Valkyrie's Shadow

Empire in Chains: Act 1, Chapter 7

Empire in Chains: Act 1, Chapter 7

Chapter 7

“Master Chiru, where does this one go?”

Zu Chiru looked up from his clipboard. His apprentices were milling about, moving crates from one wagon to another.

“That one goes there,” Zu Chiru said. “No, not there – there!”

The apprentice milled about in confusion until a second apprentice came to help him. Then they milled about in confusion together. Eventually, the crate found its place in a nearby wagon alongside several other crates marked with similar labels. The new wagon’s driver – a teamster from one of Lady Wagner’s merchant companies – silently shook his head.

Unlike the wagons used inside of the Sorcerous Kingdom, those that headed to foreign lands did not employ Soul Eaters. Thus, they required staff to handle the horses for their trip. The wagons used outside of the Sorcerous Kingdom were different as well: there was no need for the advanced models that were designed to harness the capabilities of Soul Eaters.

Four of Zu Chiru’s apprentices would be coming on the trip with him while the rest stayed behind to continue operations in E-Rantel. He had secured the same amulet that allowed dayblind beings to see in bright light for them. They would be paying him back through their labours, of course.

His goods were carefully selected and represented the culmination of his efforts in and around E-Rantel, but most of the space on the wagons nearby were not meant for his goods at all. Before heading out of the city, the wagons had stopped at one of the warehouses owned by House Wagner to be loaded with grain. Zu Chiru was just one of several merchants in the caravan, and he would only pay for his portion of the cargo capacity being used until the grain was unloaded and they went their separate ways.

When all was readied, Zu Chiru and his apprentices clambered onto the wagon. The teamster stared at them.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

“We go, yes?” Zu Chiru answered.

“I meant ‘why are you all piling into the wagon’?”

Zu Chiru rubbed his nose in confusion.

“Because we are going to the next place?” He said, “We have always done this…”

“This here’s a full wagon and we don’t got a Soul Eater,” the teamster told them. “Everyone but me and you are walking.”

“B-but the others will be left behind!”

“Again, we don’t have a Soul Eater,” the teamster’s gaze passed over the quivering apprentices. “We’re only going about thirty kilometres in a day. That’s three kilometres an hour. You can walk that fast, yeah?”

The apprentices looked at Zu Chiru. He sighed and hopped out of his seat and onto the road.

“Come,” he said. “We will walk together.”

The other Quagoa hopped off and gathered around him. The driver clicked his tongue to ease the wagon forward. Zu Chiru and his apprentices followed alongside.

“Master Chiru,” one of his apprentices asked, “Why must we use these strange animals? It does not look very reliable and requires a Human besides! A Soul Eater is much better.”

“The clans of the Empire are not brave like the clans of the Sorcerous Kingdom,” Zu Chiru told him. “If we bring a Soul Eater with us, they will run away and hide. How will we sell anything if they do this?”

“Zu Chiru,” another apprentice asked, “where is your beautiful wife?”

“She said that she will meet us at the place where the caravans gather.”

The wagon rolled out onto the highway, turning east. As the Human had mentioned, they did not go very fast. The five Quagoa waddled alongside, staring out at the wide valley that stretched far to the south. Some distance beyond them, the land became shrouded in mist.

Zu Chiru brought out his map, which he had learned how to make sense of during their journeys throughout the Sorcerous Kingdom. The misty land was a place called the Katze Plains, but there appeared to be nothing there for merchants. His eyes wandered elsewhere, tracing the line of the highway to their destination. He frowned as a sudden realisation came upon him.

“…eh? Driver, this map becomes strange on the side.”

“What do you mean?”

“It claims that this next city is far away at the edge of the world.”

“The hell are you talking about?”

One thing that Zu Chiru had swiftly learned was that many people who worked under Merchants were coarse and rude when not dealing with customers. Some Merchants were like that as well. He hoped that his apprentices would not become like that.

Zu Chiru raised the map towards the Human. He looked down at it with a frown.

“This is a map of the Sorcerous Kingdom,” the teamster said. “It only shows the area around E-Rantel. Don’t you have a map of the Empire?”

Now that the Human mentioned it, Zu Chiru realised that he did. He looked around in his satchel before finding a second, larger map that had been provided to him by Lady Wagner. He unfolded it and his frown grew.

“You,” he told one of his apprentices. “Hold this up.”

The apprentice held up the map of the Empire between his claws. Zu Chiru walked around him with the map of the Sorcerous Kingdom, trying to figure out where it fit. When he finally did, his fur smoothed down and his whiskers drooped. The apprentice holding the map did not miss his expression of dismay.

“Master Chiru,” he asked, “what is wrong?”

“Driver,” Zu Chiru asked. “Which part of this map is the Baharuth Empire?”

The Human leaned over to look at the map stretched out below him.

“All of it,” he answered. “Except for the parts around the edges.”

“What!” Zu Chiru squeaked, “T-this is not right. How far are we to this first city?”

“Depends on the weather,” the driver replied, straightening again. “Unless we get caught in the rain for days, it should be no more than a week.”

Zu Chiru took the map back into his trembling claws. The Empire was huge beyond his imaginings. Many thousands of clans could dwell within? The Kingdom of the Dwarves was as a worn-down pebble beside it. How could anyone withstand such a mighty nation? He would have to be careful, lest he bring ruin upon the Sorcerous Kingdom.

“Master Chiru,” one of his apprentices asked, “did he just say that we would be walking for a week?”

“To the first city…in total, we will be walking for three months?”

“Three months! Master, our feet will fall off!”

“We will shrivel up on the roads during the day and freeze at night! The Realms Above are an evil place!”

“This is a joke, yes, Master? No nation can be so large. They would have conquered the entire world if so.”

As the plaintive voices rose around him, Zu Chiru felt around for his flask. It was a magic item that Lady Wagner said would be essential for their journey. Aside from this, he had another satchel that contained preserved meats. The warm mantle that the Dragon had bought for him was draped over his shoulders.

He drew its hood over his head to shield himself from the rising sun, and his apprentices followed suit with their own. Their whiskered snouts all poked out from the shadows of their cowls. They would need masks to keep their noses from drying out.

They arrived at the imperial border late in the afternoon. There, they found Golems, Death Knights, and skeletal labourers working with dozens of Humans. The land was being levelled and packed down, and stockpiles of construction materials were gathered in the fields around them. In the distance, to the southwest and northwest, stood two dilapidated towers.

“What is going on here?” Zu Chiru asked.

“This is the new border town Lady Wagner is raising,” the driver answered. “Just like the one on the Theocracy border. Used to just be a stopping spot for caravans.”

“We are stopping here?”

“Yep. Caravans travel from early morning to late afternoon. We set up and break camp during the remaining hours of daylight. There are towns or at least villages for us to stop at along all the highways spaced a good day’s travel from one another.”

Zu Chiru nodded at the familiar description. The towns and villages in the Sorcerous Kingdom were laid out in much the same way, but he did not understand why that was until now. Wagons drawn by Soul Eaters could travel further in an hour than this merchant caravan would in a day. They would be spending as much time on the roads as in the cities and towns of the Empire.

“What if we do not have ‘a good day’s travel’?”

“Depends,” the teamster replied. “The imperial highways are all paved, but those highways are nothing compared to the ones being constructed in the Sorcerous Kingdom. Still, it’s easier to get around the Empire than Re-Estize. Bad weather will slow us down. Heavy rain means that we stay where we are. Most caravans won’t move unless they’re sure that their goods will stay safe and dry. Not being able to make it to the next stop means you’re camping out in the wild, which comes with its own risks.”

This made sense. Humans were not as social as Quagoa, but they still understood that there was safety in numbers. Being caught alone made one a more likely mark for predators. The native lands of the Quagoa tribes under the Azerlisia Mountains had monsters that melded into shadow and beasts that swam through stone, but Zu Chiru did not know what things might try to eat him in the Realms Above. The Sorcerous Kingdom was kept safe by powerful Undead – not even the trees would dare attack them as they went from place to place – but the same could not be said for the Empire.

“What risks are there if we experience delays and must sleep beneath this sky?” Zu Chiru asked.

“Hmm...our caravans aren’t the newest frames from House Wagner,” the Human answered, “but they’re still Runecrafted. We won’t have to worry about broken axles and such. Weather’s the main problem. It rains quite a bit in the winter, and the northeast and northwest parts of the Empire can sometimes have snow coming down from the mountains. As for everything else, the Imperial Legions keep the most common threats at bay – any risks on that front would be from roaming monsters and highwaymen.”

“What is a ‘highwayman’?”

“A sort of brigand, basically. The Empire will root out bandit dens and monster lairs, but some bandits and monsters don’t have bases or homes to target. That makes them hard to deal with even when there are regular patrols. A man about as strong as a Gold-ranked Adventurer can easily take down an undefended merchant wagon or a small group of regular travellers. Groups of highwaymen will pose as travellers themselves and blend in with the traffic to find likely marks. When the time is ripe, they’ll strike. They can’t afford to allow a report to get out to the authorities, so they’ll leave their victims dead in a forest or ditch.”

The Quagoa collectively swallowed. Being in a forest was bad enough. Being dead in a forest was unimaginably terrifying.

The wagon rolled off of the highway, heading over to a field where dozens of other wagons were arranged in circles around their respective campfires. Zu Chiru’s nervousness bled away at the sight of many people. The odours of Human food and wood smoke drifted in the air. There were enough wagons present that it looked like a village had been raised on the field. Unlike a village, however, most of the Humans present were male.

“How come there are so few females?”

“There’s usually fewer than you see here,” the teamster said. “The only reason why we have so many with us here is because they’re helping to market the new runecrafted wagons to prospective clients. Otherwise…well, travelling comes with many dangers, and the average man is stronger than the average woman.”

Humans had many inconveniences. Quagoa females were just as good as Quagoa males in a fight, so such considerations were unnecessary unless a female was pregnant.

Upon joining a new ring of wagons that was forming for the night, the teamster indicated their nearby resting spot before seeing to his horses. Zu Chiru walked over, scratching his chest in thought as he watched what the other merchants were doing. The Humans returned his curious gaze, eyeing Zu Chiru and his apprentices in their cowls and mantles.

What he saw within the ring of wagons was concerning: bedrolls were laid by their respective vehicles while the caravan workers saw to one thing or another. Nothing like the Human dwellings in the city could be seen. The Quagoa shivered at the sight.

“Master,” one apprentice asked, “are we to lay exposed in the cold night?”

“Master,” another apprentice asked, “shall we make a burrow?”

“What? No!”

They all jumped at the sound of the teamster’s voice.

“You’re not digging any holes in the camp,” the Human male said. “That’s nothing but broken legs and damaged merchandise.”

Zu Chiru looked around again. He pointed to something in the distance.

“Are we allowed to raise a tent like that one?” He asked.

The teamster looked over.

“If you have one,” he said.

“Why doesn’t everyone have a tent?”

“Because personal comforts take up cargo space.”

Zu Chiru nodded slowly in understanding. If there was something that travelling Merchants and their staff understood, it was the cost of transportation and how it affected their profits. Even the warm and gentle Lady Gagnier was very strict when it came to such things. Fortunately for Zu Chiru, he had decided his stand with its tent was essential for conducting business.

He instructed his apprentices to set up the tent before it became any colder. Rumour had it that, in the coldest of winters on the surface, it could sometimes become so bitterly cold that a thin layer of frost formed overnight. Many things would die, and howling winds would scour the blackened fields. It was not something that Zu Chiru wished to experience: hungry Frost Dragons and Frost Giants would surely come after that.

The tent came up fifteen minutes later and the Quagoa all scuttled in. An apprentice tied the opening shut while another stood on a stool to hang a metal loop on a hook overhead. Everyone sighed in relief after the magic item was activated, filling the interior with warmth. They settled down and nibbled on their evening portions.

“Master Chiru, will we be doing this every night?”

“When we travel between towns and cities, I think,” Zu Chiru replied. “Maybe some places will have some nice caves?”

It was a new experience for them. When they were trading in the Sorcerous Kingdom, the Soul Eaters were fast enough to cover the distance between towns in about an hour, not counting the time it took to enter and leave.

“What do we do now, Master Chiru?”

“The Human said we will be leaving early in the morning, so we sleep!”

And so they lay down around the floor of the tent. Sleep came quickly for Zu Chiru, for the warm and enclosed space reminded him of the cosy Quagoa warrens below E-Rantel.

“–Chiru!”

A familiar female’s voice stirred him from his slumber. Something shook his shoulder.

“Zu Chiru! Zu–hey! Where are you sticking your claws? If you do that to any Human females, the authorities are going to lock you away.”

Cold air blew in from the outside. Zu Chiru shivered and squinted at the silhouette of a humanoid female leaning over him.

“…wife?” He murmured.

“Don’t ‘wife’ me. We’re leaving in thirty minutes. The Empire awaits.”