Chapter 114 - Dreadborne Harbinger

The morning light began to peak through some of the loose planks of the barn. Klarion stirred next to Hatsune, briefly trying to go back to sleep, only to give up as a rooster’s call echoed from somewhere outside. The low, muffled bellow of one of the shaggy blue cattle caused Hatsune to shift next to him. 

Apart from the noises coming from outside, the barn was quiet, save for the soft sound of Hatsune’s breathing from where she lay near him. Her silver-gray hair was loose about her shoulders, ears curled slightly as she settled again.

Klarion gave himself a moment to watch her. Even asleep, her body held some tension. Likely from the fight that had happened the previous night. He himself could remember bits and pieces of a nightmare in which neither of them had noticed the second Blaze Lion until it had already leapt at Hatsune. Thankfully, he had jerked awake before the nightmare had gone further than that, and the sense of reassurance had been immediate when he had found her sleeping at his side. Hopefully, being back out on the road today would help Hatsune deal with the lingering tension.

Quietly, he rose and moved to where he had neatly set his armor the night before. Pausing only to stretch his back, he settled into the methodical movements of donning the armored plates. It did not fit as well as it had prior to the fight against the Blaze Lion, given the blows he had taken, but it would continue to work fine until he returned to the Imperial Academy and could get it repaired. 

The barn door creaked faintly as a breeze tugged against it. With how bright it was outside, Klarion guessed they’d slept longer than they had meant to. He had a hard time regretting that, however. Yesterday had been a long day.

A small rustle pulled him from his thoughts. Hatsune pushed herself up with her arms, and while she blinked the sleep from her eyes, her ears had already shifted to face his direction. After several long blinks, she turned to face him fully.

“You’re already dressed,” she murmured, voice rough from sleep.

“Yes. I was just about to wake you so you could do the same,” Klarion said, then nodded at one of the beams of light coming down through the roof of the barn. “We slept through sunrise.”

Hatsune made a soft grunt as she pushed herself the rest of the way to her feet. She stretched once, arms overhead, back arching slightly as she raised herself on her tiptoes, then walked over to her own armor.

“So, do you want to take your time here, or do you want to head to the next location immediately?” she asked, fastening one of the leather straps of her armor.

“Unless Farmer Donovan has anything else for us, I’d just as soon head out right away. We have a bit of time yet before the deadline, but I’d rather return to the Academy with time to spare rather than cut it close.”

Hatsune nodded her understanding, making no jokes about having a hot breakfast. She knew how important it was to keep moving. She dressed quickly, pulling on the rest of her armor and securing it, then gathered the rest of what they had brought with them from Bastion as Klarion did the same.

They quickly made their way down the ladder, then out of the barn itself. The farmer’s son was in the process of herding the shaggy blue cattle through a gate on the other side of the field. For all that he was focused on his work, he still took a moment to wave in their direction, which Klarion acknowledged while Hatsune closed the barn door behind them.

Seeing them both leave the barn, Farmer Donovan left the fence he had been working on to head in their direction.

“He’s still here,” Klarion said, more to himself than to Hatsune.

The Leporine stepped up beside him, tightening one of her vambraces. “Hmm… I thought he would have left by now to get some help dealing with the other Blaze Lion carcass.”

“I thought so, too,” Klarion said, “But looks like we are going to find out why.”

Farmer Donovan came to a stop before them, wiping his hands on a rag. “Mornin’,” he greeted, offering a small, genuine nod. “Didn’t think you two’d sleep so long.”

Klarion greeted the farmer with a nod of his own, then said, “With how last night went, I can’t say I regret that we did. Thankfully, the day looks like it will be a nice one, so we should still be able to make some good time.”

The farmer gave a grunt of agreement, or perhaps embarrassment, as he shuffled his feet. “I was just finishing up part of the fence, waiting for you, and my wife…well, she thought maybe that you’d both appreciate some packed food for the road. ”

Without waiting for an answer, he turned and hurried back in the direction of the house.

Klarion blinked at the man’s abrupt departure, then exchanged a glance with Hatsune. She shrugged, then leaned back against the barn door while they waited.

Just when Klarion was starting to get impatient, Donovan returned, holding two cloth-wrapped bundles. He handed one to each of them. 

“Bread, some smoked ham, dried apples,” he said gruffly. “Even managed a bit of our cheese. It is older, but you should still have a few days to eat it before it starts going bad.”

“You didn’t have to,” Klarion said, taking the bundle offered to him. “We’re not the ones who lost livestock.”

“No,” Donovan said, gaze turning flinty. “But you were the ones who killed both those monsters. And left the second one for us to harvest. That’ll help us replace of animals we lost, and have a bit left over towards expanding my farm in the next year or so. You didn’t have to do that, but you didn’t hesitate to do so.” He paused, looking off toward the second corpse. “Still gotta process it, but I’m sure the Gorsmites will be happy to help me with it. Especially once I tell them the farm is safe from predators now.”

Hatsune tilted her head. “You could’ve gone already, and even have left the food with your son to give us before we left. Why wait?”

Donovan didn’t answer at first, only shifting his gaze to stare at Klarion. He exhaled through his nose, slow and deliberate.

“I don’t know much about scions,” he said. “Most of what I’ve heard, they ride in with too many guards and not enough sense. Often leave a bigger mess than they found for farmers like me. But you two…” He glanced between them again, his eyes settling on the way Klarion’s greatsword hung loose but ready. “I’m sure you have your reasons for not announcing yourself as such, and far be it for me to bring attention to a noble seeking to avoid notice, but I wanted you to know I appreciate what you’ve done and how you’ve done it. You didn’t ask for anything before or after you fought. Simply came in and completed the Expeditionary Mission. Even turned over the other Blaze Lion to help me and my family. Not many I’ve heard of would’ve done that.”

Klarion shifted awkwardly at being found out, but Donovan’s words reassured him. He had a feeling that he could trust the man not to bring attention to him. “As much as I’d like to say otherwise, we didn’t come here for the gratitude.”

“Maybe not. But you’ll have it anyway. This food is only a small repayment towards the debt I owe you. And I don’t forget my debts.”

Klarion nodded once more in acknowledgement of the farmer’s words. He’d met a few men like Donovan before, back on Earth when he had still been working under Dr. Halter. They had been proud, refusing to accept charity, though that was all that they could afford. Rather than tell the men they owed him nothing, Dr. Halter had instead charged them in services. A leaky sink. Two windows that consistently got stuck in the winter. A month of taking care of the garbage and sweeping. Those had been some of the services that Dr. Halter hadn’t really needed done. But they had been the only way those stubborn men would accept his charity. Farmer Donovan was much the same. So Klarion said the only thing he could. 

“I’ll be sure to send a message to you if I need anything that you might help with.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Donovan said, then cleared his throat. “So. You headed back toward Bastion?”

“Not yet,” Klarion shook his head. “A few more Expeditionary Missions to complete before we head back.”

“Well…” Donovan scratched at his chin. “When you do head back to Bastion, remember to stop at the gate and tell the guards about the second Blaze Lion. They might give you a bonus for going beyond the terms of the Expeditionary Mission. Sometimes the city pays out when monsters not covered by Expeditionary Missions cause trouble this close to the city.”

“Thank you for the tip,” Klarion said. “But we didn’t do it for the coin.”

“But we’ll take it,” Hatsune was quick to chime in from behind him.

That earned a dry chuckle from Donovan. He stepped back to give a short, respectful nod, then went back over to the fence he had been working on, calling out over his shoulder, “Safe travels, both of you.”

Without another word, Klarion turned to go after he tucked the food bundle away. Hatsune followed beside him, gaze already scanning the path ahead as they left the farm. They soon moved beyond the bounds of the farm, the sounds of the shaggy blue cattle, which he still didn’t know the name of, fading behind them. 

“Do you think he’ll be able to find enough help to deal with the corpse of the Blaze Lion?” Hatsune asked as they walked.

“I have no doubt that he will. He struck me as the type that had a good relationship with his neighbors,” Klarion said in response. “Once he tells them it is safe, I bet they’ll rush over to confirm the threat is dealt with, then help him harvest the remains.”

“Do you think they’ll turn what happened into a story?” She asked somewhat wistfully. “The farmer. The monstrous Blaze Lions. The mysterious scion and his bodyguard who left without asking for anything beyond the rewards already outlined in the Expeditionary Mission. It seems like it would be a good story to me.”

“To me, too. But part of me hopes they don’t remember our names,” Klarion said, then shook his head. Not that it would really matter. He had a bad feeling it would only be a matter of time before Chadwick or one of his allies figured out what he was up to. A story from a farmer outside of Bastion would probably not be the first hint of what Klarion had chosen to do, especially if his suspicions about who had been following them were proven to be true. “Actually, I guess it doesn’t really matter if they do or do not.”

Hatsune glanced over at him. “You would prefer they not mention our names in the story?”

“I’d prefer we had as much of a lead as we can to complete these other two Expeditionary Missions, and a story with are names associated with the completion of this one might alert my enemies. But somehow I don’t think it will matter in the long run.” He shrugged. “Maybe they won’t spread the story too far for another week or so. By then, it won’t matter if our names are included or not.”

“Right,” Hatsune said in agreement, shifting the pack on her back. “Should we pick up the pace then?”

“I think we should,” Klarion agreed, looking up to see that the sun was already heading closer to the end of late morning. He double-checked his virtual map. “If we hurry, we should be able to make it to the area of the next Expeditionary Mission in a few days.”

“Good thing I put some more points into Endurance.”

As they settled into a faster pace, Klarion turned his attention to coming up with some ways that he could begin working on one of the things he was most excited about since arriving at this pocket plane.

Practicing with the Essence of Fire.