12th month, 18th day, 967

  Victor

  When the morning came, I assisted the town guard in figuring out where the unexpected orc attack had come from with my modest tracking skills. What we discovered over the course of our investigation was that they'd come down from the mountains - they must have had a stronghold in the caves somewhere below. Now that I thought about it, Haroldhill was on the opposite side of this mountain range and there'd been orc sightings near it. This was the first time in the town's history that it had come under orc attack and they'd been unprepared. The baron in charge of Gandore's Gorge thanked us for our efforts and, since we were going that way anyway, gave us two letters: one to the king of Andalon warning him about a potential orc stronghold in the mountains, and one to the adventurer's guild requesting support.

  Selafyn and his mom came to see us off - and they brought hot biscuits for the road. Damn, what a nice old lady. Hugs were exchanged and we made it a point of giving them one of our transmission scrolls - if there was an emergency we weren't taking any chances. As we drove away, southbound, I watched their waving forms get smaller and smaller through the rearview mirror. Then they disappeared entirely. Illiana, who had been waving at them through the back window, sank into her seat and sighed.

  "What's the matter?" I asked.

  "Selafyn," she said, "He was torn between two choices: to remain here with his mother and protect the town, or to continue adventuring to fight the Black Order. Can you believe it, he actually asked me to help him decide. I found out something, Sir Victor. This lifesense of mine has a disadvantage. I can see something I wish I were blind to: that woman isn't long for this world. I can tell that her lifespan is reaching its natural conclusion. It may be a few months, or it may be a year, but it is close. I told him to stay with her and let us handle the Black Order if it strikes before she passes…I hope I made the right decision."

  I pulled her in and started rubbing her upper arm, easily maintaining control of the vehicle one-handed. "You followed your heart and that ain't ever led us astray. I'm sure Miss Blade will appreciate it, too. As for protectin’ the town, once we get the town some reinforcements we can grab Selafyn when he’s ready to mosey."

  "Yeah," she squeezed me tighter, "So, where to next?"

  "According to Selafyn's recommendations, there's a rock formation southwest of here that's supposed to be somethin' to behold.."

  Illiana nodded, or was she aggressively nuzzling me? Both? Both. Both is good.

  "The Twin Spires," she said. "I know of them, and their history, though I've never seen them myself. Yes, seeing some beautiful scenery should do us both well after last night."

  "Seriously, damn orcs interrupting our date trip like that - rude!"

  She giggled, "You certainly have a knack for understatements, darling."

  That, I couldn't deny. We followed Selafyn's directions southwest, through a gap between mountains where we started to climb up from the lowlands we'd just left. There was quite a bit of snow around us, actually, and we stopped several times to check out the view - snowcapped peaks lined with pine trees and little frozen rivers. It took us a couple of hours to reach the first major stop on our little trip. Selafyn had told us these things were so big that it was best to view them from a specific overlook marked by signs. There was a town at the base of one of the mountains; Dragonsend. A local was kind enough to show us which way to go.

  The trail was actually pretty narrow so we parked the car and hiked all the way up - with terra-levigo on our boots plus one other thing I’d been meaning to try. Despite wearing a cloak and duster respectively it was still rather nippy so now was the perfect opportunity.

  “Illiana,” I said, “Do you recall what I suspected about your water magic and the mechanism by which you heat up the water you create?”

  She nodded, “Aye, you said that water is actually made out of components known as molecules, too small for even elf eyes to see, and that the spell was acting upon the molecules to speed them up thereby causing the temperature to rise.”

  “That’s right. Now listen closely because I’m about to blow your mind with another science fact,” I took a deep breath and said, “Air is made of molecules too.”

  She gasped, eyes wide - oh yes, she clearly understood the implications of what I just said. After retrieving her staff from the trunk she started a short incantation, one that I’d seen her do many times. After the first phase, the air calmed and the wind no longer chilled us with sudden gusts. Then I felt the air warming up to a San Antonio March, roughly 72-75 degrees - that’s more like it.

  “I’d call this experiment a success,” I said, thumbs up.

  “Aye! Come, let us hie, er, high.”

  Thusly protected from inclement weather, we made our way up a long and winding trail. When we reached the overlook we were treated to a sight that rendered the speech center of my brain inoperable - I am talkin' victor.exe has stopped responding here. I took my hat off and sat down, for even my knees had gotten weak; pretty sure I had the same reaction to seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time actually. There they were: a pair of sharp stone blades piercing the clouds - two stone spires the size of skyscrapers. Selafyn wasn't kidding when he called these things big. Each spire was impossibly sharp and made of black stone, possibly basalt. I was beyond speechless - looking at these things I was once again reminded that I wasn't on Earth anymore; as if I needed more proof beyond my fiancee being an elf capable of casting healing magic, and that whole two moons thing.

  On the rock-face near where I was resting my head, there was a plaque that read: "This shrine is dedicated to the Battle of Twin Spires - 665."

  Illiana touched the plaque and said, thoughtfully, "Down there, that is the site of the final confrontation between Harold I's party and the dragon Krinjhordr."

  "Did you know," she said, "Andalon was founded while Big Brother was making a name for himself in Titanvale? That was just over a hundred years before I was born. It was the last of the presently extant human kingdoms to form after the fall of the Gaian Empire. While everything was broken, some opportunistic intelligent monsters decided to take over and abuse the despairing humans. The red dragon, Krinjhordr, was one such beast. Harold, Gandore, and the rest of his friends drove Krinjhordr from his lair and even damaged his wings to the point he could no longer fly. Here is where they cornered him - and Gandore cast one of his greatest spells. He pulled hard stone from deep underground, formed it into a point and then rotated it like a carpenter’s drill to pierce the dragon's hide. One of them went right through the dragon’s heart, ending its long and wicked life once and for all."

  I took a nibble of one of the elvish honeybiscuits we'd brought and said, "Well don't that just beat all."

  What? To paraphrase the bunny: you was expecting maybe something profound? Sheesh! There I was barely able to say anything and Illiana was telling me the full story without skipping a beat. Elves really are something else, and I was really starting to get the picture about this Gandore guy. That dragon must have been half a mile long or more, if the old wizard needed to use something that enormous to pierce it. But the fact that he was even able to pull off such a feat of magic in the first place…

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  I took a deep breath and said, "Man, Archmage Gandore was really powerful wasn't he?"

  Illiana turned to me with a sorrowful, or was it thoughtful, look in her eyes. "Terrifyingly so. But he was also a kind and gentle soul. When he was lost to us - no - when he was murdered by the Black Order, this was what he left behind; this and the gorge separating Andalon from the Hylarian Wilderland and the Deep Grimdark."

  "His legacy, in other words."

  She nodded, "Aye. That is something that all humans desire, I think - their lives are but a fleeting moment and so they strive to do what they can with the short amount they're given. Granted, arch-mages like Gandore are blessed with greater longevity but even then…they all want to leave something behind that they're not forgotten."

  Illiana sauntered over to the edge of the overlook and placed her hands on the wooden railing. I staggered to my feet and joined her. I held her from behind and took in the cosmic landscape before me. The twin spires, an arch-mage's legacy, this view alone made it seem all worthwhile. I wondered what became of the dragon’s body, but I’d find out all about that later. Illiana gave a sigh of approval as I kissed her neck. She turned her head, caressed the side of my face, and whispered into my ear while gently grinding against me.

  "You know…no one can see or hear us up here, Sir Victor."

  She may not have been wearing a sundress, but there were rails, so who was I to argue?

  ***

  12th month, 19th day, 967

  Our long hike and other subsequent exertions had taken a lot out of us so we wound up seeking lodging in town for the night. Had I not left my phone in Tor Anaura I'd have taken some photos because - damn! The Twin-Spires Inn was a cozy little place, the only inn in town. Because the Twin-Spires was such a well-known historical landmark, the town actually had a well-kept road that ran along the Longbull River and saw a surprising amount of tourists (chiefly in the summer). The road started out windy but being such a good driver I managed. The journey was slowed down by frequent sightseeing stops, because of course! There were waterfalls, prime vistas, and we even saw some wildlife - specifically a local species of deer.

  As we made our descent the river began to widen and the road began to straighten. Once we were down in the foothills we started to see the appearance of small farms and villages by the river. Eventually we arrived somewhere I recognized - a broad plain, yes, indeed, this was the part of Andalon I had driven through once before. Since we were on urgent business we didn't even bother stopping in town last time, but now it was going to be different. That was easily a four hour drive and it was time to stop for lunch.

  At the confluence of the Longbull and Bigbear rivers lay the main trading hub of Andalon Kingdom - Herosford. The town was a walled settlement built between the two rivers, with outlying districts across both sides. It had been across a stone arched bridge over the span of the river south of town that I'd previously traversed - no doubt scaring some farmers as we zipped through. I'd caught but a fleeting glimpse of it before but now I was heading straight for it and it looked pretty cool in my estimations. It brought to mind Besalú and Albarracín, mainly because of how much Andalon was already reminding me of the Catalonia region of Spain in terms of geography and the architecture to a lesser extent. Once we got into the town itself, the similarities grew even stronger - little differences abound of course; for one thing, everyone here spoke the same language as they did in Cara, and the overall vibe of the people didn't seem Spanish-like at all.

  We found a carriage house and took to the streets on foot. The first thing I noticed wandering through Herosford was that damn near everyone was carrying a weapon of some sort - mostly swords. The common citizens of Cara didn't go wandering around dressed for battle, but the Andalonians seemed comfortable surrounded by armaments. Ah, then I recalled that Selafyn had mentioned that Andalon prided itself on having a rough 'n ready citizen militia ready to protect itself from invaders. That actually made sense considering it was founded by adventurers. Speaking of armaments there was something else I noticed was the names of some of the businesses we passed by.

  "Blade's Bakery, Mama Staff's Apothecary, Bobby Bow's Brewhouse," I turned to Illiana, "I don't suppose you know why all these places are named after weapons?"

  She nodded, and with a smile brought back the good ol' lecture finger I'd missed for so long. Lately it had been Mal schooling me, but now Professor Illiana was back - just like when we first met and it was just the two of us on the road.

  "Many surnames in Andalon evolved from the now defunct practice of naming the bastards of adventurers after the weapons they carried. That is why you can have similar names across many unrelated families."

  "Thanks, dear. Well, I don't know if you noticed, but I can detect the distinct aroma of freshly cooked meat coming from that brewhouse named after a ranged weapon - shall we take our lunch here, O Healer of Red Lightning?"

  She put on airs, did her best to curtsy while clinging to my arm, and said, "Why yes indeed, O Party Leader of Red Lightning."

  Our lunch consisted of steak sandwiches and an ale not unlike trappist craft beer. Of course it was the same four-horned cattle I'd eaten steaks ‘n brisket of before, flavored with an intense red-brown sauce that provided a sharp contrast to the lightly salted freshly baked bread. Oh yes, the roll gave a slight resistance and was a little chewy - not too soft and not too hard, made with the love only a dedicated baker could provide. Incidentally, they obviously didn't call them sandwiches here - they called them offhanders; the idea was for adventurers to be able to eat their lunch while still having a hand free to draw their swords at need. I had no idea what guys with shields were supposed to do though. There was also a side dish of roasted vegetables mixed with a thinly sliced sausage - perfect.

  Ah, ah! I detected the distinct tang of red pepper! Yes! This is almost certainly some variety of capsicum or other. I flagged down the lady who had brought down the food and asked, "Where did you get the re-" I realized they might not have made the same mistake the Europeans did and assumed that they were related to black pepper, "This is tomato based, right? But I couldn't help but notice that there's a certain sweet tanginess - where does that come from?"

  "What you're tasting is probably the smokefruit. They grow all around these parts and get used in a lot of our local dishes."

  Ah, so similarly with the Italy-like peninsula across the Narrow Sea having tomatoes from the get go rather than needing an import from across the ocean, this land already has certain types of new world peppers - whether they had the sort I needed to make Texas Style Chili remained to be seen. But I actually liked the sauce on the sandwich so much that I bought a bottle of it - we all need an aperitif every once in a while.

  With that out of the way we found somewhere to let the food and drink digest - we decided to sit on a little grassy slope by the river and just kind of watch the water flow on by. Once we'd gotten a chance to stretch we pressed on towards Andalon City. After the Longbull and Bigbear confluence the river took on a new name: The Great Andalon River; a precise if not too imaginative name. It ran straight through the countryside and, according to the map, spilled into the Narrow Sea at the very end of the peninsula. We took the main road, following along the river's west bank - it was a smoother drive than we'd had in the mountains but I still decided to drive casually and take in the scenery rather than rush down to the city. Sure, we had a mission to deliver a letter, but we were still making crazy fast time. The foliage had changed significantly as we moved south - yeah now I was starting to see palm trees, that certainly took me back.

  "We had those kind of trees in my old world, too," I said, "Actually, we had them in my home country but they were imported. There was a lot of back and forth like that-"

  I went on and on about the transatlantic trade for a good while as Illiana listened with sparkling eyes. She didn't seem to know much about the other continents in this world, actually, only having visited a limited number of places on the Midain Continent and the ease with which we acquired knowledge in my old world never ceased to amaze her. Perhaps we could explore those other continents together some time. Time flew and as evening drew near-

  "There!" cried Illiana, pointing ahead.

  Huh? I squinted towards the horizon. Dear, don't make me pull out the "I have not elf eyes" line.

  "There, what?"

  Her voice softened with awe. “Andalon city."

  "A partially filled map of Cara and Andalon"