Chapter 476: 477. South of the Empire

Leaving the city was always a joy. There was a time when Dallion could barely endure walking through the wilderness—scorching hot in the day, freezing cold at night, and his feet hurt no matter how many times he had improved his shoes. Of course, back then Dallion was barely a full awakened with big dreams of adventure and a traveler’s emblem given to him by a distant relative. He knew nothing about the world other than stories and rumors that had made their way to the small village of Dherma. How different things were now…

Dallion was no longer bothered by the harsh conditions, but rather come to enjoy them. As much as settlements provided shelter and comfort, they also distorted reality. Everything was changed based on the whims of the ruling nobles. Sometimes that involved nothing more than the certainty that no creator would threaten anyone within the domain, that the crops would grow, and the weather would always be as pleasant as possible. On other occasions, the local noble would flood the minds of all subjects with echoes subtly guiding their way of thoughts. For the most part, the empire frowned upon those practices, but there was no telling for how long that would last. And Dallion had personally witnessed rulers of neighboring kingdoms that had no qualms whatsoever on the matter.

Dal, Nil began in a stern voice. I know this was a big decision on your part, but did you have to take all of the creatures with you?

They’ll be miserable locked up in Nerosal. Besides, with the festival a few months away, Eury can’t take care of all of them.

She could have petrified them for a few months, the echo grumbled.

The cold logic coming from Nil made Dallion laugh. He could tell that the echo wasn’t as coldhearted as pretended to be, at the same time, he was clearly worried. If Dallion had to guess, the reason had to do with the Academy. Although Nil denied it, it was pretty much a given that he was involved in with it in some way, almost certain he had been a mage himself. Then again, he did have a point. Walking about the wilderness surrounded by a few dozen creatures tended to attract a bit too much attention. Dallion’s hope was that no one would be interested in what was happening so far south.

Guys, scatter about, Dallion said. We don’t need to be clustered in so much.

On cue, the shadflies fluttered off in all directions. Shortly after, they were followed by the rest of the creatures. Of course, there was one that remained nearby, floating above Dallion’s left shoulder.

Ruby… Dallion sighed. It was always the pesky ones he had issues with. Gleam, can you do anything about that?

There’s nothing wrong with the kid, Gleam replied. Leave her be.

Since the guardian was a shardfly, Dallion could understand the closeness. Though it seemed that Ruby had risen to the level of protégé at some point. There was no telling exactly when that had happened, but if someone could manage it, it was definitely Ruby.

Since there was nothing to be done, Dallion walked on.

The journey to Dherma was usually two to three weeks. However, at Dallion’s current level he could reach it in half that. At one point, he had considered even sprinting there, to reduce the time even more, but Nil had successfully convinced him not to. There was no telling what he could stumble on, on the way. It was during the trip back that he could run if needed. At least then, he knew there would be food and safety waiting for him at the end of the sprint.

The first day passed without anything out of the ordinary. The second, however, a clumsy attempt of an ambush was made by a back of wilderness wolves. Dallion had sensed the creatures, not even considered monsters of the wilderness, miles away, but never expected them to do anything. It wasn’t rare for predators, alone or in groups, to keep an eye on travelers from a distance, before moving away. Normally, they knew better than to attack something clearly stronger, but this time they did. As a result, most of them had ended up dead long before they could even approach Dallion, all sliced to shreds by the shardflies.

Curious and concerned, Dallion went to the nearest wolf corpse and bent down.

That was rather unusual behavior, Nil said. Being more an academic, he knew little of practical hunting, but as Dallion’s echo even he could tell when something odd happened.

“They were starving,” Dallion said. “Probably hadn’t eaten in weeks. If they didn’t get something from me, they’d have died soon enough, anyway.”

Starving this far south? Nil asked. The plague wasn’t supposed to have reached here.

“It hasn’t.”

In that case, why are they starving?

“That’s a very good question.”

Using his zoology skills, Dallion cut in the warm remains. He no longer felt disgust in doing so, although notes of sadness echoed throughout him. As much as he didn’t creatures to die, he also knew that in the wilderness often only one side could survive.

All of the internal organs seemed to be fine, apart from the obvious effects of malnourishment. Water didn’t seem to be an issue, which made things even stranger. In the wilderness where there was water there was prey. The wolves had clearly access to water, in large quantities, but it seemed no other creatures had. Or rather, no other creatures they could prey on.

Does anyone have any ideas? Dallion asked within his realm.

Migration patterns, Vihrogon replied. The wolves aren’t from here. They aren’t even used to this environment. They’ve completely incapable of functioning this far south. The heat must have made them weak, not the lack of prey.

That made sense. The creatures had probably spent most of their time trying to stay cool and close to a water source, hoping something would come to them. That’s why they had attacked Dallion so early in the morning: the night had been spent in evaluating his strength. When dawn had come, marking the point of no return, they had decided to roll the dice.

That was unfortunate, and also alarming. The plague was proving to be more devastating by the day in a slow, subtle kind of way.

The next few hours Dallion spent skinning, declawing, and burying the animals. None of their meat seemed particularly good for eating, but the rest was useful, so as any professional hunter, Dallion took it. As Eury like to say, hunters weren’t allowed to kill creatures that they weren’t paid to. There were only three exceptions: food, dead, and creatures who attacked first. As such, the wolf furs were fair game.

I thought you didn’t have time for that, Nil said. They won’t fetch much at all.

Probably not, but we might need them further on.

Shortly after noon, Dallion was back on his way. If there were any other packs nearby, they didn’t show themselves, for the next few days Dallion didn’t sense any creatures at all.

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On the fifth day, Dallion thought he sensed the presence of something, but whatever it was, the creature was smart enough to run away before Dallion or any of the creatures with him got close. It was also at that point that he changed direction, heading to the southeast.

Concerns? Nil asked.

Not particularly, Dallion, replied thinking nothing of the question.

I might not be the hunter you are, dear boy. However, even I could tell that you’re no longer going towards Dherma.

Astute observation, Dallion replied, although he did find it interesting that Nil was able to tell only after a few minutes. I’m not heading to the village. Imagine the chaos it will cause going there with so many creatures from the wilderness?

In that case, where are you going? I thought you knew where you’d find—

You’ll see. I never intended to go to the village. There’s another place I must visit. Besides, these guys will find a great home along the way.

The further Dallion went south, the more the terrain changed. The patch of rocky dried-up steppes gave way to rough, though grassy terrain, and abundant vegetation. Trees remained scarce, though.

The dust lynx was the first creature to set off on its own. Finding the area appropriate, it returned to Dallion for one final acknowledgement of his help, then rushed off, leaving clouds of dust behind. Dallion would have preferred if the creature had stayed one more day, but this area was also well suited for it. There weren’t too many settlements nearby, and the creature had been taught the importance of keeping its distance from people and their livestock.

Two days later, the moonlight pups and the water snake followed. The snake had apparently found a mate in the form of an underground stream—which any good hunter would tell that was a resting spring snake—and joined it beneath the ground. As for the moon puppies, the white moon had taken a liking to them, shining a path for them to follow during the night. That left only the flying creatures.

On the tenth day since leaving Nerosal, Dallion decided to get some proper sleep. Nil, along with several others in the awakening realm, were against the idea, but Dallion ignored them. Leaving Gleam and Lux to guard him, he lay on the wolf skins, and slept till morning. Surprisingly, no dreams came to him that night. It was almost as if he closed his eyes, then opened them again nine hours later.

You’re up! You’re up! Lux flew about, moving the kaleidervisto artifact that he was guardian of. In the real world, he practically had the appearance of a miniature spyglass with the power to see echoes within items, as well as reveal chainlings masquerading as people.

“Yes, I’m up.” Dallion burst into a dozen instances to look around. As far as he could tell nothing of particular interest had happened. Rather, almost nothing. While there was a cluster of ruby winged shardflies on top of his backpack, there was no sign of the sapphire birds. “I take it they found their home?”

Who knows, Gleam replied in her typical disinterested fashion. I warned them what would happen if they mess up, but they’ve always been flakey.

That only leaves the shardflies and the eggs, Dallion thought. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea taking the eggs along, but he preferred not to leave them in Nerosal much longer. The more attached they became to their surroundings, even before hatching, the more difficult it would be to make them leave afterwards.

“Anything else I should know about?” Dallion stood up, then started gathering the wolf skins.

No, the whip blade replied, floating into its sheath. We’re good to go.

A few minutes later, they did. Half a day Dallion walked without a word. The wilderness had changed once more, though this time into something that seemed vaguely familiar.

It’s here, isn’t it? Gen asked. He was Dallion’s first echo, and as such, knew his way of thinking best.

Maybe you should elaborate a bit? Nil asked, annoyed to be out of the loop.

“This is close to where I faced my first chainling,” Dallion kept walking. “Back when I was made to join the hunt under Dame Vesuvia.”

That happened here? Interesting. And you’re thinking that the chainling has something to do with the dragonlet?

“Not the dragon. While chasing the creature, we came upon the remains of a caravan. Back then, no one had any idea what they would be doing traveling so far south. Some said that it could be contraband, or dealings with cultists. Those were no cultists, though. And neither were they a simple caravan. They were part of the Academy.”

That is a bit of a stretch, dear boy. Granted that the Academy likes to explore unexplored places, but you can’t just assume that—

“The chainling had learned how to make items and objects explode on touch. Back then, I thought that was normal for such a creature, but I’ve learned a thing or two about chainlings since then. The way they attack doesn’t involve fire, unless they have taken that power from someone who could use it. And there aren’t too many of those.”

It’s still a stretch. Please tell me you haven’t based everything on a hunch.

“I have, but not on my understanding of events. The Moon knew everything I’d done when he made the request. This was the only time I’d ventured into the wilderness before heading to Nerosal, and the first time I’d seen actual magic.”

There was a moment of silence. Without a doubt the logic was flawed, but when it came to Moons, all bets were off. If the task given was within Dallion’s means to achieve, this might well be the answer to the unspoken question.

Assuming you’re right, do you think it’s wise to head to a place where the Academy has failed to reach? Nil asked. We’re not talking about a measly caravan here. If the Academy was interested, they would have sent more. The fact that there’s been no update in your magnificent bestiary indicates that they still haven’t found a thing. Do you think you can do better?

“I just have faith that Felygn gave me a task I have a chance of completing.”

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