Chapter 11:

Chapter 11

Guardian of Wind

Early the next day, the village of Varja appeared in front of us, if you could even call it a village. Perched on a cliff shelf against the mountainside, with a high stone wall enclosing it and sharpened poles that seemed to grow from the ground jutting up between the houses, it looked like nothing I had ever seen before. As we came closer, I could see another village in the valley below us, with a stone wall running across the valley floor, cutting it off.

Mitrandes took us up against the mountain and then slowly descended into the village onto the only spot that was free from poles. But it seemed only to have been an illusion because the moment Aegon touched the ground, they rose around us by a strange system of ropes and pulleys, enclosing us.

I wrapped my cloak around me and shivered as we climbed down the rope ladder. People were walking to and fro on the square, but no one seemed to pay us any attention, busy with pulling carts or tightening the ropes around the poles. Most of them were Lycans, but I saw many Nekos, Star elves and Dwarves among them.

“You're late, Mitrandes!”

“Havan!”

A tall Lycan walked over to us, and Mitrandes wrapped his arms around him. He was older than Tore, but even though his hair hadn’t yet turned grey, he seemed to have an air of respect around him, as if he were an elder. He gestured for us, and we followed him down the spike-filled street and over to a stone house. I sighed with relief as the warmth of the glow crystals swept over us when we stepped through the door.

“Glad you made it, my friends.”

Havan took a kettle from the stove and poured us a hot, milky drink and gestured for us to sit down at the table.

“But you missed Siri. Osiros left last night…”

“Another time…” Tore sighed.

“It may be a while before they’re back. They’ve gone to hand out Iris’s new weapon."

“New weapon, huh?”

Mitrandes gave him a curious look, and Havan laughed.

“Don’t get me wrong, my friend. Your people’s inventions are amazing, but let’s just say that they are quite complicated to build.”

He chuckled.

“It took us years to build Osiros, and Vastis will not be finished before the Rains come."

He poured us more milky tea and continued.

“Iris used Dalor’s bow as a concept. Hers lacks some strength and range compared to it, but it’s good enough, and it can be made with local materials everywhere.”

“How is she doing?” Stella asked.

“She hasn’t managed to crash into the mountains yet, at least. Not that she didn’t try…” he chuckled and put the kettle down. "But what about you? What news do you bring this time?

I listened as Mitrandes told him about their journey since they’d last left, and the warmth of the room slowly made me doze off. It was only as I heard him mentioning my name that I looked up, and I met Ifrim’s eyes. He was sitting on the opposite side of the table, holding my gaze as Mitrandes spoke about what we’d been through.

We still hadn’t spoken about Stella’s plea since that day at Kalla Island, but it wasn’t hard to understand what he was thinking. I knew he had entrusted his life to me, and by now I understood what those words meant for a Dragon. But even so… I was a Guardian, but I wasn't Auntie or even Nolar. I barely understood this world. Yet they looked up to me as if I did.

It was me that Stella had come to ask for help. Auntie always said that having power and knowing how to use it were two different things, and that real power came from experience. If things had been as they used to be, I would have spent years studying in Naria before being given such responsibility. But they weren’t as it used to be…

“Well, I’m glad you made it."

Havan pushed back his chair, and I shivered as Ifrim broke his gaze. He waved goodbye, and I heard Tore let out a sigh.

“Home…”

“Come,” Vessa said. “You’ll need some proper clothes.”

Aase got up, and I could feel Ifrim’s eyes on me as I followed them out of the kitchen. They took me to a room, and Vessa began pulling out clothes from a wardrobe standing in the corner.

“You can take this… And this… And…"

She swung around, holding a pair of boots in the air.

“This!”

She handed them to me, and I dressed in the thick woollen tunic and leather boots she’d given me. They felt strange against my skin, but Aase reassured me they would keep me warm and I would be happy for it in the end.

Stella was waiting with her wind rifle in her hand as we came back to the kitchen.

“Come, I’ll show you around.”

I nodded, happy to be away from Ifrim’s eyes, and took my wind rifle and followed her out. I glanced at her as we walked through the spike-ridden streets. Was she waiting for me to bring it up again? Aase had said we would talk to Havan, but even so, I still didn’t know what I could do to help her. It wouldn’t be as simple as flying in and saving them. But she counted on me to help her… I wondered what my aunt would have done in this situation.

“Look, that’s where we're going,” Stella said, pointing down at the valley.

We’d come to the far end of the village, and I leant over a gap in the wall and looked down. It was the village I’d seen on our way here. From here, I could see that it had sharp poles jutting up from the streets as well, just like Varja.

“Shall we jump again?” she chuckled, but then immediately gestured at a set of stairs winding its way down the mountainside. “No, just kidding, we'll climb down. There is a lift, but it is probably used for something else now.”

I nodded. I didn’t mind it. After days spent on the ship, it was nice to move again.

I clung to the railing as we began the climb down, but I soon discovered it wasn’t needed. Even here, a fence of sharpened poles ran along the stairs all the way to the valley floor, and I wouldn’t fall any time soon.

"They've really protected this place,” I said.

She nodded.

“They used to live down in the village before the Monsters came. Then they built another one, up on the cliff."

I peered out over the valley. It must have been beautiful once, before it was covered up in walls and spikey poles.

Once we were finally down on the ground, I was exhausted, and I didn't look forward to the prospect of climbing up on our return. Stella didn’t seem to notice, though, because she only gestured for me to follow.

“Come!”

She led me through the village and out on the other side, where we could see a group of large stone buildings. She chuckled.

“Workshops… They built them on the outskirts because things don't always work out as they're supposed to.”

She led me to one of them, and a bald dwarf clad in a thick leather apron looked up as we entered.

“Stella! Just in time! Look!”

He grinned and pointed to a heavy brass pipe resting on the bench. It was open at one end and had what looked like a handle along the other and a trigger on the bottom, just like a wind rifle.

“What do you think?”

She gave him a sceptical look.

“Dalor, what happened to your hair?”

He ignored her question and pulled her over to the table.

“Try it! It’s not that heavy."

She took hold of it and immediately staggered, struggling under its weight before she straightened out.

“Good. Now let me strap this to you."

He crouched down and took hold of a closed cylindrical tube resting on the floor. It had ropes strapped to it and a thin hose coming out at the bottom.

“Help me."

I knelt next to him, taking hold of it, but there was no way I could lift it high enough to strap it to her back.

“This is soo heavy..." Stella sighed, struggling to hold the heavy pipe.

Dalor frowned and stepped back.

“Hold it, hold it like this... hm…two people, it could work. Running through the jungle will not be easy, but that’s not my problem, it works!”

“What is it?” I asked.

He turned to peer at me.

“This is Silje,” Stella said before I could speak. “Kine’s family.”

“So then you’ve never seen what my cannons can do,” he said, leaning on his bench. “Light crystals can be made to pulse rapidly, and glow crystals produce heat. If you combine those effects in certain conditions...”

He grinned.

“Let me show you how it works!”

He hauled the tube up from the floor, strapped it to his back, and then took the brass pipe from Stella. I glanced at her, but she just rolled her eyes and followed him out.

“Be careful. Don't go too close to it," she said as Dalor continued out onto the field.

I looked at her, but before I could ask what she meant, Dalor called that he was ready. He was holding the heavy brass pipe, pointing it at a wooden plank that was resting against the wall in the distance. He waved his hand at us and then pushed the trigger, and the tube flashed with bright light. The wooden plank burst into flames.

“It worked, it worked, you saw it!"

He threw his hands in the air, almost dropping the pipe.

“This time at least…”

I turned. A young neko woman with short white hair was leaning against the wall, holding a bucket of water.

“Iris!”

Stella rushed over to her, throwing her arms around her.

“You should have trusted me, Iris. I told you it would work," Dalor said as he came over to us.

She frowned.

“You should pack that mixture into something smaller, and we could shoot it from the wind rifles and make it ignite on impact."

He shook his head and waved off her suggestion.

“Such an inelegant solution. You will lose most of the power.”

She rolled her eyes and then turned to Stella.

“Come! I'll show you what I’ve made when you were gone."

Stella gestured for me to follow, and Iris took her hand, leading us around the corner and into another large building. There was a large wooden structure erected inside, and on it sat a ship with a huge sheet of textile hanging in ropes along its side.

Stella halted, dropping Iris’s hand.

“You’ve done it…"

She turned to Iris.

“Does it really work?”

“It does. I have two more under construction. They will be finished before the new moon."

“I’ve waited for such a long time," Stella whispered, and a dark shadow flashed in her eyes.

Iris wrapped her arms around her.

“We'll be ready soon, Stella."

I glanced at them.

“Ready for what?” I asked hesitantly.

Stella turned to me, giggling.

“To fly to the land of the Sanoors and burn it!”

“It may not be as big or fast as Aegon, but even with its limitations, it can carry enough fire pots to make them pay for what they did to us," Iris said.

I shivered. What did they want to do? But I didn't have time to speak because a horn suddenly blasted in the air. Stella grabbed my hand.

“Come!”

She pulled me into a corner and crouched down next to me.

“Don’t worry, Silje, the flying Monsters can’t get in here," Iris said as she sat on a roll of grass next to Stella.

“You’ll get used to it if you live here for a while," Stella chuckled.

It seemed to be true, because it didn’t take long until they continued discussing their plans. I shivered, hearing them. Burning the land of the Saanors. How had it come to this? Even if I understood why they wanted to do it, it felt so wrong… But then… Could I blame them? After all, what would I have done in their situation?

Stella reached out and took my hand.

“Don’t worry, we're safe. We'll be able to go back soon."

Iris got up and walked over to the bench.

“I can show you what else I’ve made. It’s still too big to fit into a wind rifle, but once I’ve built enough ships, I’ll have time to focus on making this better.”

She chuckled.

“And I’ll show Dalor I was right.”

She held up a sphere fitting in the palm of her hand.

“This is what I want to build from Dalor’s cannon. He’s making it too complicated again. This will be enough."

Stella got up and walked over to her.

“How many do you want to build?”

“As many as we can. If the first raid to the Sanoors goes well, I can convince more people to help us."

“It will be easier than raiding the council’s caravans, don’t worry," Stella smiled.

The horn suddenly blasted again.

“It’s safe. Let’s go back."

Stella turned to Iris.

"You're coming with us?”