Chapter 10: Avoiding Kaariai

The group’s first night travelling with Matias was magical and there was no mahee involved.

As soon as the sun was fully behind the horizon, Matias asked the others to stop and he started pulling his white fire flowers out of the back of the cart. It took him a bit of time but he had almost a dozen ready and stuck into the ground with wooden sticks. He did, however, ask them to wait until the sky was fully dark.

They did.

And it was worth it.

Using a flint stone, he lit a cord hanging from one of the tubular objects and then rushed a few steps away, pulling D’Argen back along with him.

When the string stopped smoking there was a sudden and bright flash and then immediately following a large explosion that made D’Argen reach for his bow and flinch away. Then the tubular object shot off into the sky with a sharp whistle. With how fast it was moving, D’Argen finally understood how the man used these as a weapon to defend himself and he was impressed.

But then it got even better.

Another explosion sounded loud in the sky above and suddenly the black emptiness was filled with bright lights, spanning out in all directions and sparkling as they danced before disappearing into nothing at all.

D’Argen was not the only one staring at it with wide eyes and an open mouth.

“Do it again,” he said without looking at Matias.

The man moved to another of the tubular objects and lit it the same as before.

The light and sound were easy to ignore this time as D’Argen followed the flying object with his eyes until it turned into another shower of sparks in the sky. Another explosion, another flower in the sky. Three, one right after the other, and they intersected and blended together. The next one did not turn into a flower in the sky but a bird. The next looked like a winged snake. The one after that turned into streaks that shot off in all directions before each streak blew up again and exploded into its own flower.

D’Argen had never seen anything like this before.

When the last of the white fire flowers faded from the sky, D’Argen found his eyes straying down to look at Matias. The man was grinning so wide that his eyes were barely slits. A glance around the others revealed that his three companions were as in awe as he was. Even the bandits were staring at the sky in wonder.

“It is a personal concoction,” Matias said, bringing D’Argen’s attention back to him. “I have smaller ones, less of a bang and more a show for the kids, and I’ve recently been experimenting with different colours but I can only get white and yellow so far. Orange is not too far off though and after that red, purple, blue, green… I could paint the sky in all the known colours within a few years! No, months! Weeks even. If I had the right equipment and…”

“Is this why you said Kaariai?” D’Argen asked and the man startled.

Lilian, knowing the question was addressed at them, walked up to D’Argen and nodded. They said, “he explained to me very briefly about what he was doing. If Master Upates does not know how to do this yet, he would be very impressed.”

“Impressed?” D’Argen scoffed out and turned to face his friend. “I honestly can’t decide if he’d be livid he didn’t come up with it first or truly impressed. Imagine that… a mortal outshining our head artificer.”

Lilian smirked and D’Argen could barely hold back his own smirk in response. If D’Argen was the one to bring this mortal to Kaariai, Upates would be furious. Now, all the runner had to decide was if pissing the master off would be more rewarding than making sure this knowledge could be shared and improved.

“Too bad a conference just passed,” Yaling said, moving to stand beside D’Argen. “This would have been quite a show. Could have even put the orgies to a stop.”

D’Argen once more scoffed but then nodded.

Matias did not use any more of his white fire flowers during their travels to the city of Kaariai, but he did spend one entire day talking Lilian’s ear off while explaining the chemicals involved in their creation and how he came about it. D’Argen only listened long enough to get confused.

The following day, D’Argen was the one to start the conversation and finally got on the original topic and the reason they went looking for Matias. The stories he told them that day made even the bandits shiver in fear. A demon made of smoke living in the mountains and moving as quietly as the air. Another demon that inspired three of his white fire demon displays with great wings and fire. “Wait until I get the red to represent fire, that would be amazing!” And yet another demon that slept under the long wide river that divided the main continent of Trace in two.

None of his stories had any facts or evidence behind them and though he said he had seen the flying fire demon with his own eyes, D’Argen had also seen the fire fields in the Rube Islands and the active volcano there.

They did, however, get a name. Sky Mountain.

And sending the merchant to Kaariai under Master Upates’ watchful eye would definitely put a stop to his stories. For a little while, at least.

On their fifth night, the bandits tried to escape but were stopped barely a step into their plan. Yaling’s citrus scent had been faint for the past few days but her mahee was constantly open to listen in on them. It was barely strong enough to scent in the air past the oranges Matias kept in his cart, so none of the mortals were affected by it.

“You can close it now,” D’Argen said when they reached the foothills of Kaariai mountain.

Yaling nodded, visibly tired from the extensive use of her mahee even though she had been eating and drinking more than usual to keep up her strength. A single night of full rest would get her back into regular shape though.

When they entered the first cavern leading to the city, D’Argen stopped the group.

“You go on ahead,” he said to the others. “Rest and recuperate. Make sure Matias meets with Upates personally. I’ll go—”

“No,” Lilian interrupted him before he could finish speaking. “Abbot can take Matias in, he is on the best terms with Upates, but you are not going to Sky Mountain alone.”

“What? No. I would never—”

“Do not lie to me,” Lilian interrupted once more.

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D’Argen growled out a soft curse. Sky Mountain was barely a day’s run for him alone. He could go, make sure there were no demons, and be back by the time everyone was settled and rested.

“I shouldn’t go in,” D’Argen finally said, latching onto that as an idea.

It was one that Lilian agreed with immediately.

“Look,” Abbot interjected and physically stepped between the two. “With that cart and the number of people we have, with the rope, and the roads… it would take us at least half a day to reach the city. Another half a day to figure out everything with them,” he pointed over his shoulder at the tied bandits, “and at least another day to get Master Upates out of his labs to meet with us personally.”

“And?”

“And… if you do not want to come into the city, why not you and Yaling camp out here? We take care of business, Yaling gets to rest the entire time, and you do not go off alone chasing demon stories.”

D’Argen hesitated because it sounded like a good plan. He looked at where Yaling was sitting on the cart’s bench with her eyes closed. “She could do with a proper bed and dinner.”

“She can also speak for herself,” Yaling muttered under her breath. “I am not that tired. We can even go to that deep pool you like, if you want.”

“I like?” D’Argen asked, his voice taking on a higher pitch to show his incredulity.

Yaling only smirked and D’Argen could not help but grin back in response. “Fine,” he agreed without further argument. “We meet back here?”

“Oh no,” Abbot immediately interjected. “We meet at that pool you like.”

D’Argen wanted to argue but held it back and nodded instead. A quick glance at Lilian revealed they were in agreement. Another glance at Yaling revealed she was already down from the cart with her large travel pack strapped to her shoulders.

“Take this…” Abbot said as he walked up to Yaling, opening up his own pack. It took him a few minutes to place some wrapped meat from their latest hunt a few days ago into Yaling’s pack.

D’Argen turned away in disgust. He was one of the very few Never Born that did not require food and drink to keep his body functioning properly. All he needed to consume was sound and though he enjoyed the occasional mug of mead, he despised eating or drinking anything else.

With a final parting, the cart disappeared out of the cavern along the main hall while D’Argen and Yaling split off through a smaller tunnel. The twists and turns, dips and climbs, slides and multiple forks only led them deeper and deeper underground.

D’Argen still remembered the first time he ran these tunnels, after they changed, but they still had to light a torch to guide them. They arrived at a small cavern, so deep underground that the weight of the mountain was almost palpable on their heads, and the steam of it immediately made their robes stick to their bodies.

When the light from their torch filled the small space, it reflected off a small pool of steaming water that covered most of the cavern floor. D’Argen put the torch down and propped it so it would not roll away, then turned to Yaling.

“Here, give me this and go on in.” D’Argen started unclasping her pack as he spoke.

Yaling did not argue with him at all and instead started disrobing completely. The only thing she left on her body was a worn cord from around her wrist. D’Argen focused on it when she twisted her long hair up into a bun. It was so frail and tender, it looked like it could rip at any moment. The cord used to be a beautifully crafted bracelet from a past lover, centuries ago. He was a mortal man who left Yaling when he started aging.

“Go on in,” D’Argen prompted once more.

Yaling nodded and without a word she slipped into the hot pool of water. The groan of pleasure she let out made D’Argen smile. He found the meat in her pack and though he was touching it through parchment paper, the feel of it was still disgusting.

While Yaling bathed and relaxed, D’Argen built up a small fire for them and then set one entire strip of meat over the flame to start cooking. The smell made him gag but he could bear with it for a day to make sure his friend was alright.

Prompting Yaling out of the pool took much longer than planned. He sat her down on the bedroll and then served her the meat, so burned it was almost charred. Yaling did not complain about the state of her dinner and D’Argen even decided to take a sip out of her wineskin for company before she finally passed out.

With only one way in and out of the cavern and the echoes that reverberated through the tunnels, D’Argen felt safe here. The fact that they were so close to one of the gods’ cities also helped him calm down. Once he cleaned up the remains of Yaling’s dinner, he finally disrobed and decided to enjoy the hot water of the natural underground spring himself.

Yaling woke up two more times to eat and bathe before they both heard footsteps down the tunnels. Abbot and Lilian entered the cavern just as Yaling licked the last of the meat juices from her fingers. She had cooked this one herself to ensure it was to her standards. She had eaten everything that Abbot left with her as D’Argen stared at her in horror. It was not his fault that he never took note of how much the others ate but he could have sworn that was an unnatural amount.

“All good?” he asked the two when they started disrobing as soon as they entered the cavern.

“All good,” Abbot replied with a grin. “Master Upates suspected you were involved, but when he saw the actual white fire flowers it was like he forgot you existed. And the others, all locked up awaiting proper trial. Matias and our testimonials are the only evidence, but I doubt Vagor would let them go anyway.”

“Vagor? She is there?” D’Argen asked in surprise. “I thought she returned to Evadia?”

“Oh, no. No, no. That was… pfft… forever ago. She came back to Kaariai maybe a century or two ago? Has been helping Upates with one of his projects. Anyway, are we ready to go?”

D’Argen shrugged the information away and only made a mental note to visit the city sometime soon to see Vagor and annoy Upates.

Yaling decided against joining them for another dip so D’Argen did instead. He enjoyed the hot water that relaxed his entire body and then dug deeper, soothing something inside him that he did not know needed soothing. Once they were all satisfied with their soak, they packed up and left.

Leaving the mountain chain that surrounded the city of Kaariai was a painful process with the use of his mahee, but it was still much faster than without. The road was full of narrow tunnels, tiny ledges, twisting roads, and innumerable caverns that even the most seasoned of travellers could get lost in. Once they were out of the mountains and into the open fields east of the wide river, D’Argen opened his mahee as wide as could while touching his three companions and he ran, leaving the stifling mountains and caves behind him and running towards a much taller peak.

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