Valkyrie's Shadow

Chapter 7

Fifteen minutes later, they rolled out of the border town and Marcus felt that their journey had finally begun in earnest. Though the highway was paved, it had not seen maintenance in recent years…yet he couldn’t feel the wagon moving over it. The sound of the wheels rumbling over the cracks and mossy bumps could be clearly heard under them. He leaned over to examine the undercarriage.

“Driver,” he asked, “what enchantments does your wagon have?”

“Suspension, axles and wheels,” the young teamster replied without turning around. “The tongue and harnesses as well. Just plain ol’ cushions on the seats, though.”

Carriages in the Theocracy had these conveniences commonly enough, but they were rarely found on cargo wagons. His estimation of the reportedly backwards nations of the north shifted somewhat. Maybe it was yet again due to the mysterious noble who ruled here.

“Are these wagons the property of House Corelyn?”

“Naw,” the man pointed to the sigil on the wagon ahead of them. “We’re all hired from House Wagner. Countess Corelyn’s been moving her tenants and their things all over the place for the last few months: there’s more than a hundred of our wagons working out here.”

“A hundred enchanted wagons?” Marcus furrowed his brow, “For the common folk? Is this normal in the Sorcerous Kingdom?”

“They’re not all enchanted,” the driver chuckled. “Only the ones that people are using to get around or those transporting high-value cargo like enchanted items for all the villages. The ones hauling construction materials and the like don’t need to be so fancy.”

“Everything from the border with the Theocracy to E-Rantel, and everything between the foot of the border ranges you see up there to the west, all the way to Katze Plains. The whole of the Riverlands, except for the bit in the Theocracy, of course.”

“And the Undead from the Katze Plains do not cause any problems?” Alessia asked.

“Not since we became part of the Sorcerous Kingdom,” the driver shrugged.

The stupendous wealth and power of Countess Corelyn became ever more apparent. The finances and connections to move tens of thousands of people around at will in comfort and perfect security. The wealth to provide magical items to what must be hundreds of rural communities across her demesne. Chartering an entire town with stone walls and construction at the same time that this was all happening.

Marcus swallowed the lump in his throat that formed as he continued to think. If this was what the newly enfeoffed Countess could bring to bear, then just how much greater was the Sorcerer King who could grant such authority to a single person with no worries? He didn’t even know where to begin imagining it.

“The Undead,” Alessia piped up again, “when can we see them?”

Ai! This isn’t a sightseeing trip, you!

He wanted to scold her, but it wouldn’t have taken back Alessia’s question. Marcus quickly glanced to the wagon bed near her seat – the haft of her Warhammer was conspicuously sticking out of a bag nearby. He looked out and around at the fields to either side of the road, but all he could see were vineyards, orchards and the occasional labourer tending to them as the Paladins ascended the northern slope of the valley.

“They’re not used for agriculture here,” the man smirked, “so you won’t see them unless you get really close to people’s homes. The first ones you’ll probably see will be around the next new village.”

Close to people’s homes? What the hell? It was the last thing that a native of the Riverlands would have liked to see.

“The next village?” Alessia turned her gaze ahead of them, “How many new villages have been raised?”

“One for each leg of the trip on this highway. Well, Corelyn Harbour’s more like a large town than a village – that’s the last stop before E-Rantel.”

Marcus rubbed his head while he realigned his perceptions. Rather than simply being a powerful Countess, Corelyn was more like a Duchess, or maybe even a Queen. Who else had the resources to do so much at once?

“Hmm…if this is so,” Alessia’s eyes gleamed, “we will have a soft bed and a roof over our heads every night. Fresh and hot meals as well…”

“That’s right, miss,” the teamster nodded. “This highway’s a merchant’s dream. A quality place to stay every night, and all the services one might need on every leg of the route. There’s no hostile monsters or bandits. The road itself’s being expanded and improved on as well. Even with everything that’s being built, the tolls are unexpectedly light.”

The young woman’s disposition softened greatly with the driver’s confirmation. Marcus wondered what sort of luxuries she was imagining with such a loose grin on her face.

They continued on their way, over the crest of the valley and into the next. Around mid-afternoon, after crossing the next river and ascending the opposite side of the valley, the procession halted abruptly, causing the driver to curse while he worked to settle his team of horses.

“What in the bloody hell…” The teamster muttered as he craned his neck to look up the road.

Marcus and Alessia looked forward as well, but their view was obscured by the line of wagons ahead. The driver stood in his seat to see what was going on. Almost immediately, he sat back down with a darkening expression.

“Should’ve put one of the wagons in front,” he grumbled.

His words made no sense to Marcus, but he could see Alessia already reaching out for her weapon. In the tense silence, a distant canter of hooves and the rumble of wagon wheels floated in from somewhere ahead of them, followed by the nervous whinny of a horse.

Marcus furrowed his brow. Why would a column of veteran Paladins stop for a wagon?

Shouts of alarm came from the front, followed by the Captain’s voice, issuing orders to stay in formation. A feeling of dread washed over Marcus, and he heard Lorenzo’s voice ring clearly through the air.

“「Lion’s Heart」!”

The voices of the other Paladins casting the spell in turn rolled towards them.

“「Lion’s Heart」.”

Alessia cast the spell on herself, and she looked to Marcus worriedly.

“「Lion’s Heart 」.”

As his own spell washed over him, he felt the sense of trepidation vanish. His mind worked to make sense of what was happening. Something powerful was coming: strong enough to convince the captain that Under Divine Flag was insufficient to provide suitable resistance to fear effects. He had opted instead to use a single target enchantment that provided complete immunity.

Marcus batted away his regrets over putting away his equipment as he searched through the wagon bed for another weapon, but it had all been tidily put away and he could not distinguish between the plain-looking satchels. The sound of the hooves was almost upon them, and he could discern several separate animals out of the noise. Still, he focused on trying to arm himself, opening pack after pack. Just in time, he finally found another warhammer and snatched it up to stand and face the unknown threat approaching.

It wasn’t long until their adversary made its appearance. Or rather, it sped by without so much as a word. Six driverless wagons rolled past them, laden with stone, gravel, lumber, and wooden crates. Each was drawn by a skeletal horse wreathed in billowing mist and emanating a sickly yellow light.

Several riderless warhorses in the Paladins’ procession panicked and broke free of their lines, running off of the road and into the nearby orchard. Someone shouted in warning and several members of the contingent rode after them.

“Uh…”

With warhammer in hand, Alessia looked like she was about to jump off of the side of the wagon in her stockings. All that remained to swing at, however, was a cloud of dust. Her sentiment was mirrored by several nearby, coughing and looking similarly confused. Even Marcus had placed a boot on the edge of their wagon, in anticipation of a violent struggle.

After scanning their surroundings, he re-seated himself and found that the driver had turned in his seat, looking at them as if they had all gone completely mad.

“Those…those couldn’t have been Soul Eaters, could they?” Marcus asked, trying to ignore his look.

The man turned back to face forward with a sigh.

“Yep,” he replied.

“You mean those spoken of in the City of Silence story?” Alessia looked down at him from where she was still standing.

“Well…I can’t personally vouch for the ones in the Silent City, but that’s what they call these.”

“So two Silent City’s worth of Soul Eaters just trotted by pulling wagons?” The young Paladin peered off down the road where the skeletal horses had disappeared.

“I…suppose?” The man frowned, “They’re a pretty common sight around here.”

“A common sight,” Marcus parroted the man flatly.

“Yeah, there’s a few hundred of them working around the Sorcerous Kingdom, including most of those wagons hired from House Wagner that I talked about. Normally, we’d be using them too.”

“A few hun–are you saying it is common to see a Soul Eater pulling a wagon in the Sorcerous Kingdom?”

“Uh, that’s right? The central administration’s trying to encourage the use of Soul Eaters for internal logistics, while caravans going beyond the borders or dealing with outsiders like yourselves still use regular draft animals. Seeing what just happened, I’m sure you can understand why. Best get used to them if you plan on staying here long, or it might be a bit embarrassing in a place with more people watching.”

The runaway horses were returned and Marcus could not help but be irked at the idea that their warhorses, which had been trained face down Demihuman hordes and swarms of the Undead, had bolted while the draft horses pulling the wagons did not seem to care at all. Several minutes passed before they finished re-tethering their mounts and the column resumed its journey north.

“Are there any other surprises like that?” Marcus asked.

“It’s not a surprise when it happens all the time…but I guess there are a few things that you might consider one,” the man reached down to pull a flask out from under his seat. “There should be Undead up in the town up ahead – Skeletons mostly used as menial labour. I can’t think of any time that they’ve been attacked, but it’s legally considered property damage and you’ll have to pay compensation or face jail time. There’s Elder Liches, too. The ones flying overhead are usually on patrol, while the ones on the ground are out doing office work.”

“Elder Liches…as clerks?” Alessia’s face screwed up in confusion.

“You’ll find them in every administrative office,” the driver wiped his mouth after taking a long draught from the flask. “E-Rantel has hundreds of them. They’re usually quick and no-nonsense about their work. The last bunch of Undead you’ll see are the ones working security: Death Knights, Death Warriors and the like. It’s Death Knights that you’ll see the most since they’re supposedly the defensive type. The others you can find here and there – there’s Death Warriors on the bridge to Corelyn Harbour and Death Cavaliers performing patrols around the border. There’s even a crew of Undead running a ship between Corelyn Harbour and Warden’s Vale.”

“I think I will be crazy by the end of this,” Alessia complained, “I do not think I can seriously harm a Death Knight yet, so can I just hit them to satisfy myself?”

The man eyed her strangely before speaking again.

“...I can’t say I’ve ever seen anyone do that,” he said, putting the flask away, “but I wouldn’t recommend it. They tend to interpret the criminal code quite severely, so you might get dragged off somewhere.”

“Mmh…”

Alessia glowered down at her feet, and Marcus changed the topic.

“It’s getting late in the afternoon,” he said. “How far are we to the next village?”

“You should be able to see it from here,” the driver peered up towards the ridge. “Ah, there it is – a few of its towers are poking out over there.”

Marcus’ gaze followed the curve of the highway until he saw what the man was speaking of. Battlements fashioned out of grey stone rose over the distant horizon, catching the afternoon light. At their current pace, they were still a few hours away.

“This village was raised before the one at the border,” the driver told them, “so you’ll be able to enjoy everything a proper stop has to offer.”

Despite how far away they still were, Alessia quickly put her warhammer away and pulled out her mithril plaque. Her eyes scanned the wagon bed before she reached out and tugged her boots out of her baggage. An air of excited anticipation oozed off of her, the encounter with the Soul Eaters apparently cast by the wayside. Marcus could only roll his eyes.

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