She went to the shower cabin in the room and activated the water, even normal people could use these types of contraptions, as far as she understood the zeppelin drew its water from the moisture outside of the zeppelin upon activation, and the water would then flow through a series of connected pipes, finally releasing in the individual shower rooms. The cold water ran down her body from her face. The cooling sensation was refreshing as always, and gave her a clear mind, she thought about the time she had been away from home, far too long, her husband was surely waiting for her impatiently. The thought of the man made her smile unconsciously, she would see him soon enough.
. . . . .
As soon as the sister had left for the shower, so had Fremont, he had used his most advanced light body skills in order to sneak out of the room!
The moment he was down the hallway, he began breathing normally again. With naught but a glance behind him, he was gone. It was time to get some alcohol, if he was lucky he could catch Mezcah or Sam, unfortunately Barandir that rascal barely drank anything since him and his uncle took in the baby.
Upon entering the dining cabin he saw Sam sitting on one of the couches reading a small book, it would seem that the last couple of weeks out of the city, had allowed him to lose a little bit of weight. Fremont smiled as he approached.
"Waiter bring us some ale, and keep it coming!" he yelled eagerly, instantly bringing Sam's attention to him, the young mage couldn't help but shiver as he predicted another drunken stupor, of which there had not been a few of, since Fremont had been cleared.
. . . . .
"I think I forgot my tobacco down in the cabin" Lonkar spoke somewhat nervously, as he shifted in the bench on the deck, ready to get up.
"Don't worry about it, you can have some of my Desert Grass, it should work for a pipe too" It was Mezcah who answered with a cheerful voice, completely unaware of the mental agony that she was inflicting on Lonkar.
His facial expression froze as he gave in, and leaned back on the bench again, gracefully accepting the Desert grass. The flavour was new to him, as he lit up the grass tobacco, it was sweeter and tasted like nature, very different than he was used to, not that he cared much for it. While he was puffing away on his pipe, Mezcah kept talking, and talking... and talking! He didn't consider himself an antisocial person, but the lady had too many questions about magic, and he enjoyed quiet moments, of which he didn't seem to get any.
He was half answering Mezcah while observing his nephew, now holding a small girl. Had it been the right choice? He didn't care if it was or not, he would do it again, if given the opportunity. Surprisingly the boy, or should he call him man now? Was good with the baby, he didn't remember him being that good with his siblings when he was small.
As the wind howled, he once more observed an air of solitude exude from Barandir, an unspoken loneliness. He sighed as he took a deep puff on his pipe, forgetting that he wasn't smoking his usual tobacco, and nearly choking on the overly flavoured stuffing.
. . . . .
The trip through Dormaa was simple enough, the only changes were the landscape slowly turning from flatlands into hilly meadows and more wilderness. Barandir had also noticed at one point that they were flying overhead a long snaked line, Sam had been with him at the time and carelessly commented that he magic and steam locomotives weren't too lucrative for longer distances as there were too many things that could go wrong. Especially the tracks were often stolen by bandits or they were eaten by Iron Bucktooth Beavers. And for short distances it was often cheaper to go by wagon anyhow. However some countries and townships attempted to spread the use, but at least he hadn't heard of too successful attempts in the Magnolia kingdom.
A month later they made it to Salk, The hills having turned steeper, and the occasional mountain was visible, with pine forest and birch variants growing more often. Salk wasn't a large kingdom, stuffed in-between Dormaa and Taoru'un, it stretched well enough, it was long and thin. For this reason they didn't fly out of the way to go to the capital, and were simply landing in a border-town to Taoru'un. They knew that they would have to be ready with their cover-story as the, now dead, diplomat would most likely have a welcome of sorts arranged.
. . . . .
A chill was in the air, Autumn had arrived, and the northern highland gave to it a thinner, fresher quality. The pines remained tall and stoic, always in shades of green, whereas the birch, oaks and other trees treetops were bursting with yellow, orange and brown. From atop the zeppelin it was a beautiful sight to behold, and as the airborne ship was descending and getting closer to the ground, the loose leafs let themselves show in whirls and twirls at the twisting of the air currents.
The small baby no longer needed the pendant to calm it, it had gotten used to Barandir and his uncle. He felt a certain degree of kinship with the little one, it too had lost what it once was, and it too now faced a new and different life, the only difference was that it had the luxury of not knowing or understanding what its loss.
The baby was quite small still, it would be a while before it could crawl, but luckily the Luna Dryads had a stronger digestive system than humans, and the baby could already consume soft foods, rather than its mother's milk. Barandir was holding a small wheat bun, slowly breaking pieces off for the child, and the child was eagerly chewing it. The border town was similar in size to Spring-Wall according to Lonkar, not that Barandir would know, as he had not gotten a good look of that town.
From his angle however the buildings looked quite tall, and it appeared more like a wooden fortress town than anything else, the landing area was a large empty spot next to a several warehouses. One disconcerting observation that Lonkar and Barandir made was the large amount of tents spread out over the hilly meadows, a few larger and strange looking metal contraptions were also visible. It was clear to Barandir that the uncle was concerned, with how he was frowning under his brow.
They weren't in a hurry to get off so by the time that they had landed, Lonkar, Barandir, Sam and Mezcah were calmly sitting in the dining cabin. Apparently Fremont and his sister were meditating, and were planning to do so for another hour or two. Lonkar was holding the babe, stroking its sleeping head, while his pipe was half hanging out of his mouth. It was a a rare quiet, and joyful moment where the mood was just right. It was in this bliss that a tall skinny man, with with hallowed cheeks and thin wisps of short white hair entered the dining cabin. He wore a fitted armoured mage-over-robe in deep shades of maroon, from the opening of the rope they could see a dark coloured scaled armour.
The man smiled as he walked over. The now new logger walking with him nervously whilst sweating thick bullets. It was difficult to say if it was purely nerves, or because the new logger was so stubby and fat. Either way the stubby man mumbled something and pointed at Lonkar and Barandir.
He didn't even bother looking at Sam or Mezcah, his smile creepy and his ice blue eyes gleaming "the Crowborne's, no?" it wasn't as much a question as it was a statement.
Lonkar had told Barandir about the rumours of a war brewing between Salk and Taoru'un, judging by what they had seen on their way down, and the man's presence here, it seemed clear that these were more than rumours.
Lonkar carefully handed over the sleeping baby, and returned the creepy man's smile "Correct!" he responded jovially, leaving the sentence hanging, forcing the other man to make the next move.
His creepy smile cracked slightly as he spoke again "please, please come along with me, we can't go treating our fellow nobles from across the border with bad manners, even if this is a small town of this here great country of Salk" His words were smooth and slick, had they been a food they would be dripping with grease. He snapped his fingers, and another mage showed up together with a robust looking warrior by the door, clearly the man's subordinates.
Barandir and Lonkar didn't even share a look as they both got up calmly "lead the way" Barandir responded, his smile cold. In this way him and his uncle were escorted off of the zeppelin without another word spoken to their comrades.
. . . . .
Whereas Sam had understood what had happened, and gently put a hand on Mezcah's shoulder, she had not fully comprehended the chain of events. It wasn't for a lack of intelligence, rather it was of a lack of understanding the culture of the mainland kingdoms, and gleaning of the spiderweb of politics that surrounded the nobles and their wars. For this reason, Sam began explaining the circumstances surrounding their leaving.
"Political prisoners..." Avicia murmured in a low voice as she sat around the table an hour later with her brother, Sam and Mezcah. They hadn't gotten any news of Salk strumming the drum of war, but then again Salk was not really an important or powerful country, differently Taoru'un was significantly stronger, and also neighboured a different continent, but it was also large and politically split into factions, and internal strife ravaged the lands more often than not.
Fremont had pretty much fully recovered, his person carried a natural charm and vigour and with his clean shaven chin, and his strong jawline made him look handsome and heroic, so when he spoke the words "so does that mean the zeppelin isn't leaving?" everyone felt somewhat disappointed, to which he simply laughed awkwardly "I'm joking! But if we're going to break them out, shouldn't we know if the zeppelin is a viable plan?" He asked earnestly. Barandir had shown him a great deal of loyalty, and his uncle Lonkar had helped him out too despite not knowing him. Loyalty could not be bought! And it was always worth fighting for, hence the thought of not helping, didn't even cross his mind.
Avicia gave her brother a thoughtful look, the man had always been good at making friends, but it was shallow relations more often than not, and he had been much more reluctant to trust anyone but her, ever since he had been betrayed for his naivete... She leaned closer together with the rest of their companions, as they began whispering about possible plans.
From a table not too far from their own sat a dwarf with a magnificent short beard, he was drinking tea while casually browsing a small book with a vague smile, however his eye was on the group the entire time. Eventually his grin turned slightly wicked, as he stood up and began approaching the group.
. . . . .
As Barandir and his uncle left the zeppelin, he had been able to confirm his guess that the town was a fortress town, and mostly wooden. There was a quaint, but off mood about the township as they were passing through. The entire time Lonkar talked casually with the tall mage who was in charge, his name, Barandir learned, was Moran. The destination of their trip was a nice two storied wooden villa, coloured in a faded white, the wooden binding work still remaining a dark brown. There wasn't any yard or anything as it was in the middle of the town. During the trip, Barndir had held the baby, half observing the layout of the town, trying to think of possible escape routes. However it was clear to him that the two guards were well beyond his capabilities.
By evening it had become obvious that Barandir and Lonkar were prisoners, in everything but the word. Moran had left the room, and told them that they could stay as long as they liked, but he had also stationed two guards outside of their quarters.
"Well it sure beats a musty dungeon somewhere" Barandir exhaled mirthlessly as he stood by the window observing the ongoings in the town, slowly rocking the child. The evening brought with it a light drizzle that drummed almost indecipherable against the window.
Lonkar patiently lit up his pipe and took a couple of puffs before he answered "That! Is very accurate nephew" he leaned back on the couch that he was sitting on, further resting the back of his head slightly. His arms on the backrest, he took the pipe out of his mouth as he continued "Chances are that they won't hold us when they realise that we are not worth bargaining with the southern faction of Taoru'un, although they might want to try and blackmail the family into some sabotage... now that, would prove slightly unfortunate" he took a few more smokey puffs, filling the room with a sweet wooden aroma "Salk, you see, is a weak kingdom, and like so many kingdoms in Magnolia, it is split up, and because of its belt like shape it has been split in three noble factions, the powerful east, the powerful west, and the middle faction".
The wheels in Barandir's head started turning "in which part are we" he asked, hoping for a specific answer.
"Well luckily we are in the middle, although they are weak from being in-between two factions and two countries, it is probably also why they are trying to take advantage of the internal strife of Taoru'un".
Barandir gently moved over to the bed, where he gently lay the baby down, letting it rest. "Then what do you suggest we do Uncle?" he asked candidly.
Lonkar gave a wide grin at the direct question "for now, nothing!"
. . . . .
The four companions were seated inside one of the larger rooms of the zeppelin, it was more luxuriously built, the bed was larger, and there was an actual small living room. They were looking expectantly at the dwarf who was calmly pouring himself some more tea.
Mezcah was not a patient lass, and asked annoyed "You said that you could help, then explain how!"
However the dwarf didn't seem perturbed, and simply finished pouring his tea, whereas he picked it up elegantly and sat down on a comfortable looking chair "The zeppelin won't be going to Taoru'un" Those were the first words he spoke, but they hardly came as a surprise to anyone there, so they simply sat awaiting what else he might say. "I wouldn't have contacted you had it not been for this inconvenience, but yes, as I said when I approached you, I can help your friends" He began drinking his tea comfortably.
Mezcah was about to speak again, but Avicia stopped her, and broke in "And what do you seek merchant, safe passage to Taoru'un? This would be a difficult affair if we're on the run from an army"
He placed the cup on the table "Had I been a merchant by trade, then that would indeed be the case" He grinned playfully, giving everyone a surprise "you see, I know who you are, Hammerfell!" he spoke with confidence, making the two twins grimace, Sam and Mezcah both gave them a stare of confusion.
"If you know who our family is, then you would know that we could easily solve our conundrum if we so desired" said Fremont impatiently.
"While I don't know the details" he broke his sentence in two while taking another sip of tea "I do know that you don't want to draw attention, and..." before he could speak further, he was grabbed by the throat!
In the blink of an eye Avicia had him, ready to murder the man in front of them "speak your next words carefully, dwarf!"
However to everyone's surprise he didn't seem bothered while he was turning purple, and then he turned completely silver. The silver throat instantly cracked, obliterating the rest of the body at the same time, however there wasn't even a piece of silver dust left after his demise. Mezcah and Sam looked astounded, however the twins both had ugly faces as Avicia whispered, "Azoth Dwarf!".
Somehow standing on the ceiling the dwarf had appeared, his skin now however, was lightly silvery, and had small cracks like a silver leaf, he looked fragile, but also robust. He laughed childishly, yet it sounded evil in the ears of the listeners. "Do you still doubt me, Hammerfell?!" he laughed as he jumped back down, his hand outstretched for a handshake. Despite her reluctance, she still grabbed the small hand. She was almost certain that she would end up regretting this choice of hers.