Shadowbane

"About damn time." Ishar said as we passed the main gate.

It did feel unnecessarily long this time, maybe because the trip to Viseux had nothing of importance tied to it. Here, every day wasted traveling meant whatever is happening in the nation of Kellog is only getting worse.

"... Something feels off."

"We've barely passed the main gate, how are you sensing something already?" Alicia asked.

"I don't know what it is, it just feels very... Familiar. I can't quite place it though, it's a very vague feeling at this point."

Ishar narrows his eyes at me. "Then this is worse than we expected if you're already sensing something is off."

"You believe her? Are you sure she isn't imagining it?"

"My fight with her proved she has experience, and after hearing her backstory I've chosen to put more weight behind her words. Think about it girl, she could have lied or downplayed her part in that nation of cultists. Instead, she told us exactly what she did there. That means something in my world. So yes, I believe her. Now whether she is imagining it or not, I have no idea. I've been misled by my own senses before, there is also magic designed solely for that purpose as well. So always make decisions with that possibility in mind."

I turn towards Aresa. "Where are we heading first?"

{We were supposed to stop at one of the nobles mansions, he's putting us up while we are here. But um, Cera told my attendant there has been a change of plans. Before any of you ask, I have no idea where we're going now.}

Both me and Ishar exit the vehicle at the same time. He puts some distance between himself and the wagon, walking alongside it while eyeing the surrounding. I pull myself up onto the roof of the wagon and proceed to do the same as him, keeping watch for anything out of place.

'Change of plans' my ass. Aresa probably has her reasons for trusting these people, but I know nothing about them, therefore I'm not going to put blind trust into anything they decide. Apparently Ishar feels the same way. Even if they did 'call for help', this is enemy territory now as far as I'm concerned.

The road we are on is elevated a few feet above large open fields on both sides. In the fields I can see multiple people using wind magic to remove snow from the crops.

I wonder what the point of that is? Can these crops grow in this climate?

At the end of each field there is an abnormally large building that has villagers walking in and out of it at high intervals.

Normally I'd think it's a barn, but... That's one hell of a fancy barn if so. They look more like noble mansions. I'm also shocked at how well-lit everything here is. Putting aside the 'noble barns', the fields themselves have twenty-foot tall wooden poles sticking up with large crystal lights on top illuminating everything around them. Crystals that big should cost a fortune, but I can see at least one hundred in view right now. Is that what they trade for? Either that or they have their own mine.

As we move past two villagers tending to the fields nearby, the looks on their faces says all I need to know about how we're going to be treated here.

Ishar bursts out laughing the second he looks at them. "KAHAHAHA LOOKS LIKE THEY'RE NOT HAPPY TO SEE US!" He yells in my direction.

It's about what we expected, but still, it won't make things any easier here that's for sure. I'd actually be hurt by their demeanor if I truly was here to save them. Fortunately I'm only here to get stronger, so anything I do here will just so happen to benefit them as well.

Shana, who is sitting on the wagon in front of us, gives me a thumbs up as I look forward.

... I've only talked to her a few times on the way here, but I get the impression that she's broken. Any conversation with her quickly derails into talks of murder, ways to extract information, or how to coup Viseux. Aresa would probably tell me why she ended up that way if I asked her, but I'll wait till Shana tells me herself. Assuming such a day ever comes.

We rode through three villages so far, but as we pass the gate on the fourth one, Alicia yelled up at me that this is the one we're stopping at.

It's much larger than any of the other villages I've seen so far. Is this the capital? The fortress is looming in the background, it's the next stop so this must be the end of the road. I also think I underestimated how many people would be in this nation. The amount of civilians walking on each side of the road is staggering, not to mention the foot traffic here from the previous village. It's even more surprising to see how mixed the races here are. Viseux looked like it was about eighty percent humans, while here it's probably closer to forty percent. Humans, Kitsune, Vei'lah, and shockingly there's a few Dwarves and Crotia mixed in. I wasn't expecting that but it makes sense that an autonomous nation wouldn't give a shit about who Viseux bans from Urza. Also, Kellog were the ones warring the Crotia, so it's not impossible that a few refugees ended up here.

After about ten minutes we roll up to a building situated in the main square. Over a third of the foot traffic in the square is heading straight for this building. Cera runs up to our wagon as Aresa steps out of it.

"Apologies dear, they are holding a town square in lieu of everything happening here to try and calm the citizens down. I figured we should be in attendance."

Aresa nods, following after Cera towards the building.

It's actually not a bad idea. Before we even start we'll get a good view into what both the citizens and higher ups are like, including their feelings on the current situation.

I jump off the wagon next to Ishar, walking with him up the stairs. At the top we see Cera and everyone else walking to the right of the building instead of towards the main doors.

"Going around back?"

Ishar shrugs, following after them.

Eventually we catch up to them as they're talking to a couple of guards near the back-right side of the building.

"Like I said, please wait. They'll be here shortly." The guard said.

A few minutes later a well-dressed man in glasses walks out of the door and bows to Cera.

"I thank you for coming Lady Cera." He looks over at Aresa. "Oh my, you didn't tell me you'd be bringing Lady Aresa as well!" He bends to one knee, raising her right hand and kissing the top of it.

Ishar scoffs. "Humans, always looking for a reason to grovel before females. I'll never understand it."

"He's being gentlemanly Ishar, you of all people should be trying to understand it." Alicia said.

"A pointless suggestion. I should spear you for even saying that."

"Well how do you treat your women then?"

"We breed and then go back to living our own lives. The offspring are raised collectively by the colony. Actions like being 'gentlemanly' are a complete waste of time. Both males and females would better serve themselves and their neighbors had they spent that time perfecting their crafts, or just plain working."

The conversation in front of us wrapped up while these two were talking, as they're all now walking into the building. The guards who were masking their emotions till now look at us three with the same level of disgust the farmers had.

Making our way into the building, the area past the door immediately turned left into a dark hallway. At the far end of the hall a bright light can be seen accompanied by a bunch of yelling. The voices start to come into focus as we near the light.

"So you brought in outsiders from Viseux of all places to make up for your incompetence?! Ya'll are downright useless, hand the reigns over to someone else already!"

The man in glasses from earlier walks up to the podium. "It was not our kings decision to bring in the outsiders. The prince offered it up as a suggestion, bearing the full weight of responsibility. If these outsiders bring more misfortune down onto us, then Parn will suffer the consequences, losing his right to inherit the crown forevermore."

The crowd quieted down upon hearing that. A young man walks up to the podium, patting the other man on the shoulder, making way for himself.

"As you have heard, I'm the one who called for help. I did not wish to see the people of our great nation suffer anymore than you already have. I have faith that they will aid us in our time of need. Do not forget, the Guardians Guild has existed as long as our nation has, and from what I've heard, they are currently being persecuted by Viseux. The Guardians have assisted us many times in the past, let us show them that we are nothing like the ungrateful people of Viseux."

"W-Well, if the prince is saying that, and he's even willing to take responsibility for them..."

"Damnable Viseux, those scum wouldn't know what gratitude is if it hit them square in their asses."

Uhh, weren't you screaming about 'outsiders' like the Guardians only a moment ago? If I run into any problems here I'll just pretend to hate Viseux, that will apparently make these people view me in a more positive light.

Prince Parn smiles as he looks over at us, but when he sees me his eyes go wide. It only lasted a split second before he caught himself, quickly returning to his smiling face, so I barely caught it.

"Love at first sight?" Ishar said while laughing.

"No, that look was something else entirely and I know you agree."

"Perhaps. It looks like no one else saw it though."

Most of them are looking at other things after all, like the crowd or the man wearing a crown sitting against the back wall over here.

The King himself is here huh... We really came at the perfect time.

Almost on cue, the King stands up and walks over to his son. The hall goes silent as Parn steps aside, making room for his Father.

"It's as you have just heard, this was all my sons idea. However, laying the responsibility solely at his feet is unnecessary, I believe all of us who reside in the fortress should be culpable, including me, should such a future come to pass. Worry not my people, the Guardians will not betray us in our time of need!"

The King taps the side of the podium, looking down in contemplation.

"We've been through a lot this past decade. The mines ran dry, only half of our crops became viable, and now we're enclosed in pure darkness. One obstacle after another, but I tell you now, we will overcome them all. I have yet to put it up for a vote for fear of what it would do to our people, and I know you've been upset, however after seeing you all here in these hellish of times, I've changed my mind. We are going to hold a vote one week from today on whether to create a road to the eastern mountains. It'll be both dangerous and difficult to get those new mines up and running, but you all deserve to be the ones to make that decision, as has always been our way!!"

Nearly everyone here began cheering.

"Ishar, when you looked at the map, how far away did the eastern mountains appear to be? I assume he means where the mountains stop going east and turn north. It looked to be the same, if not longer than the distance to Viseux."

"Assuming distance is correctly drawn on that map, which would be strange if it wasn't, then yes it's a very long trip to a land that nobody lives in. That would be difficult to accomplish even without the blackout."

Maybe I'm just too jaded at this point, but the whole scene that played out in front of me felt contrived. 'For fear of what it would do to our people' he says, but then he chooses to do it during the blackout? This is all very strange...

"The people seem happy about it though?" Alicia said.

"Perhaps the right to choose is what they are truly happy about. I don't know anything about where you're from girl, but always remember that most people love freedom above all else, while the remaining twenty percent love a boot on their neck, for reasons I refuse to attempt to comprehend."

Is that true? The people of Xelba loved 'having a boot on their neck' as he puts it. I suppose they were allowed some degree of freedom, but if anyone dared speak badly about Viktor or the creature being worshiped there, they magically 'disappeared' shortly after, and everyone knew why. Plus, they were all cursed. Tracked like cattle, yet almost nobody cared since they were all leading wonderfully rich lives...

"Yes, best to just kill them and be done with it." Shana said from behind us.

Me and Ishar look at each other, surely wondering the exact same thing. 'When did she get there...?'

I can still see her in front of us, yet she is also directly behind us, which means...

"A clone?"

Shana raises both her hands, pointing two fingers up on each hand.

"Scissors? Does that signify something."

"No, this is a 'peace pose' according to Aresa. I like it. It also means you're right."

"Keeping watch over us?" Ishar asked.

"Wrong again. Keeping eyes behind us."

I don't know what Cera's abilities are yet, but assuming Shana can make multiple clones, now I see why they had no need for me to keep watch when they weren't sleeping.

"By the way Shana, will Cera be a problem for me? Ever since the outpost her attitude appears to be worsening when I'm around."

"Maybe? She's a cunt."

"Um, aren't you friends?" Alicia asked.

"Nope, I don't like cunts. No idea why Aresa likes her... Annoying woman always wearing a fake smile, masks upon masks, she should be hung."

Definitely not what I wanted to hear. It'll be a shame if I have to kill one of Aresa's friends, but I will if I have to. Very unlikely I can beat her head on. She needs to sleep eventually though, so worse case scenario I'll take her out when she's asleep.

The King exits through a door opposite of where we are, raising his left hand high and smiling at the crowd as he leaves. His son follows him shortly after, while the man wearing glasses walks back towards us.

"Now then ladies and gentleman, the prince would love to have dinner with you in a few days. For now though we'll guide you to where you'll be staying during your time here."

The man walks past us, leading us back outside. Once outside I can see Aresa shivering almost immediately.

"Need another mesh suit?"

{I still have the other in my wagon. Figured there was no need considering how close the building is.}

"Wait, where is Keith's group and Blackwall?" I said, looking around.

"They were taken to where we are staying, Nisha said she has been feeling sick since earlier today. Blackwall went with them to make sure nothing happens." Cera replied.

Earlier today... So she's been sick since around the time I felt something was off? She has purely support abilities that require a high level of control with soul magic, so if she's being affected by it already then something that messes with the soul is here. That basically covers everything though. Eldritch, Demons, Xerath, they all eat or change human souls in their own unique ways.

Jumping back on top of the wagon as the others climb into it, I look around admiring the city for how well built and maintained it is.

I was superimposing Xelba onto this place since it was also an autonomous nation, but this place is much better looking. At least from the four villages I've seen they're definitely a step up from where I used to live. It's obvious at a glance though that these people are not used to snow or super cold temperatures.

A large gate opens up as the wagon rolls up to it, allowing us entry.

Ishar exits the wagon, narrowing his eyes at the massive mansion a few hundred meters away from us.

"Hmm..."

Yeah, I don't know what else to say either actually. Normally I'd believe this is the king's palace. Who the hell does this place belong to?

As we near the mansion, the wagons turn and park next to a dozen other wagons that normally would be considered beautiful, but lined up next to Aresa's they look cheap in retrospect.

A wave of maids and butlers descend onto the wagons, taking out our luggage and begin carrying it inside.

Aresa steps out of the wagon, holding her board up at me.

{Where are we?}

"You're asking me? I should be asking you that."

Cera walks up to our wagon. "Sorry Aresa! I thought I already told you, but we're going to be staying at Princess Euphemia's home. She's not tied to any of the political factions here and the people love her, so I accepted readily when she offered for us to stay here."

A princess huh? Sounds like a pain... Maybe I'll go sleep in a tree or punch out a hole in the ground. I can't imagine that'd look good on our group as a whole though.

"Good food, bath, bedding, I'll take it. Even if this whole thing is suspicious as all hell." Ishar said.

Right... Those things would be great for normal living beings. Although the food part does apply to me and I gotta admit I'm excited to see what kind of food is cooked in a place that looks like this.

As I jump off the wagon, I see an extremely unhappy Shana looking up at the mansion.

"I don't want to hear it, and neither do they. Please don't run your mouth off like you normally do, especially around the princess." Cera said to her.

"Fuck off whore."

Cera throws her hands up in the air and walks over towards one of the butlers.

{Not happy with our lodgings?}

"... I'm sorry, but the sight of this place makes me want to start a fire. A very big fire." Shana grimaces, then continued. "I... Will try to reserve judgement until I meet the master herself though. She might be like you after all. Right, she might be like Aresa... Think positive, positive..."

Shana's eyes glaze over as a male Kitsune with long brown shaggy hair walks up to us.

"From the Guardians right? Can someone tell me what the hell is going on? Master Godwin would never turn 'traitor' as they claim, unless there was a damned good reason."

{None of us are actually. Did you not see Blackwall? He should be here.}

"Blackwall is here?! Oh shit that is great news! Thank you for that I'll go find him right now." The man said, quickly turning around and running back towards the mansion.

"Well maintained hard leather armor, several knives and a longsword on his back. Former Guardian member? He seemed to know this 'Godwin' you all speak of. I only saw once as he was being dragged through the portal." Alicia said.

"Most likely." Ishar replied as the glasses man from earlier approached us again.

"Now then, follow me and I'll lead you to the dining room."

"Sorry but, who are you?" Alicia asked.

"Lady Cera did not tell you? My apologies then, I would have introduced myself earlier. My name is Seifer, I am an aid to the King. Both him and the Prince wanted me to escort you to where you'll be staying. Sir Keith's group was supposed to stay in a different village but that is delayed for now while one of his members recovers. It would not be wise to send them away right now to a village near the woods until they are in perfect health. The people living there are rather erratic at the moment, for obvious reasons."

Yeah, the last thing they'll want to see right now is outsiders when they don't even know what is assaulting other villages situated in the forest.

Seifer turned and headed straight for the mansion. Everyone followed after him as Shana kept one clone in the back, eyeing all the servants sweeping away snow with brooms.

They're doing way too good of a job with those as tools, no way regular brooms should be good at dealing with snow. I'd bet everyone who works here can enhance themselves, which makes this place all the more dangerous.

Once inside, Seifer didn't stop, leading us directly to a large banquet hall with plates already lined up and a table full of food. Keith's group is already waiting in their chairs, including Nisha.

"Ooh!" Ishar exclaims, then runs over and sits down.

I walk over and sit down next to Keith, which seems to surprise him.

As everyone begins sitting down I lean over to Keith, "I felt something was different for awhile now, and then I heard about Nisha, she's sensitive to changes in her soul right?"

"You figured that out huh? Now that I think about it, it's probably obvious, but yes she was really sick for awhile there till she adjusted. Something is spreading a domain here, so we have a pretty good idea of what we're dealing with. There could be more going on here, still though, it's a good starting point."

Knowing one Eldritch is here is a good start, but wouldn't the nation here have people who can detect domains or sense for soul irregularities? It's common practice after all... Or should be. I refuse to believe this nation can still exist if an Eldritch can just set up shop and nobody stops it from slowly worming its way into peoples souls. It defies all logic damnit, so why didn't they tell us?

"It's just... She says it's 'different than normal', but can't be more specific than that."

Hmm, every domain feels 'different' though, so isn't that the normal part? I wonder what she means by that.

Seifer sits down near the head of the table. "Please wait a little bit before you begin, Euphemia is on her way here now. Also, do not refer to her as princess or any other titles, just her name only."

Ishar mumbles something about human etiquette as he stares at the meat before him.

A few minutes later a girl with long black hair wearing a surprisingly simple dress walks into the room, followed by two servants.

Shana who is sitting to my right whispers to me. "Annoyingly beautiful with big boobs, I hate her already."

To be fair, she was obviously looking for any reason to hate the girl as soon as she walked through those doors.

"I welcome you all to my home. It's been ages since I've had visitors, so this is very exciting for me personally. I'd like to sit down and talk with you all afterwards if you have time."

Euphemia sits down and scans the room, stopping her gaze on me. "Oh my~! Can I ask what you are a hybrid of? I've never seen one of your kind before."

"I'm not a hybrid, I honestly don't know what I am."

"She's not even alive. Good luck finding a pulse if you check her..." Nisha said.

"Not a hybrid or alive...? How can that be possible?" Seifer asked.

"I don't mind telling you all later, but can we eat now?"

"Yes of course, let us begin!" Euphemia said.

I thought the difference in etiquette would have been difficult for her to deal with, but if it is then she's doing a good job concealing it. She's over there cutting her food up in a noble manner while the rest of the table is practically shoving food down their gullets.

After we were finished eating, Cera spoke up first. "Now then Seifer, do you have any news for us, or has nothing changed?"

"No changes, which is a good thing. If we lose two more villages I don't know what the fallout will be. We're already struggling with the new climate as it is, not to mention the ridiculous amount of mana required to keep all the lights going. However, it is necessary to make everything as bright as possible. The villager's morale greatly improved after we installed all the new crystal lights."

"How far away are the villages that I am to inspect?" I asked.

"Surely you are not doing that alone...? There are so many of you here."

Blackwall walks into the room. "Apologies for coming late, there were some... Complications. As for your question, Keith's unit is here to assist any village under assault, while Rei is the one to investigate the villages in question. The rest are here to battle the Tengu."

"The WHAT?!" Seifer stands up. "You are suggesting that abomination is here?! Wait, could it be related to the villages demise...?"

Oh, now I get why they didn't tell him. 'We brought someone here to bait a Tengu Lord out of hiding, sorry that we're dragging you into it' would make the people here quite enraged. Speaking of which, if the Tengu really does come for Aresa, won't that put the princess in danger too? They really did make the correct call on not telling them, but it does have me wondering why it's so important that they kill one of these Lords if the god takes the soul back immediately. I'll ask Aresa later when I get a chance to.

"Don't worry Seifer, it should be unrelated. We just happen to have information that one of his Lords will appear here, so we decided to bring a separate force to deal with it." Blackwall said.

"Information huh..." Seifer said as he sat back down.

He's not buying it, as he shouldn't. Sadly for him though, so long as nobody here runs their mouth, they'll never figure out the real reason why the Tengu might appear.

Euphemia claps her hands. "Okay enough of that! I assume you're all very tired, but is there anyone who'd like to converse with me in the living room?"

Everyone looked around awkwardly for a few seconds before Aresa raised her hand. Seeing that I raised mine as well.

This could be a good chance, I need more information and who better to ask than the king's daughter?

"Excellent! Seifer, please show them the way while I prepare. You'll be joining us too correct?"

"That is the plan." Seifer stands up and walks over to the door behind me.

"So you were tempted by them, I hope they're worth it..." Shana whispers.

"It's not for her boobs..."

Cera sighed. "I would love to as well Euphemia, but I am absolutely exhausted. However, I'm on 'Tengu duty', so I'll have a lot of free time till he shows up."

"Of course Cera, we shall converse another day." Euphemia stood up, exiting the room with her attendants.

{I'm tired, but I've never talked with a princess before.}

I feel like whatever you are is a higher station than a princess could ever hope to be.

I stood up and followed Seifer to a large well furnished room with a wall made purely out of glass.

"Beautiful isn't it? It's not easy to make a window that big. It's one of the only things she ever asked for."

It's perfect actually, with my eyes at this height I can see anything approaching for miles in that direction. I wonder if they'll let me sleep here? I'm definitely going to ask the princess before she goes to bed.