Chapter 390: Moon Fang Part 1

The scent of fresh bread wafted through the windows of Louise’s small home and spread through the busy street. Loh kept her hood up to hide her face but the sheer massive size of Maximus drew the wary eye of every passerby.

“Keep watch,” Loh said and jumped off his back.

The centaur grunted in acknowledgement and hefted his ax.

Loh pulled out her key from her pocket and was relieved to find it still worked. She quietly opened the door and tiptoed into the house. Everything seemed the same, small corridors, a flower pot on the small table in the small living room.

Small.

Loh supposed ‘small’ was the way commoners lived their whole lives. Their world revolved around such a small area, a hovel, a neighborhood, a district. Most commoners never left the village they were born in. Their dreams were small and they never spanned beyond the horizon. Loh had once had large dreams, dreams borne by her ancestors that had spanned across the ages. Now, her dreams were small, if she could just have a few people in her life then perhaps that would be enough.

Louise was in the kitchen, sharpening a long cooking knife on a whetstone.

“Who are you planning to kill with that?” Loh said jokingly from behind.

Louise yelped in surprise and dropped the knife. She spun around and saw Loh leaning on the doorway with a wide smile.

“Hey, stranger.”

“Loh!” Louise shoved her chair out of the way and embraced her in a fierce hug.

The sensation was odd. Loh had been through dozens and dozens of battles, she had trained countless hours in magic to become powerful, and she had lived in a mansion with the most powerful mage in the realm, and yet, it was only now, in the small arms of a human that she felt utterly safe.

Loh closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, and savored the moment. “I missed you too.”

“I was so worried, rumors were going around about House Thorn attacking the travelers in Undergrowth. They said everyone died,” Louise mumbled in a broken voice.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you worry,” she whispered. “The rumors are true but I’m fine. You and I are going to be fine.”

“Good.” Louise tightened her grip, “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Are you okay?” Loh opened her eyes and stared at the knife lying on the floor.

“Hm?” Louise released her and chuckled, “Oh, I was trying to chop up some vegetables but my knife was dull. Truth is, I just needed something to distract my mind for a bit.”

So she’s not planning on murdering anyone, that’s good.

“Because of your ex-fiancé?” Loh asked.

“How did you—?”

“Maximus told me what happened yesterday.”

“Oh… I see. Sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you, I’m fine, really.” Louise wiped the tears in the corners of her eyes and tried her best to smile.

The pain in her eyes was like a dagger in Loh’s heart.

I’m going to kill that fucker myself.

“Where does he live? This worthless sack of shit who thought you were worth giving up?” Loh asked coldly.

Louise frowned, “I don’t want you to kill him.”

“Seriously? This guy left you to rot in Dullwater!”

“He’s an asshole, but he still doesn’t deserve to die.”

Debatable.

“Loh, sweetie, I appreciate what you’re doing, but I can fight my own battles. Besides, killing him wouldn’t solve anything. Not really.”

Bloody Bellum, where was Stryg when you needed him? This wouldn’t have even been a conversation if he had been around. Stryg would have simply taken in the situation and gone straight to kill the bastard. No questions asked.

“Loh, I need your word, you won’t kill him. Loh.”

“Ugh, fine, I won’t kill him. Just tell me where he lives, it’s the least you can do.”

“Why do you want to know?” Louise asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, you know, set some boundaries. I don’t want him messing with you or the bakery in the future. I just want to talk to him.”

And to burn his fucking house down.

Louise stared at her suspiciously for a moment then sighed, “Fine. I don’t know where he lives but I saw him working at a temple as a cook.”

“Which temple?”

“It’s a small one in the Commoner District. In the South-East Sub-District.”

“Wait.” Loh blinked. “South-East? Are you sure?”

“I think so?”

“Is your ex-fiancé’s name Witt by any chance?”

Louise's eyes widened, “You know him!?”

“Goddammit.”

“Wait, how do you know Witt?”

Loh groaned, “We’ve met, on occasion. He was at Stryg’s wedding. He’s friends with a goblin priestess at the temple, Karen. Who also happens to be good friends with Stryg.”

Which means Witt might be friends with Stryg too. Shit.

The plan for revenge evaporated in front of her. Loh had already damaged, if not outright destroyed her relationship with Stryg. Their current relationship was tenuous at best. Hurting one of his friends would surely be the final nail in the coffin.

“Loh, are you okay?”

“Hm, yeah, just great,” she smiled forcefully.

“So you’ve known Witt was here the entire time, huh? You just didn’t know who he really was,” Louise said thoughtfully.

“Unfortunately.”

“So what now?”

The golden ring in her pocket was practically burning a hole into her leg but Loh refrained from bringing ‘that’ particular topic up. Louise had gone through enough the last few days. The last thing she wanted was for Louise to feel pressured into anything.

Loh leaned down and kissed her on the lips, “Now I’m going to take you out to the finest taverns in the city and get us spectacularly drunk. What happens after that, well, that’s entirely up to you.”

“Is that right?” Louise smirked. “What’s the occasion?”

“We’re alive, isn’t that enough?”

“That’s boring.”

“I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”

“Pfft,” Louise giggled. “How about we celebrate Hollow Shade’s victory in the Mage Tourney? We did win, right? Or were the rumors about that a lie too?”

“No. No, we won,” she said slowly.

“Perfect. Then let the first toast be to your odd apprentice, Stryg. I’m sure he did well, right?”

She doesn’t know Stryg is an Ebon Aspirant.

The news hadn’t seemed to reach the general populace yet. Still, feeling reluctant to talk about all the implications of what it meant for Stryg to be an Aspirant, Loh grabbed her lover’s hand and pulled her towards the door.

“Of course, Stryg did well, he’s my apprentice after all. Now let’s go drink already.”

Louise laughed.

~~~

In the distant forest of Vulture Woods, the canopy wrapped the sky in a scarlet cloud of leaves. The canopy was so thick that not an inch of the sky could be seen, only the light that filtered through the bright red leaves.

They had been walking for days and the world had begun to blur in a series of trees and bushes. Then something changed, something in the air, like a note in a song changing octaves, the melody familiar but different. The other goblins hadn’t noticed, or perhaps they simply didn’t care. Tauri and Plum certainly didn’t care, nor did they ever believe Stryg when he talked about such things. They’d simply look at him as if staring at an odd duck cawing instead of quacking.

“What is it? What do you sense?” First Mother suddenly asked.

Stryg turned to her with mild surprise. He hadn’t said anything but she had noticed some change in his demeanor, something minute he hadn’t realized he’d given away. He hadn’t thought she’d been paying attention to him, much less to such a degree.

“The air it’s… different,” Stryg said carefully.

“And?” First Mother pressed. Her yellow eyes were intent, searching for something within his own.

“I think… I think we’re almost here,” he said.

She stared at him silently, then nodded. “You’re right. The base of the mountain begins right past the hill over there.”

“Really? Then we’re almost there?” Stryg asked excitedly.

Plum’s pointed ears perked up at his last words. She glanced at them, hope in her blue eyes, and smiled wide, “We’re finally there!?”

Jahn chuckled lightheartedly, “Why don’t you three go check it out?”

Tauri glanced at the thirty or so hunters walking with them and shook her head. “It’s best if we stay with the party. You never know what might be out there. Besides, what difference will a few meters make—?”

“—Come on, Stryg, hurry up!” Plum yelled and dashed up the hill.

“Too slow!” he yelled and ran ahead. Orange mana flowed into his veins and the agility spell slipped around his muscles like an extra layer of veins. He ran past Plum in a burst of speed and climbed up the hill with nimble spellbound feet.

“Hey, no fair!” Plum shouted.

Tauri stared at them with an annoyed expression. “Why do I even bother…?” she muttered dryly.

“Best catch up or you’ll fall behind,” Jahn teased.

Tauri grumbled a curse under her breath, then began channeling orange mana.

Stryg ignored the calls of his friends behind him and their voices blurred away through the leaves brushing past him as he ran up and past the hill. His boots slammed into the dirt and foliage underneath him as he ran faster and faster, the excitement bubbling in his chest.

Suddenly, the world exploded in a burst of sunlight. The scarlet canopy was gone. The brush and trees around him were gone. He was hurtling past the tree line and tumbling down the other side of the steep hill.

A small gasp of surprise escaped his lips before his flailing limbs slammed into the hard-packed ground in a less-than-graceful tumble. The world spun around him in a blur. His quarter-ton body rolled down the hill with the speed and force of a boulder. He crashed into the base of the hill with a heavy thud.

Stryg lay there on the ground, laughing to himself. He couldn’t recall the last time he had been out in the world, free of responsibility, simply roaming the woods for his own enjoyment. It was liberating.

“Stryg! Oh gods, are you okay!?” Plum called out worriedly from atop the hill.

“I’m fine,” Stryg said lightly and sat up as if to prove his point.

“Hold on, I’m coming!” Plum slowly walked down the steep hill, careful not to trip on any of the jagged rocks sprawled across the tall grass.

Tauri ran past her and skipped down the hill with the ease of agility magic. She reached the base of the hill almost as fast as Stryg had rolled down it. Tauri frowned as she looked him up and down, searching for injury. His clothes were torn but there was no visible blood or scrapes.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Tauri asked.

Stryg nodded. “Completely. Not a scratch.”

Tauri sighed in relief, “Praise Bellum. Or is it praise Lunae? Ah, I mean, praise the Mother Moon, right?”

Stryg smiled wryly, “Yeah.”

“See, I’m getting the hang of Sylvan culture,” Tauri winked.

“That still won’t make First Mother approve of you,” Plum said as she reached them. “I don’t think she likes you.”

“Shut up, Plumela,” Tauri snapped. “I’m just trying to fit in, we’re about to head to the cultural center of the Sylvan people. And if you’ve forgotten, we’re quite clearly outsiders.”

“I think we have bigger problems than our Sylvan lexicon.” Plum slowly raised her hand and pointed into the distance.

Stryg and Tauri turned around and froze in wonderment. The mountain rose from the sparse grasslands and transformed into a sharp rocky formation, like a spear surging towards the heavens, piercing the clouds themselves.

“Is that… Moon Fang?” Tauri whispered in awe.

Stryg nodded in admiration, “The sacred mount of the Mother Moon and home of the Silver Hall Keep, the last and greatest refuge of the Sylvan people.”

“It looks a lot taller than what I imagined,” Plum grimaced.

Stryg smiled proudly, “It is the tallest of the realm’s mountains. Moon Fang reaches out to the sky and the moon itself. At its peak sits the Celestial Shrine, the most sacred of Lunae’s temples. Every Sylvan visits it at least once in their lifetime and always when they travel to Moon Fang. It is a great honor.”

“Wait, are you saying we have to climb to the top!? Stjerne help us, please! I can’t take this anymore!” Plum moaned and sent a silent prayer to the Traveler.

“Is this what you meant when you mentioned a rite of passage?” Tauri asked.

“Mostly, yeah,” Stryg said.

Even though it was summer, cold winds flowed down from the snow-covered mountain and filled the air with a chill. Plum and Tauri shivered involuntarily. Stryg breathed in deeply, enjoying the cold sensation.

He smiled with determination, “What are we waiting for?”