The three travelers had eaten, rested their legs and were now scouting the lowlands that rolled away from their vantage point down to the horizon. Soern squinted as he scanned the view, sweeping his head from side to side. The kirzan hummed as he pondered the state of the plains they were about to cross.
"How far does it stretch," asked Dashyl.
"A fair ways. And we'll be exposed the whole time. Of course, so will anyone who tries to attack us," Soern replied.
The tree line reached from north to south as far as they could see, as if the woods had been planted a long time ago and the planter had run out of saplings all of a sudden. A strong wind started to blow into their faces as they gazed at the unending sea of golden grass before them.
Soern inhaled deeply through his nose. "Ah, even this far north you can smell the sea. The winds from the coast can travel all the way up the plains, bringing a reminder of salted air. That smell will get stronger and stronger as we get closer to Trader's Haunt. It will grow so thick, that once you are in the gates of the city, the salty air will choke you and you won't ever want to smell that place again. But now, in the fresh air of the plains, good memories of the coast are all it inspires."
"This Trader's Haunt place sounds terrible. Why do we have to go there," Dashyl asked. "Isn't there any other place to catch an airship?"
"Son," Soern said, "We are in the hinterlands of Veratar here. We are far from the safety of the Protectorate cities, or even important independent cities. The Legion prefer to stick to the coast and sail past these lands, viewing them as strategically irrelevant. The only reason airships go to Trader's Haunt is because the goods that can be gotten there are so precious and rare that their potential owners want to procure them as quickly as possible."
"Oh," is all Dashyl said.
"Besides," continued Soern, "I need to return to my post. My duties do not allow me the time to escort you all the way to Legion lands. I suppose I could let you keep the igwaza runners and send you off alone, but how would you find your way, who would defend you? This is the quickest, safest way for you to return home or go wherever it is you want to go next. You must leave this area before the people hunting you have figured out that you have left so you can throw them off your trail."
"I agree," chimed in Fretly. "This really is the best way, Dash. We'll be fine, Trader's Haunt isn't as bad as our big friend here makes it seem. When I came for the Center of Death Tournament, we were able to go quickly from the airship anchor to the outer gates without much fuss. Trust us. Wait until you see the airships!"
Dashyl smiled at his two companions. "Okay," he said.
"Well," Soern said as he sighed, "things look clear from up here. No razorwig swarms, no Krill Assassins waiting to ambush us, no vaygr crouching among the blades of grass ready to pounce on us." Soern laughed and kept laughing as he mounted his igwaza runner. "Come on, let's go, you two."
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