273: Granel
Something I hadn't planned for with Clacks, though I should have expected it, was that almost immediately after she ate, there was waste. It appeared to be contained in a sack, almost, which she promptly threw out of the nest. This was fine; it kept the nest clean.
The floor, however, not so much. Crisplet started getting into the habit of burning it away. The next unexpected event was Clacks didn’t sleep through the night like I did, and I was woken up to a sharp peck several times, followed by a soft chirp, until I provided food.
I wasn’t regretting my choice to save her, but it certainly wasn’t as easy as I thought.
When I woke up in the morning, I was still feeling very fatigued, and the others spotted it immediately, especially when I served everyone the most basic porridge and was half falling asleep while doing so, with Crisplet throwing the occasional piece of coal at me, and even removing the pot himself when I nearly burnt it.
“Long night, Trev?” Jen asked.
I didn’t even respond, just nodding.
“Well, you’ll be happy to know it’s an easy ride today. We hit the main road in an hour or so, and after that, it’s a smooth ride all the way to town,” Jen explained.
“I might need help feeding Clacks at night. I don’t think I can keep waking up like I did last night and function normally,” I muttered.
Jen just laughed. “Trev, it was one night. If it gets really bad, I’ll help, but this is actually good training.”
“Training?” I asked.
“Absolutely, you’re not always going to get a full night’s sleep, and if we ever venture somewhere dangerous, you might be awake most of the night and still need to put in a full day’s effort the next day. This is a good lesson that a full night’s sleep is not guaranteed for an adventurer,” Jen said.
“Is there anything I can do to help it at all then?” I looked up.
Jen shrugged, but it was Milo who joined in now, saying, “I find splashing my face with some cold water works.”
He then handed me a bowl full of water, and I did as he said, splashing it on my face, regretting it almost instantly, but it kind of worked?
As I was wiping off the water, I felt a warmer splash right on my cheek. Looking down, I saw Clacks in her nest next to me, looking up just in time to see a tiny ball of water form in front of her that flew into my face, hitting my other cheek.
“Wow, you can already use magic?” I asked, shocked.
Milo let out a snort. “Regular Bluetail, he says.”
I ignored it, just happy to see Clacks already learning. Crisplet was clearly happy as well, as he’d let off a big burst of sparks and all I could feel was a strong emotion of happiness and pride.
Clacks aimed the next tiny ball of water at Crisplet, but it just evaporated into a puff of steam before it got too close, earning several loud chirps from Clacks before she went back into the nest.
I couldn’t tell if she was happy or annoyed at that.
Turning to Milo, I asked, “Should we keep water near her? Would it help her grow?”
He shrugged. “Honestly, I’m not too sure. Normally, a creature won’t develop its magic until it starts hunting, and that’s either instinctual or taught by parents, though keeping water near her while travelling will be difficult.”
Gilain spoke up from the side of the room where he was eating his porridge,
“Am I the only one wondering what the air elemental creature is going to be?”
I just ignored the comment; it wasn’t like I intentionally collected a water bird.
Jen was right; it was only about an hour into travelling when our road merged into a large, smooth stone road that was curving off eastward.
Seeing my surprised look, Milo explained, “This is the road that goes from Elarith Vale to the port town on the east coast. Due to the amount of trade they do, the port town itself maintains this road.”
As we rode, I just admired how clear the dark forest side of the road was. There was a large area with nothing but grass and small rocks between the road and forest, clearly so you’d spot anything approaching. After only a short time riding the road, a small stream had come out of the dark forest itself and was running parallel to the road.
The other thing that stood out was the sheer amount of traffic on this road. Before now, we really hadn’t seen anyone between The Pinch and the road, but in the time spent on the road, we’d already passed several wagons, all appearing to be carrying food of sorts, which were heading the other way.
“Where are they taking all the food?” I asked.
“That port town runs constant boats to the capital; it’s the safest way to take it down there,” Jen said.
Internally, I did have to laugh, because every group that passed us going the other way gave us such a wide berth that they were practically going off the road to do so.
“Are we really so intimidating?” I asked. Lily wasn’t even with us right now.
Liane laughed. “Yes, very much so.”
Jen looked behind us. “I should let Hari know we’re creating a bit of traffic behind us though; no one wants to overtake.”
As I turned around, I saw far in the distance around six wagons all close together, slowly moving behind us.
Hari soon had us pulled over next to the stream, and I noticed we were quickly passed by close to ten wagons, all of which seemed to slow down ever so slightly to look at us before racing off.
Something I also noticed was every wagon seemed to have one or at most two guards; none of them had a team.
“What do they do if they get attacked by something large from the forest? Are they strong enough?” I asked Liane.
She shook her head. “No, they would be weaker than Hari. They run is the answer to your question though; then the guards from either the port town or Granel up ahead will be dispatched to recover what is left.”
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“They just abandon the wagons?” I asked, surprised.
“Of course, never risk your life over replaceable goods. Even if it’s your life savings, you can always earn it back as long as you draw breath,” Liane said.
Hari came back up. “We’re going to stop for lunch here and let everyone pass, so make yourselves comfortable for an hour. We’ll reach the town tonight still.”
Milo was already creating a super basic shelter. It didn’t even have walls, just some support pillars, a roof and a fire pit.
We were not even stopped for a few minutes before four guards on horses rode out to us.
“Everything okay?” the first one asked.
Hari nodded. “All good, just letting people pass.”
The guard almost seemed to freeze up when he caught a glance of Crisplet, then Gilain, forcefully pulling himself together, nodding, “I see, sorry to intrude, I’ll leave…”
He was interrupted by Lily appearing by the fire that Crisplet had just started, where she flopped to the ground. The appearance of her, or I guess her aura, which I couldn’t really feel at all anymore, caused him to just stare.
“We’re fine,” Hari said, seemingly snapping him back.
“Right, yes, I apologise, sorry, interrupting you,” the man blurted out. It made no sense, like words had failed him, but he quickly remounted and the group of four rode off north, much faster than they arrived.
I just shook my head. “They are going to go warn the town, aren’t they?”
Hari nodded. “They sure are.”
I really hoped they wouldn’t make a big deal out of things, but I wasn’t overly worried. This was another town that I had some sway over politically. It wasn’t directly on the dark forest, just sitting on the north-eastern corner of it, and the rules applied to them all the same.
Though, going by my discussions with Luis on the matter, this town avoided the forest, even having a wall set up between the town and forest that was watched permanently.
“I hope they are not as stupid as the others,” I said with a laugh.
Luis spoke up, “The Lord might not have sent a messenger out, but I can almost assure you that word spread from the inn full of people to this town already.”
I was distracted from the conversation by Crisplet, who was currently slowly making his way towards the edge of the stream, and it wasn’t until I actually paid attention that I saw Clacks hopping along the ground in front of him.
“Clacks! Be careful,” I said, quickly getting up, cutting off Luis.
After a quick apology, I raced after the two of them. I knew Crisplet would look after her, but I had no idea what Crisplet could do if she fell into the water, or if there was a predator of some sort in the water itself.
Surprisingly, Clacks actually stopped when I called out, as both she and Crisplet turned to look. Catching up, I spoke mainly to Crisplet, though it wasn’t lost on me that the little ball of fluff was staring at me.
“Be very careful of the water, Crisplet; we don’t know what’s in the stream,” I said.
I got a burst of sparks, and I watched as they moved closer again, not actually going to the water, keeping about a body’s length back, where the grassy ground became smooth rocks and sand.
I joined Crisplet in watching as Clacks scratched at the ground and seemed to find herself a bug, which was promptly eaten, much to Crisplet’s approval as he expressed joy and let off some sparks.
At this stage, Milo had moved towards us as well. “That advice is the same for you too, Trev.”
I saw not far up the stream a stone mesh appearing, essentially sectioning off this small part of the stream.
“Won’t that block up?” I asked, confused.
“Absolutely, it’ll only hold for a couple of minutes. This stream might not look very large, but there is a lot of water flowing through here, and it comes straight from springs in the dark forest,” Milo said.
Clacks and Crisplet had both moved closer to the water now, where Crisplet seemed to be inspecting the water itself.
“Thanks,” I muttered.
“Not at all. I’m happy that you recognised there was danger. A lot of people in your position with your gear become complacent and careless,” Milo explained, taking a seat on the sand.
I silently watched as Clacks scratched around in the sand, finding small bugs. She never did end up going to the water’s edge, which I was thankful for, but it also brought up an interesting question: could she already understand me? Or was it Crisplet who was able to convey the message to her?
The way she seemed to watch and listen had me unsure.
“Milo, what are the chances of Clacks understanding us?” I asked.
“It should be no chance, but it hasn’t escaped me that she seems to listen to you, though it’s also possible she’s just hearing your voice and inferring the tone,” Milo explained.
“We’re heading out!” Hari yelled from behind.
I collected Clacks in my hand, carrying her back to the nest where she sat puffed up, as Crisplet followed behind expressing joy.
Milo let the stone barriers he set up fade back to the earth as the stream returned to normal.
Back on the road, it wasn’t long before I noticed people trailing us again, though this time I was told we’d be going all the way to the town regardless.
It wasn’t far to go, only a couple of hours, but the entire time we travelled I was dreading our arrival. I really didn’t want to have to deal with another lord having a power trip at our expense; it was getting tiring having to deal with it.
Luis rode off as soon as we went back on the road, saying he was going on up ahead to find out what was happening, if anything. So at least if it was trouble, we’d probably get a heads-up on it.
I’d been noticing something growing in the distance that really caught my attention. It looked almost like an abnormally dark hill, or maybe it was a mountain? I wasn’t sure. It was odd because it stood alone with nothing else around it.
“What’s that hill in the distance?” I asked.
“That’s not a hill, Trev; that’s the temple of life, or rather the tree it’s housed in,” Liane said.
I looked at her, shocked, then to Jen, who nodded in confirmation.
“That’s a tree? Just how big is it if we can see it from here?” I asked.
“Easily the biggest in the kingdom, probably in the entire world, but it was said to be planted by the god of life an age ago, and it’s what makes the lands around here as fertile and prosperous as they are. It’s one of the main sources of mana in the world,” Jen explained.
I just stared at it, stunned. “We’ve got to be, what, two days away?”
“Three, maybe four,” Liane confirmed.
“Wait till you see it up close, Trev. The entire city of Elarith Vale is built against it, and you feel like an ant,” Jen laughed.
“What if someone damaged it? Or burnt it?” I asked.
This made Liane chuckle. “The bark is closer to stone, and the mana that flows through it makes it so no normal means could cut it even if they wanted to. Occasionally a branch will fall off from up top for whatever reason, but there are systems in place now to prevent death.”
“Incredible,” was all I could get out.
My mind had basically forgotten Granel until the gates came in view, as I was constantly staring into the horizon or feeding Clacks the entire time.
The good news, from what I could tell, was there was no crowd of guards waiting for us at the gate, and there didn’t seem to be a panic even with Lily trailing alongside me.
Even as we approached, I saw there were only three guards on the gate itself, and after a very brief discussion with Hari, we were waved through.
One of the guards did a double-take at Crisplet and Lily, but I saw he quickly faced forward when he noticed I was looking.
“That seemed easy,” I commented.
“Too easy. We get asked more questions than that even when travelling as an adventure party not on an escort. Tells me they know exactly who you are,” Jen said.
I shrugged. “As long as we don’t get harassed at the inn then.”
Feeling like I had spoken too soon, a well-dressed man came riding up alongside Hari, where they both stopped to talk for a moment, before Hari nodded and gestured in the opposite direction we were travelling, as I saw Milo dropping back down the caravan, eventually reaching us in the back.
“The Lord of the town has prepared a manor for us to stay in,” Milo said with a grin.
I was disappointed about not staying in the inn, but it would be rude to refuse hospitality.
Milo, however, carried on, “So the merchants and the wagons will stay there tonight, but Hari and I were thinking we should go to the inn anyway and have a drink and a meal. What do you say?”
“Sounds great!” I said, Crisplet letting off a burst of sparks next to me, and even Clacks let out a chirp, though I suspected she just wanted to join in.