We were at the lake in the wasteland where the lizard had appeared, and now it was a real respectable lake in its own right. Aymer was standing on Marf’s head and she met my gaze with confidence.
“Leave everything to us!”
Once she spoke up, Joe and many of the others all joined her to voice their confidence.
Yep, with this kind of energy behind them, they’re sure to be just fine.
“But that goes for you and your pals too, Iberis,” I added. “No matter how things play out, I’m going to see that you’re all rewarded, so no unnecessary risks.”
The line of goblins could have blinded me with their glimmering toothy grins.
“We’ve got this, Lord Dias!” Iberis replied, pounding his chest with a fist.
The expeditionary party boarded the boat and got ready to depart. All the newly wedded wives were there to see off their husbands, along with the masti dogkin’s families and Senai and Ayhan. Fendia and the paladins were there too, offering prayers for victory, and soon enough the boat was off. It proceeded down the lake to the river, which I noticed was much wider than when I’d last seen it.
Carlitz spoke up when the boat was out of sight. “Well then, it’s time to get back, everybody! We’ve had to move some villagers to the western border station to make up the numbers over there, which means we’ve got our work cut out for us back in Iluk!”
And so we all hopped on our horses or into our carts and headed on back for another big day of work. The twins made sure there weren’t any stragglers who were supposed to be on the boat, then hopped aboard the camels they’d rode here. I’d come by camel too, and we all got a feel for riding them as we ambled on back home.
I’d been told that camels usually lived in hot, arid environments. They’d developed over time to become especially resilient to such climates, so I’d assumed this would have made them weaker when it came to the cold. As it turned out though, that wasn’t the case at all. When the temperature dropped, the camels simply grew a thicker coat and got nice and plump... As a cold weather countermeasure, it really worked.
The dogkin and the horses did similar with their fur, but camel fur was really thick. It was almost a match for baar wool. That said, while they looked fine even though the rivers were threatening to freeze, the camels still preferred warmer weather, and that much was clear in just how happy they were to be out in the wasteland. There wasn’t as much wind out this way and the air was a few degrees hotter, which made it a nice little respite for our camels.
But without any grass out here, they’d come wandering back to the village eventually, which feels in keeping with what I know about camels, honestly.
As we headed through the wasteland to the plains, my camel moaned with hunger. It took off all on its own, heading north up the makeshift road we’d built, and then it started sniffing around for tasty grass. In the process, it paused for a moment and shot me this look that I understood instantly.
“As soon as I find something I’m gonna eat it. Don’t bother me.”
The message was loud and clear, so I hopped right off. I was going to find a place to sit and wait for it, but at that moment a young eiresetter came running towards me out of nowhere.
“I’ll take care of the camel, Lord Dias!” they said. “Once a camel gets eating, they’re pretty lackadaisical about it. It can take a while! So please, feel free to head back to the village!”
“Is that so? I guess I’ll leave you to it then... I hope you don’t mind?”
“Not in the slightest! You’re always taking great care of all of us, and more importantly we don’t know when the expecting mothers are going to give birth, so I’d prefer it if you were nearby in case anything happens!”
That eiresetter was all smiles, so I thanked them and walked over to meet with the twins and head on back to Iluk. It was going to be a bit of a walk, but I figured that sometimes it was nice to slow down a bit.
“Aymer’s gone again,” Senai muttered. “I like it better when she’s with us.”
“Yeah...” Ayhan agreed.
“Come on, girls, she’ll be back before you know it, and I bet she’ll bring some souvenirs too. She knows what you two like, so you’re sure to be delighted.”
“Ooh, souvenirs...”
“You think she’ll bring back meat?”
We took our time enjoying the walk back to Iluk, and once there I proceeded on to the temple. We’d put up a big yurt by the side of the temple, which we were using as a maternity room, and all the expecting mothers were in there. It was next to the temple on account of the fact that Uncle Ben and Fendia were a constant source of support. Also, we kept the childbirth carpet at the temple, which meant that we could respond quickly to any emergencies.
I didn’t think we could rely on everything happening all at the same time like last year, so we were depending on Uncle Ben to take care of all the mothers until they’d all given birth. I basically played backup, which just meant I filled in when Uncle Ben needed a break.
I found Uncle Ben by the maternity room. He was sitting under the clear blue skies giving another sermon and making himself available for anybody who wanted to talk. There was a crowd around him, just like there always was, and today there were the baars, some dogkin—even Bianne, Sahhi’s wife...who looked like she might possibly be pregnant herself.
The falconkin laid eggs, which made giving birth a whole different thing for them, but that didn’t necessarily lessen the worries, which I suppose brought Bianne here to the maternity room.
But I think when falconkin get pregnant, it’s maybe four or five days before they give birth. I guess she’ll be out of here quicker than the others...
Sahhi had told me that after about four or five days, an expecting falconkin mother would lay one egg a day for about three or four days. Once the eggs were laid, it was a matter of keeping them warm until they hatched. During that time, Bianne wouldn’t be able to leave the house, which meant it was on Sahhi to make sure she was fed and taken care of. But with Sahhi out on expedition, that responsibility was to be taken up by the Wives’ Club.
Both Sahhi and Bianne were relieved to know that things were taken care of, and all the rest of us could do was pray for a safe birth.
So began my days of going back and forth between home and the maternity yurt. They were peaceful and uneventful, and before I knew it five days had gone by. When Bianne gave birth—which is to say, when she laid her first egg—it all happened so fast that the childbirth carpet never even left its spot in the temple.
According to the falconkin herself, if the first egg was laid without a hitch, then all the others would follow suit. It must have been a relief, because she sure looked at peace. We were all celebrating in the village when we heard a booming voice from up on high.
“D-Did she give birth?! Really?! You’re amazing, Bianne! Thanks!”
Sahhi had raced back to Iluk as soon as the news reached him. He was all set to head home and see his wife when he suddenly remembered something and flew to me.
“Dias! This here’s a status report from Aymer!” he said, passing me an envelope he held in his talons. “She wrote it this morning, so it’s the most recent intel we have! In any case, I’ve got a wife and eggs to help look after, so I’ll talk to you later!”
Sahhi was off like a flash before I could even say thanks, so I shouted it to him and took stock of the letter Aymer had written. The envelope was thick with paper, and Aymer had made sure to seal it with a footprint in place of a wax seal. I opened up the envelope, took out all the papers, and checked out the first page.
“General Report Summary...” I muttered, reading the title.
Below the title was an itemized list of everything that had happened since the expeditionary party left. They’d arrived at the Beastland Kingdom two days after departure and met with the Peijins’ greeting party.
From there, they’d started their operations immediately, and as of this morning they successfully occupied three enemy strongholds. They had also secured five provision storehouses, rescued an imperial citizen held prisoner, and achieved all of this without casualties on either side.
I couldn’t help but tilt my head going down the list. Part of it just didn’t make sense to me, and no matter how many times I went over it it refused to sink in. All the same, I pushed on and did my best to read the rest of Aymer’s report.