Chapter 86: V2 Ten

Bundled up in a thick fur cloak, I gazed up at the towering statue of an armored man. Holding a shield and sword in a fighting stance, the gigantic statue stood over the mountain pass. The man was, according to Kip, one of the four heroes who’d given their lives to raise the barrier to protect Salvia. Each of the cities chose to pay tribute to their hero in different ways, but I suspected none were as grand as this. According to my teammates, when the weather was clear the statue could be seen for miles. A sight I wish I’d gotten to see, as heavy snowfall made it difficult to make out the detailing of the statue as we began the final leg of our journey into Airus. 

Bright lights glowed somewhere in the distance, shining through the flurry of falling snow like a beacon, promising warmth and shelter. As we drew closer to the lights, I breathed a sigh of relief at the knowledge that we’d soon be safely inside the mountain city of Airus. 

That relief was short-lived, as the wagon driven by Victoria came to a halt. Exchanging a confused glance with Rainy who sat beside me, I leapt down from the bench seat and ran up to the lead wagon where Victoria was climbing down.

“Is something wrong?” I queried, looking around at the steep sides of the mountain which shielded us on both sides. 

The only way for an attacker to approach would be from behind or in front, and Zosimos, who was flying circles above us, had not signaled any danger. 

“Nah, I’m just going to go knock some skulls together.” The red skinned Kijo grunted, her shields floating on either side of her body as she began striding determinedly down the snow covered road. 

As I went to follow our captain, Kip and Pia called me back with broad grins on their faces. Frowning at the pair, I looked worriedly back at Victoria who was almost out of sight. 

“What is going on?” I asked Kip, who was taking a silver coin from the Faun sitting beside him.

“Vicky spotted her brother's Hawk making a dive for Zosimos, if the bird is around, so are the boys. They’ll be hunkering down somewhere looking to ambush Vicky.” The Dwarf informed me gleefully, looking over at Rainy who’d come to find out what was happening. 

“Leafy, you want in? We’re betting on how many of the boys Vicky takes down before Roan steps in.” 

“Vicky's a lot stronger than before, so who's to say Roan will even be able to bring her down?” Rainy mused, tapping a finger on her bottom lip. “I’ll bet one silver Vicky is the victor.” 

“Victor Vicky,” Pia snickered, and I rolled my eyes at the Fauns' poor sense of humor. 

“How do they even know we are coming?” I asked, furrowing my brows. 

As far as I knew, no one was aware my team was heading for Airus, which was why I was carrying a bundle of letters intended for Noctus. According to Darius, Noctus was scheduled to be at the guildhall in Airus, with Bron at Caruan, and Yuki at the third hall that was located on the southern coast of Salvia. 

“No clue, but it was definitely Ethan's Hawk, he’s got an enchanted band around its legs that help it fly faster.” Kip commented, as he took Rainy’s bet that Victoria wouldn’t be beaten by her brothers. 

“How can you be sure it wasn’t some other Hawk with a leg band,” I demanded, not liking that we’d just let Victoria go off on her own to face a possibly unknown ambush. They didn’t let me go off alone, so why should it be any different for our captain? 

“Could be, but why would someone else’s Hawk be trying to circle us so close to Airus? We’re traveling under the Eternia banners, only an idiot would attack us so close to one of our guild halls.” The dwarf refuted, jabbing a finger at the maroon and gold banners that were displayed proudly on both wagons. 

The sound of a loud crash and shouting echoed back to us from somewhere ahead of where we’d stopped. Turning in the noise's direction, I searched the haze of snow for any signs of our captain, but saw nothing as the sounds of battle continued. Ears twitching, and twin tails swishing in wide arc’s I started forward in the direction Victoria went, but Rainy’s hand on my shoulder pulled me to a stop. 

“That shout was Daniel, it’s fine. Vicky can handle her brothers. Same as how you probably fight with Markion.” Rainy soothed, and I winced as the sounds of fighting grew louder. 

“Fight with Markion? You’re joking, right?” I scoffed, looking at the Dryad a little wide-eyed. “Have you seen my brother? He’s huge! The only time I’ve ever tried taking on my brother I was heat crazed, no one in their right mind would even attempt it.” 

“Yeah, but you’re his little sister, so he’d totally let you win.” Pia snickered, and I looked over at her with a scowl.

“I may be smaller, but I’m not his little sister. Marcus… I mean, Markion, is younger than me.” I corrected.

“I thought you were eighteen?” Pia asked, jumping down from where she sat on the wagon. 

“Yes.” I nodded in confirmation as Pia’s eyes went wide.

“And Commander Markion is younger than you? I figured he was like twenty or something.” The Faun exclaimed.

“No, he just turned eighteen a few weeks ago.” I informed them, though I could see how they’d made the mistake. 

It was pretty difficult to tell how old Markion was from looking at his bovine features, and it was probably surprising that he was in such a high ranked position. 

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Markion had been a member of the Eternal Brethren before that guild fell apart due to feuding between the guild leadership. Darius, as the co-leader of the Eternal Brethren, split off from the former guild, taking most of their crafters and lower ranked members to form Eternia. The other commanders all split off to form their own guilds as well, leaving the Eternal Brethren to crumble into a shadow of their former glory. 

When Darius departed the Eternal Brethren to form Eternia, my brother was one of the few knight ranked guild members to follow Darius. While the others followed a commander named Tao who formed his own guild called the Eternal Warriors, who didn’t end up being eternal at all. Markion’s choice to follow Darius more than paid off, as out of the guilds that formed during that split, only Eternia rose and only Eternia remained.  

“Wait, wait, wait… How can you both be eighteen?” Pia demanded, waving her hands in the air. 

“Pia, drop it, it’s not….” Rainy began, her expression becoming anxious as she looked at me.

“They’re twins, obviously.” Kip said matter-of-factly, cutting off Rainy’s attempt to divert the conversation.

“We’re half siblings. Marcus is my father's son with his mistress, who he brought home after my mother passed away.” I informed them, not bothering to hide the bitterness, and anger I still felt over my father's betrayal. 

The expressions on Kip, and Pia’s faces made it clear neither of them knew how to respond to that bit of information, while Rainy just looked concerned. She and Victoria were the only members of my team who knew the full story of how I’d ended up in Kaledon, and the details about my family. 

Victoria was informed of my circumstances when I’d first joined the team, and I’d personally told Rainy recently during our trip to Airus. Rainy was the one I spent the most time with, and I was more comfortable around her than the others. The Dryad never pushed me into conversations, and was content to give me space when I needed. Pia, and Kip on the other hand almost never stopped talking, and were mentally draining to be around. 

“It’s not something I like to talk about, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t bring it up.” I told the pair, who both nodded. 

Glad that they appeared to understand that the subject of my family wasn’t open to discussion, I turned away towards where the sounds of fighting appeared to be lessening. The subject of my family brought up emotions, and memories I’d rather forget. What was done, was done, there was no changing the past. That didn’t mean I felt any less betrayed or hurt by what occurred, but I would not let myself dwell on thoughts of them, lest they ruin my future any more than they already had. 

The sounds of battle faded, and we waited for several long moments before Kip suggested we start moving towards the city gates once more. 

“I reckon we’ll run into them sitting around up ahead.” The dwarf said as I moved around the wagons, checking to make sure the snow wasn’t built up around the wheels, and melting any that had. 

Once I finished melting the snow, I climbed onto the bench seat and waited for Rainy to clamber up beside me before flicking the reins for Arion to begin moving. 

The wagon in front of us was almost out of sight, only the lamp we’d hung from the rear of the other wagon was visible as snow continued to fall around us. 

We didn’t get far before the wagon ahead of us stopped once more, and the sound of voices could be heard from the front wagon. I was about to jump down from our own wagon, when the one in front began moving again. 

As we reached the area where Kip had brought the first wagon to a stop, I saw four Orcs laid out on the side of the road. Three of the Orcs looked to be knocked out, with their wrists and ankles bound behind their backs as they laid face down in the snow. The fourth Orc was awake, and wriggling around in the snow, trying to get himself free of the ropes. 

“That's the youngest four brothers,” Rainy informed me, her lips twitching as she waved at the one who was trying to get loose. “The one wriggling like a fish is Daniel, next to him is Ethan. On the other side of Dan are the twins, Jayden and Kayden.” 

“I thought there were six?” I asked, looking at the back of the lead wagon and trying to see if someone other than my team was seated at the front. 

There was barely enough room for Kip, Pia, and Victoria on the driver's seat, so I doubted they’d managed to squeeze two Orcs on there with them. So that left the question as to what the Kijo did with the remaining two brothers. 

“I’m guessing she either buried them in the snow, or they weren’t here.” 

As we continued on our way towards the lights that marked the entrance into Airus, Rainy spoke at length about the six brothers. The oldest of the siblings, Roan, was the captain of the team the brothers formed, and filled a frontline defensive fighter role. Victoria was the second oldest, and after her was Liam who used shamanistic magic. 

The twins were both ranged fighters, with the remaining two brothers favoring swords. All the brothers, with the exclusion of Liam, were part of the smithing profession, specializing in weaponry. While Liam chose to focus on his magic, crafting and selling shamanistic talismans. 

Rainy’s voice trailed off as the wagon in front of us once more came to a stop, though this time the reason was clear as in front of the wagon was a set of massive stone gates carved into the side of the snow covered mountain. The gates were closed, but I was able to see a smaller entrance that was just large enough that our wagons would be able to pass through directly in front of us. 

After a few moments, a guard walked past the front wagon and at his direction Rainy dismounted to open the rear door of the wagon to allow the guard to inspect the wagon interior. I waited impatiently as the guard finished his inspection of both wagons for any undeclared people, before he gave the signal that we were free to enter the city. Driving through the gates, I couldn’t contain my excitement, and awe at the sight that met my eyes as we finally entered the mountain city of Airus. 

Spoiler tab contains art, click at own risk, topless Kadia within. (This version of Kadia is Vol 8-9, so older then current Kadia.)