Champion, Chapter 34: Over the Next Hill

AidanThe RealmsSeventhday, 3rd week of the 9th month, Age of the Chosen 1DuskCeallach Macht, Mistvale Highlands

The sun was only an orange-red halo around the distant western mountains when Aidan and Ailis finished their picnic. Standing at the entrance to Caer Macht, Ailis gave Aidan a hug and a short, tender kiss. "Be cautious, my King, and return to us safe in body and mind. You are far more important to the city and its people than anything you might gain on your mission. Until then, I will keep your realm safe and look into what I can do for your project."

"I know," Aidan said, favoring his Chancellor with a smile. "I'm not looking to take any risks aside from the mission itself. If they're hostile, Sunnild can carry me far enough to escape, and I have absolutely no intention of scouting out Karsarrym's lair itself, if it's even in Mist Stalker lands."

"Take this with you," Ailis passed him a rough, oblong stone. "I did not have time to teach you to make wards, but if you keep your campsite small, this will serve a similar purpose. Place it in the embers of your campfire every evening to keep it powered. It will drive pests away as long as it is stationary, and if anything approaches you with hostile or hungry intent, it will flare with light and sound. I doubt you or anyone else could sleep through it."

"Thank you. I'll come back safe, I promise."

Ailis kissed him again, this time with more heat. "You had better, Aidan. You owe me twenty-four hours of your undivided attention—and a granddaughter." She turned away from him and walked into the city, shooting him a smirk over her shoulder. Aidan shook his head and watched her leave, then made his way into his Place of Power.

AidanFirstday, 4th week of the 9th month, Age of the Chosen 1Early Morning

"Visit my dreams every night, you hear me?" Brighid told Aidan as she wrapped him in a tight hug.

"I promise, flame of my heart."

"...I do not want you to leave," she whimpered in his ear, "I do not want to be alone again."

"I know, my love. I wouldn't leave you behind if I didn't have to." Aidan hugged his Soulmate back. "Be a good girl for me and work on the Labyrinth materials Ysbail brings back. I told her to drown you in them to keep you busy."

"Okay," Brighid said and released him, then turned to Sunnild and swept her into a hug as well. "I will miss you too, little dove. Keep him safe, but please do not take any unnecessary risks yourself."

"Mm! We'll both be back, safe and sound, I promise!" Sunnild wrapped her arms and wings around Brighid. After giving her a long, passionate kiss, Sunnild dragged Brighid's head down and whispered something in the centaur's ear that caused her to blush and give her a hungry look.

"Yes, Mistress," she responded to whatever Sunnild told her.

Aidan turned to Cai and Llwyd. "I want you two to have at least the start of a Royal Guard corps by the time I return. That means enough people that no one is forced to be on-shift more than twelve hours a day; eight hours would be better. Lail is a good start, although I want you to try and get her to talk to Ailis; she seems a bit fragile to me, mentally speaking."

"Yes, Lord Aidan," they said together, saluting.

"Alright, it's time for us to leave, then. We'll be back as soon as we can." Aidan and Sunnild both gave Brighid another hug and kiss before walking outside. Both were dressed in their full armor, and Aidan's magical sword was sheathed at his belt. He had a month's worth of provisions in his Handy Haversack in addition to gifts for Chieftain Searlas. Sunnild walked a pace ahead of Aidan, her head scanning back and forth for potential threats even though they hadn't left Ceallach Macht yet. Aidan missed her cuddliness, but he had to admit that her dedication to her role as his protector was reassuring.

When they got to the outskirts of the city, Aidan stopped and cast Summon Steed. When the chant finished, the mist clinging to the ground rose and swirled, forming into a vague quadrupedal shape before solidifying into a large draft horse with a tandem saddle. "Good," Aidan said, "I was hoping that would happen." He swung himself up onto the horse's back, then helped Sunnild up behind him. "We can ride for 8 hours a day this way, and there's no need to worry about wearing the horse out over time so we can press a little harder than with a real mount."

Before he could kick his steed into motion, though, the shadow cast by its neck sprouted a black cat. "You will not leave me behind again!" Riama insisted.

Aidan chuckled and scratched his familiar's ears. "It would be much easier to bring you along if you didn't vanish for days at a time," he told her out loud for Sunnild's benefit. Along with his words, he sent <love, companionship, concern>. Riama gave him a disdainful mental sniff but leaned into Aidan's hand.

And so, with the party gathered, they ventured forth. Aidan nudged the horse into motion. He had to keep the speed down to start with so that Sunnild could grow accustomed to riding, but before long, they were galloping through the mist-covered valleys of the Highlands.

AidanEarly Afternoon

"What was it that you whispered to Brighid before we left?" Aidan asked Sunnild.

A giggle came from behind him. "I told her she wasn't allowed ta come until we got back."

Aidan blinked, then chuckled. "Oh, my. She's going to be ravenous."

"Mm-hm. An' just imagine how much ya can stir her up in her dreams."

"You're evil, you know that, right?"

"Hey, if I gotta go a month without gettin' any from you, she can manage two weeks."

"Huh?" Aidan leaned to the side and looked over his shoulder at Sunnild. "What do you mean?"

She darted forward and gave him a quick kiss, then ducked her head. "If yer gonna get me preggers, ya can't do anything with me, remember? If any of yer stuff ends up inside me anywhere, it starts the clock all over again."

"Sure, but that's me going without, not you. You didn't think I would ignore you that whole time, did you?" If the situation's geometry hadn't prevented it, Aidan would have scooped Sunnild into his arms.

"Um. Yes? I thought it'd just be Brighid an' me."

Aidan shook his head and chuckled. "Sunnild, we're going to be sleeping together for the next two weeks or so. I only brought one blanket, and it's too cold to sleep separately. Neither of us is going to be sleeping in armor, either. If you think I'm going to be able to keep my hands off of you for that whole time, you've got another think coming."

Aidan couldn't see Sunnild, but he imagined he could feel her incandescent blush through two sets of clothes and two suits of armor. He patted her thigh in sympathy and decided to change the subject. "Did your mother ever tell you anything about where she grew up?" Aidan asked.

"Un-uh. Mum just said it was far away." Sunnild switched to Scots Gaelic and said, "She did teach me the language, though."

"Hmmm. Is that the only language she taught you?"

"Mm. Well, the only unusual one, anyway."

"I wonder..." Aidan mused. "I doubt there are more than a handful of people in my world that only speak that language. There are few enough who speak it at all. Given some things my Patron told me, your mother may be from a different era than I am. Though I'm not sure how she got here, in that case."

"Can ya tell me more about yer world?" Sunnild asked. "If Mum is from there, I wanna know."

"Sure. What do you want to know?" Aidan scanned the mists as they talked. They were approaching the border between Starchaser and Mist Stalker lands, so Aidan had Minor Shift active on them both to enhance their hearing and sight.

"Ya know where Mum was from, right?"

"I suspect, anyway. It's a country—part of a country, in my time, but I'm not so certain about your mother—that takes up the northern half of a mid-sized island. The terrain there is a lot like this. My family's from Scotland, and my mother and father always told me and my sister stories about the Auld Country. That's why I chose to start here in the Highlands."

"What kinda stories?"

"Mostly talking about how pretty it was. Where I lived, cities covered most of the landscape. You could travel for days at the speed we're going and still be surrounded by buildings. Scotland, according to Mom and Dad, had a lot more wilderness. And if your mother is from an earlier time, that'd be even more true."

Sunnild didn't respond, so he continued, "As for the Scots themselves, they were a pretty rugged people, from what I know. Scotland isn't a desert or anything, but it's not the easiest place to live without modern conveniences. And, now that I'm thinking of it, I can't recall any examples of the Scots waging wars of conquest. That's a real rarity in my world.

"Vercingetorix fought the Romans, but he was from the mainland, and that was defending against an invasion anyway. Boudica was the same, though that was at least in Britain, not France. And once we get into the medieval era, it's mostly the Anglo-Saxons invading, not the other way around. I wouldn't label them a peaceful people, exactly, but when they fought, it was usually either in defense or cattle raids and the like."

"Mm. Thank you," Sunnild said. "We're about ta cross the border. Do ya want me to scout around in the air for a bit?"

"If you want." Aidan stopped the horse and let Sunnild slip down to the ground.

"You can keep going as long as ya keep it below a gallop. I'm pretty fast in the air, an' I'll be able ta keep track of ya." Sunnild leaped into the air, wingbeats sending the ever-present mists swirling.

"You're keeping your ears and eyes open, too, right?" Aidan asked his familiar.

Riama cracked open an eye from where she rested on the horse's back. "Of course," she said, then went back to her nap.

AidanEarly EveningMist Stalker territory, Mistvale Highlands

Once the duration on Summon Steed ran out and the sun started sinking below the western horizon, Aidan decided it was time to make camp. Sunnild took another quick aerial jaunt to scout for a good campsite, then led him to an overhang near a tiny brook. They made a fire and ate dinner, then Aidan dropped Ailis's gift into the fire and pulled a huge, thick blanket from his haversack. He stretched and rolled his head; casting Minor Shift on cooldown for twelve hours straight had earned him a ton of experience but also given him a headache.

"That will make us more vulnerable if we are attacked," Sunnild scolded him, gesturing at the blanket Aidan was in the process of pulling over himself.

"So you'd rather lie out in the cold and damp instead of cuddling under this nice warm blanket with me?"

"... Move over."

"Thought so," Aidan said with a smirk. He held the edge of the blanket up for Sunnild to slip under. "You're keeping your feathers hardened anyway, right?"

"Mm. But if we get attacked, it'll tangle us and slow us down." Despite her objections, Sunnild curled up facing Aidan, tucking her head under his chin.

"We don't have much choice, to be honest. It's too cold to sleep in the open air."

"True. I guess we'll just have to manage. Speakin' of managing..." she bit her lip and tilted her head back to look at Aidan's face. "It's just the two of us right now while yer cat's huntin' fer her dinner. Do ya think ya can—umm, what ya said before?" This time he really could feel her blush hot against his skin.

Aidan chuckled and began to run his hands over her lithe body. "Let me hear you sing, my little dove."

AidanFirstday, 4th week of the 9th month, Age of the Chosen 1Early Morning

"I'm sore," Sunnild complained in the morning while Aidan helped her into her armor.

"It's the riding," Aidan responded. "You're not used to hanging on with your legs like that. I didn't really feel it until the next day after my first time riding for several hours in a row, either."

"Do we have ta ride again today?"

Aidan cocked his head and looked at her. "Well, walking is too slow and makes us too vulnerable to do it all day. How long can you carry Riama and me while flying?"

Sunnild pouted. "Not the whole day. A couple hours at most, then I'd need ta rest. If we had another sister or two, we could rig a net and do it that way, but..."

"Horse it is, then," he said with an empathetic smile.

"Horse it is," Sunnild sighed in response. "But can we walk fer a while first? You can't have yer horse out all day anyway..."

"Sure, that's fine with me. Do you want to go and have a quick scout around while I pack up the camp?"

"Mm!" She popped up onto her toes to give him a quick kiss, then sprang into the air. Aidan busied himself with packing away their camping gear and dousing, then scattering the ashes of the campfire. Sunnild reappeared just as he finished.

"Aidan!" she hissed. "There's a patrol nearby."

"How many and how close?"

"Three that I could see. It's hard to tell with the mist so high," Sunnild gestured at the shoulder-high fog around them. "And they're almost on top of us; I don't think we can slip past them."

"Alright," Aidan said, "I guess it's time to see what kind of welcome we're going to get."

Though he was confident that they could fight their way free if needed, Aidan took time to prepare before confronting the Mist Stalker patrol. He used Minor Shift to enhance his and Sunnild's senses and toughen their skin. It wouldn't provide as much protection as Ailis's spells, but it was what he had on-hand. Out of an abundance of caution, Aidan also cast Burning Barrage. It wouldn't kill warriors outright, but it would buy him and Sunnild time.

"I will hunt from the shadows," Riama told him and vanished into the mist. After a final check of their equipment, Sunnild led Aidan towards the catfolk.

It only took a few minutes of walking along the brook before a voice called out from the fog, "Halt! You are in Mist Stalker territory. State your business."

They stopped as ordered. Aidan raised his hands into the air, palms out, and said, "My name is Aidan. I am the ruler of Ceallach Macht and wish to speak to Chieftan Searlas regarding diplomacy and trade. My companion is Sunnild, a warrior of the Ash Shroud Sisterhood."

"Do you have any proof of your claims?" a different voice asked from somewhere to the left.

Aidan rolled his eyes. How am I supposed to prove that? Instead of asking, however, he said, "I have gifts for your Chieftan, including resources that can only be found within my city. As for identifying me, my title and crown are the best I can provide in that regard." He pushed a spell into the Crown of the Exalted, causing it to flare to life around his head.

Sunnild spoke up, saying, "I vouch for Lord Aidan's words and conduct. So long as no harm comes to us, we have no ill intentions towards you or your lord. Our mission is peaceful."

Multiple voices conferred, voices too soft to make out. Finally, the first speaker said, "Cancel your spells. We will take you to the nearest outpost. They can decide what to do with you there."

"Do we have your word that we will be safe within your territory so long as we make no hostile actions?" Aidan wasn't about to disarm without some explicitly-stated assurances. Words had power, after all.

"I cannot speak for what Lord Criodan will do, but you have my word that my team will not attack you."

"And whose word is it that I have?"

"I, Fiach Mac Cuilinn, promise to escort you safely into Lord Criodan's custody and to give a truthful report of our interactions to him."

Aidan relaxed a hair. It wasn't an oath, but it would do. He dismissed Burning Barrage and let the Crown of the Exalted fade. A moment later, four figures emerged from the mist, two in front of him and one to either side.

They were all shorter than Aidan, with the two smallest being a full head shorter. Each of them wore hardened leather armor over most of their bodies, though it was dyed or bleached to a gray-white that matched the fog and their fur. It was hard to tell how much of their bodies were covered in fur due to the armor. Heavy coat on the back and limbs, none on the face, and light on the chest, if I remember character creation correctly.

Three of the Mist Stalkers were either male or androgynous, but Aidan's breath caught at the sight of the woman walking two steps behind and to the side of the apparent leader. She wore the same armor as the other three, fitted to her feminine form, but around her neck was a collar made of dull gray metal. It was loose enough not to restrict the woman's breathing, but it was clearly a slave's collar.

I hoped that was only propaganda, Aidan sighed to himself. Aloud, he said, "Then I place myself in your hands, Fiach. Please, lead on."