Evelyn and Aflyn were sisters, not blood-related, but their bonds were deeper than any family bond in Nausicca City. (Although that doesn't say much.)
The two were master huntsmen and crossbow yielders, much so that they held the title of 'Predator' at the competition of shooting at the Festival of the Roses until they vanished mysteriously. Nobody knows what happened to the two, but history was filled with cases like that.
Their names and skills were still unmatched; they were the only known killers of bone bears in the world without a magic spell.
"I don't think they would be this small."
The expectations were high for Arya when he went out with Reva and Seraphina to collect Evelyn and Aflyn, but his expectations fell fast when he saw that the names weren't for some magic crossbow sisters or even a crossbow itself.
"Small and powerful. Take that from me. Our smith, Taus, has made perfect rounds for this weapon." Reva held the two small, thin-barreled, open-mouthed weapons to herself. The rounds she was talking about were little metallic bell bearings that looked inside another shell.
"I haven't seen a crossbow stronger than this, I tell you, my man. It can man faster than any bow or crossbow, believe me." The dwarf, with the upper body covered by a blanket and armoured legs for the lower body, talked about the gun's strength.
The barrel was attached to a trigger, which fired the rounds. It was like a small cannon, but cannons were hard to deal with and useless once broken. Arya hoped for something different with the weapons.
"The rounds on this thing were difficult to make. I thought poor little things might break, like a weak bow. You get it, my man." The dwarf looked at Arya.
"I think…" Arya was angry for a second about not being called a lord by a dwarf, but he tried his best not to show it.
Arya was thinking about what a more powerful bungee stone shooter could do. Dragonstell warriors were trained to cut the bolts of the fastest crossbows. This was not going to match the speed.
"I think we should be going. Thanks for your work, Taus. You can take your payment from Mercy; I think he will have enough to pay you." Reva spun her weapon around the trigger and put it back into their sheaths, which were called holsters.
"Amazing!" Seraphina jumped, and Arya agreed; it was indeed amazing.
They exited the forge after that, and Mercy was with the married couple in their room. They were working on a secret project. Mercy told Arya that he would be working with Reva for 2 days and then 2 days with River and Anastasia.
"Learn what you can. They are more combat-experienced than you; watch them, talk to them, and learn. Because I won't be going easy on you. You will suffer if you don't learn." Arya could clearly remember the words he heard so ominously.
—--
Three began walking around to the other end of the ravine, guarded by the thick trees and bushes that hid the path to the top. The roof of the ravine was narrowing ahead of them, and shadows filled the surroundings.
"Okay, stop. I think we have reached the stairs."
Arya didn't see it until Reva pushed a bush aside to reveal the stairs to the top. A long and high path from the bottom to 100 metres on the top. Long and small in height, they extended more in length than most stairs. There was no railing, but a straight path with trees and vines to catch if you fell.
The three began climbing over the steps. Each stair was long enough that you needed to take two steps instead of one to climb it up. It made it more annoying and lengthy.
"I am running ahead. Catch me if you can!" Seraphina ran right ahead of Mercy and Reva; instead of climbing, she preferred to jump from one step to another.
"Don't fall, Seraphina, and wait for us at the top," Reva shouted to Seraphina.
"It's exhausting," Arya said as he felt the inclination increase with each step, taking longer and feeling more difficult than the last. The only saving grace was that the sunlight didn't fall on them.
"Children have so much energy. I don't understand what could make you climb these with such a happy smile on your face. I am already sweating here." Reva joined in on the complaint.
"My mistakes for not bringing water here. I thought river water came from a small channel from above; who knew it seeped through the lower ground into a stream? This place is weirdly made; what did Mercy think while building this?"
"Mercy didn't build this place. The dwarfs did; there is a reason why these steps are so small."
"Wait, what? Seraphina said Mercy built this place for her." And I didn't say it.
"The dwarfs? Well, that is some jaw-dropping news. Dwarfs running away from their owners were mostly caught, but it looks like those who escaped were settling. What was their plan?"
"Mercy told me that the dwarfs were building here because the bloodflies were becoming more infamous in the cities. The plan is to spread the rumour that bloodlines don't get scared by tree resin anymore. The people will be scared, and this place will be forgotten. The dwarfs could live easily here." Reva explained while the two climbed step by step, side by side.
"Mercy did other things; he brought Stell and informed the dwarfs about places to hunt, how to scare away blood flies if they ever got attacked, how to cook, and how to fight. All within two days."
"Did Mercy bring the humans here? Or were they also here before?"
"All humans living here are people thrown out of the cities to die; farmers in the north didn't farm anything in fear of the attack. They came south instead, and the food shortage got the cities to throw out any family with more than four members. Because Mercy earned their trust, humans and dwarfs formed an alliance."
"..." Arya didn't even know there was a food shortage; everything was fine in the capital. Reva had knowledge of the people, but Arya wanted one person's knowledge more than anyone.
"Last question: What do you know about Mercy? Where is he from? or what he wants?" Arya's third biggest aspiration was finding the answer to these questions; the second was walking with him.
"Mercy is mysterious to me. His face is like that of a mountain man, with a sharp chin and black hair. He can use the illusion spell and his horse's cloak for a while, but he isn't quite like them. He knows the rituals and traditions of the Dynasty about the Ashen capital and his connection to Seraphina. He knows too much for his age; that is the only thing I am sure about." Reva raised her shoulders, making a confused expression.
"Come on! I don't want to wait any longer!"
Arya looked ahead of the stairs, and it was almost over. Seraphina was running around and stopping to look at them and repeat.
"Mercy tells you about many things; why does he trust you so much, Reva?" Because I want to win that too.
Reva's eyes turned a twitch, and she grabbed Evelyn's strap. "Mercy trusts me because I have answers to questions nobody else can answer. When I first met him at the Forest of the Forsaken, his first words were to solve one of the biggest mysteries of my life. We both formed an unspoken contract from then on. I work for him, and he will lead me to all my answers."
"..." Arya could not bring himself to ask about her biggest mystery; he could sense a wall between him and Reva. She held that wall by nothing, telling him the question herself.
"I am so stupid. I should've asked how she feels about all this—about her feelings, maybe book reading... Why am I such an idiot?!"
Arya realised he asked a question about Mercy, not Reva; he did not even try to learn more about her, and their private time was over as the long stairs finally ended.
"You two took a lot of time. I found so many insects running around this place." Seraphina scolded the two.
The exit was in the middle of a dense forest filled with shadows and small sunlight that passed through the green tree leaves, vines, and damp ground, all making the area look more dangerous. The smell of oak tree resin was the only thing keeping the predators away from this tunnel.
"We need to scout the nearby area; Seraphina should not touch anything. Arya stays near her and doesn't let her run anywhere. If we see a deer, only I will hunt you two. Hide in the trees and stay safe. Am I clear?"
"Yes, mam." Both Seraphina and Arya said it at the same time, and Reva smiled in response.
"Okay, time to explore the Forest of Blood. I hope everything goes well."
—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------