Chapter 17 - Scouting the Frontier

I found myself staring into the dancing flames of a small fire, sitting in a fairly deep pit. The main reason why it was secured like this, was to limit the amount of light it emits. Second was to ensure the gusts of wind don’t put it out or spread the sparks to the surrounding dense vegetation.
It was some time after midnight, although the heavy clouds didn’t allow to accurately tell the time. The darkness that surrounded us was deep and unwelcoming. Glancing around the bushes, it felt like something was hiding behind every single one of them, staring back at you. I knew I was just simply tired, my mind was playing tricks of me and paranoia was settling in. It was the first time I was camping in a forest in this world. Back when I was travelling to Katerial with Gurthan and his escort, we usually camped at inns or by the main tracts, in safe places with great visibility, even at night. However, we were in the Frontier now, where weather, especially in the wilds, tends to be unexpected, often changing and usually abnormal, just like tonight.
The quiet sparks and cracking of the burning wood felt comforting, though. This small campfire was offering some much needed feeling of safety for my weary mind, especially when the gusts of wind, rustling of the leaves or various other, unrecognisable sounds in the distance were chilling me to the bone. Thankfully, the sound of fire wasn’t the only support I had during this watch. A rhythmic sound of stone grinding against metal, each ending with a sharp cling, was another one. It was the sound of a whetstone running along the blade of a knife. Even back in my world, I always found this type of sound comforting, and even relaxing, whenever I had to sharpen one of my many knives or swords. The idea that, in case something happens, thanks to this particular action, I now have a viable weapon to defend myself, gave much appreciated peace of mind and comfort.
I forced my gaze up, away from the dancing fire and onto my companion. Miya was sitting opposite to me, meticulously sharpening and polishing her daggers. She had her first chance to use them earlier today, when we ran into a bunch of Hyndralls, a colourful pack of smallish wolf-like monsters. She noticed the knives didn’t cut as cleanly as she was used to, so she was now spending her time preparing them. The beasts, luckily, didn’t pose much threat for us. We spotted them fairly quickly and managed to stop their initial charge with spears. Killing three of them immediately, the remaining two didn’t know how to approach us properly and tried to jump around us, to see if they could bite someone in the back of their leg. Having a numbers advantage, however, meant we could easily protect one another and we swiftly dealt with them, Miya taking out one of them, while one of the soldiers took the other. Immediately after the skirmish, Miya went ahead and started skinning the beasts, to the slight surprise of the soldiers. Apparently, Hyndralls weren’t considered a worthy prey, their meat being fairly chewy and generally disliked and their pelts not worth much either, but it was hard to argue that some spare provisions was usually a good thing and skins and furs can be used for many things, like patching clothing, accessories or, in a pinch, even dressing to patch up the wounds, although they’re unlikely to serve that purpose too well.
When I looked at her, one of her wolf-like ears instinctively twitched and turned towards me, picking up on the slight rustle of my clothes. After a second, she paused her chore and gazed up at me as well, putting on a soft smile. In the very dim light, she was surrounded in an aura of intrigue and odd elegance. Yet, I was still able to tell that she felt happy, or at least satisfied, being back in the woods. I noticed it earlier that she was always feeling a bit awkward in the castle, like she couldn’t quite find a place for herself. She was often looking over her shoulder and generally showed signs of unease, but was always telling me not to worry, that she’s just still getting used to her new life. But seeing her now, half-visible against the dark surroundings, with a smile more natural than any I’ve seen her put on until now, I immediately knew she will never get used to living in a castle. I’ll probably have to figure something out to make her and her sister feel more at home in Katerial, however that was a problem for the future me.
-Is everything alright, master?
I opened my mouth but immediately closed it again. I told her a couple of times to not call me by that title and just use my name, but it didn’t look like she’d listen to me, at least not in the public. She still had a hard time accepting the fact I see her as my equal but that’s understandable given the common sense and mentality of the people of this world, as well as the fact that she was a member of a Red Wolf Pack, one of the most despised ethnic groups in this world, short only to the Demons themselves.
-Yeah, I was just lost in thoughts. You?
-No issues here. I can’t sense or hear any monsters, we should have a peaceful night tonight.
-From what I’ve been told, the Frontier sounded a lot scarier than that. I mean, I don’t want to downplay the testimonies of people living here way longer than me, but…
-We’re still relatively close to the city and the border of the Holy Alliance, so it’s natural that most monsters would move away. They’re far more sensitive to sounds and smells, so they’re finding being close to human settlements uncomfortable. Some more docile and weaker species will just move further away from bigger human towns, like Katerial, but some more aggressive ones could keep attacking them fairly relentlessly. This makes living in smaller outposts really dangerous.
-Yeah, that would make sense. I guess we’ll have to take the proximity of monster nests and habitats into serious consideration when deciding on the location and layout for the outpost. We’ll have to keep an eye out on those, too.
-It’s better not to come too close to the nesting grounds of monsters, even the less dangerous ones. They’re still formidable in large numbers.
-Death by a thousand cuts, huh? Say, was your hometown often at a risk of monster attacks too?
Miya paused for a moment. After a second, she looked down at her dagger and returned to sharpening it. I clearly asked a very insensitive question but before I could go back on it apologise, she decided to start talking anyway:
-Of course. Located in deep forests and generally being small in sizes, many of our villages were systematically attacked. As a hunter, I partook in many defences of many villages. Luckily, the monster attacks were fairly easy to predict, so we often sent hunters to villages expecting a monster assault to bolster their defences for a time. After each atack, there would be a grace period before another attack would usually follow, allowing the hunters to move to different locations or even retaliate against some nests.
She paused again and it was clear she didn’t want to continue talking about it. I nodded and turned my gaze back to the firepit. Thankfully, we didn’t have to sit in that awkward silence for long, as it was soon time to switch watches. I couldn’t fall asleep, however, my mind racing to questions I would like to ask Miya but the scars of her recent time as a slave were still fresh and digging more into her past could have unwanted consequences. She’ll probably tell me more once she feels more comfortable around me and starts trusting me more.
When the morning sun finally came up, I walked out of the tent still tired and in a terrible mood. Once I started falling asleep, there would always be some sound that would end up waking me up. The smoked Hyndrall meat we had didn’t help boost my mood much, given it really did taste mediocre at best, but, at the very least, it was quite filling. After eating, we quickly cleared the camp and resumed our hike through the forest. It was misty, with visibility up to maybe twenty metres at most. As we moved, we could hear the sounds of leaves rustling around us, even though there was no wind, the branches breaking under invisible weight or and bark on the trees cracking as if it was about to fall off on its own. Those alone were enough to put your mind on full alert but then there was also this feeling of something watching you from behind some tree or another, a faint figment of imagination that something just ducked behind it, when you were looking towards it. In those conditions, your heart is starting to race, tinnitus kicks in and your breath escapes you. Despite knowing that there’s likely nothing there, that there’s nothing to be concerned about, the pressure just keeps rising and you’re gradually losing your nerves more and more, until you feel like you’re about to snap and enter a complete panic mode.
-We’re really unfortunate with the weather.
I glanced over at Liyanne, whose voice pierced the forest’s illusion like a knife, loud and clear. She was taking the lead, not looking over at us even once. I had to commend her for her bravery, although it made me wonder, her being a Paladin and all, if she didn’t maybe have some natural or magical in nature resistance against this accursed condition. Still, even she was keeping her off-hand on the pommel of her sword, finding comfort in the hard steel at her side, ready to strike any foe in an instant.
-I’ve heard weather in the Frontier can be unpredictable and can vary greatly, but it was mainly calm and sunny over my stay in the castle, so I frankly wasn’t expecting conditions like those.
Liyanne let out a short laugh hearing my comment.
-You’re not scared, are you? This mist should only hang around for an hour, maybe two, if the reports of hunters are to be believed. We’re also climbing uphill, so we might break free from it even sooner.
I took a look around again. I couldn’t quite tell if we could see any further into the forest or not, but the abnormal feelings I had earlier subsided. Acknowledging my companions, the fact that they’re near me and ready to fight by my side whatever happens, was really helping me calm down and approach this with a clearer mind.
-How much is known about those abnormal weather conditions in the Frontier? You guys live here for a while, right? Someone had to investigate them.
Instead of Liyanne, the soldiers answered. From their voices and eagerness to talk, it was clear they were going through the same mental torture I was just a moment ago and are now ready to also be part of the seemingly fearless company. Miya was the only one remaining quiet, her wolf-like ears twitching and constantly changing the direction they were listening to as she was looking for potential threats. She walked basically arm-in-arm with me, just slightly behind me, but clearly ready to jump in front of me and defend me if needed. Knowing my safety was in capable hands, I focused my attention on the speaking soldiers:
-And someone probably did. But they likely never came back.
-Yeah, I’ve heard stories. Supposingly, a lot of lumberjacks went missing, especially in the early morning or late evening hours.
-There was this poor guy a couple months ago. He was out on a job with a few others. They were casually chatting while chopping down trees, every just a few steps away from one another, when one of them suddenly stopped responding. When the other lumberjacks turned towards him, they only found his axe embedded into the tree.
-Did they ever find him?
-They did. When they cut down the tree, it turned out his body was in the canopy. They couldn’t determine what killed the poor guy or how he got there. No one ever heard anything.
-Sound like a good cover-up story for a murder.
The three soldiers glanced over at me when I suddenly made my comment.
-They were all good friends, from what townsfolk said. No reason to kill him. Must have been something in those woods.
-I see.
For some reason, until now, I didn’t quite consider that this region may have their own share of missing 411 cases. This world being set in mediaeval times, with magic, monsters and whatnot being actually real, it just seems so normal that people would be ending up missing in weird situations that you wouldn’t really consider that those cases do exist and people might still ponder over them. I slowly started regretting not being an avid drinker and not visiting pubs more. Being caught up with this whole new world and trying to understand its rules, I kind of forgot to delve deeper into the local myths and stories. After all, all myths are based on real events to some degree, so learning stories like this one, about the missing lumberjack, still offers great values and lessons for me. I guess I’ll have to start to meddle more with local folk too after this expedition ends and listen to what wild stories they may have to tell.
We continued our hike for well over an hour before the mist started to gradually retreat. And with it, all the unnatural sounds and feelings we had, allowing us to finally relax a little and focus back on the task of observing the surrounding areas. We continued to walk for a couple more minutes until we arrived at the top of the hill. There was a small clearing around it, which allowed us to observe the local terrain a bit better, so we decided to stop there for a moment. With the command issued, Dayel, one of the soldiers arranged by the king, immediately pulled out a pile of parchments and started calculating our position based on landmarks and time spent travelling, collecting information on what we have seen in the past few hours and sketching it all out on the map. During the first day, I was helping her a bit, showing her how she can use certain landmarks to help triangulate our position on the map and some other tricks I picked up over my limited experience from various tracking games I played as a kid and the few milsim games I was a part of. I definitely didn’t have much experience in this field and was feeling fully comfortable leaving this in her hands, however Dayel was still requesting I supervise her and ensure she’s not making any calculation errors. Just like the last time, both Miya and Liyanne came over to take a look at the two of us hunched over the parchments and, just like last time, they both gave up within a few minutes, probably unable to understand most of the things we were discussing.
Since we left the city, we covered quite a decent distance. We covered probably a bit over twenty clicks down a tracts before we receded into the forests to start mapping out the terrain around the road more. We should be roughly forty clicks away from the city right now. Surprisingly, I was expecting my body to feel much worse after such a hike, but so far I was holding up pretty well, despite the brigandine, the shield and the backpack weighing me down. Generally speaking, my physical health has seemed pretty good ever since I came to this world. I felt like my constitution generally improved a lot in the past month. Perhaps there was something to this, seemingly, more primitive diet that was helping my body grow more? Or perhaps it was some magical element in the food that was helping me develop? Since I couldn’t absorb it like mana, or something? That was an interesting theory and it was a shame I could be the only test subject for it. I was really curious about what was helping my body still grow, and at such a quick pace too, as I would be able to utilise that more if I knew the details. I guess I’ll just have to continue doing what I’m doing with small variations to try to find out what has what type of effect on me. Just one more thing on the constantly growing list of things I had to pay special attention to in this world. And I thought just balancing my diet was a pain enough as it is.
Several minutes later, we finished mapping out the region and established a new azimuth that should allow us to scout out the less known areas around here before setting off again. Right now was also the time we should start assessing the locations we come across as potentially suitable for placing an outpost. So far, however, no good places were appearing. The terrain within the forest was uneven and the trees were exceptionally dense. While that meant we had plenty of lumber to go around for building, construction would still be cumbersome.
We set up camp again around three hours later. While Dayel was working the maps, Miya and the other two soldiers spread out around the perimetre to learn a little more about the land and see if they can find something of interest. That left Liyanne and me to stay on watch over our supplies with nothing better to do than having a conversation.
-So, Edward, I was wondering, what would your people prioritise when looking for suitable outpost locations, like we do?
-Depends on the purpose of the outpost, frankly, but for security reasons… Well, being close to the point of interest is one of the most important aspects. Secondary would be high elevation. It’s not only harder to assault this way but also provides better vision on the surrounding land. Third would be being close to a water source.
Liyanne listened, nodding.
-Seems we had the same ideas.
-Well, some things are bound to be similar. Over-reliance on magic can’t solve every issue your people might be facing, so some basic instincts and common knowledge should, if not be fairly similar, then at least come out of the same basis.
-You really have a hard time liking magic, huh?
-It’s not that. Although I can’t utilise it properly, at least not without some sort of a medium, I do see its potential. The thing is, I see it as a tool to help elevate the culture and technology standards, not replace them.
-I see. I’m honestly somewhat surprised. I know you were very eager to study magic and learn more about our common sense but I thought that was because you were annoyed at how we do things and wanted to avoid frustrations.
-Partially, maybe. I don’t like things I don’t understand and your magic system is no different. Although I’m no wizard myself, that doesn’t mean I can’t approach it scientifically and, by a different approach, solve many of its mysteries and help develop it instead.
-I guess that’s the difference between our worlds. Without magic, you probably have a hard time believing anything and have to digest it all to the tiniest degree possible and would probably still be dissatisfied with how big the pieces are.
I let out a short laugh.
-You have no idea how right you are. Although, that’s not entirely the truth either. See, while there was no magic per se in my world, not everything could be clearly explained by the laws of nature we established, although it’s impossible to say if those were really things of some odd nature or if our understanding of the world was just limited and narrow-minded enough that we couldn’t figure it out.
-Like what? Now I’m really curious. I thought your people figured out everything there was to figure out.
-Nah, that would never happen. Well, the simplest example would be ghosts.
-Ghosts?
-A decently big part of humans believe in the existence of ghosts, spirits lingering between our world and whatever is supposed to happen after death. It’s a lot more convoluted than that but we would be sitting here for hours if I was to explain that in detail. Still, the short of it being, there’s plenty of weird phenomena that are nearly impossible to explain but due to the popularity of the topic, also a lot of it was being faked for money and fame. Additionally, we do not have a standard basis for the spiritual, as different cultures often present the same entities differently, to the point that creating a general consensus just seems impossible. Pair that with the fact that even when weird things are happening, natural scepticism still finds a way to explain it, like wind or animals making sounds. It works the other way around too, people who want to believe it a little too much often disregard said scepticism and just believe everything at face value. There are just too many stories to make it impossible to explain but just not enough actual evidence to prove it’s real, let alone properly study it.
-And what about you, did you ever believe any of that?
-The paranormal? Sceptically, but yes. I didn’t believe most ghost content I’d came across but I do believe that even I personally experienced things that were out of the world I lived in. And look at that, apparently my world was connected to this one, a world filled with actual magic, so maybe there’s some truth to even the more bizarre stories I’ve heard.
-And what would you do if someone was to tell you a paranormal story in this world?
-I’d take it pretty much at a face value. There’s just too many weird things already happening here for me to assume something isn’t possible anymore. And even if the story is far-fetched or completely untrue, there’s a lesson within every story. Least of all, it will remind me to always stay vigilant in this world, especially here, in the Frontier.
Liyanne nodded. She seemed to like my answer. We had to cut our conversations here, however, as the other party members slowly started returning and I was required by Dayel to help analyse the reports and update the map further.
The rest of the day flew by in much the same manner, with us gradually filling out the blanks on the forest-side of the map. Only at the last outing, Trefyon, the oldest soldier in our group, managed to spot something of interest. He mentioned seeing a rock formation that could be a potentially suitable location for an outpost, however the place seemed to be a den of Hyndralls. While the location he described seemed pretty much perfect for the outpost, we decided that for now, it’s not worth putting our lives on the line just yet. If we fail to find any more suitable spots, we could always return here with a bigger group and raze the den. We might have to do that either way, given its proximity to the main tract. They still posed a fair danger to any supply caravan passing by, so getting rid of it should still help to greatly increase the security of the region.
The night seemed to be fairly calm, with no abnormal weather conditions this time around. However, at some point, close to midnight, we could hear a pack of Hyndralls howling enthusiastically in the vicinity. This woke us all up and we spent the next two hours on high alert, expecting the wolf-like monsters to attack. It seemed, however, that they found their prey somewhere else and decided not to bother with us as none of them showed up and everyone not on guard duty returned to their tents.
Next morning we decided to head up towards a small hill that was close to the main tract. When we got on top of it and looked around, we immediately spotted something odd down the road in the direction we came from. Moving closer to investigate, we found some human remains, still fresh, with plenty of bite and scratch marks. The body was wearing a uniform similar to that of our soldiers, although, as I’ve been told by my companions, more characteristic of the guards at the mines. It was missing three limbs and essentially the entirety of its torso. The blood all over the road and four partially eaten Hyndrall bodies suggested that this soldier did not go down without a fight. Could it be that the howling we heard in the night was either the battlecry or the victory call of the pack that attacked this guy? I grit my teeth realising this, that we were potentially so close to someone in dire need of help but failed to spot him and come to his aid. I knew we weren’t at fault, we didn’t have a clear view onto the tract, and even if we did, it was still nearly pitch black here at night. We also didn’t hear any human-sounding screams or shouts, meaning the soldier was never expecting to encounter other people so close to him either and simply focused his energy on fighting the monsters.
Among the belongings of the body, we found some documents, half of which were torn to shreds, with the other half so stained with blood it made them illegible. Having no use for them, we left them with the body and buried them in a shallow grave. It probably wasn’t enough to keep the hungry monsters away from it but it was enough that we felt we did our job to honour him. We simply couldn’t spare much more time digging a proper grave, even if Liyanne wasn’t particularly content with it. We did allow her to go through all of the required ceremonies, though. Personally, especially since we didn’t even know who this soldier was, I couldn’t understand her mentality, but I figured it must hold some special meaning to her since she was a Paladin and deeply religious.
With the funeral services and a short sermon finally done, we agreed to not waste any more time and head straight for the mining outpost. We could operate from it to map the nearby region, giving us more flexibility and better conditions to live in. We could also check if that soldier really belonged to their garnison and figure out why he was left alone in such a place at night. Luckily for us, the mines weren’t that far away from here, just a few hours at marching pace up the road. We didn’t speak a single word until the gates of the camp appeared in front of us, at which point, we quickly learned the story behind the lone soldier and a greater issue plaguing this region.