We continued to travel for a couple of days, moving from building to building when possible, but occasionally sleeping outside. In those cases, we couldn’t have a fire outside. It was just a safety measure. So far, no Eater had appeared. Not even a track or the telltale sound of grinding metal that they created. It was a good thing, but also very frustrating. I spent my entire life worried about the presence of those monsters, yet now, nothing.
The farther west we moved, the more the number of animals in the area increased. It was hard to go a couple of hours without seeing a group of rabbits, elk, or birds passing by. It was nice not having to fear for my life all the time again, but in all honesty, it was infuriating.
Was my village really in the middle of a rotten place? Surrounded by Eaters, barely having anything to hunt, not being able to make any loud noise. But just a few days north, things were peaceful? If we lived just a few days north, we wouldn’t have been attacked. We might have more than five survivors.
My mood started to get worse and worse the farther away we got from Madison. Astrid noticed that, but didn’t say anything. I knew how to act with my students when I was upset so that they wouldn’t end up getting the short end of the stick, but it was hard to tell if that was working. People generally had an unfortunate lack of skill when it came to noticing how their actions affected others. And I was no better.
At the very least, I was conscious about that. Many people wouldn’t even acknowledge that kind of thing.
During our travels, we faced a few stray monsters, but nothing as dangerous as Dreadwing. Still, between hunting for our meals and the SP distribution we had set up, Astrid was able to gain another level. But this time, she didn’t get any extra skills. She did, however, get one extra point in Energy. With that, we no longer had to wait ten minutes to make the ice box that would hide us from any Eater.
Despite everything, it was nice to have a companion during the journey. Not having to spend the night in odd places just hoping not to be attacked while we slept always helped. Still, we ended up in a valley, following an old road that was halfway overgrown at this point.
It was incredible to think how the old world was able to do something like that. A structure that went against nature and still survived, even decades after people had stopped looking after it. But that was nothing in comparison to what we would see later.
Crossing the valley was simple, just a lot of walking, and the animals also seemed to avoid the concrete. Passing between a pair of mountains was a bit nerve-wracking. At any point, something could jump down from there and attack us. Maybe it would be an Eater, maybe another monster like Dreadwing or the Ice Devil. Or just a pack of beasts.
It was strange to think of that kind of monster now. Before, I never had to worry about different species or creatures with unique powers. Yet now, that was the first thing that came to mind.
It took us a couple of hours to reach the other side. And unlike what my paranoia was telling me, nothing happened. We passed through the valley without any problems. Coming out on the other side, we found a massive wall of trees blocking the view of the plains below.
We continued following the road, which led down. According to the System, there was a city nearby. More specifically, according to the map I saw back in Ennis.
Even then, my focus was still on the forest. What if a monster popped out to attack us? It’s impossible to tell if something was around or not. There wasn’t any sound or noise in the surrounding area. It seemed like even nature was afraid of something. Maybe there really was an Eater nearby.
Without looking away from the treeline, we continued to walk down the road. Eventually, we found a hole in that forest. By the looks of it, some of the trees had fallen. Just the possibility of them being ripped out by some creature made my heart pound harder and harder.
But on closer inspection, that didn’t seem to be the case. There were charred markings on the broken stumps that confirmed the trees had been struck by lightning. And then they collapsed on top of one another, causing a chain reaction that broke a few more, leaving this hole in the middle of the forest.
Looking down, I started to notice the markings on the ground. Footsteps of elks, something lighter, maybe wolves, and small things that couldn’t be identified from this distance. Near one of the collapsed trunks, there was some movement, but it was hard to identify what it actually was.
“A city?” Astrid’s voice cut through my focus.
I glanced up and saw a massive city at a lower altitude. It felt strange to use that word since I had described Ennis and Whitehall in the same way. This was truly gigantic. We were still far away from any of the buildings, but they spread all the way to the horizon, and there were even a couple of tall structures much taller than anything I had ever seen before. If I was already amazed by the road, this was truly inspiring.
But at the same time, it was sad. Most of the buildings had collapsed or been destroyed in some way. The things that were left were all overgrown with vegetation, and there was an ugly black scar carving through the middle of the area. The sun was already low in the sky, meaning we only had a few more hours of light before night came. That created some strange shadows in the city—places covered in darkness while others shone, reflecting the sunlight. Part of the scar was also visible, showing a mix of grays, browns, and reds leading underground.
“Do you see?” Astrid asked.
“It’s hard not to see that,” I replied. It was the only thing on the horizon aside from the sky. What else was I supposed to be looking at?
“Not there. Eaters are drawn to large cities. There might be something still working there. A power plant or some other source of energy. If we go there, then we’re just asking to be attacked. It’s better to stay clear of that place. As much as I want to see what’s going on there.”
Astrid paused, glancing back at the city for a moment before nodding. “We continue?”
“Yeah. We should still head west if we want to get to the coast. So keep an eye out for a road or something that leads toward the sun. If at all possible, I’d prefer not to sleep near the city. Also, we shouldn’t use the ice box to make a fire while we’re this close.”
“Too risky?” Astrid asked as we started to walk.
“Exactly. Even if the ice would be enough to stop Eaters from noticing the fire, if they look from above, or if there’s something else we don’t know about, they might see it. We can do that later, but right now, we need to be a bit safer.”
Astrid nodded. “Okay.”
We continued to follow the road, but it became clear it was heading directly toward the city. So instead, we cut through the open fields of grass. Exiting to the left, we made sure to keep our distance from the city proper. It wasn’t as hard as I expected, since on the flat land, we couldn’t see those buildings from this distance. But at the same time, it was easy to see more structures than I ever expected.
But those were abandoned and left mostly alone. There was barely any sign of those buildings being attacked, no marks from smaller animals. After passing by the last of those houses, we found ourselves in another open plain filled with tall grass. There was a mountain in the distance, but it was only the edge of one. Not because it was destroyed, but it was just the end of the mountain.
Beyond that, there was another mountain, but there was something else in the way: another village. One that looked to still be active, as we were able to see some people walking around outside the wooden walls.
I had a brief discussion with Astrid, and we agreed to go there. Supplies were okay, but we needed some information, specifically, information about the city and the things that existed nearby.
In particular, I wanted to know if the people here were also scared of Eaters. They had to be. They couldn’t be living this close to the city and not fear those monsters.
We rushed to the village, and a pair of guards met us outside.
“Who are you?” one of the men asked.
“Cassandra, and Astrid. We’re travelers and are just looking for a place to rest for the night, if possible,” I said.
“We don’t know you. Better keep moving,” the second man replied.
Astrid frowned. “Why?”
“I just told you. We don’t know who you are. So keep moving.”
“Okay. But I just told you who we are. Can’t we at least have a conversation before you show us out? It’s dark out, and we need a place to stay.”
“The only person who could let you stay is the governor. And he’s currently unavailable. You should be back in a day or two,” the man replied.
“None of you can make the decision?”
“No. We need his permission to let anyone stay inside.”
“But what if there’s someone who refuses to leave?” I asked, more out of curiosity than anything else.
“Then we’ll be forced to toss them in jail. They’ll spend the night there, and if by morning they want to leave, they’re free to do so. But I will be in charge of them the entire time.”
Hearing the man’s answer, I turned to Astrid, who nodded.
“Okay. Let’s do that,” I replied.
“We’re going to jail. That way, we can stay the night in a safe place. And you feel safe since we’re not roaming around the village. If at all possible, I’d like to ask some questions about the region, but if not, we can just stay until morning and leave with the sunrise,” I said.
“What? Really?” the man frowned.
“Yeah. It’s better to stay inside a prison than to take our chances outside, especially if we are this close to a city. Would it be okay if we keep our weapons? I promise we won’t use them on anyone.”
The other guard shrugged. “We do have an empty cell. And you’re not giving us any trouble. We’ll take your weapons and keep them in a small cage-like thing inside the cell with you. That way, you can use them, but they’ll be where you can see them. Is that okay?”
“That’s fine. Our bags can stay with us?”
“Let us take a look at them. Just make sure you’re not bringing anything dangerous. If you’re in the clear, you can stay with them.”
We nodded and followed their orders so they could check our bags. The two men were being really polite about all that. They didn’t just dump everything, but carefully took each piece out and placed it in an open area where the moonlight could hit. It took a few minutes, but eventually, they agreed to let us enter.
“Welcome to the Lawson Duchy. Not really a duchy, it’s just the name,” one of the guards walked inside, already carrying our weapons.
I could tell Astrid wasn’t really happy about it, but she understood the reason for that kind of thing. And I couldn’t really blame her. Most of her skills were bound to her frosted axe; being without it was like having one hand tied behind her back.
There wasn’t much to see in this place. Not during the night, at least. Every building was far away from each other, instead of the compact setup I had seen in Ennis or Madison. Even Cardwel, Astrid’s village, had the houses closer together.
Still, the guard who was with us managed to find his path without any trouble, and we reached a large building. He walked inside and closed the door behind us before taking a small oil lamp from the side and turning it on.
With that new, weak source of light, he guided us downstairs to where there were four large cells. One was open, with a bunch of pieces of wood inside, clearly being used as storage. The next one had a single woman inside, just holding her legs and looking toward the wall.
The third one had a man who looked old and ragged. And the last, at the very end of the corridor, was also empty, and that’s where he placed us. Our weapons were locked inside that small cage on the side, and before leaving, he told us that he would explain everything to the other guards so we wouldn’t have to worry about not being allowed to leave.
It was too early to sleep, so Astrid and I just got ourselves comfortable and started talking to pass the time. The plan was to just wait until we could sleep, do that, and in the morning, leave after asking about the region.
But there are times when plans never come to pass.