"A Tower of Magic Expertise?" Wynblow asked, curious.
Ewan had by now gotten up to start putting away the equipment still out, as well as the neatly tied bundles made by Pavas to sort the different medicinal herbs by variety.
"It's a research facility for the entire continent, even if it depends mostly on the Human Empire," Ewan explained while picking up a kit containing several tools. "But it's also fairly independent and isolated."
Wynblow followed him with his eyes as he closed the canvas bag and brought it to the edge of the clearing where they stood.
"The big problem is that the Tower Master hates having strangers over, let alone a dragon..." He said without looking at her. "And I don't particularly want to go near it either."
"Why? Is it someone you unintentionally pissed off?" She said with amusement.
"No, that's your specialty." He replied.
"In my defense, you are quickly annoyed. " She replied without even batting an eye.
"Delighted that you somehow came to realize it... " Said he while throwing her a glare.
He motioned for Pavas to get up to accompany him, and began to walk towards the area covered by the foliage of the trees.
"Where are you going?" She asked, raising her voice.
He stopped to turn to her, a sullen look on his face.
"Unlike you, humans need money if they want to travel," he chided her. "So we have to do odd jobs to get enough funds, especially taking into account that I'm the only one hunting among us."
"That's okay, I can catch stuff too, as long as it's not too fast!"
Ewan snorted loudly, before turning to move forward.
"We're going back to town, so stay here quietly without getting caught by the other hunters," he warned her. "They're on an expedition to hunt down a Behemoth nearby, so avoid getting into trouble before we leave."
He heard her grunt, displeased with the comment about her person, and continued on his way to find his horse, followed closely by Pavas.
"Are we really going to travel with her?" She asked after a moment.
Ewan glanced at the girl, who was now walking beside him with a canvas bag on her back.
"Are you worried?" He asked her.
"Not really," she replied, shaking her head.
He heard the pebbles and dirt crunch under their feet; joining a regularly used path that would lead them to Fusain.
"This is only temporary," he said quickly. "But know that if she ever tries anything, I will protect you."
He would only accompany this reptile with a catastrophic sense of direction to the Empire's northern border, and then he would consider his debt paid.
A dragon was still a dragon, no matter what, and Ewan was still a hunter. He would certainly never let his guard down entirely against this creature, no matter how strange it was. It was the most natural thing to do in the world.
So why did he feel so strange, when Pavas had given him a surprised look? Had he said something wrong?
He watched Pavas sulk for a while longer, not sure why she was reacting that way; then, once they got to Fusain, he helped the girl onto the animal's back.
Half an hour later, they finally arrived at the foot of Mount Larshen, and headed through the vineyards towards the village of Barbados. They had not even arrived yet when they passed many people heading towards the market place, the roads being much busier than usual. Ewan thought it was strange, so many people in the middle of the day, but it didn't worry him much until the horse and his two passengers arrived at the entrance to the village.
Gone was the clean, unblemished appearance of the elegant, uncluttered streets. The black and white paving stones were covered with traces of mud, and were barely visible under the dense crowd that roamed the streets in all directions. It was as if the population had suddenly quadrupled, and he wondered if he had missed any information that might explain this sudden commotion.
Passersby on horseback or in wagons appeared to be heavily laden as well, which ruled out a simple passage on a journey. Soldiers were also unusually numerous, trying to control the large flow of people and goods while avoiding conflicts and fights.
" So many people here all of a sudden..." Said Pavas as he observed the surroundings.
Ewan had to slow down Fusain's pace to avoid inadvertently bumping into people, and no matter where he looked, people were crowded together.
All of this was very unusual, which prompted Ewan to head for the Association headquarters to try to find out more about what was going on here. Once in front of the building, he asked Pavas to wait outside with Fusain, before entering the local branch of the organization.
Even the Association's lobby was packed with people, and long lines had formed in front of all the counters, which were now open and functional. It was a far cry from the slack period when Ewan and Pavas had last been here. The ambient hubbub was deafening, all the people present talking at the same time, some even shouting to each other or to whoever would listen.
More people with luggage, alone or with their families, with worried, stressed or annoyed looks. There was something really fishy going on, and it seemed serious, so Ewan needed to know what.
Hence, he approached one of the groups talking loudly near the large bulletin board, and called out to them.
"Excuse me, can you tell me what's going on?"
The group, made up of men and women of varying ages, gave him incredulous looks before responding.
"Don't you know? Are you coming in or what?" Surprised one of the men.
"I wouldn't ask you if I knew..." replied Ewan. "I've been out of town all day, so I don't know what I might have missed."
Overlooking the young hunter's somewhat exasperated tone, an older woman answered him first.
"The army has ordered the evacuation of several villages west of here, and even the armored cities have been ordered to do so." She explained.
"Even the armored cities?" Ewan repeated, unsettled by this information.
This kind of thing was completely abnormal. No armored city had been forced to evacuate since the end of the war two hundred years ago, so if the order was given during what was an era of peace, it raised even more questions.
"The army was almost completely wiped out in a monster subjugation operation," elaborated another man in the group.
"Wiped out?!" Ewan exclaimed loudly this time.
Were these people talking about the operation Carciem was supposed to be part of? Did that mean they had failed, despite the blond man's preparations?
"They had called in hunters through the Association, and they too had a hard time making it," added the man who had spoken last. "And since our city no longer has a commanding officer, the chain of command is totally disorganized. Only the army has remained to try to retaliate.
"Retaliate... To what?" Ewan asked, a lump forming in his throat.
He certainly wasn't going to like the answer that was going to be given to him, knowing it already.
As he feared, it came quickly, ruthlessly.
"A huge creature of fire. It burns everything to the ground in its wake. I'm sure you can see the smoke from here."