Chương 19: We're not in Silvercreek anymore

It took Evan three attempts to mount his cloud horse, which earned him mocking laughter from Alexandra and Maya and pitying looks from Oliver, but once he'd made it on top, he found the cloud horse's back was surprisingly comfortable. He was afraid he'd slide right off again the moment the horse started moving, but the movements were incredibly smooth, and the clouds somehow seemed to mold to his body, providing a secure seat. Alexandra led the group, and the others followed. Evan didn't have to do any steering.

The stormcloud horse moved entirely on its own, knowing exactly where to go. The speed at which the horses moved was nothing like his farmer's fair pony ride either. They shot through the forest so fast Evan had to duck and dodge low-hanging branches and vines constantly. It was a thrilling experience. The wind blew into his face, and the rhythmic clopping of the horses' hooves sounded like a battle drum. They followed the river for a while before crossing it at a wide but shallow spot.

The cloud horse moved through the water without splashing a single drop. Past the river, the forest's dense vegetation gradually thinned, while the terrain became rockier. After several attempts at making noises he'd seen in cowboy movies and awkwardly slapping the horse's flanks with his legs, Evan finally managed to control the horse's speed. It was surprisingly simple. All he had to do was think about it, and the horse would speed up or slow down. He used that newfound control to catch up with Alexandra.

"Are we going back into the mountains?" he asked her.

"Eventually, but not yet," she said.

"We'll have to travel parallel to the mountain range for about two days before we reach the tunnel."

"The tunnel?" Evan asked.

"Like a tunnel through the mountains?"

"Yep."

"That sounds impressive." He'd watched a history documentary about the American railway once and had learned about the monumental effort it had taken thousands of workers to cross the Rocky Mountains. The workers of Earth's 19th century had dynamite, the people of this world probably used magic.

"It took a small army of earth and stone affinity mana users almost a decade to build the tunnel. Before it existed, this area was even more isolated than it is now because it took so long to travel to Stormhaven, the regional capital," she explained.

"The journey used to take two months. Three months, if the weather was bad. Now you can get there in a week. Maybe two weeks if you don't take the tram."

"The what?"

"The tram. It's like a long carriage that moves fast. People can sit in it to get to places faster."

"Oh, like a bus? Or a train?"

"You have them in your world too?"

"We do. Are we going to take the tram to get to Stormhaven?" The idea of traveling in a magical train got him more excited than he wanted to admit.

"No, we don't really have a need for that. My horses are almost as fast, so there's no point in paying for a ticket."

"Oh, okay." Evan deflated a little.

"But we're going to at least see one, right?" Alexandra laughed again.

"You know, this whole childlike wonder thing you have going on is very refreshing. Yes, don't worry. I'm sure we're going to see one." Thanks to the fact that the cloud horses were superior to flesh-and-blood horses in both speed and stamina, they covered ground quickly. Evan tried to soak in as much of the nature surrounding them as possible. It all still had a hint of the fantastical.

Most of the vegetation looked at least vaguely familiar, but many plants were entirely unique to this world, just like the monsters that roamed around or the architecture of the villages they passed through. They'd ridden through three so far, and each time Alex had slowed their pace to avoid collisions with inattentive children crossing the roads and to give the villagers a chance to gawk at their unusual steeds.

The experience stopped being fun when they passed through the fourth village of the day and found it completely abandoned. It was tiny, just a handful collection of houses, clustered together around a small central square with a well, but Evan still found it strange that there were absolutely no people here. Alex immediately brought her horse to a stop, and her stern expression and alert body language told Evan that she was concerned as well. Maya and Oliver looked around in confusion.

"Where is everybody?" Maya asked.

"Be quiet," Alexandra said sharply as she dismounted her horse.

"I'm going to take a look around. You three stay here."

"We can help," Oliver offered.

"No, you stay on your horses," she insisted.

"And you take off at the first sign of trouble, understood?" Maya looked uneasy.

"You think something bad has happened to these people?" Alex pulled the staff from the holster on her back.

"This village was home to over thirty people when I passed through here on my way to Silvercreek. I doubt the villagers just collectively decided to move somewhere else." If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Staff in hand, she walked up to the nearest house and knocked on the door. When no one opened it, Alex sent a sharp burst of wind at the door, slamming it open. She disappeared into the house, while Evan, Oliver, and Maya stayed behind.

No one spoke while Alexandra searched the house, then the next one, and another one. They just exchanged occasional worried glances. Evan absentmindedly patted his horse's neck while he scanned the surroundings. At first glance, the village looked ordinary, just like Silvercreek and the three others they'd ridden through today, but on a second look, he noticed subtle signs that something bad had happened here.

Several windows were smashed in, a bucket had been dropped in front of a doorstep, a barrel lay toppled over, and on one of the walls Evan spotted something that looked like claw marks. To him, it looked like the villagers hadn't left their homes voluntarily. When Alex returned with a grim face, she confirmed his suspicions.

"Most of the houses are in disarray," she said.

"A fight has happened here." Both Oliver and Maya looked alarmed.

"A fight? With some kind of monster?" Alex climbed back onto her horse, her mouth still set in a hard line.

"A monster would've left behind corpses. No, I think someone abducted the villagers. Someone with magical abilities."

"What are we going to do now?" Oliver asked.

"Do we go looking for them?"

"No."

"No? But we have magical abilities too. If these people got abducted, we need to help them."

"It's not that simple, Oliver," Alexandra said sharply.

"This is a job for the Guardian Guild. I know young men always want to rush in headfirst, but that's a great way to get yourself killed."

"But we can't just ignore an entire village going missing," Evan protested. He knew he was only rank 2 and not very strong, but they couldn't just abandon those people to their fates. Alex shot him down, too.

"This isn't just about you not being strong enough to deal with this. It's a political issue as well. I'm part of the Monster Hunter Guild, and a pretty prominent member at that. If I start sticking my nose into Guardian matters, I'll ruffle a lot of feathers." Evan sighed.

"Politics? Really? Shouldn't saving lives be more important than not stepping on anyone's toes?"

"I don't like it either, but it is what it is, kid. We're continuing to Stormhaven and reporting what we found here to the Guardian Guild. They'll send a team to investigate and bring the perpetrators to justice." Guardians. Oliver had mentioned the Guardian Guild before, but Evan hadn't had a chance to ask what exactly they did yet.

"What are Guardians? Why can they do something about this and we can't?"

"They keep criminal mana users in line and protect ordinary folks from anyone who's gone rogue," Oliver explained.

"Occasionally, they solve smaller-scale conflicts between mana users as well."

"Oh, so magical police," Evan said.

"Exactly." Maya looked unconvinced.

"It could be weeks until the guild acts. The abducted villagers might all be dead by then." Alex shook her head.

"Kids, just leave it be. This is above your pay grade."

"But it's not above yours," Oliver said.

"You're rank 11. Whoever did this, you could probably take them on, right?"

"Maybe," Alex admitted. She let her gaze wander around the deserted village, brows furrowed.

"Fine. We're not going on a wild goose chase, but we'll keep our eyes and ears open." After they'd arrived at the compromise none of them was really happy with, they continued their journey, but the eerie, deserted village had ruined the mood. The nature was still a breathtaking sight, but Evan was too busy thinking about the abducted villagers to appreciate the beauty. It was strange. He had faced huge monsters, but for the first time since arriving in this world, he felt truly scared.

He thought about the story Reynold had told him, about the aristocratic family that had committed to the plague affinity to terrorize the common folk, and wondered who posed the bigger threat. The monsters? Or the mana users who were supposed to fight them? When Alex finally stopped to announce they would set up camp for the night, he was looking forward to the warmth and chatter of a campfire to chase the gloomy thoughts away.

Alexandra dissolved the storm horses as soon as they'd all climbed off, then sent Maya, Oliver, and Evan away to gather firewood. When Oliver took the magical lighter out of his inventory to light the sticks and branches they'd piled up, Alex stopped him. With a whip of her hand, she sent a small bolt of lightning right into the stack of wood. Sparks flew, and the branches caught fire.

"Nice!" Evan said, plopping down on the ground right next to the crackling campfire.

"Pretty cool," Maya admitted, sitting down next to him. Alex distributed some bread and cheese from her inventory, and once their stomachs were filled, they passed around a waterskin filled with Mari juice. After quenching his thirst, Evan took out his sword to polish the blade with a rag he'd bought in Silvercreek's general store. The shiny steel with its sparkling specks of orange looked stunning in the firelight. Maya leaned over to inspect the sword up close.

"That's a true masterpiece," she said, sounding deeply impressed.

"I can't even imagine the skill level the craftsman who forged this must've had." Oliver sighed.

"You're really lucky old Agatha took a liking to you, Evan. I'd give my left arm for a sword like that."

"Don't," Maya said with a grin.

"Even with two arms, you're not nearly a good enough sword fighter to deserve a sword like this."

"Hey, come on!" he complained.

"Evan isn't exactly a master swordsman either. He literally dropped his sword when we were in the Scrapmaw burrow." Evan winced.

"Dude, not cool calling me out in front of the ladies like this." Alex slapped him on the back with a chuckle.

"We all have to start somewhere. But you really should train. This sword can be an incredibly powerful weapon in the hands of a skilled fighter. Did my mother tell you it has fire powers?"

"It has what?" Evan asked, eyes wide.

"Is that why the blade sparkles orange?"

"Yes, those are shards of a fire affinity crystal the craftsman worked into the steel. You're a long way from being able to use the fire powers yet, though. You'll need to learn how to properly control and channel your mana first, on top of improving your swordsmanship." Evan's excitement wasn't dampened that easily. He'd just found out he had a magical fire sword. How cool was that?

"I want to learn. Can you teach me?"

"I'm not great with swords either," she said, tapping the staff lying next to her feet.

"More of a staff gal. But I can teach you some basics. That's probably a good idea before I set you guys free in the big city."

"Will you train me too?" Oliver asked.

"Sure, why not. We'll get up an hour early tomorrow to get some training time in." Evan and Oliver exchanged an excited glance and nodded enthusiastically, but out of the corner of his eye Evan noticed Maya's expression had changed. She looked disappointed. Understandably. She was the only one in their travel party without an affinity crystal, but Evan knew she really wanted one. And she deserved one. Maya had been the driving force behind Oliver leaving his family farm to find his own fortune.

As much as he liked Oliver, his sister was the more driven of the two. Where Oliver was held back by his fears and guilt, Maya was ready to grab life by the horns and make something of herself. Evan was certain she would do great as a crafter. He silently renewed the promise to himself to find an affinity crystal for her.

"If we're getting up early tomorrow, we should probably get some shut-eye now," Oliver said.

"Do that," Alex said.

"I'll take the first watch and wake you up when it's your turn."

"Watch?" Oliver asked. Maya snorted.

"Baby brother, we just passed through a village that was abducted in its entirety. In case you haven't noticed yet: We're not in Silvercreek anymore."