The Nuclear Reign of Strottimar [Part 1]

Chapter 9; Montgomery Havenlancer

 As we approached the entrance to the Provence, Monty looked too prideful as he put his hands on his hips and gave me and Xander a powerful smile. "I feel young being here, you know," he felt the need to say as I awkwardly smiled and waited for the post guard to lead us in. The gates to the province were tall and magnificent, big steel black bars twisted in an ivy design that crawled up the nearby trees and surrounded the base of the largest tree in the province. Torches lit the entrance that surrounded the trees. Mostly used for the season-round residents of Maplewood, while the neighboring colossal trees in this cluster were inhabited by guests, and others who weren't fortunate enough to live up in the big canopy of the main tree, though there was never much of a difference. I'd lived in one of the outskirt's trees in my youth, it wasn't bad. But from what I heard, living in the hollowed out trunks of the trees was truly a low-class experience.

The guard recognized me and Xander instantly, gave Monty a few strange looks, and then let us in. We proudly marched ourselves up to the hollow of the main tree from the inside, because Monty was wingless, and couldn't fly up there like Xander and I normally would on a good day. The hollow was calm today, Ida and Alfanza chatting peacefully in the corner of moss where they usually sat to rest if they went keeping the province of maplewood together themselves. They turned their heads as we made our entrance up from the bottom way.

Alfanza's eyes seemed to light up as his view landed on Monty who gave the elder a smug smirk. "Montgomery, I- I didn't-" Not once had I ever seen the elder lose his composure, but for some reason now, he could hardly contain his excitement as he stood and bounded over to Monty who embraced him warmly. Ida stood and smiled, welcoming us back with a curt nod as I respectfully followed her motion.

Monty greeted Ida with a polite nod as she stepped forward to rub necks with him (a proper lander greeting) before smiling and welcoming him back to the province. Watching the elders reunite with this mysterious old friend brought a smile to my face, but I couldn't keep it for long as my wings began to ache and drag. My clothes were dirtied and my cloak felt heavy. I was exhausted from the travel, and from the previous moon hours which had taken some toll on my mental. I'd been able to get my mind off of what happened by talking with Xander the whole journey home, yet, now the mental and physical exhaustion was starting to hit me as I looked back over at Xander.

He was beaten, traveling on a hangover was no fun. He was incredibly pale, more the usual, his face was a white sheet and his lips were prune as he tried to manage a smile as we met eyes but he brushed it off quickly, closing his eyes and putting a hand to his sore head. I knew then, that nobody wanted to just lay down somewhere quiet more than Xander Gilleus. I paced over to stand beside him and yawned as if we had not just been chatting the whole way back. "Where's Quincy?" I asked, creating some small talk on the side, the both of us unable to interfere with Monty who was now rapidly catching up with Alfanza, at his full attention.

"You tell me," Xander sighed sorely. I didn't know what else to say, my head felt like mush as I relaxed my shoulder and grunted. "Do you think they'd keep up for long here, or if they need us at all? I best be getting back to Hansen," I said weakly as Xander stretched his back. "Yeah, really I just need to sleep for the next four moon falls and then I'll be alright."

I began to conjure up the air in my lungs to speak but my thought was cut short as two small landers flew through the hollow's entrance on the west side. I recognized Aster, who I hadn't seen in a long while, and Mark, a friend of his carrying armfuls of herbs and breathing heavily due to the toll the wind took on the flight from up here. "Alfanza," Aster huffed, quick to hide his weakness and straightening his posture from his previous slouched manor with his hands on his knees and his wings dragging. He seemed put together for the most part, at least since when he walked out on his brother in blind rage many many moonfalls ago.