Shards of Old

All and all, everything went pretty smoothly. As I emerged from below the deck, I noticed that the guy that almost destroyed my nose with the door was still at the bar. Now, even more drunk, he was yelling something about being rich, mages and crying at the same time. To avoid him I tried to quietly pass him and sit at the furthest possible corner of the tavern but to no avail.

-Ayy, friend! I saw you downstairs but I forgot to apologize! I rudely…

-It's fine, don't worry. I…

He did not let me interrupt him. Or rather didn't notice.

-I ran into you and didn't even bother to stop if you are fiiinee. Cause you see, I was in a big hurry. The amazing wise magical man downstairs, which I am sure you know, was generous enough to give me a rise, that amazing man.

He leaned on me and gave me a hug.

-Oi, a round on me for my friend over here! - he yelled, still leaning on me.

-You really don't…

-Oh but I do! Cause this is celebration time! You see, Bert , let his name be known far and wide, is the best human being there is! Not only he agreed to help my son get to the capital, but now he also is gonna help him get to an actual magic school! A magic school! Imagine! A son of a talentless piece of garbage like me, be a mage!

-Good on you… - I mumbled, but he was still talking.

-And he didn't even take a single copper from me! I offered to work under him for however long he needs, but he just said "Help me with the caravan and I will arrange the rest". And now when I come here to talk, not only does he pay me, but even drinks a toast with me!

He started crying again.

-My son! He…

And he proceeded to start his drunk man's rambling.

Secretly I was hoping he would slip up and say something worth remembering, but who was I kidding. He was just a random man in a random place, talking about his son. Besides the things I already knew about thanks to his earlier conversation with a friend, the only new thing I learned was his son's name - Felix - and his own name - Warren. And of course a lot of random facts from his childhood.

During his ramblings about the kid and how he ate a bunch of snails thinking they were frogs - I know, it didn't make sense to me either - I started slowly tuning him out and focused more on the other people left in the room.

They were few, but, unfortunately, all of them were in a similar state as my "friend". Most likely because he kept buying everyone around him more booze.

It was almost morning when he finally passed out - along with the two remaining guys that kept him company all this time and the only people that were somewhat sober were me and the innkeeper. I say somewhat, because, while I also downed quite a few drinks, they were pretty watered down and I tried to limit myself - I was surprisingly sober, but the innkeeper on the other hand, was not. He did drink with us, but even though he drank as much as the trio that was now soundly snoring nearby, he looked sober, although when he emerged from behind the bar, he was definitely not waking straight.

-Congratulations - he mumbled, patting me on the back. - There are not many people that can outdrink this fucker.

-Thanks? - I replied, amused. - You look wasted though, better go and get some sleep.

-Riight… And leave those - he gestured towards the snoring trio - here? No deal.

But he did walk out from behind the bar, and to my surprise, started slapping awake one of the drunks.

-No sleeping on the bar, you drunk oaf! Stand up!

He tried a few times more, but to no avail. None of the guys were, even if they would cooperate, in a shape to walk.

-Fuck me… - he groaned and started dragging one of the guys towards the stairs. It was not an easy task, since he was also having a hard time standing straight.

-What are you looking at? Don't be a dick and help!

That last one was directed towards me. Until then I was just looking at this performance, amused, but thanks to that remark I felt bad for the guy.

-Aye aye, sir.

Even with two of us it took quite a long time to drag those three downstairs. We put all three in some room that looked like an old storage unit, full of wooden boxes and empty bottles reeking like some old alcohol.

As we put the last one on the floor near the rest of the drunks, I felt a hand on my foot.

It was Warren, my "best friend".

-Buddy, I need a favor to ask…

-Come on man, you are smashed. Go to sleep.

-Yeyeyeyea… but listen for a second. I am definitely not waking up early today...

-Well no shit…

-But I wanna say goodbye to my son… Please tell him his papa says good luck…

-What, you dying or what?

-Come on, man, don't be -hic- like that...

And he passed out.

-Why do people always want me to do shit for them? - I sighed. - And why did you drink that much then?

He obviously didn't answer, snoring loudly on the floor.

-It's nice seeing friends take care of each other - I heard someone say from the corridor.

-I literally met him tonight. Also, what are you doing here, mr. Bert?

-Preparing to leave. I told you last night, we need to leave early.

-Shit, it's morning already?

-Yeah, get yourself ready, we are leaving in an hour.

-Well, I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

-Hmm… - he took a good look at me. - Anyway, let's go.

As we were walking out of the inn and towards the forest, he was constantly keeping one eye on me for some reason. It was unsettling, to say the least.

The parts of the village we've been passing through looked even messier than the shore. Houses were spread even more unevenly and this time they even had patches of trees in between - it looked like people were too lazy to even chop the forest completely - some even had trees less than a centimeter from their walls, which looked unsafe, to say the least.

Finally, we arrived at something you could call the end of the village, though it was hard to tell, since houses were spread so unevenly. The only distinguishing feature was that we were finally walking on something reminding me of the paved road, but it was pretty much completely overgrown.

Few steps further there were about six wagons, each with a pair of horses, all of them filled to the brim with boxes and barrels, plus two more - but those two were filled to the brim with people.

All of them had cylindrical roofs, but instead of the cloth or leather one, like I kinda expected, it was made of that weird green membrane that I saw on the windows around here, a bit darker, yet also see-through.

-I warned you we were full, but you wanted to come anyway, so now you have to travel with the merchandise - he said, pointing towards the rest of the wagons.

-Sure, works for me. Any in particular?

-Take your pick. I need to check a few things and we are out.

With that, he left me alone.

In the corner of my eye I saw him talking to some men that looked like mercenaries and pointing towards me. Without much to do, I walked towards one of the wagons that was not completely stuffed with barrels to find somewhere to sit, but I immediately realized my mistake. It reeked of fish.

After a quick walk around all the wagons I realized that I either have to smell the fish for the whole trip and have a decent place to sit, or I have to sit on boxes in the last, smallest cart, with my head right against the ceiling.

Without much of a choice I went to the small one and sat on the toughest looking box - that would hopefully not break under my weight.

About an hour later, I realized I had been lied to.

According to Bert, our leader, we should've left by now, but it looked like we were not even close to being ready - people were constantly running around the place, moving stuff from one one wagon to another - few times I had to even move, because they kept stuffing even more things onto the on I was in - luckily, not fish. More people kept coming as well - some similarly to me sat in other wagons beside the cargo, but not caring about the fish smell, they chose the other ones. Some just got chased away by the guards. For some reason no one came to mine, but I was happy about that. To be honest it did not look like there was any room here for a regular sized person anyway.

After another hour, the mystery of "why are we still here" was solved. Along with another group of people that came to join us, a familiar face appeared.

Or rather familiar armor. Shining like a beacon in the sun, the golden knight appeared, this time, wearing a helmet - a golden dragon head, with two ram-like curved horns. On his back he had a shield - also golden, and also in the shape of the dragon head, but this time the horns were more like those of the bull. He was armed with a sword that was hanging on his belt. I couldn't see the adornments on that, but if I had to guess, it also had something to do with a dragon.

As he joined the caravan, I saw an angry Bert run by and proceed to have a nice and long conversation with Goldie. I couldn't catch the exact words, but judging by the sudden movement of everyone around, I was guessing that he was the one we were waiting for. Now even more people started looking for a place to sit. In my thoughts I silently thanked the workers for stuffing this much crap on my wagon - this way I at least I didn't have to deal with some random people.

Sadly, I started celebrating my peace too early. As I was sitting between boxes and waiting for the whole caravan to finally move, I heard someone start climbing onto boxes somewhere near me. At first I thought people started stuffing more boxes onto my wagon again, but quickly I realized how wrong I was.

Another familiar face appeared - along with his shitty wizard cosplay - my "best friend's" son, Felix.

-Oh, sorry… I was told there was still a place to sit here… - I heard a quiet voice.

That was surprising. From my brief observation and what I heard from his father I would've expected him to be a little less timid.

-"I was told"?

-Mr. Bert told me that this wagon still should have at least one spot…

Bert? Bastard…

-I guess you might fit somewhere…

-Thank you!

And he started squeezing between all the boxes, trying to find a place to sit. As he was trying to squeeze between the crates, I could finally feel the wagon moving - we finally started our trip towards the capital.

It took him a good minute and I almost got hit in the face by that humongous book of his, but he managed to sit nearby, on another pile of boxes.

Now, when I had a chance to take a better look at it, I was getting intrigued by the book he was carrying. The sheer size of it was intimidating, especially when in contrast to the small body of his. What was interesting though, the leather cover of his book was completely empty. It also looked pretty new, though it had few scratches here and there, most likely from carrying it everywhere with him.

He noticed my attention and his face went completely red, after which he tried hiding the book under his robes. Thanks to the size it was obviously impossible.

-Don't bother. I'm not gonna steal your book.

He mumbled something incoherent in response.

-Though I have to admit I am curious what is in there…

As I said that, I realized that that thing had to be very expensive. It was pretty obvious that they do not have printers here.

-How much did you even pay for this?

As soon as I asked, his face instantly went from red in embarrassment to red in excitation.

-You are not from here mister? This is the book I was given by the greatest knight in modern history, the Golden Knight! Have you heard of his stories?

-I can't say I did… - I answered slowly, a bit overwhelmed by his enthusiasm. - But I have not been keeping in touch lately…

-You had to be traveling a lot then! Everyone here knows about his heroic deeds and his brother, the Black Knight, the slayers of dragons, the Magic Knights!

What even are those titles? Who in their right mind calls themselves like that? Also, dragons?

-Dragons? - I laughed. - Aren't those mythical beasts? And you are telling me they exist, even better, that someone killed more than one?

-Oh yes! - he started talking faster, clearly passionate about all this. - See, the book I carry was a gift from the Golden Knight himself! It is a treasure he got from the dragon's hoard and gave to me as a keepsake!

-Really now? - I started getting a bit suspicious about this book. - And he gave it to you, because…?

-Because he is such a generous and great man of course! - he exclaimed with a bright smile. - Every time he finds treasure or defeats bandits, he comes to some nearby village and gives away all the amazing things he finds!

-Aha. So, what's in the book?

-That's… a secret! - he said, but with a lot less conviction.

-Secret? Why are you carrying it like this in the first place then? - I asked, even more suspicious.

Flailing something like this in the open was basically asking for someone to just steal it. Honestly, I was surprised that no one has already done it in the first place.

He did not respond, but just started clinging to the book even tighter than before.

-Well, your problem, not mine.

I sighed. No wonder his father was worried about him.

-That reminds me… - I said out loud. - I met your father, he wanted me to say goodbye to you for him.

His eyes widened.

-You know my father, sir? What happened?

-Calm down. He is just drunk, sleeping in the inn. I don't know him, I just happened to be nearby and he asked me to say goodbye to his son. I wasn't really planning on even trying to find you, but since we met thanks to Bert, I might as well pass the word.

My blatant answer calmed him down for some reason.

-Thank you. That means a lot.

Huh? That was not an answer I expected. But no matter the case, he looked even happier than when I asked about the Goldie.

-I don't really get you, but if you want someone to thank, thank Bert. He sent you to me, didn't he?

-Right. But thank you anyway Mr. ...?

I did hesitate for a second. If I start being friendly with the kid, he will not leave me in peace, that's just how kids work. Especially the likes of him. But I was basically forced to travel with him as of now, and for who knows how long.

-Mor.

-Thank you, Mr. Mor.

The next part of the journey was pretty quiet. Or that's what I would like to say. The kid didn't manage to keep his mouth closed for longer than 20 minutes at a time. After he learned my name, he kept asking me questions, like, where am I from, what do I do, and when I told him I am a traveler without much of a place to call home, he started pestering me about "tales from my travels". Of course, I didn't have any stories to tell, and was not in the mood, or even capable enough, to make something up on the spot, so I kept refusing, but that did not discourage him. Instead he flipped the script on me and started telling the stories of the two knights he mentioned earlier.

Apparently Goldie, or Caleb Moi rather, was a famous figure around here. Before he joined the whole caravan thing, he was, along with his brother, a famous adventurer. He once arrived at the village he was from after a hunt for a dragon. Where and how they defeated it, no one knows, but after they plundered the dragon's hoard, he started his journey to "spread the wealth that the dragon stole from the people of the land", as he said. That is when they first met, and he gave Felix this book.

Or, to be more exact, he gave the whole village a part of the dragon's hoard. The book was just a random piece of it.

After a long time of traveling from place to place, he exhausted all the treasure he found, and started looking for a new way to help people - that is when he was contacted by Bert. As he was such a generous and amazing person - not my words, by the way - he agreed to work as an escort of this caravan for free.

The second brother, on the other hand, Jacob, was more of a bounty hunter than an adventurer. He traveled around the world, killing bandits with bounties on their heads, and proceeded to funnel all the profits to his brother's "charity". But now, he was apparently on a dry streak, or, like the kid said - he defeated all the bandits on the continent - and also started looking for another way to help people.

And so, with his stories, our journey continued. I found it hilarious that a kid was the one telling me those, you'd always expect the roles to be reversed - the mysterious traveler spreading word about his adventures all around the globe. When he calmed down, his voice was pleasant and even though his constant talking was a bit annoying, it wasn't that bad, at least the journey wasn't boring.

Yes, the journey… It was a lot longer than expected. After the first night, I asked about how long we are gonna be traveling, and the answer was a bit surprising - a week or two, maybe more, depending on the weather and such. I honestly thought it would take a day, maybe two at most, but apparently that was just me being used to a bit different ways of transport. Also, we were stopping pretty often. From what I overheard, the goods we were transporting had to be checked every few hours by the caravan leader, which was weird, since I was pretty sure that most of them were just fish. And he never came to our wagon, every time he just sent a few of his people, but they just checked if any of the crates were opened and that was about it.

During the second day though, the mystery about the stops was revealed. Once we stopped, I left the wagon to stretch my legs a little bit and managed to see Bert climb onto one of the wagons. As I walked closer, the guards, or rather his mercenaries, stopped me, but not before I saw him casting some magic inside the wagon, after which I got hit with a large batch of cold air that smelled like fish. It didn't take a genius to figure this one out - every time we stopped he was casting ice magic to keep them fresh. As he was leaving the cart, he noticed me standing nearby looking his way and approached me.

-Sorry, but these wagons are off-limits. Please leave.

-Those have to be the most important fish in the world to be guarded like that.

He sighed.

-You need something from me, or are you just here to waste my time?

-Me? I was just stretching my legs, since we stopped, it's you that approached…

He completely ignored my answer.

-I guess I have a minute of my time. Come with me.

-Wha…

He waved the guards away and gestured for me to follow him. Surprised and not quite sure what to think about that, I just complied. He led me behind one of the fish stinking carts and checked if there was anyone looking.

-What's going…

Next thing I knew was that I was pinned down by him to the back of the cart and had a knife at my throat.

-How much did you see? - he asked quietly.

-Okay, calm down. I'm…

-Answer - I felt a sting on my neck and felt the dagger poking me a bit harder.

Deciding to not push my luck in this situation I just answered.

-I saw you walk in and cast something inside. Nothing else.

-I am gonna tell you what you saw - he said, with a hint of anger in his voice. - I walked in and changed a crystal in the middle of the floor. That is it.

-What's wrong with…

-Shut up. If you value your life you will listen. Understood?

-Yes, yes, easy there…

-There is no "easy there" with me. Now answer again. What did you see?

-I saw you change the crystal in the middle of the floor and nothing else - I responded obediently.

-Good - he sheathed his dagger, but did not let me out of his grip. - Now we will calmly walk away like nothing happened - he barked at me, after which he let me go and started walking towards the front of the caravan.

-We will be moving again in a minute. Please return back to your places - he added, with his regular tone, addressing all his people around.

Still a bit shocked, I made my way back to the last cart, but this time I was not alone. About five steps behind me I had another two people following me. I guess he was serious. Wondering what have I stepped into, I stopped for a second and waited for those two to catch up to me.

-Anything wrong? - I asked them like I had no idea what was going on.

-We are here to make sure you cooperate.

I couldn't see their faces - they were wearing black hooded cloaks and facemasks. I have no idea where they came from, honestly, but I have never seen anyone dressed like that in this group before.

-We will be keeping watch. Please be on your way - said the other one.

I shrugged and started cursing my luck under my breath.

As I was climbing back onto the wagon, I noticed that one of my stalkers disappeared somewhere, while the other one was now standing guard nearby.

Inside, the kid was soundly asleep, thanks to which I finally had some peace and quiet for once. Since he found me here he never shut up, even during the night he was telling stories about the brothers, but he finally gave in to exhaustion. It was amazing in some way that he was able to go on about those two for so long without any breaks.

But I didn't really have time for thinking about him and the stories, because now I had a more pressing issue - I apparently caught Bert doing something that he shouldn't. At least that's what he seemed to think. I couldn't wrap my head around it, why would someone not want to see their magic. I mean, I get it, you don't want people to start pestering you, especially here, where people seem to only be able to use one element. But to go that far? A bit overkill if you ask me. Even if he was the only person that could use ice magic on the whole continent, it was a little drastic. All this didn't make any sense to me, and the noise outside didn't help with thinking.