Several days had passed since they parted ways with the Magus Orym Torfiel. The journey had been more peaceful than expected.
Radagad had first escorted them to a private stable a few miles from the wall, on the outskirts of a town called Noster. It was a lucrative location since soldiers on leave often went there to relax, as did the kingdom's couriers. This explained the many brothels and bars that littered the streets.
Ikaris and Ellie were finally able to appreciate the beauty of a real feudal city. Wood, stone and brick were the main materials, but the mastery of glass had not yet been achieved and the windows of the buildings were bare of panes.
The sewage system was also non-existent and the city was built around a river for this reason. The Noster River flowed through the city from east to west and the inhabitants dumped their chamber pots into it without qualms. To avoid any embarrassing misunderstandings, clean water was drawn from the east of the river upstream from the town before it was polluted by their waste.
Sadly, not everyone complied with these rules, and those who lived far from the river did not always have the inclination to make the trip with their chamber pots. The sidewalks were muddy and wet, and the smell of sweat, urine and dung made them nauseous as soon as they arrived.
After venturing out a few blocks, their group spotted a toothless old woman pouring the contents of her chamber pot out of the second floor window and it gave them a whole new perspective on the stench assaulting their nostrils. After that, Ikaris and the others had refused to walk the muddy sidewalks and had confined themselves to the main cobblestone streets.
As if to openly mock their sensibilities, Horny had taken a dump halfway to the stable, staining the mostly clean path with a huge dung. The act had been as natural as breathing and he hadn't even slowed down.
Soon after, a passerby had tripped over it with his half-drunk girlfriend hanging on his arm. Ikaris and the others had drawn a deep breath and immediately quickened their pace without looking back.
"Radagad, how do you judge the sanitation of this city compared to the capital of Hadrakin?" Ellie had asked curiously as they halted in front of the stable.
"Uh? I've seen worse." The Ranger had yawned indifferently. He was so used to this kind of sight that even the stench didn't bother him anymore. "Anor is a capital city with pristine white walls and this kind of stench is unimaginable. I hear Sorcerers use Cleaning Magic several times a day to make sure the city always stays spotless."
Radagad had then negotiated at length with the stable owner, a portly middle-class man with long sideburns. A moment later, he had come out peeved, his purse much lighter.
The veteran had then taken them to their next means of transport. What a surprise it had been when they learned that they would not be spending the next few days on horseback.
And here they were, sitting bored out of their minds several thousand meters above ground on the back of a Gryfal, some kind of two-headed eagle with the wingspan of a bomber plane. Far from being snug, its long brown feathers were as sharp as steel, and a special saddle with a sort of cabin larger than a carriage served as a temporary residence.
Leaning over the edge of the window to peek at the void below them, Toby grumbled in frustration.
" Jesus, how much longer are we going to glide? We've been in this box that' s barely roomier than my old crapper for days!"
The military man had woken up a few minutes after takeoff. His gripe was understandable. The cabin could be considered adequate for three or four people, but that was for a short flight and when the passengers were strictly human.
A Demonic Bison larger than a hippo was not supposed to fly on the back of a Gryfal...
"Shut up and stop whining." Ikaris retorted tersely, keeping his eyes closed in a meditative posture. "Don't forget that you owe Horny your life. I would rather have left you behind than him."
"Mooo." Horny nodded his agreement in a distinguished manner.
"Oh god, fuck me. This name I cant..." Asselin cringed for the umpteenth time on the trip. "I can't figure out what was going through your mind Ikaris when you named him Horny..."
"For fun." The teenager replied laconically.
"Yaaay. So funny..." The aristocrat huffed as he looked out the window as well.
"How long until we get there, Mister Radagad?" Ellie asked in a shy fawning voice as she nervously fidgeted with her blonde curls.
The taciturn ranger softened when the cute, always anxious student addressed him. Malia ogled the female Otherworlder uncannily, wondering what was so special about her that the warrior would treat her differently.
If Ikaris could hear her, he would have simply replied with a fed-up face,
"She's cute. She doesn't look at everyone coldly like they killed her parents..."
The presence of the Vampire-Kitsune had made the trip stifling for everyone. Besides switching positions all the time, continually crossing and uncrossing her legs, she had this recurring habit of sharpening her sword with a whetstone whenever she got bored.
The narrow cabin did not help matters, making the flight especially unpleasant. For the same reason, Ikaris had not been able to practice magic as he wanted and had been focusing on his I Am Me Spell instead. It was a spell that did not require him to move.
After several days of travel, the lingering symptoms of his Crawling-Thrall Bloodline had significantly subsided and he felt like himself again after enduring a prolonged mental fog.
He had also been conversing with Magnus quite a bit telepathically and was now pretty clear on the different stages of Sorcerers. When he understood what it meant to be a Magus like Orym, he began to sweat with fear.
If the old man wanted them dead, none of them would have survived more than three seconds.
"To answer your question Ellie, we are almost there. We'll be there in less than an hour." Radagad replied kindly.
The faces of the other passengers brightened with happiness as they learned that their ordeal was about to end. The soldier finally seemed willing to talk, so Ellie fired another question after being prompted by an encouraging stare from Ikaris.
"Where are we now? Or rather where are we heading? We should have left Hadrakin long ago after flying for so long..."
Radagad stared at them alternately, then sighed when he saw them hanging onto his every word.
"I sometimes forget that with the exception of Asselin you are all uneducated savages..."
"Say that again!" Toby brayed at his wits' end, but a superhuman flick from the ranger nearly sent him careening over the edge, half knocking him out.
Ignoring the former military man clinging to the windowsill so he wouldn't pass out from his concussion, Radagad explained,
"We just entered the Styr Empire air space, a Rank 2 Empire. It is the closest nation to Hadrakin with a Transportation Portal. After landing at Chalkyrm, we'll use one to teleport to Tartarus Shade, the City State overseeing the Warring Lands. Once there, you will be on your own but I will stay with you until you have worked out where you intend to establish your Elsisn Stele."
The group of "savages" gaped. A teleport portal? What kind of crazy world had they fallen into?
On the one hand, the technology of the Forsaken Lands was woefully backward, hovering between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, and on the other hand there were crazy things like this Transportation Portal that far surpassed Earth's technology. Probably forever.
But as Ikaris thought about it, he realized that this wasn't the first time they had come across this kind of anachronism. The armor of Hadrakin's Body Sorcerers seemed to be forged from fine steel. Malia had her own iron sword and the Gryfal they were riding on moved faster than most airliners.
This world was backward, but magic was everywhere, making up for some of the backwardness and sometimes even doing much better than science in some areas. He was eager to discover what he would be able to accomplish if he brought his scientific background to this planet.
Magic and science were the king's way to change the world.
