Chapter 90: Book 2-09.1: The Long Road

Yuriko held Fri’Avgi fondly in her room. She ran her fingers down the hilt and around the cross-guard while rubbing her thumb on the red gem. A small light seemed to flare from deep within the gem and she wouldn’t have noticed it if she wasn’t staring.

A sense of melancholy rose up within her. If she weren’t used to it, she would have thought that the emotion was hers but there was little doubt it was the artefact. That Fri’Avgi could feel and express emotion wasn’t something she should have been surprised about but she was. It was just hard to think that an inanimate object, a weapon, could have its own thoughts and preferences.

Of course, that Fri’Avgi waited in its tomb for centuries, despite the fact that many people must have tried to claim it, was proof otherwise.

Yuriko had woken up early today, and in a couple of hours, she and Kato would head to the station built in the Foreign District and take the Tram that would eventually bring them across the Zarek Mountains. She had to leave the artefact here, owing to the fact that its paperwork wasn’t complete. It wasn’t through any fault of her own, Marron had said. She had submitted the request, Marron had endorsed it, and even an officer of the Legion had done so. Yet the red tape was particularly thick.

She wouldn’t be surprised if the request hadn’t even gone through the initial review by the appropriate bureau. Oh, well.

She caressed Fri’Avgi another time, feeling her Animus pulse in turn. She sat in a meditative pose and envisioned her Facet. Since her coma, she had noticed some changes. For one thing, there was another pattern within her initial Facet. At the centre of the stylized sun, the shape of a sword could be seen within. It wasn’t inlaid but it somehow stood out amongst the other dim lines that crisscrossed her entire Heritage. Part of the hilt, the pommel stone that acted as a counterweight to the sword, was already lit. She merely had to continue tracing the pattern to inlay the entire thing.

It should have been simple. Except that simple things were the hardest. When she tried to push her Animus into the lines, it felt as if she was trying to cut down a tree with an axe made out of paper. Her blows broke down her tool and ultimately left the trunk unharmed.

She channelled her Animus into Fri’Avgi and felt the resonance of the artefact pulse into her Anima. After a few minutes, she broke out of her trance and carried the weapon, along with her luggage, downstairs. Marron had cooked them a quick breakfast of pancakes with honey. Kato, bleary-eyed, ate mechanically. Rami looked like he was sleep-eating. After she ate, Marron gave her a new side-blade as well as a spare. The Plasma Caster was an older model, a bit more sturdy but it outputted less power.

“Don’t break this one,” he said sternly.

“Yes,” Yuriko replied meekly. She placed Fri’Avgi into the case Marron brought a couple of nights ago, zipped it up and left it in the living room. “You sure you can carry this?”

Marron tried to lift one end of the bag and found that he could barely lift it. He growled and his eyes glowed. Purple lines of Animus appeared over his arms, shoulders, back, and legs, visible even through his clothing. Afterwards, he lifted Fri’Avgi easily enough.

“Yes.” He breathed heavily after he put the bag back down. “I can carry it.”

“Good job,” Yuriko said drily.

Marron rolled his eyes while Kato gave out a small chuckle. After breakfast, the four of them made their way to the waiting shed for the Circuit Tram. Marron carried Yuriko’s luggage bag while Kato carried his own. Yuriko’s backpack had her necessities, while her side-blades hung on her waist. She chose a fresh set of forceweave clothing, a white coat with golden trimmings, and a dark grey pair of slacks that tucked into her combat boots. The sun had barely risen when they arrived at the station.

Situated just past the bridge across the River Caradec, the Commuter Tram Station saw traffic only twice a day, just past dawn and near sunset. The first to see off the Tram heading to Rumiga City, and the second to receive one that came from there. The Tram would go through several villages on the way, dropping off mail and parcels, and receiving the same. The frequent stops for loading and unloading were the reason why it took nearly three days for the Tram to reach the other end of the line instead of just two.

Travelling privately wasn’t advised either. The Zarek Mountains wasn’t a tame territory. The pact with Avos Zarek only allowed passage, nothing more.

At the station, Yuriko found Braden and Orrin talking to an older, familiar-looking man--from the bank, she abruptly realized. ‘Must be their uncle.’ she thought.

Krystal, Mikel, and Heron were there to bid her farewell, though they would see each other again in a couple of weeks, she hoped.

“Take care, Yuri,” Krystal hugged her. “And don’t follow any strange men, or women, when you get there, you hear?”

Yuriko rolled her eyes. “I’m not a child, Krys.”

Krystal smirked. “You are in the strangest ways.”

“Whatever.”

Heron patted her shoulder awkwardly. “I wish I could have joined you, but Mum…well...”

“It’s fine, Heron. I guess I’ll see you when the term starts.”

“Earlier, I hope.” He fidgeted for a second before he handed over a small pouch. “For the road.”

“Oh, uh, thanks.”

“Take care, Yuri,” Mikel said after Heron moved away. “I thought he wanted to kiss you goodbye,” he added in a low voice, snickering.

Yuriko shrugged and gave Mikel a quick hug. “Take care of Krys, alright?”

“I will, don’t worry. See you in a couple of weeks. Good luck, and I’ll pray to the Ancestors and the Threads of Fate that you succeed.”

Her eldest and younger brother had already said their goodbyes, so they just gave her a hug. Rami practically clung to her though. Unlike her friends, these two wouldn’t go to Rumiga City and she wouldn’t see them again for half a year or more.

“We might come to the City if the license is approved,” Marron said easily.

Yuriko nodded and squeezed all the air out of her brother.

“Ancestors, Yuri, I’m not a stuffed cat toy,” he complained.

“All aboard!”

The conductor, a stocky man with greying hair, called out from near the Commuter Tram. The nameplate on his shirt read “Dagonov”. The landcraft was big, longer than the Troop Transporter and had little resemblance to the Circuit Tram. For one thing, the Commuter had a self-contained cabin with the windows made out of hardened crystal. The body was made of thick metal covered in runescript and on the roof were several solar panels. The front was flat, and the entry and exit doors were on the right side. There were a dozen wheels, as wide as she was tall, made of dark metal and similarly covered in glowing runescript. The wheels projected a small field, less than an inch thick, which cushioned the metal wheels against the road.

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Kato and Yuriko checked in their luggage, which was stowed behind the passenger cabin, and they boarded the Tram. Her Plasma Caster as well as Kato’s, were in the luggage compartment as they were only allowed side-arms, either blade or lancet.

A couple of familiar boys, Kale and Rorke, boarded the Tram in front of her. She nodded a greeting and both boys smiled back.

Kato was lingering at the station with Caera when the conductor called. He gave her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek before rushing up to the door. Yuriko gave her ticket to the conductor who clipped a piece of it off and gave it back to her.

The inside of the cabin had four seats to a row and about ten rows. There was ample legroom between the seats, Yuriko saw with relief. She took the window seat on the third row, right-hand side. The twins snagged the pair of seats across the aisle from her, with Braden taking the window seat. Kato sat firmly in his aisle seat and glared pointedly at the twins. Yuriko exchanged a glance with both Orrin and Braden then shrugged. The cabin was a nice comfortable temperature, not too hot or cold.

A few minutes later, the Tram pulled out of the station and chugged along. She waved at Rami and Marron, Krystal, Mikel, and Heron, until they were out of sight. In a matter of minutes, they had exited the town and the Tram sped up.

The Rumiga Road could easily fit in at least two of the Commuter Trams and she could see light haulers bringing in grain and produce from the surrounding farms. There was one with a passel of hogs for the slaughter which brought to mind Shillogu and his brood of wild pigs. These ones were definitely not related to the feisty Avos though, as they squeaked and oinked placidly in their cages.

The longstrides passed quickly as the sun rose above the mountains. Every couple of leagues alongside the road was a thirty pace high pole with a flat platform on top. She could see messenger cranes alight at the top, rest for a moment, before slingshotting on their way. Some followed the road and the trail of Beacons or peeled off to head to farmsteads. East of Faron’s Crossing, most farmers chose to live off the land, with the threat of Wyldlings nearly absent.

The even rhythm of the Tram’s engines, the swaying of the cabin as it navigated the softly curved road made her drowsy. That, coupled with her lack of sleep the night before, soon saw her resting her head on the windowpane and eyes slowly fluttering shut.

She woke up and napped intermittently for the next couple of hours until with a wide yawn, she jolted awake when Kato’s head bonked against hers when the Tram came to a halt. Blinking awake, she looked out the window into the village of Sonsa, where Calus, one of the boys who attended the training camp, had come from.

The conductor talked to his station counterpart and in the next half hour, several parcels were tucked into the cargo hold, along with a packet of letters too long to fit in a messenger crane. They left the sleepy little farming village soon after everything was loaded.

So far, the view from the window was mostly of freshly harvested wheat fields and haystacks. Some were vegetable fields, of lettuce, cabbages, and potatoes. She even saw an orchard of lavan berry bushes and her mouth watered at the sight of the green berries.

“Hrk, ugh. Are we there yet?” Orrin woke up with flailing arms.

“Far from it, kid,” Kato grunted. “You do realise that this will take three days, right?’

“Right, right. Just had a strange dream,” Orrin yawned but didn’t go back to sleep. Instead, he pulled out a leatherbound book from his bag and started reading. Braden turned over his side and continued snoring.

Finding herself restless, Yuriko stood up and headed to the lavatory at the back of the cabin. After she splashed a bit of water on her face she returned to the aisle but not to her seat. The cabin was mostly empty save for the few of them. Perhaps there were three other people Yuriko didn’t know and two of them had reclined seats with eyes covered with blindfolds, sleeping. The third was reading a book just like Orrin.

“How am I going to last all the way to the City?” she growled. She didn’t bring any books or any other form of entertainment. There was no way she would be allowed to practice her sword dances in the cramped quarters and it was too soon for her to go back to sleep.

She returned to her seat with a tired sigh. Maybe she should just meditate and explore her Heritage’s pattern? Even if she couldn’t advance her initial Facet, she could explore the other terminus points and see if she could inlay another Facet. Feeling encouraged, she leaned back and envisioned her Anima, fiddling with the pattern in her Anima and carefully spending her Animus.

Near midday, they stopped at another village, this one named Alta according to the station sign. Their stopping point was a rather modest affair but evidently the frequent stop for lunch break since there was a small canteen next to it.

Yuriko, her brother, and the twins had a light repast, mainly a slice of ham and cheese between two thick slabs of brown bread, no dressing. Light ale for Kato, while Yuriko stuck with water. Orrin sampled an ale but couldn’t take more than a couple of sips. He blanched and asked for water too. Braden, owing to his injuries, didn't even try the ale.

Later in the afternoon, Yuriko asked Orrin if he had another book she could borrow.

“Er, no sorry. But here, you can borrow this one,” Orrin blushed.

“Are you sure? Weren’t you reading this?”

“I got dizzy.”

“Ahh.”

The title was Essential Runescript for the Neophyte Scribe and it was as dry and dusty as it sounded. She barely managed to read through the preface before she nodded off, barely having the presence of mind to catch the volume before it slipped from her fingers. Red-faced, she returned it to Orrin who shrugged and said, “Keep it for now. It’s actually quite interesting after you get past the introduction.”

She barely made the attempt though, at least not now. Maybe tomorrow she’d be more motivated. Instead, she did some control exercises in an attempt to increase the number of Animus strands she could control. She was stuck at a firm seven: she only got away with eight strands by juggling control and using momentum.

Just like that, they passed by a couple more villages, Derrington and Nirham, before arriving at the small town of Horswick at the foot of the foothills of the Zarek Mountains. She stretched her arms and back as soon as she got out of the cabin, feeling the lovely breeze while staring nearly straight up at the mountain range.

The tallest peak of the Zarek was nearly a league above the ground, though thankfully, they wouldn’t ascend that high in this trek. The roads wound about and through a gap in the range, the highest point would be a couple of longstrides.

Horswick was a charming little town, with red brick houses and slate roof tiles. Herds of white-, black-, and brown-furred goats wandered freely amidst the roads and houses, their merry bleating echoing up the mountainside. The station was right next to the Travellers’ Inn and their accomodations were already part of the ticket price. Tomorrow, they would travel continuously across the range, arriving only at the opposite town of Misttyre by evening.

Just as they were about to enter the inn, the earth shook and she stumbled, barely able to stop herself from falling. Kato adjusted his footing easily but Orrin and Braden had to hang on to each other.

A few minutes later and the earth shake stopped. Yuriko and Kato exchanged glances.

“Well, that was ominous,” he said with a laugh.

“Just your imagination,” Yuriko scoffed, though a worm of worry spread in her guts. Or maybe she was just hungry. “Let’s go eat.”

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