Aster Fall, Ch 5: On the High Road (Patreon)

“No.” The answer was said without any particular emphasis.

“What do you mean no?” Nelgen was staring at a whipcord thin, vicious-looking man in front of him.

There was a prominently-placed tattoo of a silver viper curling around his forearms, which shined with some type of totemic magic.

“I mean no. They're poor villagers, which means they have no money, and they have an adventuring party with them,” the man replied blandly. “So, no. There’s no value in it.”

“But that wizard has to have good things on him!” Nelgen pressed. “And the dwarf will have gems or metals, for sure.”

“They have a Seer,” the man replied, shaking his head. “They’ll see us coming. Your idea to keep her here was fine, but now she’s gone. The Silver Vipers didn’t survive in the Storm Plains for this long by being stupid.”

Nelgen’s mind raced as he tried to think of a way to convince the man in front of him to do what he wanted.

“But that little girl...” he finally said, slowly, since it was crossing a line even for him. “She’s the great-great granddaughter of the Tower Reach Hasterns. If you let her grandparents know that she and her mother have been abducted by a mercenary party....”

“Lie to the Hasterns?” the man laughed, as the corner of his mouth crooked up. “They aren’t a nice family, so also no. They could have found the girl before now if they cared. I can send a message about what happened, and tell them their granddaughter is running around unsupervised, but that’s it. Whether or not they believe it, it’s up to them.”

“But at least you’ll keep an eye on them and see which way they go?” Nelgen insisted. He didn’t want to lose Aemilia, not if there was a chance he could get her back.

“Fine,” the man agreed, gazing upward. “We have some hawks that can keep an eye on them from above, and a Beastcaller to direct them and see through their eyes. Maybe the Hasterns will pay for the information, since you aren’t. But add ten percent to the next shipment.”

“Good.” Nelgen clenched his fists on the table as he thought about Aemilia, even as the price pained him. That additional ten percent was several gold, and it would cut into his profits for months.

If the Hasterns showed up, they’d take the girl away, but what would they care about a useless Historian, even if she was a Seer? They had plenty of those.

That idiot Jeric might have been descended from them, but she wasn’t. Those old families were insular, and he doubted they’d care about her much.

If they didn't want her, he’d find a way to bring her back to the village. If they did want her…well, he doubted life as a servant of the Hasterns would be a good one. He couldn’t imagine that they would see her as anything else. They didn’t have that kind of reputation.

That would work too.

---

The three moons were hanging brightly on the western horizon as they continued along the road toward the fork that led to Highfold. It was mid-morning now and a low golden haze filled the air to the east as the sun continued to rise behind a bank of mist.

At this rate, they should reach the turn in the road in another day or two. When they did, Sam would have to be more careful about hiding his features.

The road between Ebonfar and Highfold was the main route on the western side of the Storm Plains. It had branches in various areas, some of which led to abandoned villages and old ruins. It was frequently traveled by merchants, mercenary groups, and adventurers.

Every once in a while, the Church of the World Law sent a band of Paladins and Priests down it as well, looking for monsters and to keep the peace. They cleared out bandits where they could find them.

The Guardian Star on his hand should be proof enough of his shared purpose to keep them from attacking him, but showing it to them before that happened was a problem. He didn’t feel like meeting any of them.

The last couple of days had passed without much difficulty, except for a pack of Darkfrost Wolves that tried to ambush Lesat’s horse.

They’d run away when Sam threw a few crystal flame arrows at them. It wasn’t worth it to chase them.

For the Storm Plains, it was fairly quiet.

Right now, Sam was keeping an eye out for more things, while practicing with Crystal Focus. He could feel the ability bubbling quietly, like it was under pressure and trying to advance. He just needed to find the right key.

Krana was riding next to him and talking to Altey.

“Do you know the ancient names of the moons?” the Seer asked, pointing up to where they were on the horizon. “It might help at the Festival, so you know what people are talking about.”

They were shining with a soft halo of energy that drew Sam’s attention to them now and then.

“They are gathered together right now, preparing for the Festival of Three Crowns, but they are not always so close together.”

Altey shook her head, looking between Krana and the sky.

“The green moon is Silvas, the Moon of Forests, and the kindest of the moons, because forests provide shelter and food. She is the Wanderer, but she can always be found if you look to the west at dawn on the first day of the year.” Krana smiled as she pointed to the green moon on the left.

“In the middle and a bit higher up, the blue moon is Caelys, the Moon of the Heavens.” Krana’s hand traced an arc across the sky to point to it above the other two.

“He is the oldest of the moons, the Watcher, and the one who saw the world formed. Time and space are part of his realm, and he sees all things pass. Look for him to be high in the sky at both noon and midnight.

“The third moon, the purple one,” Krana’s voice dropped lower as her voice became solemn. Her hand moved to point to the last moon on the right, which was a bit lower than the other two and set off at an oblique angle.

“That is Amaris, the Moon of Passion and Madness. She is the youngest of the moons, and her path is erratic. She crosses in front of the others, disturbing their journeys. Sometimes they follow her and sometimes she walks alone.

“She is also the moon of monsters and beasts, and the darker side of the heart, where vengeance lies. She is part of who we are, but we have to be careful with her.”

Altey’s eyes widened as she looked up at the moons, their reflection filling her pupils. “Are the other two moons good then?”

“Amaris is not an evil moon,” Krana shook her head. “Although some things that are evil may happen under her influence. The other two moons are also not just good. Silvas is helpful, but she oversees ancient forests that cover many bones, and Caelys observes everything from on high without comment or aid.”

Altey’s eyes were growing wider, but at that same moment, Krana’s attention was pulled away. Her eyes shaded to silver as she looked off to the left of the road ahead of them.

“Hold!” she called out a moment later.

Her words drew the horses together around her. She glanced ahead of them to where a small grove of trees was on the left of the road. It was about a mile and a half away. Then she turned to Aemilia.

“Do you see it?”

Aemilia’s eyes were also covered by her mana, a bit more brightly than they had been a few days ago, thanks to her deepening mana pool. After a moment, she nodded.

“Ten Flamecaller Devils and two Storm Striders,” she said with a frown. “Those might be difficult. The devils are Flame Jaw Asarets, specifically, Level 29-33. They must be bound to the Striders. Those are Level 44 and 46.”

Sam frowned as he heard the report. Those were not the easiest monsters. They could deal with them, but it would be best to plan first.

Devils was a generic term for any sort of vaguely humanoid monster, usually with fangs and claws. The World Law sometimes gave them more unique names, but adventurers defaulted back to the general term, since calling them “devils” was easier.

The Storm Striders were more of a problem. They were a unique existence in the Storm Plains, one of the monsters you didn’t want to run into if you could help it. They were basically ten-foot-tall storm wraiths with skeletal bodies and claws like knives.

More importantly, they had magic that could summon up miniature storms or wind blades, and sometimes other things.

When his mother finished explaining what she saw, Krana nodded in agreement.

“You want to keep a low-mana scan going at most times, especially while traveling,” she advised. “It’s one of the main tasks a Seer always has in a party.”

The Seer turned toward Jeric, announcing the rest of the information.

“It doesn’t look like we can avoid them. They’re watching the road ahead and we’ll have to pass by them. Going around would also get their attention and the plains here are difficult to move on quickly. The road would be a better place to meet them.

“The Flamecaller Devils are devourers. These are about half the size of a human and have elongated heads with large jaws. They’ll eat anything. We’ll have to be careful of their bites, which can go through steel....” Krana’s voice paused as her attention turned toward the road ahead of them. “Wait, there’s something else.”

A moment later, she spoke up again, her voice holding a new note that wasn’t common for her. One of exasperation.

“A group of adventurers are on the road ahead of us. They have a Visionary with them who’s spotted the devils as well, and they’re moving toward them.”

“Good, they can deal with it then,” Sam interjected, as he looked from his mother to his sister. He would pick up any experience they ran across, but he’d rather get his family away from anything dangerous first.

“Let them have them,” Jeric agreed. He also looked relieved. “It’s better to avoid trouble. Can we go around them?”

“Not without attracting attention from both of them.” Krana shook her head. “Waiting here to see what happens is better. We can move on after.”

“Mhmm,” Jeric nodded, with a sound of agreement. “Keep an eye on them for us?”

“I can go help if it looks like they’re in too much danger,” Sam added as he glanced down at Altey in front of him. “No reason to let humans die to monsters. Hopefully, they know what they’re facing.”

He would just have to keep his hood up and it shouldn’t be a problem. They’d passed a lot of people on the way home from Osera and none of them had caused him any trouble yet. It had boosted his confidence in the illusion amulet.

Intervening probably wouldn’t be necessary anyway. If that group was attacking so quickly, they had to be prepared for what they were facing.

“I want to help too,” Altey declared, raising the wand in her hand.

“When you’re bigger,” Sam replied, shaking his head. Then he picked Altey up and passed her over to Krana, who swung the girl up in front of her. She gave him a nod.

Altey didn’t weigh that much, and Krana had good shielding and Foresight abilities. It would let him maneuver more, if needed.

Lesat scanned the area behind them and then moved up next to Krana.

“I’ll keep an eye on you and your mother,” he said, giving Altey a brief smile. “If something comes this way, it’ll have to deal with me first.”

A few minutes passed as Krana reported what the other party of adventurers was doing. She summoned an illusory image in front of them, which showed the party heading closer to the monsters.

The devils and Storm Striders were hiding in a small fireleaf grove. The bark of the trees resembled jagged scales and their leaves had wisps of flame running along them. They were almost like devils themselves.

That similarity was probably why the monsters had chosen it, hoping it would hide their energy. Storm Striders were one of the smarter monsters on the plains.

There were seven people in the adventurers’ party. One was a Visionary, and as Krana pointed them out, the rest of the classes became clear as well. They were all around Level 40 with combat main classes, which was probably where they got their confidence.

They were also subclassed in combat specialities, rather than the more common crafting backups. It was one of the things that marked them out as adventurers.

They had three melee classes: a Warrior-Barbarian, a Guard-Battlecaller, and a Warrior-Knight. Battlecaller was some type of bard subclass, perhaps. Or maybe a shaman one. He wasn’t familiar with it.

They also had an Archer-Scout, a Wizard-Mage, and a Mage-Arcane Healer. The seventh was the Visionary, who was subclassed as an Arcane Healer too. It was a pretty well-balanced party.

Arcane Healers were a necessary class if you didn’t have a Priest around and you didn’t want to spend the money on healing pills or scrolls. They could learn spells for healing and were very popular among adventurers. It was an expensive class to unlock and train, since the spells were mana intensive and sometimes required reagents, but many thought it was worthwhile.

The healers made Sam wonder about Ayala. What was the church princess up to in Osera and had her father returned yet? With her Earthwalker Mage-Priestess classes, it would have been useful to have her around.

He shook his head as he turned his attention back to the illusion. The Warrior-Barbarian seemed to be the leader. He was the highest level of them all at 43. He was also the roughest-looking of the whole group, with a leather jerkin sewn with metal rings that had seen better days.

At his directions, all of them except the Warrior-Knight dismounted. The group split into two parts, leaving the Visionary holding the horses. The archer and three casters stayed in the back, forming a rough half circle as they spread out.

There was a brief flash of shielding spells from the Mages and then the two melee and the mounted Knight moved forward, heading for the grove.

Krana’s spell was extremely lifelike, and it was possible to see the activation of abilities all around the adventurers. The only thing the spell didn’t do was sound. They didn’t even know they were being spied on.

The Battlecaller chanted something that surrounded the melee in a purple aura and stamina abilities glowed around the other two. The Barbarian’s skin turned red as a mist rose off of it.

When the group was halfway to the forest, the monsters burst out of it, rushing at them.

The Flamecaller Devils came first, darting forward in blurs like red streaks of flame. They were short and squat, about four feet tall and more than half that wide, with scarab-like mandibles.

They looked a lot like a goblin had been squashed together with a scarab, but despite the weird appearance, they were dangerous.

They had four muscular lizard legs that let them race along the ground and two arms with sharp talons at the ends. Their mandibles were lined with dark scarlet flames that ran along the wickedly curved edge. From their mouth, black saliva sizzled as it flew to the sides.

Behind them, the Storm Striders came, gliding silently out of the trees like ghosts. They were about ten feet tall and extremely thin, with waists perhaps only eight inches across. Their chest and hips were broader, giving them an angular, hour-glass appearance.

Their skin was dusky ivory with mottled patches of grey and their hair was long, white-grey strands that ran down their backs and spread across the ground.

Their arms dangled near their knees, and their fingers were bony blades. Their knees were double-jointed, like an insect, making it look like they were about to leap at any moment. Their faces were triangular wedges, blank except two indentations for the nose and diamond-shaped eyes that held a stormy white-grey light.

Tendrils of snow, ice, flame, and lightning swirled out around them as their gazes locked on the adventurers, creating a chaos of elemental mana that erupted into sparks as it collided with trees and the grass.

They were dangerous, but the adventurers didn’t hesitate. Sam had to commend them for bravery, even if he wasn’t sure they knew what they were getting into. From the looks of it, that group was composed of mostly common and uncommon classes and subclasses.

Their abilities might be enhanced by their levels, if they’d made the right choices, but only half of them were Level 40. At most, they probably had one or two abilities at the Expert level, and they weren’t likely to be the most flexible ones.

The melee might have an attack ability at Expert, but their defense was unlikely to be as good. The casters would need to try and shield them. If they’d trained as a team and made choices with that in mind, it could work, but that was something a military would do.

Adventurers were not usually so unified.

A chaotic storm was building up around the Storm Striders as the Flamecaller Devils reached the melee. Right before they clashed, more abilities glowed around the humans, particularly coming from the Battlecaller.

It looked like he was shouting as he raised a long-handled maul into the air.

The Barbarian in the front had a large, double-bladed battle axe. His skin was covered in a glowing red energy as he swung toward the first devil.

At the same moment, the archer and the casters behind them began to act. Spell energies and arrows rose up around them and flew forward, heading for the devils. There was an array of magic bolts that gleamed with a twisting violet light from the Wizard-Mage and a dozen spheres of red flame from the other mage.

The Visionary was the only one who didn’t attack, apparently waiting as a healer as he held the horses.

The Barbarian cut an arm off the devil that was attacking him as the spells arrived, but the Storm Striders were not a stupid enemy. Before the spells could land and destroy their troops, a wave of mixed elemental energy collided with them, turning both sets of spells into a wild eruption of sparks and explosions in the air above the battle.

Sam frowned as he summoned a wave of crystal flame into the air around him, condensing it into a battle spiral. His horse stamped at the ground beneath his feet, but that was all. It was very accustomed to spell effects.

The casters on the other side attacked again, with a new wave of spells that flew forward, and the melee pressed into the devils.

The Storm Callers blocked with a wave of twisting air blades that shot forward toward the melee. The blades were like spinning scythes with different elements sparking away from them.

The attack made the Barbarian dodge to the side. The Battlecaller shouted something as the blades approached him. A purple shield appeared to block them, but it fractured as the air blades hit it. He was picked up by the impact and tossed ten feet away. He went rolling across the ground.

The Wizard-Mage stepped forward and raised a crystal sphere in his hands as he chanted something. The sphere ignited, turning a burning white that resembled the blessing spells Ayala had used once. Then he tossed it into the air above the monsters.

“Damn it,” Krana muttered, “Those idiots...! That’s a Holy Sun sphere. It’s going to make the monsters go crazy.

"It should only be used in larger battles to cause a rout. He must have panicked...or was that their trump card because he thought they were being overwhelmed?”

Sam didn’t understand what she was talking about at first, so he kept his eyes on the image.

An inferno of white light exploded into the air above the devils and Storm Striders, like a miniature sun being born. Their skin began to crisp, turning darker from the energy in it, and they screamed. It was audible even across the mile or more that separated them from Sam.

The Flamecaller Devils and Storm Striders both went insane, their actions turning to a wild chaos of flailing limbs as they tried to run away from the light.

They spun in place, heading away from the party that they’d just been fighting, tearing up the ground at their feet as they tried to put distance between them and the sun sphere.

Unfortunately, now they were heading right for Sam and the others, and it didn't look like they were going to stop until they ran right through them.