“I’m getting a bit too used to being cabin mates with you lot.”

  We were gathered at the outskirts of Vealt. The snow was driving heavily that day which was an ominous start to what was expected to be a three week excursion based on the weather patterns during late Drowsyuel and early Leitslip. It would not be unheard of that we could have been caught in a blizzard, but we were well provisioned for the worst possibilities. At least the ones that could be prepared for. Two wagons would be following our carriage carrying salted and otherwise preserved foods and an assortment of tents and equipment that would keep us sheltered and protected from the elements.

  The carriage itself was a much more luxurious sight than the plain wooden affair, not much different than a wagon with seats, that we had ridden to the front lines. It had a smooth black lacquered surface that shone even under the layer of snow that was building up and the cloudy skies bereft of the sunlight that could illuminate it. Artistically the bottom curved like an inverted wave that flourished into rolling crests at both ends. The body was an oddly skinny rectangle that made me feel as if it would be too cramped, but by peeking through the windows I could tell that wasn’t the case. The windows and door were outlined by a protrusion of white wood and a canopy of the same color extended over the box seat. It would be enough to protect the driver from minor weather but would do little for the snow and cold we were currently facing.

  “Don’t act like you don’t enjoy the company.”

  I walked up to one of the two horses tied to our carriage and patted it on the head. It snorted and shook its head while braying. Its mane was white as the snow coating it while its hide was a dark black that could match a moonless night sky making its overall appearance match the color scheme of the carriage. Its dull beady eyes that shifted towards me gave the impression it was unamused with the attention.

  “Hands off the stallions lad. These two are an excitable pair.”

  The soldier had the same the same orange uniform as Ray, but it was only decorated by the same insignia of Hypnoise that Togl had worn. He had a blond ponytail and goatee that contained a smug grin. His eyes on the other hand were almost as dull as the horses under his thick shaggy eyebrows. His warning wasn’t stern. It felt more like it was laced with a cocky amusement.

  “Oh, don’t get me wrong, ya’ll are both great and all, but how the hell did I end up in a third wheel situation. Three weeks is a long time, do you think it’s too late to find a dame for each of my arms to join us along the way?”

  “Ah yes, I know just the dames that would be willing to join a caravan through the thick of dimquar at the drop of a hat. Do you have your wallet on you?”

  “Don’t listen to him Thomas, just show them your natural charm and I’m sure they’ll...give you a discount.”

  “Come on now, I’m not about to pay any escort when I got the perfect in. Just think of it, we’re going to Monderlow. Gotta be plenty of women here itching to experience the big city.”

  “And I’m sure they’ll all be eager to accompany a strapping young lad such as yourself…come britquar.”

  “Hmph”

  Thomas put his hands behind his head and acted as if he was about to stroll back into the city when the colonel walked up and grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt.

  “Alright, that’s enough nonsense. Get in the carriage, we want to make good time today.”

  “Speaking of good company, three weeks with this wet blanket is gonna be a right pain in my arse.”

  “You think I’m spending three weeks with you? I’ll be with the equipment.”

  He started walking towards one of the wagons. I couldn’t help but think that if he could have his way we would be in the wagon and he’d be by himself in the carriage. Karen put her hand over her extra playful grin in a show of surprise.

  “You’re going to leave my Douglass’ body unguarded bodyguard?”

  “He’ll be plenty guarded by your driver Lieutenant Aaron. Now leave me be.”

  “That would be me. Let’s ignore that bastard and get the show on the road already.”

  The soldier from before finished feeding the horse from before and hoped on to his seat. We shrugged our shoulders and filed inside. Matt, who insisted on taking the reigns as a driver, went to the wagon opposite Ray. Apparently, he spent his free time down south taking care of horses. After hearing the crack of the harness and a brief “hya!” we slowly felt the acceleration as the scenery began to shift by. The snow had yet to build into a true barrier to our large thin wheels despite the flurry and we reached a respectable trot before long. When we reached the top of an almost mountainous hill, I was able to see both Vealt and even the much farther off Dream Custodian Academy as miniature panoramas of themselves buried in a layer of snow like that old glass toy depicting a winter village.

  “It’s beautiful isn’t it.”

  “Yea, I almost feel jealous of Thomas”

  The city had a feel to it that I rather enjoyed. It was bustling enough to feel like a new world to me, but still rustic enough for me to feel at home. I guess the trade off for the time I gain from my job is distance, but I hadn’t considered what I’ve given up before. It would be the first time in my life traveling this far or visiting a city as big as our capital. Reportedly it was five times the size of Vealt.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “How would you describe Monderlow to someone like me who’s never seen it.”

  “Chaotic, but in a fun way. At least as long as you keep to the right streets.”

  “What exactly does the city hold to be so big?”

  “Unlikely anything you haven’t seen before only in spades. It’s like I said during Lullvienna, they have more of the same only repeated in a bigger chain.”

  I closed my eyes and imagined five of those tiny Vealts bunched up together. That didn’t seem right. After all, Vealt didn’t look anything like a bunch of Duskhovels placed together.

  For the first week we had very few issues crop up in our progress. The snow was on and off, but never heavy enough that we had to stop, reroute, or clear any obstacles. We stopped and made camp every night since we weren’t under any urgency even if the colonel and supposedly those who sent him wanted us to make good time. Our supplies were in good shape and the soldiers plus Thomas would occasionally make hunting forays to increase them. Unlike Togl and his men they did nothing to discourage Thomas from lending his assistance. Aaron at least was on par with Thomas, but Ray didn’t even take part, keeping to his wagon and out of our hair.

  By the fireside I would recite short stories I had borrowed from Rayngo’s library that by now I had memorized.

  “Everyday the boy would visit the man Kurt Lelow despite how the towns folk would warn him to keep his distance to hear him play his lute. He always sat perched on a cobble stone wall that blocked a drop off the sheer cliff edge from the plateau the town was built upon. The boy would give Kurt a few coins and he would always play the same song for him. It was a haunting melody that seemed to fill and echo in the gulf below him. He always wondered why everyone could walk by without paying any mind to the beautifully ethereal music.”

  We were just outside the entrance to a forest, using its nearby canopy and a tarp to block the relatively light snow that night, while also leaving space for the smoke to rise.

  “I think I’ve heard this one before, except it was a flute player named Jethro.”

  We each had a wooden plate of salted pork and a cup of cafeis or at least something like it. Ray claimed it was a refined version that was used by the military in the capital, but I thought it was closer to a type of tea.

  “One day he asked his parents why everyone warns him away from Kurt, but they only grew confused and claimed that they only ever told him not to play by the wall. The boy was filled with a sudden uncertain anxiety and ran to where he would always find the old musician. Instead of Kurt, he found a Dayliwarbler resting on the perch. It sang its unearthly song then lifted off into the sky. The boy realized something had been carved into the stone below where it had been standing. It read, “I am free now, and you cannot change me.””

  “The implications plenty dark, but in my version the flute player transforms into a greasy mangled urchin and kidnaps the boy.”

  “You’d probably guess the more gruesome one is the original, but the one he just told is more rooted in history. There was a town just like the one in the story long before the forming of our modern Hypnoise where a group of court musicians protested the tyranny of a local lord by throwing themselves from a cliff with a large share of his fortune that he spent on entertainment. They even took some of his “maids” along. Supposedly the lead conspirator was Kurt Lelow who the lord had tried to force into becoming a personal servant.”

  “Wow, look at Ray with the history lesson. Maybe if you spent more time with your sword and less in the library, you’d actually have been halfway useful on this venture.”

  “Watch your tongue cur. I take great pride in being well read on my country’s history.”

  Thomas had grown increasingly audacious in his disrespect towards Colonel Ray. It probably didn’t help that as he said, he was far more apt at the work that the colonel should be doing as our courier. We went to bed that night feeling more entertained by Thomas and Ray’s banter than by my story telling. It was only a couple days after that our journey finally hit a roadblock.

  We were moving slowly, terribly slowly and the chill which had already been difficult to bear from the beginning was feeling dangerous. The driving snow had been rapidly increasing over the past couple of hours, and it was clear we were headed into a blizzard. The area was lightly forested and mountainous, though we were only on the edge of those mountains with steep rocky cliffsides building walls beside us as we passed them.

  “We can’t go any further!”

  I could barely hear Aaron over the wind. Thomas pointed out the window and he nodded his head. I looked and I could see a cavernous gouge in the cliffside that almost formed a canopy. Slowly he trudged the carriage beneath it and we saw that there was a shallow cave farther in. We quickly spent the next couple of hours felling what trees we could to make a makeshift barrier in conjunction with some tarp. The carriage, wagons, and horses wouldn’t fit inside the tunnel and we had to protect them to the best of our ability.

  Inside the tunnel we huddled together for warmth. We were unable to light a fire since the smoke would flood the enclosure we had created and any small opening we made would be flooded with snow and biting cold. With the supplies was a large woolen mat that was coated with a leathery substance made from the intestine of a salagoa, a large reptilian creature that traveled in packs in lands farther north. They had thermal properties that could be used in emergencies when caught in unsafe freezing tempetures. It was enough to keep us safe, but not enough to keep us comfortable and we all slept fitfully through the long night without a word.

  I was shivering in the morning as I crawled out from the mat. Aaron, another driver named samson, and Thomas were all already up and gathered around a fire by the half destroyed barrier. I could see sunlight flickering through and a welcome lack of falling snow. Two of our horses lay unmoving on the ground.

  “They died of hypothermia after the barrier was torn open. The others made it, but we're going to have to abandon one of our wagons.”

  “You say wagons, but the carriage is the only option, isn’t it? Little use comfort will be if we lose our supplies.”

  “That’s right, I’m sure it will put Ray in a mood, but even he has enough sense not to throw a fit over it.”

  “That’s Colonel Ray and your damn right I’ll be in a mood. That carriage is government property lent by his majesty himself. But yes yes, of course we’ll be taking the wagons as long as I can still remain in the one opposite from you lot.”

  “Lively bunch this morning. Achooooo!”

  We broke down the barrier until we were able to move the wagon through. Thanks to a landslide we had to change our route and found ourselves in a crevice between two mountain ranges that was completely packed with snow. Are progress was turbulent but slow since the horses kept getting out of hand wanting to speed up to warm them selves but being unable to keep a proper stride in the snow. Peeking out from the back of the wagon I found the slither of sky ominous like a great blue smile from the maw of a deep trench. This was only the first incident to derail our progress even if it would be the worst and we were still weeks out from Monderlow. I shivered in the slightly damp clothes we were only able to barely dry by the fireplace. Out in this frozen wilderness the mystery of our purpose in the capital was far from my mind.