Land of Mirriam

It was high noon the spring was breaking up, the summer heat was urging the air to blow as hard as it could. Simon felt strange walking on the paved roads but the occasional passing carriage and adventurers distracted him and walking on paved roads was much better.

“Simon look at that,” the old man suddenly pointed out southerly, he was not pointing by the land, he was pointing into the sky. The boy didn’t easily notice it but there were shadows in the sky… looked like flying things.

It was Sky Hounds, 2 tailed and with the face of a dog, much easier to describe as a dog with wings. They were one of the monsters that occasionally roamed around the eastern frontier, the number one cause of random encounters for those who lived in the frontiers. They live on the Craig Mountain ranges located in the southern part of the frontier.

The Craig Mountains were an impenetrable fortress because of the monsters that lived there. Even now it has not been thoroughly explored and considered as a natural habitat of monsters.

“Prepare for battle Simon, they're going to attack us,” the old man said.

“But how would I fight against a flying enemy?” Simon asked.

The old man just smirked, it would be of no use to explain it to the boy, he should just show it.

…

Sky Hounds would hunt humans for food, such was the devastating truth. As years went by it seemed that the Sky Hounds had learned that humans usually go through these paved roads, the open field made it easy for them to take on humans. That day was just another day of the hunt and another day on the frontier.

They usually pestered the eastern farmlands, which led to the construction of a large wall to fend off monster attacks from the Craig Mountain range to the south. This mountain range was home not only to the Sky Hounds but also to various other monsters that plagued the area.

“Hurry up!!” the guards of the East Mouth village urged the carriages and adventurers to go inside their walls.

“Old man!!! Please go inside!!!” the guard noticed the 2 just standing waiting for something.

“We are alright!! Please close the gates,” the old man screamed back. The guard was surprised with his answer, if the old man was looking for a place to die he should have sent the boy inside first.

Still, the guard gritted and he closed the wooden gates. Their walls are made of stone, about 4 meters tall, the guards lined up on the upper walls, and the village chief was there.

“Find a good rock and throw it at their wings. Do you still remember the doppelganger?” the old man said as he searched for a suitable rock to throw. He found a smooth stone instead of a rough one.

To the Sky Hounds, the two of them were prime prey. The guards on top of the wall and the adventurers hiding in the bushes south of the gates watched the scene. Though they wanted to help, they hesitated, knowing the old man had chosen to be outside the gate on his own.

In one fell swoop a greedy Sky Hound plunged down shortening the distance into the ground.

“That’s big!! Does it taste good?” Simon innocently asked, not even disturbed by the blood lust the Hound was emitting.

“Nope… they are not good, they have bad meat,” the old man answered. The Sky Hound’s meat was really bad, not only that, a parasite lived in their blood.

“Aim for their head if you want to kill them in one shot, or aim at the wings which is easier!! Your choice!!!” the old man said, his hands glowed a bit, it was a magic edge, he swung his arm throwing the stone.

The stone literally shot so fast, that the Hound that tried to attack them got hit on the base of its right wing.

“Oh! I thought I was going to hit the head… my bad,” the Sky Hound crashed down on the ground its momentum damaging it.

It landed near the 2. The adventurers and the guards that were watching cheered from what they saw, there were 8 more in the air.

“How about you try it boy?” the old man said and he picked up another rock, one that was rough on all sides.

The old man glanced at the gate, he started hand signals, and the chief immediately understood it. He was asking if the chief could fire arrows at the old man’s command, The two had successfully made a bait in the middle of the road. The sky hounds began descending, all of them going down in an arrow formation.

“Use your leg to carry more weight and power to the throw, stomp it,” the old man advised.

“How does that work?” Simon asked.

“Raise it up boy,-” Then the old man did his pose, his knees raised as far up on his chest, hands curved “-This is the right way to throw stones at long range,” the old man did a mock throw. The boy nodded after seeing it again.

The old man then drew his sword and slashed the Sky Hound that had fallen by his stone, it instantly died when the old man landed a slash on its neck, it even failed to react.

Simon as per his usual learning skills did the same pose, he then threw the rock hitting the right wing of the leader of the charge.

“Nice one boy!! FIRE!!!” the old man suddenly screamed, the guards on the wall complied and started raining fire. The Sky Hounds fell down one by one since the arrows punctured holes in their wings if they were not getting hit in the body.

As soon as the sky hounds fell the adventurers that were hiding in the bushes came out and started their ambush.

“Whoa!!!” Simon’s first time seeing an assault like that.

“Hey you can open the gates now!!!” the old man screamed to the chief of the village, he signaled the gate bearers behind the wall.

“Thanks, old man!! We appreciate it!!!” the chief screamed on the top of the wall.

“It's okay!!!" the old man waved.

As soon as the gates opened, the 2 could smell different kinds of aromas, the East Mouth Village was the home of spices.

“Let’s go boy… oh crap I forgot, we haven’t had any breakfast,” the old man said as he noticed Simon’s drooling face.

<--->

The East Mouth village was almost closer to being established as a town but since nobles and government officials wouldn’t prefer going to this most remote place, the promotion of the settlement has been at bay for a long time now. The 2 upon entering were given applause by the guards and soldiers of the wall, the soldiers that were carrying shields should have been the baits.

“Old man!!! Thank you!!!” the village chief came down, grabbing the hand of the old man and petting the head of Simon which the boy didn’t like as he squinted. Simon kept his eyes closed as soon as the fighting started so everyone thought that he was blind, but how did he hit the sky hounds?

After the 2 passed the gallery they immediately found an inn, they were not there to sleep since the sun was still high in the sky, but the building was familiar to the 2, the inn was an adventurer’s guild before, it was transferred into Pharsha since it was a better spot.

A better spot meant it was less likely to be attacked by monsters.

The 2 began eating their supposed breakfast, Simon was enjoying his fill while the old man was looking around, he needed to find themselves some ship or fishing boat, depending on the schedules they would have to stay in the inn for a while.

Another plate of meat landed on their table and the innkeeper who was serving food smiled at them. “Compliments from the chef, his son was among the soldiers you helped earlier!!” then she turned to leave.

But before she walked “Do you know the schedule for the ships going down the river?” the old man asked making the innkeeper stop in her tracks.

“Oh, are you going west? To the Creek Village huh… a ship should be leaving tomorrow!” the innkeeper said as if she remembered something.

“Oh… can we rent a room for the night?” the old man asked politely.

“Of course! Please come to the desk later, I’ll give you our best rooms!!” she said and she continued her tasks.

For reasons Simon couldn't quite explain, his eyes were fixed on the old man.

“What’s on your mind, boy speak?” the old man inquired, his voice a gravelly whisper. The face of the old man would usually look intimidating when he asked this question.

But the boy was used to it “Are we really going on a boat?” Simon asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

“Indeed we are!” the old man replied, his smile spreading wide.

The boy’s oily mouth curved into a smile. The guild master had taught him a bunch of things back in the guild and the old man of the guild said that boats were fun.

“Let’s go to the market after eating!” the old man decided on what they were going to do next.

After that the old man and Simon went to the market in the East Mouth, they were given discounts at every stall because they helped in the defense against the sky hounds. The old man; the haggler that he was bought and took as much as he could.

They would stay in the Inn after this while he schooled Simon about money.

<--->

The small port on the East Mouth village could house 3 ships of around 40 feet. (means the port is as long as 150 feet) The Village would usually export spices that were procured by adventurers. The economy near the Dark Forest was a treasure trove of rare natural bounties.

Though it was cold, the old man and the boy were already on the port in the early morning.

Simon and the old man rode on a ship, that cost 30 silvers, leaning on the side of expensive a bit. The boy was extremely excited, well he had never been on a ship before, they were just waiting for the shipments to be loaded on board.

When the ship left the boy stood in the nose of the ship feeling the wind in his face but 30 minutes into the travel Simon immediately felt sick. They were not even on the sea but the Black River was shaking and rocking the boat badly.

“Boy you don’t look good,” the old man said, all the excitement was gone now.

“Take this!!! Relieve yourself!!!” one of the crew members of the ship handed over a piece of candy. It was wrapped around a paper, Simon upon receiving it opened it up.

It was a white like stone, it had a certain smell and Simon could tell that it was edible.

“Eat it, boy,” the old man said, he knew what it was.

Simon did, and as soon as he swallowed it, an aroma spread through his mouth, nose, and lungs… his stomach suddenly felt alleviated.

“Huh?” the boy was quite surprised, it was some kind of cure for his sickness.

“Thank you for that,” the old man thanked the crew member who gave them the candy.

Simon was now smiling and the boy started looking around the ship again. Looking at the water and the surrounding lands.

The river was 9 to 11 km wide but curved around at some point, it was indeed a very large river but it was normal for the people living in the frontier because the largest river known to man was around hundred and ten kilometers at the minimum, it was the river that splits the eastern and central continent, its called the Guren River.

The ship’s crew said that the trip to the Creek Village was about 8 to 9 hours on an estimate. They were not using the sails, rather they were using the current downstream from the Black Lake to travel.

The boat would drift and would be needed to steer from time to time to correct its course. On the contrary, when going back they would need to use the sails in par of wind magic.

The journey’s time would pass quickly since the passengers that were together with them started a fishing spree.

Simon and the old man even joined them. Two adventurers, a merchant, and a traveling knight, along with the old man and Simon, there were 6 of them hanging their baits in the water 3 on each side. The fishing pole was borrowed from the merchant.

A few moments ago.

The merchant was the one who actually started the fishing spree by commenting: “I could catch 4 around 20 minutes,” while two adventurers were talking about the types fishes that could be caught around the river.

The ship crew who was listening instantly prepared a large bucket, by drawing water in the river they filled it with water.

“I’ve got some charcoal!!” the adventurer suddenly said, there was still no fish in the tank though.

“We are going to eat again it seems,” the old man muttered and he looked at Simon… the boy was smiling, he was eager to catch food, didn’t they have their breakfast of bread and cheese back at the inn?

The old man sighed “I’ve got some salt here!!” he said. He opened up his bag and took out a vase full of salt. It was not an ordinary salt, it was called ‘Pink Salt’ The ship crew did a big ‘Whoa’ upon seeing this.

It was one of the things they brought at a discounted price, from the East Mouth village along with the dry meat and pickled fruits.

…

The fish buckets in the middle of the ship were getting filled with different kinds of fish, the ship crew with trained hands started slicing them up for a prep, and with a tinge of pink salt, they started cooking it on the charcoals that the adventurer offered.

“Seer it properly boys! I don’t want any parasites in our stomach!” the captain of the ship screamed.

“Aye! Captain!” all the crew answered, they really did know what they were doing but the captain just wanted the others to hear it.

They were having a fish barbecue on the ship, and the captain of the ship smiled as he watched the scene, the fishers were enjoying their time and the merchant was proving his words, he was really catching 4 fish every 20 minutes, it was crazy.

After a few hours, the captain who was also nibbling on salted fish saw their destination.

“Boys!! We are almost here!!! All hands prepare!!!” the captain screamed at the top of his lungs. It was a shame but the fish buckets still had a lot of fish there.

The boy slumped down as he was watching the ship crew throwing the fish back into the river. “Come on boy, you had your fill,” the old man complained.