Book 4 Chapter 15

They rested for a while longer, just until dun recovered enough to continue. The journey down the mountain seemed to go faster than the one up it. They moved swiftly, hurrying along the twisting trails and rock cliffs. They moved in silence, Tirr not in the mood to talk more after their encounter on the mountain plateau and Din and Maria followed suit.

Dun led them well once again, sparing no effort as he guided them down, hiding them from the roaming beasts and watching eyes that covered the mountains. By the time they reached the mountain valley, it was already late into the afternoon.

Within Dun’s valley, his clansmen had slowly recovered from the night before. They took the day to rest, most spending their time relaxing and socializing. Only those few whose jobs were too vital to put off had gone about their work.

Among the valley’s people, Tirr’s honor guard had gathered, waiting for Tirr after having rested and mostly recovered after their own adventurers. Iesa sat, one hand on her head and the other holding a cup of warm tea, nursing the hangover that stilled thrummed through her head.

The others weren’t much better, each still feeling a little off. Some even showed some signs of embarrassment at having drunk so much when they had an important person they were supposed to be guarding.

Doron and Lin were the only exceptions. Lin sitting calmly as she ate, occasionally looking over at Iesa’s pain with a smile. Doron sat at the back, sipping on the closest thing the tribe had to coffee. As Tirr approached, the ragged group did their best to straighten themselves up, forming into their proper groups.

Lin greeted him happily, “My Lord, I trust your mission went well?”

Tirr grunted, “Yeah, but it changed some things. Things are gonna be more dangerous than I initially thought. Before that though, we're going to need all the help the Tribe here can give us.” We’ll go over the detail later, but I’ll need Doron, Iesa, and Lin for a competition against the other clans up here.

Hearing their names called the three all had separate reactions. Lin’s eyes sparkled and she agreed eagerly ready to show her and the entire water branches worth. Even the disciples at her side seemed eager. Iesa, was eager as well, but as she started to nod enthusiastically, she felt her head spin and was forced to stop as her body threatened to react unpleasantly. Doron was the last, simply giving a tired sigh, but agreeing, nonetheless.

As Tirr started to go on, Dun interrupted him. “What about the last one? I’m guessing your keeping this one,” He said motioning over towards Maria, “For one of the spots, but you still need one more after those three.”

Tirr gave him a smile, “Garm’s the last one,” He turned towards the rest. “With Garm and Maria taking wins for sure, I just need one of you to win for us to come out ahead...”

Dun scratched his head awkwardly, “Uh, The other clans won’t take kindly to having a Beast take part in the Clangang. You need an actual person…” He seemed to think of something, and looked down at the pup still in Gar5ms arms, “No offense”

“What?” Tirr frowned, “Then who am I gonna use for the last spot?”

Dun grunted, “I thought you had that all figured out.”

“I did, Garm was gonna be a free win!”

“That’s, why…”

“If I could make a suggestion My Lord,” Lin interrupted still smiling as she watched the two argue. “If what we are looking for is combat power, then I do know someone that would be a good fit. Though I believe that we would be more than enough, there is…”

“Oh great, here you put forth one of those weak disciples of yours, right?” Iesa cut in.

“Our disciples are certainly not weak,” Lin answered her, giving her a hateful smile, “However, I was actually going to recommend one of your countrymen… There was a young man amongst the knights your country sent that seemed quite skilled with a blade. I think he would be a good addition…”

Iesa couldn’t hide her surprise, “That’s…”

“Fine, whatever…” Tirr cut Iesa’s complaints off, “As long as we win, I don’t really care. For the next week until the competition starts, you’ll all be training with me. Not only so we can win this competition…” Tirr’s voice grew grave as he paused, “But so we can win against what comes after that too…”