Chapter 14:
Kratos.
The priest… joined them. Was traveling with them. The mage wished it so.
Kratos was not pleased.
They were headed North, as they always were, towards a place Kratos had heard called, Raht. The word was too similar to this languages word for vermin. It was irritating.
Brock and Sindri had hawked their wares in the Priest’s village, and had, according to them, made a tidy profit. The coinage in this place was copper and silver, metals that were valuable to the dwarves in and of themselves. They were quite pleased.
But the priest had joined them…
Irritating.
The road passed beneath his feet as he marched, the beast dragging the massive wagon behind it was just behind it, making pleased sounds as Stark petted it’s head frequently with scratches at its request, while Brok, Frieren and the Priest sat at its front.
He cast his eyes upwards, where Fern and Atreus floated.
His son was learning to fly.
“So, out of curiosity;” He heard the Priest behind him. “Why are you blue?”
“Kinda question is that!?” Brok barked. “It’s like asking why’re you tall?”
“Huh, how is that-!?”
“Hmmm. Why are you tall Sein?” The elf asked.
“Huh!?”
Kratos snorted quietly, amused.
—
By the time they reached the village, or town of Raht the sun was beginning to descend, casting the land in shades of fiery orange and yellows.
The smell of the sea greeted him like an old friend and the sound of waves crashing into rocky shorelines and cliff faces reminded him of Greece long long ago.
The town itself was no fortress, but it had a wall surrounding it, a harbor and port, he overheard the others describe it as a ‘small’ town.
But it would have been the equivalent of Platea, or Argos in his homeland. And yet it wasn’t anything of any real note here. Granat had been a city, but by their words a small city, and still he could have compared it to Athens, or Sparta itself in terms of size and population.
It made him wonder what their greater cities were like, what they might have built or how differently they might live, in the places that housed the great powers of their age. Their nobles, kings, prophets…
In spite of himself, he was curious.
The walls were thick, hewn stone, the buildings were built with sturdy wood, mortar, cement, every roof had tiles, not thatch, the roads were wide, fit for carriages, water flowed through crennelations in the street to keep it clean, the stink of waste and animals, human sweat and too many people didn’t permeate the walled civilization as it did in so many places like it.
It was… a marvel.
Was this a glimpse of what men could build in a world with magic being commonplace?
Or a place where Gods did not interfere with men?
The cart and bull began to trot past him, letting him hear the others as they spoke.
“So kid, what dwarf made ya that axe?”
“Huh? How could you tell a dwarf made it?”
“Dwarf hands recognize Dwarf hands kid, now come on- spill it!?”
-
“That can’t be true.”
“Oh but it is, little tiny creatures so small we cant see them all around us, especially on dirty, unclean things. They’re what make us sick!”
-
“Hey, Frieren. Theoretically, how long can you maintain that spirit animal thing of yours?”
“Since it’s not directly using my Mana, there isn’t necessarily a theoretical limit. Why do you ask Sein?”
“Because I saw Fern summon that Honey Badger of hers like two days ago and I’m pretty sure it went off into the woods somewhere without being dispelled…”
-
As the cart passed him by and their voices began to drift further and further away Kratos watched the city, watched the people marching through the gates, the guards on watch. Unlike Granat, the guards here did not wear full metal plate, something else that bespoke of so many differences from home.
Here they wore shirts of chains, or thick, padded cloth that would be tough for a blade to cut through.
The Merchant’s had carts laden with goods for sale, their oxen or horses were fat with feed.
So many things spoke of differences and yet he still could not shake the disquiet that there was something of Greece in these lands. Something of home lingering. In the small, almost ephemeral details, parallels that when looked at at a mere glance were simply coincidence, and yet… he could swear there was some pattern here, something he was seeing yet not grasping.
“Father?”
Atreus’ call pulled him from his thoughts, and Kratos grunted, forcing his mind and body to ease away from its tension before he continued to walk towards the city, handing Mimir towards Fern to hide him in the cart, away from the eyes of the humans that would no doubt startle at seeing a head.
As they reached the column of men, beasts and goods looking to make their way into the port city Kratos closed his eyes and listened to the world around him, his thoughts once more returning to drifting vestiges of long dead ghosts.
—
Fern.
As the cart trotted along the increasingly paved path
A half giant.
And another half he didn’t want to say.
Atreus didn’t outright say that he didn’t want to say, he’d deflected… rather poorly but deflected nevertheless. Fern let him, mostly because she’d been grappling with the fact that Atreus was not, infact, human.
She wasn’t wholly convinced he was a giant of course, after all, he was barely taller than Mistress Freiren and that certainly didn’t scream “Giant” by any metric, but they had explained in Mimir’s stories that Giants were not necessarily enormous. That magics and a wish to live in harmony with other races had made them seek out ways of reducing their… Giant-ness, and over the ages some became near indistinguishable from humans.As Mimir put it, ‘It’s difficult to say you want to live in harmony with others when you’re flat out causin’ earthquakes every time ya step outside.”
As much as Fern wanted to think Atreus was lying to her, it was a very elaborate and needlessly convoluted lie to come up with. He couldn’t have known she’d catch his slip… an easier lie would be that he misjudged a word in the language, he had only been learning for a few months.
It was a lie she’d have even believed… to a point. Atreus had learned the magic almost impeccably, and the written elvish of their spellbooks he was absorbing even more rapidly.
That should have been her first clue that he wasn’t human. No one grasps languages that fast.
But if not human, and not ‘Giant’ what else could he be?’
There were very very few monsters that could mimic human forms, and none so convincingly. The closest were demons of course but the horns gave them away, as did the lack of empathy, compassion or understanding of the human emotional spectrum.
The Einsaam could make convincing illusions but that came about through reading the memories of its victim.
To her knowledge, Atreus was no monster.
At least no Monster found in this world.
Mimir’s head rested on her lap, the disembodied head remaining silent as light filtered through the pale cloth that served as the cart’s roofing over their head; bathing the inside of the cart with its myriad tools and wares in a soft cream color.
She listened to the others as they spoke beyond the boundary, to the hustle and bustle of the people even further beyond as they drew closer to the city.
She looked down, her eyes finding the top of Mimir’s head, wondering how much she could trust whatever he said before she took a breath, shaking her head as she recognized that she was… perhaps being unfair.
Yes they were hiding what they were… but beyond that… they had been their friends.
So, taking a deep breath, she turned Mimir’s head around, holding him up so they could speak face to face.
“Something on yer mind lass?” The head asked in his typical gentle voice and demeanor.
Fern stared at him, those strange golden eyes, for a long second, before she simply asked outright.
“Mr. Kratos and Atreus aren’t human are they?”
The head stared at her, blinking once, twice.
“No Lass. They’re not.”
“What are they then?”
“That’s not for me to say.” He answered calmly. “It’s something they should tell you, when they’re ready. If they’re ready.
“Are they like Demons?” She demanded.
“Predators taking the form of men?” Mimir shook his head. “No Lass, nothing like that. There are differences, but they’re not like your demons.”
“Is their kind dangerous to us?” She pressed.
Mimir went quiet.
The cart jostled and shook beneath them as it bumped over new crags in the road.
“Yes.” He finally said. “What they are can be very dangerous to humans. Just as a human can be dangerous to a human.”
Fern frowned.
“You’ve seen brother’s strength Lass, and the Boy’s aptitude for magic. If they wanted to hurt people, they could. But that’s just it. If they want. And neither of them want such. No more than you want to go around flinging Zoltraak blasts willy nilly.”
Fern frowned, having no real way to refute that. “Then why hide it?”
“That’s a complex answer, Lass” Mimir said gently. “And I imagine it’s different for both Brother and the Boy.”
Fern frowned in thought, wondering what that could mean when she heard a voice outside.
“Lady Frieren? A-are you the lady Frieren?”
Those words caught her attention. For all of her fame, it was rare for her mistress to be recognized, especially before they’d even entered the city.
“I am. Who might you be?”
“Please my lady; this way!” Whoever it was spoke up quickly. “You and your companions. I’ve been given strict instructions to expedite your entry.”
Expedite their entry!? Had someone been expecting them somehow?
Her curiosity now thoroughly piqued, Fern inched towards the front of the cart, peeking out of the covering tarp, and raising Mimir’s head carefully so he too could peek out of the tiny slit.
There was now a collection of guards, four of them, helping to escort the Blue ox through the throng of people, at the head of them it looked like… a nobleman? Maybe a Castellan of some kind?
“What’s goin on Lass?” Mimir whispered his horns brushing her chin.
“No clue.” She admitted.
Her Mistress, also seemed to be unsure, at least judging by her next question. “What’s this about?”
The Castellan, or servant turned towards her. “My lady, you and your party have been expected for some time now. I’m afraid I dont have the specifics, but my Master told me you would arrive and I was to make every effort to see you too him at once.”
Her Mistress nodded. “I see. And your Master is?”
The man answered with zero hesitation and the answer, made Fern’s eyes widen.
“The First class mage, Learnen; my lady.”
—
They were escorted to a restaurant
She, her Mistress, Stark, Sein, Atreus and kratos arrived, even Brok and Sindri were brought along, when the two dwarves had tried to opt out, saying they were just here to sell wares, the Servant had all but begged them on hands and knees to come along, because Learnen had been clear.
The Lady Frieren, and her companions.
ALL of her companions.
That included Brok and Sindri.
The restaurant had an outdoor area, and that’s where they found the person that could only be the Great mage, his Mana had been so suppressed Fern had only just begun to sense it before she stepped onto the restaurant grounds.
Now seeing him, she could see the fluctuations of power, he was indeed extremely strong, perhaps almost as strong as her mistress.
The old mage, leader of the First class conclave stood as they entered his presence, bowing shallowly, hand over heart.
“Good evening.” He said, voice soft, almost whisperlike. “I am the first class mage Learnen.”
“A pleasure.” Her Mistress greeted back. “You know who I am, but I’m not quite sure why I’m here.”
The man nodded. “It is simple. A great many curiosities have occurred recently.” His eyes passed over the lot of them, and fixated on Mr. Kratos, and then, longer still, on Atreus with a very pointed stare before returning to Frieren herself.
“The Great Mage Serie, has tasked me to investigate, and ascertain the nature of these events.”
He gestured towards the chairs and tables. Chairs and tables that Fern noted were completely vacant.
In fact, the whole restaurant was vacant.
“Please. I invite you to join me. Dinner will be provided, and you need only answer my lady’s queries. "
Her Mistress sighed. “This is exactly like her.” She muttered; much to Fern’s confusion.
(X)(X)(X)
The cart is rocking more and more off those rails I think :3
(To give context "Raht" or "Rat" is where Stark got Fern her birthday gift bracelet in the original)