Dual Wielding

The Northern Plateau was not a place Kei had ever expected to visit. There was no place in Aeora further from her home, and unlike The Burning Isles, it wasn’t as if there was any importance to be found in the backwater villages and towns which rest atop it. She’d be the first to admit it had a certain beauty about it, with its rolling hills and plains, and The Windfall Mountains were a breathtaking sight.

That didn’t stop her from being miserable.

No wealthy Taravastian family would send their daughter—even one like her—to such a place if they could help it. And were she a mere commoner, she’d have lacked the means to travel so far so easily. No, she was from the rare type of family with enough wealth to afford such a trip, yet desperate enough to send someone like her.

The rolling hills and plains of The Northern Plateau passed lazily as Kei sat in the back of the caravan, trying to ignore the bumps of the rocky trail beneath the cart. Even after all these months, she hadn’t gotten used to the travails of such a journey. There were no stoneways this far west, and carriers were like a distant dream. The “roads” were merely dirt paths bored into the soil from repeated foot and cart traffic.

“How are you holding up in this heat miss?” One of the traders she’d hired to guide her called out from the front, slowing his pace until he was walking besides her cart. Though she couldn’t remember many of the traders she’d employed on this journey, as the head of the caravan it was important that she knew his. He was easily recognizable anyways. Whereas most of the traders she’d interacted with on the plateau were greasy, untrustworthy people, Trell was more like a warrior she’d expect to see in the southern provinces of Aeora. He was taller than her, with tanned skin, broad shoulders, and scruffy brown hair, with a thick, well-trimmed beard to match.

“I’m quite fine, thank you Trell.” Kei adjusted her hat to hide her sweat-covered face.

That voice chided her. You represent house Ameas. You must always appear in control.

“Would you happen to know how much longer until we reach the next town?” She asked.

“If we get good weather? A little over a week I’d reckon.” He grinned a friendly smile, and she declined her head appropriately in thanks. On the inside however, Kei was groaning. Another week of uncomfortable travel in the wilderness before she would get a break. The thought was not a pleasant one. It was supposed to be autumn, and it had been cooling for a while, but the spirits seemed to enjoy her suffering, as the last few days had been sweltering.

She glanced at Trell, making his way to the front of the caravan. He seemed so jovial as he interacted with the rest of the merchants in the chain. How could he remain so happy in this heat? The summer dress she wore was by no means cool, but compared to the jacket and trousers he was wearing over some leathers, she felt as though he should be scorching. And yet, he seemed just fine, sweating surely, but none discouraged by the beating of the sun, and he was walking.

Kei collected herself. She was a merchant of house Ameas, and second heir to the family. She had more self-discipline than this. She had volunteered for this trip, and she would see it through.

She tried to distract herself by glancing towards The Windfall Mountains, still visible even days away, their soaring peaks were truly astonishing, stretching up past even the clouds themselves. Even for all she’d seen since leaving Taravast and traveling Aeora in search of Pelior, the Windfalls were easily one of the most beautiful sights.

That at least was something to look forward to. She’d be taking a different route on the way back, which meant new sights and new cities to travel through. The grass sea in particular interested her, and would be the next major landmark they’d come across. They’d ascended The Northern Plateau from its eastern edge, following Pelior’s trail, and had bypassed the so-called “Titan’s Savannah” entirely.

Still, the plateau was something special all on its own. Her caravan had traveled for miles without a village, city, or notable landmark in sight, and there were more wind and light spirits than she’d ever seen in the east. Everything in Edria moved so fast, yet in this northern region—independent from the rest of the kingdoms—even the grass seemed slow, waving lazily in the constant light breeze which blew across the open plains.

It certainly wasn’t quite to Kei’s liking; she preferred the ever-present buzz of the city. Oddly, despite it being less natural, the sounds of the city made it feel so much more alive. In comparison, the silence of the plateau felt empty, and at night, when only the songs of the light spirits and crickets filled the air, she couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Thankfully, the chatter of the merchants usually provided some sort of background noise, such as now as they bantered back and forth up and down the caravan.

You should be joining them. Her brother’s voice whispered in her head, friendly and warm. Get out and make some friends, Kei, not just business partners.

He was probably right, but even among those in the caravan who had seen their seventeenth year, she just didn’t… fit in. To them, she was the noble mistress who had hired them for transport back to the grass sea, providing a golden opportunity for them to sell their goods in Precipice, the largest city in the region and a trade hub for the entire northwest part of the continent. A refined upper-class woman of Taravastian society who was leagues beyond their stations.

The irony in that idea almost made her laugh.

Of course, she still had one companion on this journey. Cidus had been employed by the Ameas family for years, since around the time her father had married her stepmother. And unlike most, he’d been kind to her in the few times they’d interacted in her youth. When her brother had insisted that she take one other person with her, there wasn’t really another choice, even if she didn’t know the man that well.

“Try not to fret over it too much Miss. Perhaps your brother will have figured something out in our absence. This journey of ours always was a long shot.” Cidus said from his seat next to her. The man was in his fifties, and though his hair had started to gray, he carried himself with the quiet confidence that younger men could never seem to grasp.

She winced. Despite his good intentions, the statement was a reminder of a painful truth.

Her brother had always been poised to take over the family in the future. But when the head of the family fell gravely ill, the transition happened sooner than expected. It shouldn’t have been a problem; both the family and the world would be better off without that kings-damned man who considered himself her “father”. But instead, it had proved a disaster that no one had expected.

In the weeks following the transition, more and more came to light about how their father had run the family’s financials into the ground, leaving them swamped with debt from both bribes and legitimate business deals. When it came out that he was sick, creditors had emerged from the cracks like rats, all trying to feast from the same carcass as her brother tried to fend them off. With the legitimate creditors came a flood of illegitimate ones, leaving yet another mess to sort through.

Amidst it all, their father had revealed a secret. He claimed that not only did he have a connection to an Aegis, Pelior, but that the man—one of the ten most powerful men in Taravast, if not Aeora—owed him a favor. While it was true that Pelior wasn’t part of a noble house, and didn’t own any large amounts of land, a single favor from an Aegis was like a gift from the five kings themselves. There was no doubt that if it was true, it would likely be a way out of their fate, if only they could collect.

But Pelior wasn’t in Taravast, and as far as they could tell, he hadn’t been for some time. Sitting and waiting for him to arrive back was out of the question, as no one knew how long it would be. Thus, someone had to be sent to track the man down.

Her brother had volunteered for the journey at first, but he was too valuable to leave Taravast for so long. Had he left, House Ameas would collapse before he could return, and it was a gamble in the first place. Still, with his transition still fresh, he had expressed uncertainty as to whom he could actually trust in giving the resources to make the trip. With limited people to support him, and those that could being indispensable, only one option had seemed clear to Kei. She would go, as one of the only trustworthy people the house could spare, taking only Cidus with her.

No one had really expected her to succeed—save perhaps her brother—in fact most believed the whole reason for the quest to be nothing more than the ravings of a dying man. She’d set out to prove all of them wrong, to help her brother for once, and prove her worth to the family.

Kei had failed.

Pelior had made his way all the way to the Great Northern Plateau, towards The Windfall Mountains, and then he had vanished, taking the hopes of House Ameas with him. Kei grit her teeth just thinking about it, still unsure why a man as important as Pelior would come to such a nowhere place to begin with.

Months upon months of searching had been useless, with not a clue or sign as to where he’d gone, and eventually she’d had to give up, rendering the entire thing a waste. After assuring everyone she’d succeed, she had nothing to show for it other than a few high-grade magic stones. She’d have been better off staying at home to support her brother in whatever way she could.

Kei steadied herself, letting out a deep breath. Cidus was right, it was possible Oliver had figured something else out in her absence. Her brother was a genius, skilled in diplomacy, commercial dealings, and even swordplay. He was the pride of the house, his only stain that he associated with a half-breed like Kei. If anyone could figure something out, it would be him. But still, just once, she wanted to be—

There was a commotion up from the front of the caravan. Indistinct, panicked voices reached her ears and Kei got down from her cart to see what it was about, lifting her dress to keep it free of dirt as she walked towards the source of the noise.

A lanky rider—one of the scouts for the train—was yelling at Trell and hurriedly pointing to the south “...riders, at least two dozen of them. I couldn’t get a good look, but they didn’t seem like merchants, sir.”

Trell cursed, “Relay this to the back, tell them to follow our new pace.” He began barking orders at the front row, and within moments the caravan had nearly doubled its pace.

Gone was the jovial caravan leader she’d known. Trell’s tone was commanding, leaving no room for argument. “I need everybody taking shifts, the Veldias highway should be about two day’s travel away, we’ll be going nonstop until then!”

Kei stood there, bewildered. After a moment he turned and addressed her as well. “And mistress?”

She straightened her back without thinking. “Yes sir?”

“Get back to your carriage, it’s going to be hell from here on out.”

“What’s going on?” Kei asked, trying to understand the sudden change in the atmosphere. “This caravan has several hunters, correct? What sort of spirit beast could be so dangerous all the way out here?”

Trell looked into Kei’s eyes, and then past them, as if he was looking through her, back the way they’d come. “Spirit beasts aren’t the most dangerous creature on this plateau Miss. Our hunters are trained to track, trap, or at least avoid the worst of them. The most dangerous game up here is other humans.”

Kei flinched.

“This is a big enough caravan that most would leave us alone, it just wouldn’t be worth the risk.” Trell grimaced, cracking his knuckles nervously. “That they’re actually following us can only mean one thing. They’re desperate.”

“Isn’t that good?” Kei asked, “If they’re low on supplies, they might not be able to chase us very far.”

“No, desperation is very bad for us. It means they’re not going to give up in search of easier prey, and since they don’t have to carry cargo, they’re much faster. They’ll chase us all the way to Cliffside if we don’t find a way to lose them.”

“Could we try fighting them off?”

Trell sighed, “Girly, the only fighters in this caravan are me and the hunters, and they’re trained to hunt spirit beasts, not duel men. That’s only a dozen of us, and at least two dozen of them. Even if we can scrounge up ten or so fighters from the rest of the train, fighting is going to be our last resort. Speaking of, can you fight?”

“I—” Kei stopped, realizing he wasn’t talking to her.

“I’ve been trained,” Cidus replied. “But I’ll be clear, my first priority will be ensuring the safety of the young mistress here.”

Trell grunted, eyes flicking to the sword at Cidus’ waist. “I can live with that.”

Kei’s hand clenched, but she restrained herself. Instead, she reached up to her collarbone and held the gold pendant that hung there, running her thumb over the smooth gold surface. It was one of the few nervous habits that she hadn’t been punished for.

“Head back to your cart mistress,” Trell said sharply. “I’m going to talk with your servant for a moment. Try not to worry too much, with any luck, we’ll beat them to the highway and join up with another group there.”

Another time, Kei may have reprimanded him for taking such a tone with her, but she simply nodded and obeyed. In a daze, she began to drift back towards her carriage. For the first time on this leg of the journey, she entered the enclosed, interior space, separating herself from the rest of the caravan. The cushioned seat felt hard as stone. Outside the window, the whole train had been spurred into action, with families and merchants rushing past, their expressions a mixture of worry and determination.

With any luck? She thought, laughing to herself. Yeah right.