41 - Chapter 41

More than sixty years ago, in the rime forest, the knights of the temple rushed through the wind and snow all night. It was only at dawn that the snow slowly diminished.

Even if they were slowed down by the wind and snow, it was time to go to the Shiva River…but they were still in the rime forest. Everyone could see the difference between the way they went and the way they came.

The temple knights were not good at forest operations, let alone in the snowy night and early morning. The dense woods obscured the view, and the sky was so dark that the knights had completely deviated from the correct route, and they could not even distinguish the north, south, east and west. When they came, they brought a guide, but the guide died in the mage tower.

You didn’t even bring a compass, and you didn’t give me time to get a compass … Burris shrank in the prison car, sighing and exhaling a cloud of white breath.

Even without tools, Burris has a way to tell the direction, but the knights asked him not to cast spells, so he couldn’t help. Burris was not deliberately angry, after all, it was not good for him to get lost, he really didn’t dare to disobey orders. He was afraid of the suffering of flesh and blood, and even more afraid of being disabled because of it…

Although he can’t cast spells, he can take the initiative to give some verbal suggestions. After all, he knows this land better than the knights. The Frost Plain barbarians can walk out of the woods with his eyes closed. Burris can’t reach this level, but he can sense the magical fluctuations in the air and help the knights avoid the direction where monsters may be lurking.

They succeeded in avoiding some monsters, but they were found by others.

First, the scouts found something unusual: some creatures surrounded them from far and near, from both sides, and rushed to the front of the team. This is obviously not a golem, let alone a beast; a beast will launch a surprise attack directly from behind.

As soon as he reported the news to the leader of the detachment, a terrifying battle cry broke out in the woods in front of the team. A large group of Frost Plain barbarians charged from the front.

They were tall and strong, but their weapons were very simple. The best are axes, hoes and simple short spears, and some people held shovels, iron pots, wooden sticks…

At first the knights were taken aback. Those who were too late to mount were knocked to the ground, but the experienced soldiers would not be defeated by such a rough assault. They quickly reorganized their formation and began a counterattack.

In the face of long swords, chain hammers, and brave horses, the aborigines with farm tools in their hands and wearing animal skins are not opponents at all. The barbarians were pushed back a little, and confronted the knights angrily. The commander of the detachment thought that these people would break up and run away under the disadvantage, but they did not give in.

The knights had heard a little about the indigenous people living on the North Bank of the Shiva River: they were originally brave hunters, and they had been ruled like livestock since Yriel settled on the Frost Plain. They have their own code of conduct. For example, sneak attacks from behind can only be used on animals when hunting, and they must attack human opponents head-on, otherwise it is a symbol of dishonor. So just now they gave up the fan-shaped encirclement in the rear and had to attack from the front.

“What is that mage talking about?” The leader turned his head.

Burris leaned on the side of the prison car and shouted loudly. The noise was too loud and no one heard him. Now the knights could understand that he was shouting some strange pronunciation.

At first, the commander of the detachment thought it was a curse. The knight from the riverside village whispered to him that it was a dialect on the Frost Plain, similar to but not quite the same as the dialect on the South Bank of the Shiva river.

One of the tallest barbarians came out, gnawed his teeth, scanned the cavalry, and said something. Then, a small woman came and translated the man’s words into the common language with a little accent: “The mage said that we should talk, and we should use the language that everyone knows, so let’s talk.”

The leader of the detachment bowed to salute the barbarian woman, and then looked at the tall leader: “We executed Yriel. This should be good news for you.”

The woman continued to translate for both parties: “Of course, we are very happy that he died.” She pointed to the prison cart, “Now, you let him go, hand him to us, and we leave immediately.”

“You attacked us for him?” The leader of the detachment looked back at Burris, “I understand, because he is the apprentice of Yriel? You can rest assured that we won’t let him run away. He can’t hurt you anymore. I can’t give him to you, he is our prisoner. We will take him to the North Star City for trial.”

This sentence was a bit long, and the woman had to break it into many short sentences to tell the leader. After listening, the leader shook his head vigorously, his tone was very excited, his eyes seemed to burst into flames.

The woman was more restrained translating: “You misunderstood. We are not going to kill the mage, he is our friend. You can’t catch him.”

The knights looked at each other in surprise. The woman looked at the prison cart. “He was the only one who smuggled food and medicine for us. Only he was kind to us. He killed my sister…”

“He killed your sister? Is this good for you?” The leader of the detachment suspected that there was a problem with the woman’s brain.

“If he didn’t kill her, she would have become the mother of monsters!” The woman yelled, “Monsters will grow in her belly, torturing her for months, and then tearing her apart and crawling out! She is equally dead!”

At this time, the barbarians began to shout. They roared out fragmentary sentences, and the women kept translating for them and it sounded a bit messy.”He’s a friend, he taught us to grow vegetables, Yriel is dead, he can’t die, give him to us, friend, it’s not your fault, it’s not your fault, you don’t go to the North Star City, we only want him, you will hurt him, let him go, let the mage go, not a prisoner, he goes to other places, he helps us, we help him and fight for our friends…”

They were getting more and more excited, and everyone had a murderous intent, looking like they were about to fight to death at any time. The leader of the detachment tried to talk to them, but the woman stopped translating for him, and the barbarians drew closer, and the knights held up their swords and shields again.

Suddenly, the barbarians stopped roaring. Burris yelled something, his voice was weak and a little hoarse, but they all fell silent immediately.

“Axia,” Burris said to the woman, “It’s okay, you can leave. I’m willing to go with them.”

The woman named Axia waved the little short spear in her hand excitedly: “No! They treat you as a prisoner! We want to save you!”

“I’ll be fine,” the mage comforted, “They want to take me to a warmer city. You see, I did work for Yriel, I am indeed a criminal. Axia, before you joined Willa’s tribe you stole a lot of moose from them. Then what did Willa do to you?”

Axia looked at the tall leader, probably he was ‘Wila’. “He… agreed with me to join his clan,” Axia replied, “but I wanted to be a prisoner first. I wanted to be observed until they see that they trust me.”

“Now I am like this too,” Burris said. “I also have to be observed first and be a prisoner first. When those people trust me, I will be free. Axia, don’t worry, I will come back to see you in the future. ”

Willa couldn’t understand and was a little anxious, Axia quickly translated for him. After listening, he looked at Burris with a painful expression, asked a bunch of gurgling questions, and the people around him also babbled. Burris could understand without an interpreter, but he had to answer in the common language, lest the knights think he was using a secret signal.

“When I come back, I will bring you the antifreeze stone!” The mage shouted loudly to ensure that everyone could hear, “You put it in a water bag, and the water won’t freeze when it’s cold. I will also bring you magic flints that can make fires quickly, and I promise you will each have one! What else do you want? Tell me, I will remember! When I come back, I will be an Archmage, and I will bring you many gifts…”

Axia translated his words. After hearing this, the barbarians shook their heads and began to talk non-stop. Judging from their facial expressions, they didn’t care about the gifts, they were just anxious to know when the mage would return. After a while, everyone’s voice weakened, and now only the leader Willa was still talking. As he spoke, tears filled the corner of the brawny man’s eyes.

Burris said: “It will take a long time for me to come back to see you. I need a lot of time… You have to be patient and take care. Although there the White Tower on the Icefield is not there anymore there are still many dangers left, so be careful.”

After listening to Axia’s translation, the leader Willa whispered an order. The barbarians retreated slowly, making way for the knights.

All the clansmen fled into the forest silently. Only Axia was still standing by the road, looking at the prison cart and the tired knights.

“Are you going to cross the river? The Shiva River?” Axia shouted from behind the team. The knight walking at the back looked back at her, but didn’t speak up.

Before running into the forest, she finally exhorted: “Mage! You must protect them! Beware of the Shiva River!”

Burris knew what she meant, but the knights were at a loss.

*****

Now, Burris had returned to the tower of the Mountains of No Return, back to his daily research life.

Today, while searching for old notes, he accidentally found an earth-red leather cord. A white stone the size of a fingernail is tied to the leather cord, and the stone is engraved with the symbol of a falcon.

This is one of the gifts given to him by the northern aborigines. It is said that it can make the wearer’s ears and eyes clear, make his intuition precise, and can foresee all the upcoming dangers.

Burris left the Frost Plain at the age of twenty and returned for the first time when he was approaching forty.

At that time, he had joined the Arcane Federation, taught in Hilda for a few years, and formed a spellcasting materials business guild with several partners… In addition to these, he is also an indispensable person of merit in the operation of the Gem Forest. There are two countries and a Free City State willing to be his backing, so the North Star City, which has always hated him, will not trouble him anymore.

During that journey, he took several heavy wooden boxes, filled with two carriages, and hired a few mercenaries to help guard and escort the goods. It was summer, and there was no ice on the Shiva River. When crossing the river by boat, the mercenaries said to him worriedly: “Lord Mage, your business is not easy to do. The North of the Shiva River is the territory of the Frost Plain Barbarians. Now, those people are poor and violent, and no one knows what they can do.”

When they actually arrived to the Frost Plain the mercenaries were surprised by the scene before them: the barbarian warriors lined up in two groups and opened the way for Burris’s carriage like welcoming guests; when they arrived at their tribal garrison, all the barbarian children would tell them “good day” in the common language. A fat middle-aged woman was surrounded by them and came up, holding Burris’s hand, laughing and crying… Finally, they came to the biggest tent. The old chief, who had broken his leg because of hunting, hugged the mage with tears in his eyes…

Their friend came back, and he really became a very powerful mage, and he really brought them a lot of gifts.

Burris arrived there in the afternoon. He stayed for one night and returned to the south bank of the river with the mercenaries early the next morning. Before leaving, the barbarians also gave him many gifts, such as pickled dried meat and preserved wild fruits, a whole piece of animal skin with good gloss, and some small souvenirs made by ordinary people.

Thinking about it today, Burris felt a little sorry for those old friends. He actually didn’t like the taste of the Frost Plains people, so the food they sent was basically given to the mercenaries; most of the animal skins and bone crafts they sent were gone… After all, it’s been so many years, Burris’s residence has changed many times.

Unexpectedly, there are still some small things left, such as the “falcon eye” pendant that blesses people to avoid danger. Burris stared at it and couldn’t help falling into memories of the north.

As chief Willa grew older, his mind gradually became less useful. Sometimes he could not recognize his wife and children, but he even remembered the “mage friend” taken away by the knights…the petite and agile Axia back then, later became fat and powerful, and with her clever mind she became the chief’s right-hand person…

Burris’ memory was interrupted by a bark. Count Hrolf stood outside the study, wagging his tail, tilting his head, looking at Burris eagerly, his little paws making a rattling noise.

Count Hrolf is really smart. He was only a few months old, and he already knew that he could not enter the mage’s study casually, unless Burris goes out, or tell him to come in. Otherwise he won’t take a single step inside.

“Why don’t you go play with Lord Roth, where is he?” Burris walked over and touched Count Hrolf, a dog of a size larger than that of a dog of the same species and age, and with very strong fur covered muscles.

The puppy turned and twisted his butt to the floating disc, looking back at Burris every few steps. Burris knew this was to follow him, so he put the Falcon leather pendant casually on him and followed the dog on the floating disc.

The door of the lounge was closed tightly, and Count Hrolf sat by the door obediently and called twice like a secret signal.

The blessing of the Falcon pendant seemed to be a little efficacious—Burris suddenly had a very bad premonition.

Mini Pig Paradise here: Finally I’m free again, which means I can update frequently now. I hope everyone is doing okay 🙂

If you spot a mistake please tell me!

Stay safe everyone 🙂