The Ice Lands

by William Dickey

  For me, it was still early so when I left them both, I went back to Low Temperature Resistance training. Normally, I’d spend this part of the evening forging, but obviously, I couldn’t with the two of them sleeping so close. My friends would have to adjust their sleeping patterns to match the beastmen’s before the expedition set out.

  Ch. 18: Move

  Name

  †Isaac N. Stein (Daemonheart)†

  Level

  52

  Class

  †Otherist†

  Exp

  123/11650

  Health

  450/450

  Satiety

  97/100

  Stamina

  500/500

  Hydration

  99/100

  Mana

  150/150

  Status

  Disquiet

  Vitality

  45

  Strength

  40

  Agility

  40

  Endurance

  50

  Magic

  10

  Dexterity

  40

  Energy

  15

  Defense

  30 (+8)

  Intelligence

  50

  †Skills†

  †Cooking Lvl. 6 (13.9%)†

  †Skinning Lvl. 4 (12.1%)†

  †Blacksmithing Lvl. 17 (19.1%)†

  †Leatherworking Lvl. 4 (13.4%)†

  †Carpentry Lvl. 2 (93.1%)†

  †Otheristry Lvl. 11 (43.2%)†

  †Sigil Mastery Lvl. 5 (5.0%)†

  †Mana Recovery Lvl. 3 (14.8%)†

  †Sewing Lvl. 8 (0.3%)†

  †Artificing Lvl. 8 (12.8%)†

  †Sense Jeopardy Lvl. 1 (70.0%)†

  †Riding Lvl. 7 (45.2%)†

  †Shapeshift Lvl. 3 (17.0%)†

  †Murlimp Physique Lvl. 2 (3.1%)†

  “There isn’t much to say. We all know what’s going on, so I’ll make this quick,” Jutmaek began. I waved my status screens away. I knew this moment was significant and I should be paying greater attention, but I found all the pomp and circumstance of this affair dreadfully boring.

  A week had passed since my friends’ surprise arrival in Doraga. In that time, Izusa scrambled to put together a few more packs for the expedition while I did my best to keep my friends out of trouble. Unfortunately, that task turned out to be far more difficult than I would have imagined.

  On the first evening after their arrival, while I was giving them a brief tour of the village and trying my best to ignore the vast number of awkward stares we got, we were accosted by three young clansmen. The trio ‘requested’ a three on three sparring match with Rose, Zelus, and Albert, suggesting the match was the only way the clan’s new slaves could prove themselves worth the food they consumed.

  The trio were probably working on Truant’s behalf. They probably thought that by proving how weak the three were it’d either increase outrage over the clan chief’s decision or force Jutmaek to reconsider. They probably thought that given the three humans’ diminutive size, their job was going to be quick and easy. Well, they turned out to be half-right, Zelus and Rose’s magic made the fight quick.

  On the plus side, the fight demonstrated Zelus’ and Rose’s power to the beastmen. Afterwards, they were both treated with a modicum of respect and there were no more major incidents the rest of the week.

  The expedition was ready and about to set off. Given the amount of public exposure, this was a big event to Doraga and it seemed like the whole clan turned out to watch us depart, prompting Jutmaek’s speech.

  “These brave souls are about to engage in a deadly mission. They must first travel a thousand miles of terrain deemed too harsh for survival. Only to face unknown dangers within a structure out of legend. They do these things because it is the only way Doraga can persist and prosper, Should they fail, Doraga may become another Nest and we will all be forced to scatter and struggle to find our place in another clan. In short, this group are risking themselves for the clan and nothing could be more honorable, more Othan, than that. I know it isn’t our way, but we are all grateful and wish you all the best of luck,” Jutmaek made a deep bow to us.

  The rest of the crowd shortly followed suit. Displays of gratitude were rare for the Othans whose culture prized strength and stoicism. Different members held different roles in the clan. Some were more important than others, some were rewarded with better food and equipment. But, there was no official social strata, save for the position of clan chief, so beastmen didn’t really have ‘betters’ they had to show deference to. This made the seemingly simple act of a bow a rare and powerful thing.

  With Jutmaek’s speech finished, Izusa waved a hand, signaling us to depart. We left on foot with each of us carrying a large pack. This was really just for show, I’d be carrying most of the supplies in my expansive inventory but Izusa thought it best for the clan to see us carrying them as we left, lest they think the expedition was going to be a leisure trip.

  In total, there were nine of us leaving Doraga. Rose and Zelus were coming along to help, while Albert elected to remain behind. Albert wasn’t much of a fighter and his talents wouldn’t be much use where we were going. It wouldn’t be long before it became too cold for Albert’s cooking to maintain its typical perfection and besides it wasn’t as if I’d do without. I had Albert working double time the last few days so plenty of the finest cuisine Tautellus had to offer was safely stored away in my inventory, perfectly maintained until the moment before I ate it.

  As for the other six, Izusa was designated as the leader and she selected her trusted friend Talia to come with. I didn’t know the other four Doragans so well, having only met them a handful of times in the past couple months as the expedition waited for the spring thaw. They were Bullseye, Bearballs, One Wyvernwing and Two Wyvernwing.

  Bullseye was one of Izusa’s trusted lieutenants, an older beastman who’d made the journey before and could have some insight as to what to expect on the journey.

  Burnick Bearballs was a burly giant even for a beastman with stark white hair despite being in his mid-thirties. Bearballs’ beastform was a polar bear making him well suited for where we were going and it never hurt to have a bit of extra muscle. Of course, extra muscle generally means deficiencies in other aspects and Bearballs was no exception. His mind was slow and he had a proclivity for the crude and lude as was to be expected from someone who’d named himself Bearballs.

  One Wyvernwing and Two Wyvernwing, or Wy-1 and Wy-2 as most called them because their names were too much of a mouthful, were identical twin brothers from Nest who’d joined Doraga a few years before, after the fall of their clan. And yes, One and Two were there actual first names. Given that so many young Othans died in the Blood Moon, some Othan parents numbered their children to reduce sentimentality towards them when they were likely to die before adulthood.

  Wy-1 and Wy-2 both had large flying wyverns as beastforms, which played a large role in why they were given refuge. None of Doraga’s traditional beastforms had the ability to ferry people and supplies through the sky. It was this ability and the brothers’ natural preference that their new home not go the same way their old one had that drove the pair to join the expedition.

  We hiked north through windy newly green hills for an hour before Titania caught up to us, or rather, we caught up to her. She’d seen us leaving, given the crowd it’d been easy, and moved to intercept us on top of a hill well outside of the village.

  “Hey, Titania. I hope the past week hasn’t been too hard,” I waved.

  “It was fine,” said Titania. She was never much of a talker but given the circumstances, her words seemed too brief.

  “Cheer up, it wasn’t that much fun in there anyway,” said Rose.

  “Titania, it’s been way too long,” Zelus exaggerated. He rushed over to her his arms spread wide as he prepared to give her a big hug. It didn’t take a genius to see wh
at he was up to. All the times I’d seen Titania in Crystalpeak she’d worn thick silver armor. Because of the cold and a need for stealth in Othan territory, Titania had forgone the metal armor and instead opted for leather garments pliable enough for Zelus to hope to feel through.

  Titania was even more used to Zelus’ antics than I was, she saw through him instantly and delivered a sharp slap to his face the moment he was in arm’s reach. Titania didn’t mean to do much harm, but given how much larger she was, a simple slap still sent Zelus tumbling to the ground.

  “Not here for even thirty seconds before she goes on and injures her teammates,” Wy-1 huffed.

  “You would think given her history she would be trying her best to stay out of the way and let the clansmen do what is needed,” Wy-2 agreed in principle with his brother.

  I hadn’t known the brothers for long, but from what I could tell, they were extremely close. They’d gone through hell together during the fall of their last clan and held a mindset as identical as their appearance.

  “Enough,” Izusa cut in. “It is nice to see you again, Titania. We did not have much time to communicate the last time we met. I am Izusa Wolfclaw and I am in charge of this expedition. Clansman Daemonheart says you are skilled and dependable. I hope his opinions are proven correct over the coming weeks.”

  “You will not get any grief from me,” said Titania.

  “Bit too late for that. Your very presence has me shivering from my boots to the tips of my short hairs,” Bearballs joked. Izusa ignored him.

  “You already know why we are out here, so I guess I should just introduce everyone.” Izusa proceeded to name and give a brief skill description of everyone Titania didn’t already know. Izusa didn’t bother introducing Titania to the group. They already knew who she was and, more importantly to them, knew what she was.

  They knew Izusa was Fallen.

  Many of the beastmen on the team were uncomfortable to say the least when they learned of Titania. This mission was of the upmost importance and the best were required, definitely not a Fallen. The poor reception Wy-1, Wy-2, and Bearballs were giving Titania was simply an extension of this attitude.

  “I can’t believe how messed up you are all being. She is one of your people, once believed lost and now found. You should be happy… welcoming,” Rose huffed, coming to Titania’s defense. Of course, none of the beastmen could understand what Rose was complaining about and neither Titania nor I translated for her. Instead, I pulled Rose to the side.

  “What are you doing? Just translate what I say. I won’t have you censoring me this whole trip,” said Rose. She and Zelus didn’t speak the Othan language so they relied on me or Titania to translate everything the Othans discussed.

  ‘A lovers’ spat in public, you move through the stages quickly don’t you,’ said Mai.

  ‘So quickly we skipped the whole lovers part,’ I both wanted and didn’t want to retort, else I’d have to admit how little there was to our relationship, but I was preoccupied.

  “Shhhh, calm down,” I said.

  ‘You shouldn’t have translated the hazing bit, or at least toned it down a little,’ said Mai, naturally at a time where it was too late to do any good.

  “Do you really think I could have avoided this if I simply didn’t translate the hazing?” I replied to Mai though Rose didn’t know that.

  “Don’t you dare edit any of it,” said Rose, clearly disappointed by her perception of my attitude. I translated everything precisely because I knew it wouldn’t do any good to try to hide anything. Their body language was clearly hostile towards Titania and body language is the same for every tongue.

  “Alright,” I resigned myself to this misinterpretation. “But calm down and think about it. They are just worried that Titania will drag down the group. You haven’t lived around the Othans for long, but they only really respect personal strength and ability.”

  “It’s like how some in Doraga were hostile towards me and Zelus when we first arrived…” Rose began.

  “Exactly, they were hostile because they thought you weak and useless until you two proved you had potential with your demonstration of magic,” I explained. “Since Titania failed her Blood Moon, they all think she is a waste. Give it some time, they’ll see what she can do and accept her.”

  “But if you put in a good word…” said Rose.

  “I already have, otherwise she wouldn’t even be here,” I said.

  “But…”

  “It’s okay,” said Titania. “I understand exactly how they feel.”

  More because of Titania’s single comment than all my prodding, Rose let it go.

  “Okay, since everyone is here and introductions are out of the way, I see no more need to continue on foot. Wy-1, Wy-2, go ahead and shift,” said Izusa.

  Everyone set down their packs. Wy-1 and Wy-2 moved a bit away from the group and each other, making space for their much larger wyvern forms. While we waited, I stored much of what people were carrying into my inventory and withdrew a set of saddles designed to carry multiple riders.

  Once Wy-1 and Wy-2 completed their transformations, Izusa and Bullseye strapped the saddles on and everyone began boarding.

  I stuck close to Rose so I could get a seat directly behind her. Each of the saddles had four seats arranged in a line down the wyverns’ backs. Rose and I took positions in the middle two seats on Wy-2.

  “Hey, I do not want this seated anywhere near me. The Fallen fuckup will fuck something up and grab me to keep from falling. Next thing you know, Bearballs is Flatballs as my preciouses smoosh against the rocks below,” said Bearballs in typical fashion.

  I looked over. Bearballs occupied the third seat on Wy-1 and Titania had attempted to take the last seat.

  “Not more of this,” Rose huffed. She didn’t even need me to translate to understand what was going on.

  “Don’t worry,” I said to Rose and wanting to be the gallant problem solver, I tapped the empty saddle behind me and called out. “There’s an empty seat over here.”

  “Yeah, go over there,” said Bearballs and Titania sauntered over and took the seat behind me.

  “Thanks,” she said.

  “No big deal,” I replied. “Just give it a few days everything will smooth over.”

  Titania nodded in acknowledgement. Rose smiled at me, making it definitely worthwhile.

  Everyone finished loading on and I watched as Wy-1 and the other group took off.

  ‘You know it’s not a good sign for team unity when the Xebryans and Othans self-segregate,’ said Mai, commenting on the fact that Zelus, Rose, Titania, and I were all riding on Wy-2.

  I probably should have paid more attention to Mai’s comment, maybe if I’d noticed I could have prevented what was to come, but the harsh bounding motion of Wy-2 distracted me as the flying lizard ran on its stumpy hind legs to pick up speed before taking off.

  “I cannot believe how the two of you have failed me. All I asked for you to do was track down and take care of a single Fallen girl. How hard can that be? Considering how close she must be for her to… It should not have taken you more than a couple hours, but you had over a week and you still failed,” Truant roared, his anger threatening to run out of control and unleash itself on the two men who kneeled before him.

  “Sir, I hope you can understand sir, it was precisely because she remained near the clan it was difficult to track her. There were too many sets of tracks, too many overlapping scents…,” said one of the beastmen. Truant delivered a massive fist to the beastman’s face, smashing his nose in before turning to his compatriot.

  “Do you think my order unreasonable?” Truant asked.

  “No sir,” said the second beastman.

  “Do you find my disappointment unreasonable?” Truant asked.

  “No sir,” the second beastman answered again.

  “Good,” Truant nodded before bashing the uninjured beastman’s nose in to even things up. He then knocked both onto their backs and proceed
ed to stomp on their bellies, breaking several ribs. “This time you will be left with a beating. Fail me so badly again and the consequences will be far more dire.”

  Truant had sent three of his loyal like-minded minions in pursuit of Titania. Since it was only one Fallen girl and all three of the men sent were clansmen, they’d split up to search. Two hadn’t found her and had returned in shame while the third hadn’t come back at all. Instead, his body had been found covered in electrical burns, his weapon still sheathed. Titania had sneak attacked Truant’s third beastman and killed him with an artifact even before he could try to resist. If all of Truant’s followers were so weak, what use were any of them. This was the real reason for Truant’s anger. This failure suggested that all of Truant’s efforts to build a coterie of loyal men might have been for naught.

  Truant shifted into his bear form and left the two men on the ground as he moved further out from the village. In a few minutes, the two men would pick themselves up and return to Doraga. There they would seek medical attention and claim to have been involved in a training accident. It would raise a few eyebrows, but no one would investigate further.

  Truant spent two hours running, putting a lot of distance from the village as he made his way to a certain cave. Just traveling to this place and back he’d be wasting more time than he liked. Truant supposed he could have made it closer to Doraga, but that would have increased the chances of this place being discovered.

  “Hey, if you two are there, come out. I have another job for you,” Truant repeatedly yelled into the cave until two skinny pale-skinned men walked out.

  “Food,” said the New Fallen man named Dustin.

  “Yes, food,” seconded the other New Fallen named James.

  Dustin had long dark hair and beard, once short and clean though over the last year it had steadily grown longer and more ragged. The man’s beard held a touch of grey reflecting his age far better than the numerous patches of sagging wrinkled skin that covered his face and body.