Clatter, clatter, clatter…
Twenty kilometers from Sedona city, a knight order led by the foxkin Nancy and the bullkin Obi was escorting a merchant caravan toward the city.
"How much further?" Obi glanced at Nancy. They had been away from their own territory for a long time.
"We should be almost there," Nancy replied, one hand holding the reins while the other unfurled an abstract sheepskin map.
"I hope we make it by noon. We're almost out of wheat," Obi sighed. He pulled a waterskin from his saddle and tilted his head back to chug. Lately, he'd been surviving mostly on water to keep his stomach full.
"We should," Nancy said, though she sounded uncertain. This was her first time leading a long-distance expedition; usually, Lady Bella handled these things.
"Hey! Look at the sky!" Obi's eyes widened. He wiped the water from his chin with his wrist.
"The sky?" Nancy looked up, her pupils shrinking. "Are those... birdkin?"
High above, Rhea and nine other birdkin were towing hot air balloons. Because they were flying at a significant altitude, the people on the ground couldn't see them clearly, making it hard to be certain.
"Too far. I can't see them clearly, but that's a strange way to fly," Obi remarked, staring at the unusual aerial formation.
"I'm sure they're birdkin," Nancy said firmly. She had seen birdkin fly many times as a child, even if this specific formation was bizarre.
"You're that sure?"
"Woman's intuition," Nancy replied haughtily.
"..." Obi rolled his eyes, his ears twitching as he flicked the reins to pick up the pace.
"Obi, do you think Miss Ayesha will come back to the territory with us?" Nancy spurred her horse to catch up. "Lady Bella misses her dearly."
"Probably. Miss Ayesha has been gone for so long, she must miss Lady Bella too," Obi said hesitantly.
"I wonder how she's living. If she's being mistreated, I'll make sure that nobleman suffers for it," Nancy pouted. The straightforward Ayesha was beloved by everyone in Bella's group.
"Then we'll just conquer the city, loot it, and leave," Obi added, following her train of thought. He glanced back at the wagons. "Who knows if we'll even get a good price for these goods."
"Don't be reckless. Let's assess the situation first," Nancy cautioned. She was genuinely afraid Obi might do something stupid.
"I'm not an idiot," Obi grumbled. Bella wouldn't have put him in charge of a knight squad if he was.
*
After another two hours of marching, they hit a roadblock. A watchtower appeared ahead, flanked by chevaux de frise—slanted wooden barriers with sharpened spikes designed to stop a cavalry charge.
"Look, a checkpoint," Obi noted. The five-meter-tall wooden tower was clearly visible.
"That must be the Sedona city's perimeter," Nancy said grimly. "Be careful. Don't start a fight; we're here for business."
"I know," Obi nodded. He turned to the knights behind them. "Stay sharp and stay quiet! Anyone who ruins Lady Bella's business will have to answer to me—and I'll twist your head off myself!"
"Yes, sir!" The beastkin knights roared in unison.
Clatter, clatter...
"Halt! State your business!"
The soldiers at the checkpoint had spotted the three-to-four-hundred-strong beastkin unit long ago. They were on high alert, bows and crossbows raised. Atop the tower, a ballista was loaded with five spear-sized bolts, all aimed directly at the approaching knights.
"Stop!" Obi raised his hand. He gave Nancy a nod.
"Relax, it'll be fine. There are beastkin on their side too," Nancy noted. She dismounted and walked forward alone—a traditional gesture of goodwill.
"We are a merchant caravan! We mean no harm!" Nancy shouted as she stopped about fifteen meters from the barricade.
"Where do you hail from?" The captain of the guard asked sternly. Seeing such a large, armed group of beastkin, he had already dispatched a messenger to the city.
"We are from Lady Bella's territory in the Chaos Lands! We are acquaintances of Miss Ayesha!" Nancy called out.
"Miss Ayesha?" The captain frowned. "Do you have proof?"
"This is a letter for her from her sister," Nancy said, holding up a rolled sheepskin.
"Wait there. We need to verify this." The captain sent a soldier to retrieve the letter and ordered a rider to rush it back to the city immediately.
If they were just a small merchant group, he wouldn't be this strict. But this was a force of nearly four hundred, armed and mounted—a knight order in all but name.
"Very well," Nancy nodded and returned to her group.
"Well? Are they letting us through?" Obi asked. He glanced warily at the massive bolts on the tower. Can that thing actually fire those?
"They're verifying the letter first," Nancy said, letting out a small sigh of relief. The fact that they hadn't opened fire immediately was a good sign.
"Fine, we'll wait." Obi looked up at the tower again. "Look... there are beastkin and humans up there standing guard together. Does this nobleman really trust beastkin that much?"
"I don't know, but it's a nice sight, isn't it?" Nancy gestured toward the gate. There were about fifty guards, and roughly a dozen were beastkin.
This suggested that Lucas truly trusted them and gave them positions of responsibility. After all, a border checkpoint was a vital strategic point.
"I just hope it's not for show," Obi muttered. He had been burned by humans too many times to trust them easily.
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