O' children

Chapter 11: The Mountains, like the Teeth of Monsters

Aron was remiss to thank the gods for anything but perhaps he ought to send a prayer Narsa's way for the easy weather and low river height allowing access to Perido's Fort at the foot of the Alps.

The soldiers and knights who manned the foothills were a scraggly lot, the young, the old and the disinterested greeted Aron and Marko at the gate with wariness. Suspicious folk believed dragons brought misfortune on their wings, Aron's presence no doubt confirmed their fears.

Sir Mattea greeted Aron and Marko first, a gruff old man; regardless he stood tall with a permanent wrinkle between his brow giving him the air of a man who was perpetually concerned by something.

"We need a small group to escort a citizen back to safety," Aron said, Sir Mattea quirked his eyebrow.

"What he means is: a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Sir," Marko laughed awkwardly, stepping in front of Aron, hand held out for a shake. Mattea smirked and took Marko's offered hand. The handshake itself could barely be called that, but he pointed his chin towards the keep proper.

"No issues, I prefer the straightforward type," Mattea said, Aron made sure to look Marko in the eye. Marko's eyebrow seemed to twitch.

Sir Mattea's office was small, the sole window only letting in a square of light on the floor, a map of the north Tisgan that looked ancient was framed and hung behind his desk.

"Now, what's this about a citizen?" Mattea sat down, groaning as he bent his knees.

Aron looked over to Marko who cleared his throat: "There's a monk, we believe has entered the Tisgan. Heading to, uh, Mount Verity."

"Last I heard, there was no law against people entering the Alps, only exiting" Mattea's grey eyes flickered from Aron to Marko and then back again.

"We're under the suspicion that he is not travelling by his own choice," Aron said, Hirresh and Palo could forgive his lies later, his first priority was tracking down Caysa and bringing him back to safety. Mattea sat up, eyes intent on Aron, "he was spotted with a dragon being taken due west, our understanding is that dragons have also been recently spotted here."

"Well, it's certainly not my place to be questioning the esteemed Dragon-knight but you can understand my reservations in giving you my men," Mattea steepled his fingers, giving Aron a long look, Aron returned it.

"Any man you can spare who can guide us through the Alps would be more than we could ask," Marko placed his hand to his heart, the very image of the valiant knight pledging himself to honour and truth. Aron bit the inside of his cheek to prevent a chuckle.

Mattea nodded, standing up and motioning for Aron and Marko to follow him back outside. As they entered a courtyard, Mattea waved down two young men, one of which was rather scrawny and ill looking, to be quite honest, Aron wasn't sure how he would manage to stay on the ground if a heavy wind blew through. To the other man, Mattea said: "Skidarn find Pardi and Resano and bring them here, Molino, you will guide these two through the Alps, confer with them on the best route."

Molino nodded; Marko nodded enthusiastically back.

"Before we go anywhere, I should probably ask: have you seen an Imran monk pass on the bridge sometime in the last two days?"

"No," Molino was looking more scared and confused as he looked between Marko's overly friendly face and Bleeding Heart strapped to Aron's back.

"Oh, well, we'll need a map then," Marko clapped Molino on the back, the force of it almost causing the skinny man to crumple.

Nearly two hours later and Aron getting gradually more annoyed and Marko gradually more nervous about how annoyed Aron was becoming and the small team, preferable for entering the maw of the Alps, finally left off to Marga's Pass. Aron led the front, the air was clear, but the sun was glaringly hot, conditions were decent for foot travel with little snowfall over the past season and no sleet on the steep paths up. Caysa had speed if the weather didn't turn but the steep, narrow paths would significantly slow him down and drain stamina fast. Aron pulled his shoulder's back and straightened up, it would be better to catch up with Caysa before dusk, when the other residents of the Tisgan would awaken, hungry and opportunistic.