Bab 24: Ironback Mountains (Edited)

Not knowing exactly how much time had passed, a knocking sound came from the door of his home. Getting up, Noxtis answered the door to see both Ember and Elder Nancy standing outside with their gear ready. "Come on, I even got you a suitable sword before forging the sword spirit."

Ember tossed Noxtis a scabbard that held a sword with some decent heft to it. Drawing the sword for a moment, he could tell that the fairly simple-looking sword was still forged with great materials and was for all intents and purposes a sturdy and sharp killing weapon.

Sheathing the weapon, Noxtis thanked Ember and the trio went on their way to the three Draco-colts waiting for them. "Oh, are we not taking a caravan or more guards?"

Elder Nancy shook her head. "No, the Ironback Mountains isn't too far from here and the terrain is not great for caravan travels. As for the guards, there is already a team sent to there ahead of us and should be more than enough for our needs."

Noxtis looked nervously at the crimson-scaled equestrian. "But...I've never ridden a horse before, and certainly not one so large and powerful as this."

Hopping gracefully onto the back of one of the Draco-colts, Ember rubbed the shoulder of her steed. "You'll be fine Noxtis, they are specially trained and equipped with harnesses designed specifically for each colt. You'd have to try and fall off to actually fall off. They are strong and intelligent savage beasts that we had raised for the Crimson Scale tribe."

Rolling her eyes and getting on her own colt, Elder Nancy said nothing more and waited patiently for Noxtis to don his steed.

As if understanding the situation, Noxtis' Draco-colt knelt low to make it easier for him to climb up. Breathing deeply, Noxtis grasp onto the handhold of the hardness and lifted himself upwards at the same time as the Draco-colt stood up. "Whoa..." The other two Draco-colts made noises oddly similar to snickers as Noxtis's colt huffed as the party made their way out of the city and towards the mountains.

Initially, the journey was quite idyllic and the saddle was very comfortable which helped a lot when the Draco-colt was making a quick pace towards their destination. The stone path within the city quickly became a dirt road as soon as they got outside the city walls. With the speed of the Draco-colts, they were able to reach the foot of the mountain in about an hour.

Surprisingly, their pace did not slow much at all once they began traveling on the rockier mountain paths. Their steeds deftly climbed the rough pathway towards the upper part of the mountain. There were several times when the path would splinter off towards a different area of the mountain and they had seen a couple of groups with the crimson scale insignia mostly transporting heaps of stone or other materials down from the mountain.

"They are parties that are hired by the tribe to harvest various mines and quarries that we control. Crimson Scale City is most well known for its metal and stonework. Many famous blacksmiths and artisans are situated in the city, even your sword was a piece crafted by one of the more famous blacksmiths whom the tribe has connections with. We're almost to the shadow cave, this is the most recent discovery we have made so far."

As they had gone up the mountainside, the path had gotten progressively smaller and then they took a freshly trodded path that led to a large platform of sorts with a small camp. Getting off their rides, the trio was met with a tall armored soldier who bowed slightly to Elder Nancy. "Greetings Elder, this is the 28th squad of the Outriders and I am at your service should you need anything."

Nodding to the Squad Captain, Elder Nancy checked out the status of the camp. "Thank you, Captain, have any savage beasts come out of the cave thus far?"

"Just a few lesser ones that had tried to attack as we set up the camp. They haven't come out since we finished the fortifications though."

"Hmmmm, that means there should be at least a Greater Savage Beast leading them. It may be best to err on the side of caution though, I plan on entering the cave the next morning with a couple of important guests so I will need a few of your best men to follow us if you don't mind."

"Of course Elder, it shall be done." Saluting, the squad captain commanded a few aids to help their guests.

When Noxtis initially heard of their travel plans, he had not expected the sight before him to be so refined. While the camp wasn't necessarily flashy or excessive, the aura of orderliness and refinement was clearly present.

Situated on a flat ledge facing a large cave, the camp had several sections. They had just left the command station and were traveling through the quarters where the small squad of soldiers was idling. As they passed, each soldier respectfully greeted them while Elder Nancy slightly nodded in response.

Heading over to their respective sleeping areas, Elder Nancy entered her own tent saying that she needed to prepare certain items for their excursion into the savage beast nest. Meanwhile, Ember followed Noxtis to his abode. "You're sleeping with me?"

Yawning slightly after their long journey and the sunlight beginning to dim, Ember laid down on the bed and pat the spot next to herself. "I was a bit hesitant at first, but now that my Grandfather already knows about our bond, plus I long stopped caring about what others may think of my actions. Besides, aren't you glad that you get to sleep with a wonderful beauty such as myself?"

His eyes twitched at the self-praise and realized where she had picked up the habit from. Having known from their small interactions since their meeting, he knew that the stubborn Dragonkin wouldn't take no for an answer anyway. Yawning himself, Noxtis lay close to Ember and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Then I'm quite the lucky one to have you in my life."

Snuggling under the covers, Ember shyly added. "...and I feel quite comfortable when sleeping in your arms..."

A light blush rushed to his cheeks, as Noxtis was thankful that Ember couldn't see his expression of happiness and just hugged the beauty and they quickly fell asleep.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Noxtis woke up early the next morning to find Ember still sleeping soundly. Yawning and gently removing his arm out from under Ember, Noxtis got out of bed and got some much-needed stretching done.

Grabbing his new set of black leather armor, Noxtis donned the dark brown armor. Intially the armor was quite a bit larger than his own body and he was worried that it would look comical. After wearing the armor though, it quickly began to form into his body shape which scared the hell out of Noxtis. Thankfully it stopped shrinking till it fit him and even when he took the armor back off it kept the same size.

Noxtis wore the armor again and felt the armor begin to suffuse him with a sturdy and cool feeling. Having never worn something as amazing as this before, Noxtis didn't know that this set of armor had been inscribed with fortifying and concentration runes as well as containing a scant amount of the aura from the Nightstalker Gorilla.

Surprised that Ember was still asleep, Noxtis tickled the dragonkin until she giggled and punched him in the chest.

"That was mean, I was having a nice dream slaying hordes of Wurino's Ice Fudge...it was amazing." Patting her imaginary full belly, Ember also got up and stretched as well.

"Are you ready Noxtis, this may be the most dangerous mission I've been on so far. I'm not certain of Elder Nancy's strength with her being in the Merchant Department. But while she won't be weak, that doesn't mean that our safety will be guaranteed. If we end up encountering an enemy that is too strong for us to handle, promise me that you'll stay safe."

Noxtis laughed and grabbed Ember by the shoulder who was pouting and looking away from his gaze. Taking her chin in hand and looking Ember in the eyes, Noxtis promised. "Embervesent, you are the single most important person in my life now and hopefully for the rest of it if you'll have me. I promise to stay as safe as I can, I only hope that you will do the same."

Tearing up and smiling, Ember sneakily took Noxtis' lips and kissed him deeply. Giggling, Ember remarked., that was our first kiss."

Grinning, Noxtis pecked her on the lips once more. "And it certainly won't be the last, now come on we have some sword spirits to forge. And staying here isn't going to help us, I wonder what we'll find in this cave.

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