Snow's breathing pushed lightly against my back as I carried her through the ever growing snow, making our way towards the nation of mercenaries, Xathum.
I live, well... Lived on the border between my born nation of Fulcree and Xathum, I say border, but the travel into their territory still took a couple months at best, small villages and one trade city littered the road between them. Xathum was a unique nation, as it was made almost entirely of mercenaries they have no natural born citizens like everyone else, when you became of age at sixteen, you were required to be ranked by Xathum and offered their citizenship upon completion. If you took it, they removed your natural born citizenship revoking your right to be apart of any politics in any nation, you were to be neutral and help were you could for what you wanted.
The world was made of four continents of which four major nations had laid claim to, the central continent was by far the largest totaling just as much landmass as the other three combined. On it Fulcree took ninety percent of the landmass, most of which was snow covered mountains, forests, and valleys as it was rather north, the other ten percent belong to Xathum, since they were neutral and didn't have much for natural citizens they relied almost purely on trade and services. Across the great water to the west lie Versadia, known for the advancement in aether studies and for the Aether University, something my brother Blake was going to attend... Just south of Versadia across a much smaller body of water was Kairos, their main nation the third continent, followed by their sister nations, Kairie and Kaiden which resided on large islands south and southeast of the mainland. They were known for their advancements in technology, I'm not sure how accurate it is, but they are said to have made a machine powered by wind that generates power of sorts, I'm wary of them and their research. The final continent is the Icelands, in the southernmost part of Gaierra, no one has attempted to take control of the Icelands in a few decades, primarily because of the climate. It's rather harsh with blizzards continuously, massive windstorms that throw ice and snow alike, and very few natural resources. Every so often a nation does send an expedition to explore at the very least.
"Snow are you still awake?" I ask quietly hoping that if she is sleeping I don't wake her.
"Yes..." A shy voice said back to me.
"We live a few months travel from Xathum, we are gonna get you enrolled, you'll be 8 by the time we arrive and of age to attend." I wasn't sure how my voice sounded, was she ready to hear this already? Was I saying this too soon, did she need more time before I set plans for her? I don't really know what to do here.
"Okay." I almost didn't hear her over the falling snow, her voice still shaking.
"Kier, with your rank, could... could you have saved them?" I could her the breaking of her spirit in that question, the tears falling trailing down her cheeks.
"I'm, well I'm not sure Snow, maybe... Maybe not." I let the silence hang in the air for a moment as I thought, "We can't afford to think about that right now. We need to let ourselves grieve, to process what happened, to accept it. We should try and live for those that can't, so we are gonna need to be a bit stronger than most." My own voice breaking, recalling the scenes of fire, the ashen snow, the bloodied stone, the lifeless bodies.
"I don't get it." She sounded so sad, but confused on what I had meant.
"I know it's confusing right now Snow, you're young and that's ok, you don't need to understand yet, you don't have to worry about that. Later, some day in the future, could be next week, could be next year, but you'll wake up and it'll make sense." The statement hung in the air for a few minutes, the crunch of the snow and ice on every step. She had nothing left to say.
"Are you ok to walk now?"
"Yea." Her head nods with her answer.
I bent down and let her jump off my back, she grabbed my hand and walked beside me, standing close, making sure not to stray even an inch too far from my side. The days turned into nights, I was more comfortable traveling at night anyways, my namesake. The honor of my families name gave us, well just me now, extra protection during night travels.
The timing of everything was truly awful, happening near the beginning of the winter season, just as the snow came billowing in and the temperatures began plummeting to their lowest. Snow couldn't manage to walk on her own for long periods of time, the snow pushed to her waist most of the time, and on the bad days she may even sink to her chest, she most stayed on my back covered in her blankets.
Every other day we'd see another person travelling the main road, every few days we'd see a small village or family home along it. After nearly 4 weeks of travel, no major issues other than the climate had veered their head, it was at the very least smooth traveling, although I think I should thank Asra for the safe travels of the moon, but sooner than I had thought we arrived at the trade city of Fulcade, named after the nation in which it resides.
As we approached the city more and more people were there, the carriages and horses were getting more common for a few days now, but being at the city itself was a different beast altogether. I looked down to my right looking at Snow, her eyes finally showing new shade of a very dull red, she was excited sure, but her spirit was still gone, the slight smile across her face brings me some hope that she will get better.
"We are about halfway to Xathum Snow, we can stay here a few days and relax from our rough travels." I tell her patting her head, she didn't say anything back, but simple nodded.
Pulling her to the main gate with me, there were at least 10 different lines, I'm pretty sure they were all the same and just for entrance, so we jumped in whatever one was closest. I somewhat regret that as it was also the longest, but this made it seem like the right choice.
The people were diverse in the bigger cities, in my small village it was nearly exclusively human, elves, and a handful of dwarves. Reptilians were rarely ever seen in Fulcree due to the weather, they had a hard time thriving in such cold territories, but I could even see a few here, enough to count on one hand so far. I think I even caught wind of a few fae, a large tan skinned individual was directly in front of me, his muscle mass so large it seemed like his skin could barely contain him, his broad shoulders almost eclipsing my entire arm span. He was next in line, "Identification." The guard in front of him asked, not sure if asked was the right word, maybe demanded. The behemoth in front of me simply reached into his pack and pulled out a gold tablet, no bigger than my hand, maybe 8 inches long and 2 inches wide, and simple handed it over.
"All clear!" The guard shouted before handing it back and the behemoth walked in, I was next. "Identification." He said to me this time, same as the massive hunk of muscle I reached for my pouch and pulled out a gold tablet as well, roughly the same as the one before me. On the front it had; Name: Kier Asra, Nationality: Fulcree, Citizenship: Xathum. On the back it had, Rank: VII-S. I handed it to the guard, he looked it over and a slight annoyance showing on his face, "What about the child?" He said handing it back.
"She is not of age, she is traveling with me, I am her guardian." I stated as clearly as I could.
"Understood. All clear!" He would shout before motioning us in, I put away my tablet and gripped Snows hand tightly, "Make sure you stay close by at all times Snow, this place is rather big compared to... But yes stay close." I had to cut myself off before I finished my sentence. She simply nodded back to me, at least some light in her eyes remained from the excitement of a new place.
As we passed through the main gates, I was immediately overwhelmed with the mass of people rushing around, the merchants on the sides of the street shouting what they had and their prices. Some shouting about how cheap their weapons and armor were, some about how fresh their food was, or maybe how revitalizing their, ahem, services were. I understand this was a trade hub, but I had already almost lost my grip on Snow twice due to colliding with other pedestrians, I picked her up not wanting to let her get lost.
"First we find an inn to have a good nights rest at Snow, then we can look around alright. It's a tad early for sleep, but we can just clean up." I put some effort into sounding happy and excited for her, to let her know it was ok to feel that way. She held tightly onto me and nodded, I think she was also overwhelmed with the sheer amount of people and information being throw about.
Hastily moving through the main street looking for any sign that remotely said inn, we found one, rather quickly. I pushed open the door, it smoothly swung open, and stepped in with Snow in my arms.
"Good evenin, what can I get for ya?" A cheery old voice hollered from behind a desk, the man sitting at it, had light blond hair pulled into a pony tail, dark rimmed glasses covering their light brown eyes, wrinkles lightly covering their face.
"Need a room for a couple nights, two beds, and preferably a bath if possible." I said striding to the desk, putting Snow back on her feet beside me, I gave him a polite smile, although I'm sure my eyes didn't match. He gave me a quick look over, scanning me head to toe, "Understood, two beds and a bath are gonna run you 5 Cree a night, so 15 for 3, though if you stay for 4 nights, I'll knock it down to 4 Cree a night." He gave me a smile, I know he wasn't giving me a great deal, but I don't know enough about inns and prices to really negotiate.
"Alright then, I'll take 4 nights, for 16 Cree." I said happily, we can stay an extra night. I reach into my pouch and pulled out 16 Cree, we weren't short any, I had taken most of the money from the bandits cave, although that money was taken from us, so I had gotten back I guess is a better way to phrase that. I pulled out a single bronze Cree piece, followed by three silver Cree pieces and handed them over; a bronze Cree piece had a value of 1, a silver piece has a value of 5, and a gold piece has a value of 20, they are all roughly shaped the same and the same size, although the gold piece is a bit thinner than the rest. The innkeeper smiled happily and gave us a rustic key with the number five on it, "First room on the second floor." He pointed towards the stairs for us to take, I gave him a nod in appreciation and walked on over.
We walked up the stairs, they felt quite solid compared to the shoddy porch steps I was used to, and unlocked and opened the first door. Welcomed by two medium sized beds, it could fit me with some room to spare, a nightstand with a lantern fueled by a fire crystal, a desk along the window, and a door. Behind that door was the bathroom, it had a toilet, sink, and a bath. "Alright Snow get ready for a bath, I'll take one right after you alright." I say to her while unloading my bow, sword, backpack, pouches, and cloak onto the nightstand and bed.
"Yes Kier." She says in a recovering tone, before walking in the bathroom and starting her bath. I don't have the energy to do inventory on my items, I fall onto the bed, it lightly creeks beneath my weight, the soft mattress letting me sink into it, I fear for a second as I sink, feeling as if I may fall straight into the floor, jolting up. Maybe we roughed the journey here too hard...
I rest my eyes waiting for Snow to finish. It only felt like moments of darkness before a pecking at the window had stirring me up, Zephyr was there. I let him in and he shook the snow off himself before jumping onto my cloak and resting, he must be tired, he kept watch over us the whole way here. I pet him softly and dropped some of the dried rations we had left for him to eat, he pecked it from the floor and closed his eyes.
Snow opened the bathroom door, walking out her white hair still wet and eyes maintaining that faint red. "Alright go ahead and lay down, you must be exhausted, I'm gonna bathe and I'll be in bed shortly after." She just nodded and jumped in bed, almost instantly hearing snoring from her after I closed the door. Draining the old bath water and letting the new hot water fill the tub, the steam overtaking the room. I stripped down and laid in the tub, cleaning myself, once I was done I laid there in the comfort of warmth, I could rest for just a moment.
My eyes closed before I could even tell, the warm water pushing against my skin, clinging to my skin... It felt sticky, but also slippery, but the warmth now felt familiar. I tried opening my eyes and I saw him, that Ascendent, he floated above me in that same brutalized condition I had left him in. I could see the bones barely staying together through the scorned flesh, the hole in his abdomen that was stretched and cut open, his face or rather what's left of it. It was caved in, teeth missing, the eyes bulged and the nose was flat, his cheekbones shone through the skin, a pearly white. His blood drained over me, covering me, drowning me in a sea of crimson. The last thing I saw was his face contorting and stretching into a sickening smile, as it stretched across his face tearing that same skin more as it grew and grew.
I jumped awake and flew out of the tub, quickly drying myself and changing into my night clothes, my hand trembling from my vision, my breathing erratic, my vision slightly blurring as I held onto the wall for balance. Breath in, hold, breath out, I told myself trying to regain my composure, slowly, but surely I got myself under control, my hands shaking slightly, but barely noticeable now, my vision clear, I step out and head for my bed, pulling the covers and laying down.
I laid there with my eyes closed for hours, all I could see was his face, my bed shook and my covers moved, a small body had laid down with me, hugging me. I could feel their heart, it was racing, perhaps a nightmare. I put my arm around them and kissed them on the forehead goodnight, before allowing myself to rest.
The dreams, nightmares, were all the same, just reliving that day over and over, it was all my nights had in store for me, the raid of my village, the desecration of my sister, the murder of the man, and burning of my people. Over and over the entire night, I wish Asra could be the Ascendent of dreams, maybe I could rest well.
I sit up slowly and gently push Snow off of me, placing her head on the pillow and move over to the desk next to the window. I push it open and sit next to it, watching the movement of the people below, going on about their lives. Now I wait for the rising sun.