Chapter 116: Vacant


    The roads leading into Ahle-ho were mostly absent of travellers during the worst of turbulence, however whenever there was a gap in the chaos they would emerge from small roadside shelters to continue on their way. Farmers rode carts pulled by beasts of burden, their harvests having beenpleted in the leadup to the wild andrgely unpredictable weather.


    Needing neither sleep nor food, he made good time, but that was rtive to the average human traveller. A hailstorm tore across the coast, peltingnd and building with jagged chunks of ice, leaving the roads slippery and unable to be traversed. A day out from Ahle-ho, Leif was frustrated by the dy, taking shelter in a small town built next to arge open air quarry.


    He wasn’t the only traveller to take shelter from the turbulent conditions, arge hall made out of carved stone housing over two dozen others in a simr situation. Conversation within therge shelter was quiet, partially muffled by the constant barrage of hail that struck the building''s roof. Whenever the main door to the building was opened, the temperature dropped and a gale buffeted the interior, causingnterns to flicker and the beasts who had been utched from their carts and wagons chuffing and grunting.


    An adventurer with powers of earth and fire created glowing rocks that emitted heat, handing them out to the families of small children to better light up the darkness of the shelter''s interior. A space was cleared and several people convinced the creator of the glowing rocks to construct a pile of the things, before long a small mountain of orange and red was ced in the centre of the makeshift gathering ce.


    The adventurer, a middle aged woman with sunkissed features was breathing heavily by the end, wincing slightly with her every movement. The men and women of the shelter let out a cheer for her effort, letting her settle down in a position of honour nearest to the stones. Children kept running around, gathering nkets and handing them to the adventurer, quickly burying her under a mound of cloth.


    People told stories of their lives and travels, of boon harvests, hometown drama and monster sightings. They went around in a circle, rying news and telling tails. When it was Leif’s turn, the scion sitting with his back against the wheel of arge cart, he told them of what had happened in Klos, and the troubles beyond the imperial cordon. His retelling of events was heavily abridged, not wanting to reveal his own secrets, nor bring the mood of the gathering down.


    This ended the sharing of stories, and instead turned the topic of conversation into a round-table discussion of the frontier and everyone’s opinions of how it was being managed. The conversation was fascinating, Leif learning about the fall of Pherin, the exodus of refugees and the ultimately failed invasion of the envers and their legion, the army being defeated after a brief siege of Ahle-ho.


    These events had taken ce ten years ago, history older than several of the younger children who were nodding off to sleep now that the discussion had turned serious. Apparently the failed invasion prompted Ahle-ho to request aid from the empire, turning what was a small diplomatic garrison into something muchrger. The political situation had been tense ever since, with certain factions being displeased with the Prince’s decision to allow imperial influence to grow within their city, while others used the opportunity to increase their rtionship with a major regional power.


    The guilds, the highest authority in the city if not for the prince, had been posturing and positioning ever since. It was ten years of strenuous peace, with tensions slowly increasing as guilds on opposite sides of the growing conflict engaged in proxy conflicts or sabotaged one another''s interests. The republic was seen as an outside faction, with none of the traders, merchants or adventurers within the shelter having favourable views. There was historic context that Leif was missing, and he didn’t feelfortable asking a room of strangers. Gradually the glowing stones, apparently called ‘ember charges’ by the adventurer who had created them, faded away and people began to go their separate ways, melting into the shadowy enves of the shelter to go to sleep. Leif sat cross legged in the centre of the room, ignored by everyone as he focused on practising [Wood Maniption]. Time passed, and before long the shelter''s door was opened, the morning''s light flooding into the room to muffled grumbling from its upants.


    One of the townsfolk, the same man who had guided Leif into the shelter the night before, spent a few minutes asking around and checking on everyone who had taken refuge from the turbulent weather. When he spoke to Leif, the man had stated there was food being cooked in the nearby inn, but the scion waved him away.


    The town’s gutters were full of a seemingly endless flood of water, several buildings had chipped paint and what was a firm footpath was now puddles and mud. Leif eyed his surroundings dubiously, getting through this without ruining his boots wouldn’t be simple. A momentter his worries were proven prudent as two town guards and a haggard looking man with greying hair and a scarred lip awkwardly trudged through the mud.


    “Hail!” The man called, stepping up onto the shelter''s stone entrance with wet squelch, the guards following suit a momentter. “I heard there was an adventurer team within the shelter, are they still here?”


    “There’s a pair, they should still be inside.” Leif said, stepping out of the doorway and letting the man pass. The two guards didn’t go inside, instead they did their best to clean their boots without making too much of a mess. He looked down at the muddy track the older man had left when he went inside. “Something urgent?”


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    “Eh, kinda-sorta.” One of the guards said, using the shaft of their spear to clean the sole of their boot. “The quarry partially flooded and some of the… workers are acting strange. Manny,” They nodded at the door, “thought he saw something moving around in the water, so here we are.”


    “Things like thismon?”


    “Whenever there’s a big storm some sea monsters take the opportunity toe further ind, they usually get stuck in a river orke and a team of adventurers need to get rid of them.” Said the guard.


    “- Pay is no problem, I’ll even buy the monster parts off of you as soon as it''s dealt with.” Said Manny as he exited the shelter followed by two figures. One of them was the woman who had been covered in nkets, the other her husband, though Leif didn’t know either of their names.


    The adventurer man shook his head, then nced meaningfully at his wife. “This is our final run before we settle down for a few years, and it’s our policy never to enter abat situation without healing pills, which we don’t currently have.”


    Manny winced. “I understand that, and I can increase the reward topensate.”


    “If you don’t know what the monster is,” The ember charge creator said, “then it might not be something a pair of adventurers can handle anyway.”


    “Then you can scout it out beforemitting to anything, I’ll even pay you to do it.” Manny said, looking between both of them with clear worry. Then the man looked at Leif. “You there, would you be interested in this opportunity?”


    Leif considered, he wasn’t exactly on a tight schedule, but he wasn’t sure if this was something he wanted to get involved with.


    “You’re an adventurer right?” The woman asked. “You mentionedst night you were a healer.”


    “I’m not technically an adventurer, but I was an expedition auxiliary.”


    “A healer!” Manny said, pping his hands together. “That solves the potential safety concerns right? What do you say my masked friend? I’ll pay apetitive rate!”


    The two adventurers exchanged looks, then nodded. “If you would join us as a third, we would be more than happy to have you.”


    ===


    “I’m Nayet, and this is my husband, Tollumi.” Said the female adventurer as they picked their way carefully through the town’s streets. “You were Laif right? You introduced yourselfst night but I was trapped under those nkets and didn’t really hear.”


    “Leif, and it''s a pleasure.” The scion said, hopping over a puddle with as much grace as he could manage. “How long have you two been adventuring?”


    “We signed up some… five, or was it six years ago?” Tollumi said, making the same jump but far easier. “We were both scouted from a smaller town near the eastern border with Saris and did the training course together. What about you? What brought you so far west?”


    “I’m from Varan, it’s been… a while since I was home.”


    “Oh wow.” said Nayet. “The northern kingdom? I heard they almost fell during the war, apparently you guys pushed one of the enved legions into the northern mountains and that’s what caused Pherin to capitte.”


    Leif suspected Pherin hadn’t been given the chance to capitte, considering the destroyed state of their capital city, but he didn’t say anything. “Yes… those were hard times, I used to serve in the military.”


    “You fought in the war? That’s pretty awesome, I bet you have some killer scars.” Tollumi said, pping Leif on the back. The scion just grunted.


    They rounded a house and walked along a winding path leading out of town, deep cart tracks had worn grooves into the stone, the water fromst night’s storm filling the indents. A group of eight men marched up the road towards them, they had woven packs on their back, each filled to the brim with chunks of limestone. They marched in an oddly synchronous manner,pletely silent as they approached Leif and the two adventurers.


    Leif didn’t recognise any of the approaching men, but something about them was eerily familiar. Their rhythmic lockstep, their vacant expressions and sunkern features, the way they didn’t speak. The three of them paused, stepping to the side to let the men pass by. Tollumi spat to the side, muttering something that made Nayet p his arm. Leif barely noticed, his amber gaze locked onto the retreating backs of thebourers.


    “Those men…” He said darkly, mind racing as he tried and failed to ce how he knew them.


    “Enved.” Nayat said sadly. “Poor things, whatever those ants did to their minds it left them broken, they’re barely human at all now.”


    “Enved?” Leif hissed. “What are they doing here? I thought they were killed during the war?”


    Tollumi growled, then spoke. “Probably should have been, after their queen or whatever was killed after the siege, they all fell into a strange torpor.”


    “We didn’t see it personally, but apparently they just stood there,pletely despondent. The allied armies rounded them up into prison camps, and ultimately they decided to put them to work.” Nayat said softly.


    “It’s a shit existence, but for some reason they only function at all when doing some task or another, they’repletely harmless though, never once hurt anyone from what I’ve heard.” Tollumi added. “Though they did all start acting strange about a year ago, remember the group that worked the mill in Laryus honey? How they fell to their knees and started shaking, super strange, whatever it was they got better a few dayster.”


    <em>A year ago? </em>Leif thought. <em>That was when the undead enver queen attacked Far-reach, there’s no way it''s a coincidence. </em>The enved rounded a corner and disappeared out of sight, Leif let out a hissing breath, finally realising how tense his body was.


    “Are you okay?” Nayat asked, looking at him with worry.


    “Yes, I’m fine, seeing them brought up bad memories though.” He replied, then turned and motioned for them to continue.