A light snow was beginning to cover the village square while I was cleaning up at the storehouses. That was when I heard the unmistakable flapping of wings and looked up to see Sahhi in the skies with a few of his comrades. I knew at a glance that they weren’t just bringing back another report this time—they were coming home.
If Sahhi and his friends are back, it means that Aymer and the others have arrived at the wasteland. We sent Carlitz with the supply carriers early this morning, so they might be meeting up right this moment.
Sahhi and the other falconkin swooped down and came to rest on the perches that were set up at my yurt, and for some reason they all looked totally flummoxed.
“Welcome back, guys,” I said. “Thanks for all your hard work over the border. Are Aymer and the others on their way here?”
“Oh, uh...yep,” replied Sahhi, trying to take it all in. “They met with Carlitz and they’re loading the carts as we speak. They’ll be here soon enough. But, uh...it looks like you had some trouble of your own to deal with right here at home, huh?”
“Well, I wouldn’t call it trouble, because it didn’t really cause us any,” I replied. “Everybody’s safe and everything’s nice and peaceful. Aymer’s report said you had quite the haul though—we sent some horses and carts, but is it going to be enough?”
“I’m not sure, but I’m guessing they’ll be fine. Not to worry—they can always lean on the goblins for some extra helping hands if they need them. That river the lizard made is pretty deep now. Wide too. Everybody’s calling it Lizard River, right? Anyway, it’s perfect for rafts. I think that’s what they’ll do for anything they can’t fit in a cart, at least until they get to the lake.”
“If they can get all the supplies that far, then they’ll be fine,” I said with a nod. “We’ve started calling that Lizard Pond, by the way. The stream from the mountains runs to Lizard Pond now, which meets Lizard River and runs all the way to the ocean. Actually, that stream that the crayfish made up north is also going to end up in the wasteland—the cavekin are working on it as we speak. I guess we’ll be calling that one Crayfish River soon enough.”
“Crayfish...? Oh,” said Sahhi as it clicked into place for him. “You mean the aqua dragon. If we can get another stream running through the wasteland, you’ll start getting more animals and plant life with it. In any case, the expeditionary party has a lot of stuff to sort through, so I expect that they’ll get to Lizard Pond tomorrow or maybe the day after. But I’m beat, so I’m going to head home for a break.”
And with that, Sahhi took off. His pals bowed politely and set off after him. I could only imagine how tired Sahhi was—after all, he’d gone back and forth between Iluk and the Beastland Kingdom a whole bunch of times. I figured that we could help him and his pals recover with a little celebratory dinner.
I should run the idea by Alna. Oh, and I should let the twins know that Aymer’s on her way back while I’m at it.
That night we held a dinner for Sahhi and the falconkin. The next day, I was still cleaning up when Seki, Goldia, and the trading party arrived. Nobody was hurt, and because Peijin & Co. had kept most of the provisions, the trading party had made it back in record time.
A part of me wondered if we’d even needed to send the trading party at all, but with the beastkin nation in a state of high tension, they’d been able to get a host of good intel and start building Baarbadal’s reputation as a trading partner—which basically meant letting the locals know that we were safe to work with. These were huge wins, the way they put it.
Until now, only the lostblood brothers had had permission to trade across the border, but now Goldia and the others had that same permission. They were free to visit the Beastland Kingdom for trade thanks to the local domain lords giving them special permission. They had written documentation and everything.
This kind of blew me off my feet, because at the end of the day we were still foreigners. I guess it was partially thanks to us already having Kiko’s seal of approval, and then the fact that the locals really appreciated all the fish we sold for so cheap. It was such good news that we ended up throwing another party that same evening.
The next day, Carlitz, Aymer, and the goblins arrived with the expeditionary party and the supply carriers in tow. When they arrived, Aymer spoke on behalf of everyone from atop the head of a girl they’d rescued called Aruharu.
“Ahem. I think we achieved quite the success, all things considered,” she said. “We were able to accomplish what we set out to do, and as of this moment the attempted uprising in the Beastland Kingdom has been quelled. We were careful to ensure that the food we procured was spread to beastkin people in need, and we’ve returned home with a huge amount of weapons and armor. So yes, you could respond with awe and great cheers at our triumphant return, and indeed we are returning triumphantly, except...”
At this point Aymer paused to scan the village square.
“Um, what is all of this?” she asked. “Really. Seriously. What is going on? What in the world happened? I require an explanation, please.”
There was no “we’re back!” and there was no report. Instead, Aymer demanded an explanation. Her eyes narrowed to slits as she stared at me, and all I could do was scratch the back of my head and turn to look at what I’d been cleaning up until the expeditionary party had returned.
It was all dragon materials.
“Yeah, so, uh... Three flame dragons appeared a little while ago,” I explained. “It was a whole thing. The falconkin with nests in the mountains were in a panic, and wolves flooded the plains... Y’know, even the onikin were freaking out.”
I told Aymer that I’d figured I’d have to do something about it at the time, but I’d barely needed to raise so much as a finger. The cavekin had ballistae set up near the mines, and they’d shot one dragon right through the guts. They’d managed to hit the wing of another, and I’d finished it off. The last one had gone crazy with rage, but I’d been fine on my own from there—it hadn’t been much of a bother.
“But who would have thought we’d ever have to face three at once?” I said. “I was shocked, really. All the flames were a bit annoying, but thanks to my new armor I barely even felt the heat. No burns or nothing either. Anyway, we’re just about finished up here, so don’t even give it another thought. You’ve earned a good rest, and damned if you don’t deserve it. We’ve got some food and drink ready for you, and we’re going to throw a banquet tonight. Take a couple days off after, okay?”
With my impromptu report done, I thought I’d say a few words to Aruharu.
“Aruharu, right? We’ve built a yurt for you to stay in, so consider it your home while you’re here. I’m not sure how we’re going to get you back to the empire yet, but we’ll do our utmost to see you reunited with your family and friends, and you’re welcome to live here until then.”
“Oh! Come! On!” Aymer cried, sulking from atop Aruharu’s head.
“I knew this was going to happen,” Joe complained. “I told you.”
“That you did,” Lorca sighed.
All of the domain guard shared the same exasperated look, and they all shook their heads in disbelief.
“I’m just glad everybody’s safe,” said Zorg, who still didn’t look entirely satisfied.
“I knew it,” the girl named Aruharu groaned. “Somewhere inside of me I knew it all along... People kept on saying it. They kept on saying ‘Dias,’ but I told myself it was just one of those things where maybe lots of people in Sanserife are called Dias. But you’re him! You’re the guy! You’re the unstoppable force! And even now you’re just as insane and out of your mind as you were then! Oh, so you’ve got some ballistae, huh? How does that explain you taking down three flame dragons?! At once?!”
I’d kind of expected her to introduce herself, so in the face of her outrage I wasn’t actually sure how to respond. So I didn’t.
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