They were a little slippery from the sea's waves beating against the rocks, though Athar was the only one who nearly lost his footing. "Careful now; wouldn't want you to slip and fall into the sea, would we?" one of the approaching dwarves asked in a thick accent. As I turned to look at the group that approached us, I was surprised to see that they weren't asshort as I had initially been led to believe.
For the most part, they were only about a head and a half shorter than I was, though the tallest of them, whom I pinned as being the most likely captain of their guard, stood nearly as tall as Ysevel. Their thick leather armor had fur poking out from behind multiple, strategically placed metal plates with traditional markings etched into every piece.
However, the one who spoke first wore a different attire altogether. It was a fine, turquoise robe laden with golden details and thick golden rings on each finger. His long beard, which nearly reached the apex of his obtuse stomach, was neatly braided and adorned with a single golden clasp to hold it all together.
As he continued approaching us, I could hardly see his bright blue eyes that hid behind the dark, bushy eyebrows.
"So, tell me: What brings you here?" he asked, gesturing to the rest of us. "Greetings, Mayor Lokren," my mother said as she stepped forward to present a balled fist that she pounded twice against her chestplate. "Oh, fuck me. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be back in your homeland, sipping on some tea you milked from a pine tree's teat?" he said gruffly, visibly annoyed by her mere presence.
"Trees don't have tits, though if they did, I'm sure more people would try and not chop them all down for fuel," she retorted quickly. "Bah, you know what I meant, elf," he waved a hand in front of him dismissively. "But go on, then, tell us why you're here," he continued, regarding the rest of us curiously for a moment.
"I'm here to see him, of course," she replied, taking a step toward Lokren, whose hidden eyes suddenly widened, prompting his guardsmen to close in around him with their shields that were nearly as tall as they were. "N-Now, now, Siraye. Let's not cause a scene here," Lokren raised his hands placatingly, prompting her to halt.
"Do you think I want to cause a scene? I'm just here to see him, though whether you help me willingly is entirely up to you," she said in a calm, even tone that would send chills down anyone's spine. The guards, I noticed, even shared a few glances as if unsure they would be enough to stop her if she did do something.
"I wasn't the one who blew a massive crater into sacred ground after your last fight here. We're grateful for what you did in saving Narin, sure, but we've also grown wary of your kind," he said shakily, causing my mother to click her tongue. "Then what do you want to do, Lokren? I don't have a lot of time, and I am going to see him, whether you take us there personally or not," she said, spreading her arms a little.
"You want me to be your escort? Hah! That's a good one, Siraye! Rich, even!" he said in blatant disbelief at her request, which my mother began to chuckle along with as well. "Want to know an even better one? I could put a crater twice the size right where your fancy building is if you keep this up, Lokren," she said between laughs, immediately causing him to halt and give her a questioning look to see if she meant it. "I'm not saying I will, but it is an option. You know me well enough for that," she shrugged.
"R-Right. Of course, you wouldn't do that," he chuckled nervously as he quietly signaled for his guardsmen to back away. "I'll take you there, just, uh, give me a moment to prepare the transport," he said with a false smile.
"See? That wasn't so hard to negotiate, was it?" she asked playfully. "N-Not at all! You were a little rude about it, but I'm glad we could come to an agreement, Siraye," he said shakily, pounding his fist against his chest twice the same way my mother had before quickly walking away.
"Remember how I said not to tell them you're an elf?" Damien whispered, leaning his face between Ysevel and I from just behind us. "Makes sense," Ysevel replied with a chuckle. "Just how sacred was that place, anyway?" I asked, but Damien scoffed through his nostrils and walked away without giving me an answer. Guess we'll just have to find out, Ysevel sent me with a knowing look.
Within a few minutes, I heard the sound of what I thought was a growling beast, but quickly discovered that it was another contraption the dwarves had come up with. It looked like a carriage, but it wasn't made of wood or drawn by horses. Instead, there was another glowing stone that radiated strong earth-attribute mana.
As Lokren approached us in the strange form of transport, I realized that the growling sound I'd heard was actually the earth beneath the metallic carriage shifting to provide movement. "Here we are," he said in a much more cheerful tone than he had initially approached us with. "Your, uh, companions can ride in the back, though I was instructed to keep a close eye on you, Siraye," he said with a grunt as he dismounted. "Yes!" I heard Athar's alternate voice hiss just beside me.
"That's fine by me. We do have a lot of catching up to do, and I'm sure the journey there will be the best time to do that," she said with a smile that sent shivers down his spine. "I-I'd love that. Please, allow me," he said nervously. Just before he stomped his foot, I could feel a surge of earth attribute mana being pushed into the floor to make a set of earthen steps for her to climb up.
Whether he could draw mana or it had something to do with those glowing stones, I couldn't tell in my state of amazement.
Is this where she learned that trick? I wondered, thinking back to the first time I'd seen her use the steps to attack me during a training session, though she'd adapted it into platforms she could move to without me being able to reach her. She looked over her shoulder and grinned at me before stepping up to the first available seat.
"I can't wait to ride this… thing!" Athar said excitedly, doing his utmost best to keep it under control. "I'm with Athar on this one. I've never seen anything like it," Irun chimed in with widened eyes as if Athar's excitement rubbed off on him. I smiled, knowing it was almost rare to see Irun excited about anything, but I didn't add much else to it.
I helped Ysevel onto the transport, but as soon as it was my turn to step up onto the small earthy platforms Lokren had created for us, I felt a gentle pulse of mana from somewhere just beyond the cliff's ridge.
"Did you feel that?" I whispered to the others, who were looking at me with concerned glances. "I did, but it was so faint, I thought it was the wind," Ysevel noted as I took the seat beside her. It could have been another portal, Kalia sent with a worried sensation. It's pretty likely, but we would have heard another blast, right? I asked, but she shook her head to let me know she didn't seem to know the answer either.
When she did so, I could feel the gentle acceleration of the transport and the less-gentle rumbling of the earth-moved mana beneath us. "Well, whatever it was, I think we'll find out soon enough," Irun said, but something was going on with Athar that I couldn't quite identify at that moment.
We continued in silence, though it was only a better part of an hour later that we felt a much stronger pulse. "Fuck me, there it is again," Irun said as he pushed open one of the square windows along the walls of the transport to look out of. "That one was much stronger than the last. Probably means we're getting closer to whatever's causing it," I added, opening the window just behind my head as well, though I was only met with the cliff face.
"I didn't like the feeling of that at all. Whatever it was, I was instantly reminded of Pyrdredd, though," Athar shuddered as his eyes widened. I'd only ever seen him fearful of a few things since meeting him, but this was the first time I'd ever actually seen him genuinely uncomfortable.
As I digested his words, I noticed his fingers were flexing back and forth across his skin, as if his alternate was trying to get away from whatever it was that caused it. "It's alright, Athar. We're right here with you," Ysevel said, putting a hand on his to prevent him from scratching himself a new wound. Devyr put a hand on his, as well, and gave him a wordless nod of reassurance.
"Don't go freaking out on us again, alright?" Irun said hushedly, but in a tone that suggested he knew how to handle whatever was trying to get out. "You've seen this before?" Ysevel asked for the rest of us. "Yeah. Scared the shit out of me the first time, too. He went missing for a few days in Valdis, and I had to go find him," Irun said, putting a hand on Athar's shoulder firmly.
As Athar looked at Irun's warm, yet knowing, smile, his trembling and scratching began to slow to a halt. "I'm fine. I'm alright," he said softly with a few rapid nods and a shake of his head. I noticed he'd swallowed dryly, likely trying to hold back whatever threatened to exit his stomach.
By this point, I hadn't even noticed that the metal carriage had begun moving, and that we were nearly to the top of the steep mountain that overlooked the docks. "How fast does this thing even go?" I asked, leaning over to Lokren and my mother, who hadn't noticed Athar freaking out. "We should reach Narin by noon, if all goes smoothly," he said, muttering the last few words out of the corner of his mouth.
"What do you mean if it goes smoothly?" I raised an eyebrow. He and my mother exchanged a glance momentarily before he finally gave a relenting sigh. "We've had strange creatures roaming about the last few weeks, though no one seems to know where they come from," Lokren said with a shake of his head, but I could already feel Kalia, Ysevel, and Mom's reaction to it seeping through our connection.
Before anyone could answer, however, there was another pulse that passed through us. "W-What was that?" Lokren asked, though we all knew this one was much stronger than the last, if even he noticed it. "Lokren, I need you to get us over this mountain. I think whatever's causing it is just on the other side," Mom said with a stern glare.
"You're not going to blow another crater in the ground, are you?" he asked nervously. "I'll tear down entire mountainsides if I have to, though I'd rather see what's happening first so I can get a better idea of what's going on. Thoma, let the others know," she motioned to me before turning to look ahead. I could feel the mana in her eyes grow more intense as she enhanced her vision, but I did as instructed.
"Get ready for another fight, though I suspect Kalia won't be able to do this one on her own," I said, giving her a knowing nod. I could, you know. If those are more members of the Grayeater clan, I'll be sure to do my part to eliminate them, she sent back with a wolfish grin in her tone. "Athar, are you going to be alright?" I asked, noticing Devyr was still sitting right next to him and making sure he wasn't scratching at himself.
"Y-Yeah, I'll be fine. I just… tough memories, you know?" he said with a weak chuckle. "Hey, those are all in the past now. Shit happens, but the members of Nightfall's Blade always get back up on their feet, right?" I said with a grin as he looked into my eyes. He gave me a nod of understanding and clapped both his hands against his cheeks as if to wake himself up from a long nap.
"You're right, Thoma. Time to pull my head out of my ass," his alternate voice came through, letting me know that they were finally in agreement with one another. "Then let's get to work. Whatever it is should be just over the pass. Irun, I'll need you to stick with Athar just in case," I said, getting a nod of understanding from him.
"Devyr, Kalia. Since you two have more experience with them, give us a quick overview of what we're getting into," I said, knowing they weren't going to say anything verbally that would ruin their disguise. Ysevel and I both felt a strong pulse coming from Kalia, though there were memories within that belonged to Devyr.
Is that a hegraphene thing like what you had with Lord Gravar? I asked loosely. Yes. In fact, family members can share specific insights at a much faster pace since we're blood-related, Kalia sent back with a sense of pride.
Glad to have her with us, then, I gave Devyr a knowing nod that she returned promptly before turning back toward the front of the carriage to see what was coming. We'd already reached the top of the pass and were now overlooking the vastness of the Gramm Isles.