Chapter 514: 515. Into Linatol

Having Dark in Dallion’s awakening realm turned out to be less chaotic than he feared. Now he finally understood what Nil must have gone through in the early days when Nox was young and overly active. Both creatures had the potential of massive destruction, and power to boot. Thankfully, the dragonlet preferred the company of beings his mental age and didn’t get involved in too much else. Also, Harp made sure to keep both the dragonlet and Onda in line. For some reason, the pair seemed to outright fear her and were sure to be at their best behavior when they were around. Just in case, Dallion had July tag along as a preventative measure.

Meanwhile, in the real world, the group kept on approaching the capital. Dallion was outright surprised that they hadn’t come across any standard or hunting patrol yet. Given the state of the world, he’d think that any travelers would be instantly checked out. After a while, he saw the reason why that wasn’t necessary.

“Get ready,” March said as they walked. “We’re close to a bastion. They’ll have questions for us.”

“Is that like Archduke’s guard towers?” Dallion asked.

“No,” March replied without looking back. “It’s not the Archduke’s.”

Bastion’s, as Nil explained, were imperial property. A mix between a small town, a fort, and a seven-story tower. Their goal was to protect the realm from any and all threats. Each province had between two and four of them, all at the Archduke’s disposal, should he need assistance. In truth, everyone knew that they were meant to serve as a reminder of what would happen if any of the provinces decided not to respect the emperor’s authority.

After an hour of walking, Dallion got a glimpse of his first bastion. In normal circumstances, the structure would have seemed quite impressive. It was definitely bigger than anything in Nerosal or any of the other towns or cities Dallion had been to. However, it was no match to the monstrosities he’d seen in the fallen south. Initially, the thought was amusing. Dallion joked about it to Nil, saying that they’ve nothing but a miniature copy of the real towers. However, as he got near, the amusement was replaced by concern. Size aside, the towers were an exact replica of what he had seen in the land of the Star-touched.

“No tricks, no music,” March said.

“I’ve been here before,” Eury said, annoyed to be spoken to as a child. “And Dal’s been in the wilderness enough to know better.”

“Let’s hope so.”

They walked directly towards the bastion. As they approached, three squads of twenty people each emerged from the tower’s entrance. All of them were imperial soldiers, likely heading on patrol. Two of the squads set off in different directions, while the third remained in front of the tower.

“Come along,” the sergeant of the third squad said, aware that his words would be heard by March and the rest.

Here we go again, Dallion thought. Lately, all this checking was getting on his nerves.

Upon coming ten feet from the squad, Dallion reached out to any item that would listen. March had told him not to use any music, but there was nothing about him obtaining information from their items. The majority of the new guardians didn’t respond. Their items were newly forged, and they had a strong bond with their current owners as well as a deep sense of duty. The heirlooms were a lot more civil, though still tight-lipped. Dallion got the usual comments that it’s been a while since they’d met an empath. A few even attempted to recruit him to the imperial guard, assuring him that one or other family would treat his candidacy seriously should he reach out to them. It was only the bastion guardian itself that told Dallion not to worry, in a voice that had seen it all.

“Heading towards the capital, ma’am?” the man asked in formal fashion.

“Guild business.” March took out a red seal of hardened wax and threw it at the sergeant. “We’re invited.”

The imperial grabbed hold of the seal. A few moments later, he tossed it back. Dallion could tell that he had ventured into the realm of the item to hear a detailed account of their circumstances. It was an elegant method, although Dallion wondered how one was sure that the echo in question belonged to the person it claimed to be. Most probably, there was some additional layer of security that dealt with that.

“Have a pleasant journey, ma’am,” the man said. “It’s all safe from here on.”

“Thank you, sergeant. Blessings of the Seven,” March said, then continued on her way, Eury and Dallion behind her.

He seems to like her a lot, Dallion said in his realm.

Imperials stick to each other in Wetie, Nil said. As far as most are concerned, she’s still a legionary.

There’s no ex-imperial and all that. What if the imperial in question was a traitor?

Dear boy, traitors never fall from grace. They die in the position they hold.

For some reason, that made Dallion think of his grandfather. All this time he had been convinced that the old man had done some unspeakable evil that had seen him de-levelled and banished to the Dherma village. The assumption was that he had broken a major taboo by creating a chainling. However, if Nil were to be believed, the action had to have been sanctioned. Also, why had Aspion been punished? Whatever the reason, it couldn’t have been for backing the wrong side.

“We wasted a day by coming through,” Eury said. “We could have gone directly.”

“When politics are involved, we need to enter the proper way. Now, the right people are expecting us.”

“The wrong people as well,” the gorgon countered.

“Yes, and they won’t dare try anything until we arrive.”

“Dal, anything on your end?”

“They seemed pleasant enough,” he replied, which was his way of saying that he hadn’t discovered anything by talking to the items. “I think we should be fine.”

The gorgon’s snakes moved about, indicating they weren’t the ones she was worried about.

Roughly an hour later, the city of Linatol was finally in view. Dallion had heard quite a few descriptions of the city itself. Until now, he imagined it to be a superior version of Nerosal: large, taller, likely with buildings made of materials that people only used in jewelry. He couldn’t have been more wrong. The city was indeed taller, larger, and more organized than Nerosal could ever be, but that was only part of it. Three massive platforms were placed one atop the other, the middle one so large that it could easily hold Countess Pricord’s palace. Flawless buildings of Roman-style architecture formed organized districts surrounded by picturesque forests, plains, and rivers that trickled down from one platform to another, giving a new meaning to the phrase “oasis in the wilderness.”

The hanging gardens of Babylon, Dallion thought. At least, they would have been if someone had heavily invested for a few hundred years to get them to the state of what he was looking at now. This looks nothing like all of the descriptions.

Archduke’s prerogative, Nil sighed. While normal cities do everything in their power to flaunt their opulence. The major capitals use their domain powers to obscure theirs. Only people who’ve already seen the capital get to remember it. Everyone else will see, or imagine, a vastly watered-down version. They call it the surprise factor.

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I can see why.

“What do you think?” Eury asked.

There were so many things that Dallion could have said and none of them would do the sigh justice. Possibly that was why, his subconscious went with the least significant aspect of the city.

“It has no walls,” he said, still unable to look away.

The comment put a sympathetic smile on the gorgon’s face. “You’ll never change.”

“There’s no need of walls if you’re strong enough,” March said. Unlike the other two, she wasn’t particularly pleased at the sight. Dallion could feel regret emanating from her with the intensity of a church bell.

“What’s that round it?” Dallion asked, noticing a semi-transparent membrane surrounding the city like a bubble.

“Something new,” March replied. “We’re invited, so it’s not our concern. Remember, we’re guests there, which means we must act as such.”

The warning was clear: they weren’t to cause any trouble and be careful in the way they addressed the locals, awakened or not.

“Will you be alright?” Dallion whispered to Eury.

“I’ve been here,” she replied calmly. “We’ll be fine. Just keep your pouch safe and don’t split unless you really have to.”

The closer they got to the city, the more defined the trade road leading in became. At one point dirt turned into pavement, leading the way to a large wall-less arch. Normally, that would have posed questions, but Dallion knew better than anyone that the wilderness disliked order. Making a paved road between cities would have cost more than was economically reasonable and add minimal benefits.

A dozen city guards, all of them dark-skinned, dressed in golden-purple uniforms stood at the archway. It was tempting to assume that they too were only for show, but Dallion could tell that they were double digits, possibly in the thirties.

“March Icepicker?” one of the guards shouted.

The woman stopped, turning towards him. Even as a guest, she had her pride.

“Welcome to Linatol, ma’am,” the guard quickly said. “If you’d wait here, you’ll be escorted into the city.”

“Thank you,” March said in an icy tone. “Anything we should be aware of?”

“You‘ll need the first mayor’s permission to bring that inside,” the man said, pointing at Dallion’s shoulder. “Creatures from the wilderness have to be registered in order to be able to enter.”

Ruby let out a deep sigh, although it was only audible to Dallion.

It’ll be fine, little guy, Dallion reassured him. I’ll try to find a way around this.

“I see.” March gave Dallion a glance. “Will that be difficult to get?”

“I cannot say, ma’am. You’ll have to ask your escort.”

“What’s that?” Dallion pointed at the membrane extending from the archway above the city. Normally, it was considered rude to point, but he had found that as a hunter, it was expected for him to be rough round the edges. Being a polite and proper hunter tended to confuse people way too much.

“That’s the barrier that protects the city from the plague. No food, seed, or person affected can pass through.”

I didn’t know that the Academy had a presence here, Dallion said.

The Academy has a presence in all major capitals of the empire, Nil replied. Usually just low-level mages. None of them have the skill to pull this off. The Archduke must have hired someone to keep the city safe until the plague is over.

Another powerful mage… That didn’t bode well. Dallion was going to have to be extra careful. His only hope was that the mage wasn’t any of the one’s he’d met before. If not, things would become a lot more complicated.

It took ten minutes for the group’s “escort” to arrive. Given the size of the city, that in itself was quite a feat, suggesting that the mission was considered rather important. Dallion expected a small squad of richly dressed servants to appear and lead them to the place they were supposed to go. To his astonishment, it turned out to be a pair of horseback riders.

Both riders were nobles, their levels way beyond forty. One of them, though, was someone Dallion knew from before.

“Dame Vesuvia?” he asked, breaking all etiquette. To everyone’s surprise, the woman smiled in return.

“I see that a few dozen levels haven’t been enough to polish your manners,” she said. “It’s been a while, Dal. I’m glad that you managed to make it this far.” She glanced at one of the guards. “We’ll take it from here.”

“Of course, dame.” The man stood to attention. “There’s only the matter of the shardfly belonging—”

“They’ve been invited by the Archduke’s household. Pets and items included.” Her tone hardened, indicating she didn’t appreciate being contradicted.

“Yes, dame! By the Seven, have a pleasant stay in Linatol.”

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