[Melas] - Chapter 89: Volcano Village (Patreon)

Author's Note:

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! A bit of a shorter chapter because I was trying to get it up in time. 

I do hope you guys enjoy this chapter, other than being a little bit rushed, I felt good about it. I certainly would have liked to spent more words on it, but as I said, I was trying to get it up soon. 

No promises on a chapter next week though for Melas. I have a backlog for Salvos, but none for Melas. So I'm not really sure if I can get chapters up then because of New Years time with fam.

The place we were headed to was called Qala’taw. It was a small village up in a mountain 80 miles southeast of Jahar’taw. It was quite the distance; that might have been the reason why no Hunter had taken the job yet. But with transportation technology, it became a quick, few hours trip to reach the village.

The train stopped at a station just at the foot of the mountain. Our group of four trekked up the path leading to the town, wary of any Monsters that could burst out of the trees. It was getting colder the higher up we went; I regretted deciding to save some money and not hiring a coach to bring us up the mountain.

Snow blanketed over the tree canopy stretching up the undulating crests ahead. Winter came early at such a high altitude, and the air became more and more difficult to breathe. I lifted up my mask for a moment, breathing deeply and watched as a thin mist plumed out of my mouth.

“It’s cold,” Gennady observed.

No shit sherlock, I retorted mentally.

“You lot sure you can take it?” He turned to Elda and Sevin, both of whom were shivering as they grasped their arms around their chest in a hunch. The two exchanged a look— the young man’s teeth grinding into each other preventing him to speak, and the woman too proud to say otherwise.

“Here,” I said, raising a hand. A ball of fire burst into life between us, immediately warming our group as they all jumped back.

“Wait, Melas, you know that if anyone sees this you’ll get in trouble, right?” Sevin said, pointing at the magical flames.

I grinned as I held up a mana crystal. I made the spell circle vanish, keeping the magic pre-cast in the air and tilted my head.

“Magic? I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just using my mana tool here to create some fire to keep us warm.”

“But that’s…”

“I know,” I said as I shook my head. “It’s pretty complex. The runes are mine though— no peeking!”

Gennady stared at the mana crystal as Sevin gave me a dubious look. But Elda just laughed.

“You’re really reckless aren’t you, Melas? It’s no wonder you helped us back in Luke when you had no reason to.” She lifted a hand and patted me on the head. I scowled, fixing my hair as she retracted her hand. “I’m glad Ginah decided to trust you and come here.”

The woman started forward and gestured for me to come with her. I glanced back at Sevin and Gennady standing in the cold.

“You guys coming?” I asked, grinning as I lifted up the ball of fire. “Or do you want to freeze down there?”

We arrived at the mountain village not long after, the road leading up to the settlement completely empty. Gennady had known about this place, even though he had never been here before. He knew it was considered to be rather rural for the Taw Kingdom’s standards, but he did not expect it to be barren of any travelers.

No guard stood on edge of the city; there were no walls protecting it from outsiders. We simply walked in, drawing in the attention of a single Dwarven man entering shelter.

It was snowing up here. And yet, the Dwarf wasn’t dressed in any particularly thick clothing.

We trudged through the soft blanket covering the earth as I inhaled an icy breath and snuffed out my flames.

“That’s enough for now,” I said, turning to my friends. “The job requires us to find the village chief.” I quirked an eyebrow. “I had no idea Dwarves had village chiefs. I would’ve thought you guys had mayors or senators.”

“We do,” Gennady snorted and immediately shivered as the cold air entered his lungs. “But only in the towns and cities. Some parts, like Qala’taw, refuse to change. They refuse to adapt. Even when it’s dangerous.”

“And how is living in a more communal way dangerous?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t mean that—”

The Dwarf’s words were interrupted as suddenly, the ground shook; the entire mountain began to vibrate. A wave ran through the sea of snow, breaking it up as I grabbed hold of the nearest solid object to me. My hands found the side of a wall as I called out to the others.

“Earthquake! Get—”

“No!” Gennady shouted over me. “It’s not an earthquake. Look!”

I turned to where he had pointed, my gaze finding itself aimed at the sky. I saw plumes of smoke and ash rising up to the sky, emerging from the peak we stood on. I covered my ears as I felt the shockwave coming, the sound bellowing from the ash explosion. An eruption? We had to get out of here. But the pyroclastic flow would—

I paused, realizing that the shaking had stopped. The loud boom that had resounded throughout the area now nothing more than an echo in my ear. I hurriedly looked over at my companions.

“We need to get out of here, now!” I said, voice betraying fear. But Gennady just shook his head.

“No, lass. It’s over, don’t need to panic.”

“Don’t need to panic?” Sevin stared at him, aghast. “Master Gennady, what are you talking about? If the volcano continues erupting—”

“It’s not erupting,” a voice said, cutting him off. The young man whirled around and yelped as a figure stood behind him. The Dwarf from earlier— the one who had been near the edge of the village— approached us. He bowed his head lightly. “Or rather, it has already erupted.”

“What do you mean? That was…” I frowned, eyeing the man from under my mask. I had worn it again before reaching the village as a precaution.

“The worst of it is over. For this week, at least.” The Dwarf spoke slowly, not in the same usual fast way Gennady or the other Dwarves I had met so far spoke in. “Come, you are Hunters looking to exterminate the threat to our village, yes? I am the village chief, Birzhan. I will answer any of your questions and find you lodging.”

Birzhan was a well-aged man. And I did not mean he had aged well, rather he had simply aged a lot. He was apparently over a hundred and fifty years old— over two decades past the average lifespan of Dwarves. When Gennady found this out, he nearly didn’t believe it; he thought that Birzhan was lying.

And I was inclined to agree with him. Except Birzhan’s appearance made a convincing argument.

The village chief was wrinkled throughout his body; he looked like he had spent the last ten days swimming in salt water, only having just gotten out of the sea when he came to us. His hair was wrinkled, tied into knots around the side of his head, with a widow’s peak that stretched to a bald top that would have carried with it a sheen if not for the forehead creases that went up with it.

He was clean shaved however, lacking the typical beard of Dwarves. And neither did he speak in the Dwarvish accent. Apparently that was not a trait of Dwarves, but a result of the slang that city Dwarves spoke.

“So it’s not an eruption then?” I asked, tilting my head more out of confusion than anything.

“It can be considered one. However it is not a dangerous one. Even the more violent eruptions our village has experienced in the past year did no more than spew out some lava into the sky. And it never reached us. Not once now, and not once in the last thousand years our village has been here.”

Sevin paled. “Wait, doesn’t that mean this is an active volcano? You do realize a real eruption can level the entire village, right? Why don’t you guys just move away?”

“We have no reason to,” Birzhan said as he turned his creaky neck towards the Human man. “These eruptions are harmless. It has only killed two in the last decade. Less than even the cold winter has thus far.”

“Well, if the weather is that harsh up here too, you should probably leave for a city,” the young man murmured.

I shook my head. “Cities aren’t safe either, Sevin. And these eruptions… I think I’ve heard of them before. I believe that they’re safe.”

I wasn’t entirely sure what they were called, but I remembered reading about volcanoes that would frequently erupt ash, cinder, and even lava at times, yet people still lived near them. They were active— very active— but there were never huge eruptions from it. It’s no different from the frequent weak earthquakes I felt in California.

Or at least, I would like to think that. Another reason why I decided not to press Sevin’s issue was simple: I can’t be bothered.

I was sure there was a rich, compelling cultural history that led Birzhan to remain even when half of his village was empty due to his people leaving for the nearby cities. Gennady’s previous comments had alluded to that. But I didn’t care for that.

I came here for one reason, and one reason only— I needed gold. And if I could save some lives doing it, it was all the better for me.

Gennady however, chose to grouse. “But cities have protections against Monster. Not small villages like this.”

I glared in his direction, trying to get him to quiet down. But he scowled and turned away. Birzhan blinked.

“Ah, you’re Gennady Usenov, right?”

My Dwarven friend paused. “What about it?”

The village chief stood up from his chair in his home and walked up towards Gennady. Then he stopped right before the master Tinkerer and bowed his head. “Thank you.”

Gennady stared, not saying anything. Birzhan continued.

“You were the one who had King Adilet send us those Guardian Golems all those years ago, no? I had not thanked you for that yet.”

“Wha— you remembered?”

“Of course,” he said as he raised his head. “Why would I not? Those golems protected our village for many years. They saved many lives. I owe you a debt I cannot repay.”

I watched as a red shade came over Gennady’s face. He slowly lowered his head.

“I only did it because you guys wouldn’t leave your damned mountain.”

“And go for another mountain, yes? We would not. But you still sent the golems anyway. That is all there is to.”

Birzhan slowly got up and returned to his seat. I nudged my Dwarf friend and grinned. “Getting embarrassed now, are you?”

“Shuttup, lass. Aren’t you here for a reason?”

“We are,” Elda said as she stood up. She turned to me and shot me a wink. “I’ll take care of this. You’re far too considerate for what others have to say. I’m not. I’ll be upfront.”

She turned around as I registered her words. Before I understood what was happening enough to stop her, she was already speaking.

“Old man, we don’t care about your village, we just want to know about that Monster attacking it.”

“Ah, of course…”

Birzhan explained the situation to us. The Monster had only come to the village once, and it destroyed all the golems guarding it then. Since then however, it stayed to the surrounding forests, sporadically attacking those coming up the mountain.

He wasn’t sure what Monster it was, although he had guessed that it was a Horned Ursa due to its size and ferocity. He was not well versed in Monsters, and a Horned Ursa was one of the most well known ones there was.

Honestly, it would have helped him if he was a little more knowledgeable on the subject; I highly suspected the reason why this job had been left alone for so long— other than the whole Abomination ordeal— was because it mentioned a Horned Ursa.

If he described a weaker Monster of the same size, some Hunters might have given this job a chance.

“What do people come up to your village for?” I asked with a tilted head. I did not mean for it to come across rudely, but I immediately realized it could be interpreted that way. Luckily, the Dwarf did not take it that way.

“Many reasons,” he said as he nodded his head. “Many people of all kinds come for many reasons of their own. But if you must know, they come here for rest. For healing.” Birzhan paused, a grim look coming over his face. “And with a Monster slaughtering those who make this trip, our village is no longer seen as such a place. Our Springs of Recovery have been left unused. No one has come here in a month.”

And that’s why they won’t leave. I sighed, leaning back in my chair. The reason for why they stay here came out anyways, without having to prod for it.

I just hoped it wasn’t something that would be a problem later on. But from what it was dubbed, I highly doubted it would be. Maybe we can relax in those springs after we’re done. I’d love to just soak in the water for an hour… or a few hours.

“It is only 20 gold. All that we can offer. We’ll pay you 10 now, and 10 later. But please, kill them Monster.”

I smiled as I stood up, accepting the small bag of coins Birzhan handed me. I looked at it, then at him. I pocketed the money into my side and nodded.

“Don’t worry, we’re Hunters. We’ll get the job done.”

…

“Uh, only you and Gennady are Hunters. Elda and I are not.”