To Distant Shores

As promised the night before, the group gathered their belongings and departed from Reddenton in the morning. They were bound for Farbour. 

In the back of her mind, Ariana had been keeping track of their course. Farbour was the second-to-last city that the signpost outside of Loomholm mentioned down this road. In the time traveling, she had confirmed some things with the others and the people they came across. 

Indrock sat across the bay from Cavistonia, the country that Cavland is a province of, and Farbour was the port that connected the two countries on Cavistonia's side. The other route would be through the mountains and through the fortress city of Altus that stood among the peaks. 

Either way, she felt she was close to her goal. Alex was just a little farther away. 

It took another day by cart to finally leave the forest. As beautiful as it was, seeing the actual sky again felt good. 

On the road north once more, they came across far more travelers than previously. 

As they traveled, they discussed their plan going forward. 

Ariana was practicing some water magic. "Alright, When I left Loomholm, I left because I was following the demon lord's emissary. I figured that by following him, I'd reach the demon lord's castle and find my Alex."

Sophie nodded. "Okay, that makes sense. It'll probably only be a few more days until we reach Indrock at this rate. I'm so glad we have this cart!"

Ellie looked at the road ahead. "It would be nice to have the cart in Indrock, it might still be a bit of a trip to the castle. The roads in the demon country probably aren't very good..."

Hayden called back. "Indrock's roads are pretty darn good, actually. They got most of their roads paved over with asphalt."

Sophie poked her head out of the cart towards Hayden. "What? How?!"

Hayden looked to her. "Well, demonfolk specialize in fire magic, and while the country's mostly snow, they also got a massive tar field. I reckon that's how they did it."

Ellie pondered. "I wonder what else their infrastructure has that we might not be expecting... or their weapons for that matter... in any case, if we could bring the cart along, it sounds like the roads would be smooth sailing."

Sophie sat back down. "But how do we get a horse-drawn cart on a sail boat?"

Hayden glanced back. "You'd be surrpised how big some of these ships can get. Some ships board carts and horses all day long. We might be able to catch a ferry."

Sophie gasped. "Oh my gosh, I love ferry rides! Being so close to the water and feeling all the splashing, seeing the whales, it's so fun!"

Ariana giggled a bit. "That does sound fun, doesn't it?"

Ellie nodded. "It would make getting to Indrock a breeze."

Hayden nodded. "Then it's settled. We'll get this thing on a ferry and sail on smoothly to Indrock."

Another three days passed, and Ariana could smell the sea. 

She could hear the crying of seabirds and the crashing of distant waves. She could hear bells and calls of working sailors, and the creak of wood against tide and step. 

When they were within the city, she saw all of the people about. It was incredibly crowded, and getting the cart through proved challenging. Asking around with some locals, Hayden was able to figure out the ferry situation. 

A heavily monitored ferry traveled to and from Indrock twice a week. People are met with extreme scrutiny regardless of race, and all belongings would be searched. 

As they got into the queue for boarding, Ellie whispered to Ariana. "So, about our reason for going... You might want to be a little more careful about who you tell about your son here... especially the part where you think he might be... you know..."

Ariana thought about Ellie's words. "If they are as thorough as we've heard, they'll find out anyways, and lying about that sort of thing probably makes us look more suspicious."

Ellie sighed. "Maybe, but... if they don't ask about it, maybe keep it to yourself this time, okay?"

"I suppose that saying nothing isn't technically a lie..."

Ellie nodded and her ears flopped a bit. "Yeah, exactly."

The queue moved forward slowly. As they inched forward, Hayden took the moment to make the sigil on his shoulder more prominent. Ariana recognized it; it was the same one that all of the guards in Lumie had. Come to think of it, it was the same sigil that was on Albert and Alvin's armor. 

Eventually, the queue advanced enough that their cart stood before a pair of armored soldiers. 

Hayden nodded. "Howdy, boys. Duties faring well?"

The soldier to the left was a bit heavyset, while the soldier on the right was more of a beanpole. Neither looked fit for combat. 

They reminded her of a duo of deliquents that would hang around outside of her old apartment. Alex tried picking fights with them, despite them being so much bigger and stronger than he was. She remembered feeling terrified that he would say the wrong thing and get beaten up. She knew he meant well, trying to tell them off and get them to leave, but he was so little. So little and so brave...

She felt a bit nervous remembering this. Sophie reached out to hold her hand. She was caught off guard for a second, but smiled and returned the grip. 

The heavyset guard looked into the cart. "I'm going to need everyone in this vehicle to exit immediately for inspection."

Hayden stretched in place, making sure to lean his emblazoned shoulder towards the guard as he did. "Any chance you could get this process going a bit faster?"

The guard seemed unimpressed. "It would be faster if you cooperated." 

Hayden sighed. "Right, you heard the boy, ladies." 

Everyone left the cart. Both guards' focus immediately darted to Ariana. 

She waved a bit and tried to smile. 

The heavyset guard approached her. "You. What's your business?"

Ariana took a deep breath. She resolved to be honest. "I'm going to find my son."

The others all looked at her.

The guard seemed skeptical. "Your son, huh?"

She chose her words carefully. "Yes... My son and I were separated many years ago. I've recently heard he's alive and well in Indrock. I need to find him... so we can go home."

The others looked relieved.

The guard again seemed unmoved. He leaned a bit to the side. "Golka! Philo!" 

Two women approached in the same armored uniform. One of them was a towering, muscular orc. The other was an elf that seemed too small to fit into her armor, but there she was wearing it anyways. 

"Golka, search them. Philo, check for magic. Thank you and please."

They nodded, and the orc's hands took firm hold of Ariana's waist. "Woah!" The elf's eyes took on a violet glow that seemed familiar to Ariana, but she couldn't quite place it. The elf looked her over thoroughly. She couldn't help feeling a bit embarrassed. 

The elf turned to the heavyset man. "She doesn't have any weapons, but she has three attack spells. Magic Drain, Reaping, and Churning. The only other spells she has are all around summoning water and plants."

The heavyset man did a double-take. "Wait, what? No fire?"

The elf shook her head. "Not unless you count a flint."

Ariana looked at the elf. "Hold on, Reaping and Churning aren't attack magic... are they? Aren't they for harvesting plants and... making butter?"

Everyone just looked at her. 

The two guards looked to Hayden. 

He put his hands up. "We're Outworlders. Not exactly experts on this stuff."

The two guards glanced at each other. 

There was an awkward silence, and Ariana's face flushed a bit. 

The skinny guard cleared his throat and gestured over at the orc and elf. 

The orc released Ariana. 

Ariana just stood there keeping quiet. 

The rest of the inspection was uneventful, and they were able to board the ferry without further incident.