Chapter 30: Sydora Pass

Nadran gripped Wraith's chain, allowing the scythe blade to dangle about half a foot above the ground. After taking a deep breath to ready himself, he began moving his arm, causing the blade to trace a slow circular orbit around his right hand. The weapon was not light, and if it weren't for a lifetime of climbing up cliff faces to pick herbs, he doubted he would have the strength to do much more than lift it with both hands. He strained his arms to speed up the unsteady orbit, trying to keep the weight of the blade from dragging it down as it passed overhead.

Nadran had to brace his feet as the rotation speed up, the inertia of the weapon pulling on his arm harder the faster Wraith spun. His muscles tensed, struggling to keep the weapon from flying out of his hands. Once he could no longer maintain this pattern, he swung his arm in a large overhead arc. As it passed over his head, he briefly loosened his grip on the chain, allowing it to slide through his hand while he continued to pull it along a curved trajectory. With the Wyvern Claws skill he had previously cast acting as a barrier to shield his palms from being torn apart, he tightly gripped the cool metal of the chain once more at the apex of its flight, halting its outward trajectory. The scythe blade soared overhead, the momentum carrying it into a wider orbit to match the longer chain. His arm muscles tensing under the sudden strain, Nadran directed the momentum of the heavy scythe blade, bringing it crashing down into the ground about fifteen feet away.

The blade of the scythe struck the ground with a thud, about half of its four foot length sinking into the dirt. Steadying his breathing after the exertion, Nadran yanked on the chain, attempting to free the embedded blade. Despite his efforts, however, the weapon remained firmly embedded in the ground, forcing him to walk over and pull it out directly.

"You know this is supposed to be a break, right?" Noctis said with a yawn, cracking open his eyes to glance at Nadran, who had begun spinning his weapon once again. "If you wear yourself out now, what are you going to do when we start moving again?" Having said his piece, he closed his eyes once more, sinking back onto the bag he had been using as a pillow.

Nadran smiled wryly upon hearing this, but could not deny Noctis's point. After striking the ground once more, he reluctantly moved over to sit with the others. Leaning back against a nearby boulder, Nadran idly admired the mysterious runes that seemed to swim about just below the surface of his weapon, changing shape and size seemingly at random. As he idly tracked the movement of one of the runes with his eyes, his mind was filled with hundreds of thoughts, some light, some serious.

After a while though, he looked up, unable to ignore Tyval's blatant stare. Tyval had been suspiciously quiet over the course of the journey so far, and had barely even interacted with Nadran's group. While nothing serious had happened up to this point, Tyval was barely even trying to hide his hostility. He was frequently smiling, but the look in his eyes whenever he saw Nadran made it abundantly clear that Tyval was not about to forgive him for Kalio's death. Nadran met Tyval's gaze steadily, breathing slowly in an attempt to keep his erratic heartbeat under control. After a brief moment, Nadran lightly shook his head and looked away, trying to ignore Tyval's piercing gaze once more. [Thankfully, he hasn't done anything other than staring at me so far, but there's no way that will remain the case for the rest of this mission. I don't know if we would be able to win a fight against Tyval and his cronies, though. I'd at least like to get a bit better with using Wraith before I start anything with them, though. Hm, it would probably also be hard to sneak away when he is constantly watching me like a hawk, and I doubt he would just let us split up if I ask nicely. On the other hand, if I wait for him to act, he will probably pick a scenario more favorable to him…]

Sighing, Nadran temporarily pushed the issue to the back of his mind and looked over in the direction of the second pair of eyes that had also been staring at him. Upon noticing him looking over, Rethara turned away immediately, acting like she hadn't been staring at him for the last thirty seconds. Nadran had noticed her staring at him frequently over the last day when she thought he wasn't paying attention. Unlike Tyval's quiet hostility, however, Rethara looked as though she had been contemplating a difficult math problem.

As he rested, Nadran's thoughts inevitably drifted back to his family. They had all gone through so much strife in such a short amount of time, and he found himself wishing he was back with his family, even though it had only been a few days since he had left. [This is for their sake, though,] Nadran comforted himself. [Once I finish this mission, I'll secure their safety and we can start to return to the relative peace we had before. It won't be perfect, but all we can do is struggle to make what little happiness we can in this harsh world.]

With a slight smile returning to his face, Nadran resolved once more to finish this mission as fast as possible and return to his family.

----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----

As the rays of the sun painted the sky with golden light, a group of thirteen people approached a mountain pass. Standing tall before them were the ramparts of Fortress Sydora, one of the main access points to the Kingdom of Asden. The mountain range that divided the Kingdoms of Asden and Entira was incredibly inhospitable to the vast majority of people, and only a select few mountain passes were safe enough to pass through safely. The frigid weather in combination with the monstrous beasts that roamed the snow-capped peaks made the prospect of circumnavigating these passes unrealistic to all but the most powerful of cultivators. With this in mind, one of the old kings of Asden had created a set of fortresses to defend his kingdom from any threats from its neighbors. In the present day, however, Entira had a good relationship with Asden, and so people frequently passed through this stronghold to travel between the two kingdoms.

Nadran looked up at the impressive architecture of the fortress, wind tugging at his hair as he observed how well the massive structure had been maintained over the centuries. The current king of Asden, Ivarus, took great pride in the works of his ancestors, and ensured that they looked as imposing as they had been when they were first built.

As Nadran stopped to take in this sight, his thoughts accompanied only by the sound of the wind whistling in his ears, he could not help but feel that something felt off. [Maybe it's just different hearing about it compared to seeing it in person,] Nadran mused before moving to catch up with the others that were continuing forward. As they approached the thirty-foot tall gate, Nadran glanced around, an invisible worry gnawing away at him. The others did not seem to share his inexplicable anxiety, however. That is, until he heard Rethara mutter "…It's too quiet."

Suddenly, he realized that other than the whistling of the wind, there were no other sounds he could hear at all. The fortress was large enough to hold the population of a small town, and people would sometimes come to the markets to trade for items unique to the other kingdom. Undoubtedly, there should be some signs of human life visible even from outside the stronghold, and this strange silence seemed to be the source of his unease.

This revelation was followed by a period of silence. Before long, Firen spoke up, saying "Maybe they soundproofed the walls? It's probably fine."

Nadran was skeptical of this theory, but felt that the only way to figure out what was happening was to actually go in and check. Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, Nadran passed through the gate with the rest of the group. He carefully observed his surroundings, but didn't see the guards he expected – or anyone at all, for that matter.

Their footsteps echoed hollowly as they walked down the well-maintained entry hallway into the fortress proper. The recessed interior of the fortress largely resembled a town, with small stone houses covering a substantial area, contained by walls on two opposite sides, with the mountains covering the remaining sides. The most prominent landmark was a thin, tall tower that stretched up over a hundred feet, dwarfing all the other buildings in height. If Nadran recalled correctly, this tower was where the Lord of this town resided, as well as containing a large sigil that acted to deter the beasts indigenous to these mountains and an observation sigil to track all of the comings and goings in the stronghold's vicinity.

Also prominent was the market sector, dominated by colorful tarps and signs that were clearly visible from their current elevated position. More striking than anything else, however, were the desolate streets, completely devoid of any life.

Muted gasps of shock sounded out from the group, and even Tyval showed a perturbed expression for the first time Nadran had seen. Tyval and his group stayed largely silent, still maintaining a small distance from Nadran's group. Nadran could not afford to pay the other group much mind, however. The ramifications of this seemingly empty town were too severe for him to pay Tyval much mind, so he had to settle for silently moving farther away while he tried to process what all this could mean.

"Let's… check the market area," Icina cautiously said. "That would be where there should normally be the most people. Maybe there's a… clue as to what happened here." She spoke quietly, but nobody else spoke up in response. After a brief silence, Nadran said "Alright. That seems as good a direction as any." With that, he began walking toward the bright colors of the market sector, trying to calm his fraying nerves.

The streets were eerily empty, the clean streets showing no apparent signs of struggle. The sky had darkened to an orange-red, the sunset bathing the area in a reddish tinge. Nadran's group moved through the apparent ghost town without finding anything of note, then moved around a corner to reach the market district a few minutes later.

Nadran immediately froze upon looking at the market sector, where a large, 4-legged beast was feasting on the meat from a nearby butcher stall. The creature's razor-sharp teeth tore through the meat with ease, causing Nadran's face to immediately pale. As Nadran started slowly backing up toward the corner he had just walked around, a pebble skittered across the ground, passing by him as it clattered against the well-maintained cobblestones.

Immediately, the beast's head turned in the direction of the disturbance, its yellow eyes looking directly at Nadran.