Chapter 477 - Pathfinders

Hope you like the chapter.

Hump’s laughter stopped when he saw the way Acalin was looking at him, trying to judge whether or not he was serious.

“This world?” the man finally said. “You are not from our world?

The question left Hump wondering how close to the chest they should play this out. Loften had instructed them to seek out his high priest, so keeping secrets seemed unnecessary. If anything, it would just slow them down. They weren’t the enemies of this world, and the natives were not their enemies either.

Hump shook his head, deciding honesty was the way to go. “We are not. We came here by accident after falling through the veil of our world. We were instructed to seek out the high priests in Urandel to help decide what we do next.”

“Instructed by who?” Acalin asked.

“I think you can guess.”

Acalin’s companions broke into hurried conversation—two women with commanding bearing, and a lanky man even taller than Acalin himself. Only the healer kept silent, bent over the wounded figure beside Dylan, hard at work saving their injured companion.

At first glance, Hump thought they had been human, but up close the differences were striking. Their skin was a deep brown, and had a coarse, leathery texture that caught the light like bark infused with metal. Their teeth were sharp, not grotesquely, but in subtle points. Long ears swept back from their heads, the ridges along the edges like serrated blades.

What struck Hump most was their eyes. Essence burned within them—not as bright as those that were dragon blooded, but distinctly there, matching the colour of their hair. It reminded him of when Celaine’s eyes were visible. Or perhaps more like Nisha’s, as their pupils were thin and slit, like a predator.

Those eyes turned on Hump, the outburst still taking place. One of the women with white hair pointed at him angrily. One thing was becoming very clear to Hump.

“They understand us, don’t they?” Hump said to Acalin.

The man gave Hump an awkward look but made no denial.

“We do,” the white haired woman cut in. Hump thought she might be the youngest of the group, perhaps his age, though it was difficult to interpret through their different features. “It is the language of the holy ones, saved only for the temples. We must understand it. And we know better than to speak it out here.”

“My apologies for our lack of etiquette,” Bud said, “This is the only language that we know.”

She scoffed and folded her arms. “Your tongue is not the problem, it is your words. The tiny one speaks as if the Maker spoke to you directly. You are schemers.”

Hump’s cheek twitched but he said nothing.

“Tamira!” Acalin barked, his voice deep. “Your distrust is unfounded! They are our saviours. Karo lives because of them.”

She snapped at him in their own language once more, more out of frustration than anger this time.

“Do you think she meant you when she said tiny one?” Celaine asked quietly.

Hump glared at her. “Not now, thank you.”

Celaine smirked.

Acalin barked something in a sharp voice, and Tamira stopped, glaring at him but speaking no longer.

Acalin turned back to Hump and the others with a sigh. “She thinks I am too trusting. That you are part of the events orchestrated to bring us here.”

Things were starting to fall into place. The woman’s suspicion, and the fact that a fairly experienced adventurer party were caught off guard like this. “You believe you were intentionally given false information and lured here to the griffins.”

Tamira spoke again.

“Enough, Tamira!” Acalin said so that they could understand.

“They are playing you,” she said. “We can speak the holy tongue too. Does that mean the Maker sent us? They must work for Drasoon.”

“I think I’ve heard enough of that,” Hump said. “If we’re going to continue talking, we need to move past this suspicion. First of all, we have no reason to lie to you. You saw our strength. If we were part of a plan to lure you all here to die, why would we save you?”

“For our favour? This is Acalin Legare. It would not be the first time a fool has attempted such a thing.”

“My family is somewhat well known in Urandel,” Acalin said.

Hump massaged his head.

“There’s a simple resolution,” Emilia said before Hump could figure out his next attempt. “We need nothing from you. Dylan can stabilise their friend there and then we can be on our way. We achieved what we came for here for.”

“Achieved what?” Tamira asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Helping a group of people in need,” Emilia said softly, meeting her gaze. “And that is all. We will continue on our way once Dylan is done here.”

“We should not trust their strange magic,” Tamira said.

“No,” the healer spoke up. “This magic is beyond me. Karo will live because of him. What is that potion you gave him?”

“An elixir of vitality,” Dylan said. “It gives the body the strength to replenish its blood and heal wounds, as long as they’re not too serious.”

“Amazing,” she said. “Never have I seen something work so fast.”

“You do not have potions?” Dylan asked.

A short laugh blurted from her lips. “Perhaps Acalin’s family could get one. Such alchemy is beyond our means as a party. Leave them be, Tamira. They have already given us more than we could ever offer back.”

“Meli… are you sure.”

The healer smiled at her. “I can see a true healer when they are before me. This man is one. He cares.” She turned to Dylan. “What did you say your name was?”

“I am Dylan.”

“My name is Meli Calvera. You have my deepest gratitude, Dylan. For saving us, and for helping Karo.”

It seemed Tamira valued her opinion more than Acalin’s, for the anger left her just like that. Resigned suspicion taking its place.

“Now that that is out of the way,” Acalin said. “Am I to presume that you are on your way to Urandel?”

“We are,” Hump said.

“Then we shall take you there. The way is long and the islands difficult to judge for those that do not know their ways. It will take you many weeks without a guide. With us, perhaps one.”

Hump glanced at his companions who all seemed happy with the arrangement. “That would be brilliant. Thank you.”

Acalin held up his hands, palms open. “Please, do not thank me. You saved us. It was my failure that led us to this dire state, and you pulled us out. My friend is alive because of you, and for that I will forever be in your debt.”

“There’s no need for any debt,” Bud said. “We’re adventurers. This is what we do.”

“Adventuers?”

“Your world doesn’t have adventurers?” Bud asked. “People that go around fighting off monsters and helping people?”

“Ah,” Acalin said. “Somewhat. We are pathfinders. Originally, we were tasked with identifying locations to settle new cities and building routes between them when the world was shattered. Now, we are much the same as you.”

“Then you should know there is no need to go out of your way for us,” Bud said with a smile. “This is what we do.”

Acalin seemed perplexed. “Still… I must do something. I would offer you our Windrunner, but it can only seat six people. It would reduce the trip significantly, but even without it we can cover ground quickly. There’s an island a few days from here with other Windrunners. We will be able to take one from there directly to Urandel. I insist that we see you to your destination.”

“Then we accept,” Bud said. “We are in no position to turn down help right now.”

“It would be good to learn more about this world before we go around causing trouble too,” Emilia said.

Hump was staring at the strange metal carriage behind Acalin. “That thing is a Windrunner, right?”

“A small one, yes. Your world doesn’t have Windrunners?”

Hump shook his head. “No. Is it some sort of carriage.”

“In a way, yes. The carriage rides the winds of essence—winds generated by the power that makes the islands float. With it, we can cross the gaps with ease. Larger ones can travel even farther.”

“Amazing,” Hump said.

While Dylan and Meli worked to heal Karo, Acalin seemed very keen to learn more about how and why they were here. His suspicion was that they were servants of the Maker, a concept that Hump very quickly wanted to put a stop to but was unfortunately close to the truth. Bud and Dylan were Chosen of the Pantheon, they were servants of the gods, just this one happened to be exiled from if Loften was to be believed.

They filled him in on some of the general ideas of what brought them to this world—a gap in the veil, and the help of Loften to arrive safely here—but left out many of the details such as the fall of the Twelve Seals. Hump still wasn’t sure what to make of the natives. Acalin seemed like a nice enough fellow, but sharing that a war between ancient gods might be about to start didn’t seem like an ideal way to kick off their relationship.

In turn, Acalin answered many of their questions too. They were known as altari, and just as Hump had never heard of them, they had never heard of humans either. Considering their worlds were once connected, it seemed impossible. The only possibility was that their existence had been intentionally removed from any record, along with information about their world. It was the same as the Remnant Realm. Someone very powerful had clearly gone a long way to hide many things, and the more Hump learned, the more he realised that there seemed to be only twelve likely suspects.

Tamira didn’t warm up to them that day, but Meli, the other woman, Yoltza, and a now conscious Karo seemed just as intrigued as Acalin was. They were a friendly bunch. At first, Hump worried they would slow them down if anything, but once he saw a map of the nearby islands he quickly realised how fortunate they’d been to find them. If they had followed a direct course, the gaps between the floating islands would only become larger until they had to go so deep the monsters would have become truly dangerous. Even more impressive was the Windrunner. While it could only seat six, it made easy work of travelling between islands, requiring a couple of trips to compensate for the increase in numbers.

The more Hump learned about it, the more he couldn’t wait to arrive in the city. It seemed the Altari relied far less on blessings and magic, instead utilising special artifacts that utilised essence in the air. Such technology existed in Alveron, but it was far from so common place. Just as Loften had used his craft to keep the world from falling to pieces, it seemed he had taught the Altari to utilise his glyphs to truly thrive in the world he created.

As evening was drawing near, Hump finally broached the subject he had been putting off—politics. “We’ve been dodging around an issue that I feel would be foolish to leave any longer, Acalin.”

The man’s face fell. “The griffin attack.”

Hump nodded. “Presumably, you likely have an idea of who is targeting you? Drasoon, was it?”

“A petty rival of mine that I suspect is using his father’s criminal connections to make my life difficult. I don’t think the plan was to kill us—at least, not all of us. Most likely, this was a threat.”

“Whatever squabbles you have going on in your city are irrelevant to us,” Hump said. “What I’m interested in is whether you expect them to come for you again. Tamira seemed to think they might.”

Acalin sighed. “It’s possible, yes. I... perhaps I was mistaken suggesting this. I do not mean to bring you trouble. Getting involved in my affairs will only bring you problems.”

“If they try anything again, it will be on the Sapphire Isles,” Tamira cut in. It was the first time she’d spoken to them all day. “We will be recognised when we enquire about a Windrunner. It would be best if we part ways before then.”

“Hump was not worried for our sake,” Bud said. “If they come for you, we will be ready.”

“You have already helped us,” Acalin said.

“And now you are helping us,” Bud said. “It’s become clear today that our previous attempt at reaching Urandel would have taken some time. We must return to our world, and sooner rather than later. That begins in your city. If someone decides to cause trouble on our journey, it’s only natural for us to step in.”

Acalin looked at the knight. “Wizard Humphrey called you the Frost Knight. Never have I seen a griffin taken down with such ease. You speak the holy tongue—the language of the Maker. And… I sensed divinity in your power. You say you are from another world, but I must ask, are you from the heavens?”

Bud’s face hardened into something unreadable. “No. But I draw my power from a similar place.”

Hump gave Bud a nod. They had discussed this already. It seemed wise to keep any mention of the rest of the Pantheon silent for now, just in case.