I woke up the next morning to find a note on my door written by Crystal. It explained to me that she would be out the rest of the day spending time with her sewing circle of friends and that I was to help myself to whatever was in the pantry downstairs, it also informed me that my clothes were washed and were drying on the clothes line. After taking care of morning business in the bathroom, I headed downstairs to the kitchen to scrounge up something for some breakfast.
To my grand amusement, I happened across a box of cereal that was entitled Arcani-O’s in the pantry. Chortling to myself, I grabbed a carton of chilled fresh milk from the ice chest and sat down for my morning meal. The cereal itself was alright though I wouldn’t exactly describe the taste as magical, closer to chewy fruit loops really. Despite my minor disappointment at the bland taste of breakfast I was still in high spirits for many reasons. I had read through most of the significant knowledge the flight book offered that I could apply to my own usage, and today was another chance for me to fly! I almost broke into a full blown smile I was so stoked, something that rarely ever happens given my usual stoic disposition.
I grabbed the book upstairs and after a moment’s consideration, I reached into my backpack and equipped my Tantō between my rear belt loops ‘Never know when I might need some protection’ I reasoned. Running downstairs I all but vaulted out the door on my way to the library.The librarian Agatha wore a slightly shocked expression as I pretty much barged through the doors in my haste. Handing the book to her I spoke.
“Remember me? Just returning this book I checked out from yesterday”
She kept the baffled look on her face before speaking.
“Already? Was there something wrong with it?” She asked to which I shook my head.
“Not at all! In fact, it was just the right book for me. I learned a great deal about improving my flight technique from it!” I responded cheerfully.
“Well… I wasn’t expecting it back so soon.” She placed the book on a cart and marked a return books list.
“I bet you didn’t expect me to be a speed reader either” I grinned at her, to which she looked vaguely amused before speaking.
“How is Crystal faring today?”
“Don’t know. She left a note for me saying that she was hanging out with her sewing circle for most of the day” I responded with a shrug.
Agatha nodded her head in understanding “Ah yes that, I’m joining them myself after I close the library” She said as she shuffled more of her paperwork. Given the lull in conversation, I decided to satiate my curiosity.
“Hey Agatha? Whats with the Griffin statues next the entrance?” I asked.
“What about them?” She looked up at me and quirked a brow.
“Well… the actual gryphons are people like us right?” To which she nodded.
“Correct, although as a people they’re a fair deal more prideful and sometimes arrogant compared to others” She explained in a lecturer’s tone.
“So why are there statues of actual Griffins up front?” I raised my brow in befuddlement.
She put two and two together before laughing in a way that only old people do when youngsters ask them what they consider to be a silly question. When she finally stopped with her mirth she explained.
“I see what you’re asking; the Gryphon people call themselves that because they aspire to be like the Griffins of myth. They wish to be proud, strong, and aggressive in their pursuit of prestige and recognition.”
“Oh… I see” I said nodding in understanding, my curiosity having been satiated. ‘So Griffins are still mythological here, how very ironic’ I shrewdly reflected.
“I find it odd for a Valkyrian not to know this” Agatha said incredulously.
“Yes, well let’s just say I lived a sheltered life and leave it at that” I said turning away. “Thanks for the help!” I walked out the doors and past the aforementioned statues.
Since I hadn’t really planned anything else for today, I decided to simply stroll around the city. Although city may be too generous a term, to be honest it couldn’t have been any longer than a half mile in diameter. So I suppose town would be more accurate in terms of size and population. I didn’t see a census posted anywhere but based on my reckoning of the average amount of people I’ve seen clustered per unit area of land, I’d say maybe a few thousand people inhabited the fair kingdom; give or take a few hundred. I don’t study population density in detail so I might not be exactly precise, but this was my best educated guess.
Moving past my mental ponderings, I took the time to appreciate the beauty of the day. The sun was shining brightly as always; its rays causing the surrounding crystalline architecture to glisten in its light, though it was a tad bit overcast near the city outskirts. People were milling about with smiles on their faces as if they didn’t have a worry or care in the world, except for the ones who were actually going about their business; they adopted a look of determination. ‘Gotta put those bits in the bank somehow’ I mentally chuckled. I continued my little trek down the gem-lined pathways leading away from the Crystal Citadel when I noticed a street vender on the side waving me down.
Having nothing else to do, I impassively approached him. He was a bit on the short and pudgy side and wearing the kind of apron that you’d see hot dog vendors in New York put on. Because he was wearing a tank top beneath that I was able to discern his mana mark; which was a sprig of wheat alongside a loaf of bread. He had multi-tone hair colors (something quite prevalent among the Kingdom’s inhabitants I’ve noted) of browns and lighter browns that were befitting of the bread he sold.He looked me up and down as if sizing me up before speaking in a coarse voice matching the aliments he sold even more so.
“Hey kid, you wanna make a few bits?” He asked, finding whatever he saw to be adequate for a job.
“That’s depends” I cautiously answered “What will I be doing to earn them?”
“You may not have noticed, but the excessive cloud cover is and has been shrouding my wheat fields for the past few weeks” He spoke while motioning upwards with his eyes before continuing “And since our kingdom’s Princess hasn’t seen fit to bring in a weather team yet to tend to our fields, my crops growth is more stunted than usual. Now seeing a Valkyrian wandering the streets looking like he has nothing but time on his hands is something of a welcome relief for me. Do you think you can make use of those wings your people were gifted with? I’ll make it worth your while.” He grinned hopefully at me.
“Uhm… sure, lead on I guess” I said in an uncertain tone, to which he nodded and smiled before disrobing his apron and placing a placard saying ‘Sorry, we’re temporarily closed!’ on the top of his bread cart. He motioned for me to follow him and we walked towards the enshrouded farmland outskirts of the Kingdom.
I was feeling quite glad I read up on the weather manipulation section of the flight book. It wasn’t all that complicated a subject really, moving a cloud was simply a matter of pushing or pulling them in the direction you wanted them to go. Dissipating them was a matter of striking them with the intention of breaking them apart; the reason it worked like that was obvious, otherwise if you were to just land roughly on a cloud it would dismantle itself and you’d be up shit creek without a paddle (pardon the expression). Rainclouds were similar, although they could discharge lightning if you struck them with that intention in mind (something I couldn’t wait to try once I got the chance). Wingpower was tied to physical fitness, the more in shape you were, the more wingpower you could pump out. Working in conjunction with other Valkyrians can result in vortexes that could demolish large cloud banks or lift quantities of water up to the floating city of Stratopolis (this world’s version of Cloudsdale I assumed) for the production of rainclouds and other water intensive weather processes.
Because this frigid region of Arcania has an overabundance of water trapped in snow and ice, evaporation by the sun actually causes rainclouds to occasionally form here. Though it’s more like freezing rain and sleet if it does not make rainfall over the Kingdom where the air is drastically warmer. Wondering why there was no weather team in the Kingdom I turned to my companion and asked him.
“So why isn’t there a weather team here?” to which he shrugged and said.
“Don’t know the specifics; our request for a weather team probably got mired down in paperwork” We arrived at what I assumed was his wheat fields.
“I’m Thin Wheat by the way” He extended his hand which I shook.
“Call me Zenith” I responded, resisting a chuckle at his ironic name, “So how do you want me to handle this?” I motioned at the field.
“I take it you haven’t done weather work before?” He asked to which I just shook my head “Didn’t think so, I was guessing you more a fashion related type” He assumed.
This caused me to raise my brow in confusion, “What makes you say that?”
He pointed to my shirt “Designer shirts aren’t exactly common here, especially ones like… that” He was probably referring to the swanky looking playboy penguin chilling like a boss on my chest.
I simply shrugged my shoulders, “Maybe I just like wearing non- sequitur designer shirts, doesn’t make me some prissy fashionista by default” For some reason a shudder traveled up my spine, as if I insulted someone far away and they were glaring in my direction.
“Fair enough” He dropped the subject, “Anyway, I simply need you to disperse the clouds that have been hanging over my fields for me”
“And what do I receive in turn?” I asked in a businesslike manner.
He scanned the skies over his fields and mentally appraised the value of clearing them of clouds. When he was done he looked at me and spoke.
“Well…since you’re the only Valkyrian in town and I need my crops growth as unimpeded as possible till the actual weather teams arrive, how about seventy bits?”
Now, I haven’t exactly adjusted the value of bits to dollars in my mind yet. But based on what I saw in the marketplace with Crystal, a trio a tomatoes only costs on average a couple of golden bits (one bit if you’re as well versed in reverse psychology as Pinkie Pie or Bugs Bunny) I’ve seen silver bits as well, although I don’t know if they’re of lesser value or a different value altogether. So seventy bits seemed like a fair deal to me.
“Sounds like you’ve got yourself a sunlit field to look forward to” I told him before giving myself a running start and leaping into the air to clear some clouds. ‘Time to put that book’s knowledge to the test’ I thought as I approached the edge of the cloud bank overshadowing Sweet Bread’s fields. Pulling back a fist, I slammed it into the nearest cloud. The effect was instantaneous as the cloud busted into puffs of smaller cloud that vanished as they dissolved. Smirking to myself, I charged on ahead into the cloud bank, punching and kicking clouds as I went along. I moved up and down the cloud bank in a fashion akin to a lawnmower as I cleared the sky over the wheat fields. It took about twenty minutes for me to clear the majority of the clouds before landing on the last one to take a quick breather. Looking over the edge, this sight greeted me.
I humorously noted that the outline of the Kingdom resembled a snowflake, and that a small river flowed through the fields at a Four’O clock position relative to the front of the citadel. ‘Probably water runoff from the surrounding mountains’ I thought. I saw a sports stadium located just behind the citadel, where they hosted their athletic events; probably made for a spectacular ice skating rink too I imagine. I took special interest in how much I could see and in such detail, almost like I was looking at it with binoculars. I then recalled a section in the flight book mentioning how Valkyrians had more enhanced visual and auditory senses compared to the other two clans, probably for navigational and communication reasons while in the air I wager. We also had a much higher natural tolerance to the cold due to how much time we spend in the gelid air at higher altitudes. ‘Look at me! I’m already referring to myself as one of them!’ I scoffed at the ridiculous thought. No way am I conforming now of all times, not me.
Feeling recuperated enough; I stood up on the cloud before stomping on it with the intention of bursting it. Acting quickly, I oriented myself facing downwards before pulling out of my skydive using my wings and landing on the ground. ‘God that never gets old’ I blissfully thought as I walked towards Sweet Bread. Lazy bastard was sitting on a lawn chair all that time; he looked up at me before nodding in approval.
“Gotta say, watching you work was more entertaining than I thought it’d be” He put on a smarmy grin.
“Glad I was such a spectacle” I sarcastically replied before looking at him expectantly and speaking. “Our agreement?” To which he reached under his chair and tossed me a bag full of coins that landed with a 'clink!' in my right palm. Peeking inside the bag revealed to me its golden contents of nickel sized coins. After counting up the bits and noting that they were all golden I decided to ask him a question.
“Could you tell me what the difference between gold and silver bits is?” I inquired, since I saw silver bits being exchanged at the marketplace when I was with Crystal.
“I think the silver bits are of the coinage of Stratopolis, they’re recognized as equal in value to golden bits. Though I think the native Valkyrians living there prefer to use the silver bits. Shouldn’t you know this?” He looked at me with slight suspicion.
“I’ve never been to Stratopolis, born and raised on the ground” I truthfully replied to which he hummed thoughtfully before shrugging in dismissal.
“Well anyways, pleasure doing business with you” I said as I turned and walked away.
“Likewise, I’ll be sure to refer you to my colleagues if they need their skies tended to!” He shouted as I made my way towards the center of the kingdom.
I tossed my newly acquired bag of bits up and down in my hand as I made my way through town. Waving back at all the friendly people who waved to me and offered amicable smiles, I idly wondered why the people here were so gosh darned happy; then I remembered that I was in the Krystal Kingdom, where so long as love and harmony pervade, it will charge the very air with its harmonious influence. I might sound like I was waxing poetic, but that really seemed to be the case here. I was silently glad that I seemed to be immune to the Kingdom’s detestable charm, if I was to be happy it was going to be on my own terms. I took a gander at the many stalls here and there offering their various goods to pass some time, I even stopped at one of the Crystal nectar stands to see what the hubbub about it was. Tossing the nectar vendor a couple bits I grabbed a frothy mug and downed it. ‘Meh, overrated sugary berry cider is overrated’ I thought as I set the empty mug down. I heard some commotion coming from behind me and saw a trio of cloak garbed men arguing over something by a billboard with various postings on it. A particular red and yellow posting caught my attention as I walked over to read it.
‘Attention! A bounty has been placed on a feral creature that has been raiding our livestock fields and killing sheep. The bounty in question totals four thousand bits, not including any possessions the creature might have in its holdings. Those who wish to make claim to the bounty must bring proof of the creature’s demise to the local authorities at the office of domestic affairs.’
While I was reading this, I also covertly listened in on the three men’s quarrel.
“I’m telling you Bastion, this won’t end well. We need at least one more man!” A slim light blue haired man was saying to this buff blond haired guy who looked adamantly on.
“Someone has to slay the Blizzard Beast Arrow! My Uncle happens to be one of those whose livestock have been slaughtered!” He indignantly replied.
“I think both of you have a point” Said a silver haired man leaning to the side watching his two companions argue. “We’ll need one more man before we can even think of attempting such a dangerous undertaking, preferably someone who can scout from the air” He said, turning his gaze toward me.
“Who me?” I asked, wary of their attention “I’m not exactly a trained combatant” I apprehensively replied.
“You don’t need to be” The silver haired man said “We just need someone to help us track this beast down so we can slay it, a Valkyrian like you could aid us in this endeavor”
“How so?” I asked in curiosity.
“This beast thinks that it is clever, assaulting our livestock pens and escaping into the wild during fierce blizzards. Hence its name” The man I recognized as Bastion spoke to me.
“But my Uncle placed collars on his sheep” He smirked like he knew something the beast didn’t “Collars that can be tracked” He added as his smirk grew into a portentous smile.
“You’ll be assisting us by spotting any tracks the beast may have left behind and being our eye in the sky. Plus this beast cannot fly, so having you along will give us an additional advantage” Grey hair said eagerly as he examined my wings.
“How come the local guards don’t handle this?” I enquired of them.
“Our Prince doesn’t believe this to be a matter that requires the attention of the guards” All three shook their heads and grumbled something that sounded like ‘Limp dick royalty’.
“He doesn’t look like he has a weapon” The man known as Arrow pointed out.
“Looks can be deceiving” I smugly said as I drew my Tantō and held it out; the blade glistening in the sunlight as it caught its rays.
“That toothpick?” He scoffed and shook his head “Not much of a weapon” He castigated my means of protection. I was about to retort when silver hair intervened.
“It’s enough to count as him being armed” The silver haired man said before continuing “So how about it? You help us rid our Kingdom of this hindrance and get an even share of the bounty” He held out his hand.
I thought long and hard about it. I mean… hunting down and killing a savage beast isn’t exactly in my credentials, but I guess you never know until you try. I looked at the silver haired stranger before taking his hand and shaking it.
“You got your scout” I said in an evenhanded tone.
“Splendid! I’m Silver Sword; the two behind me are Ardent Bastion and Piercing Arrow as you may have guessed. We three are part of the local militia and therefore have been trained in all manners combat related” He spoke with great zeal.
“Does that make you trained monster slayers as well?” I asked in a slightly dubious tone.
“Of course!” He retorted “ALL manners combat related” He emphasized.
“Okay… so how are we doing this?” I asked.
“We planned to leave while there was still light out; we have enough provisions for all four of us to last a few days, though you might want to purchase more armor than your current attire provides” Silver amusedly spoke as he examined my swanky t-shirt.
“I’m supposed to be your scout right? That means that when it comes to the actual combat, I won’t be directly participating. Plus I don’t want any armor weighing me down and restricting my movement” I reasoned, plus armor sounded expensive.
“Suit yourself” He shrugged.
“I should probably let my caretaker know I’ll be out hunting for blizzard beasts” I said mostly to myself.
“That’s fine with us; we’ll be waiting by the eastern outskirts of the Kingdom. Don’t keep us waiting too long” Silver spoke as he and the other two left to make their way to the edges of the city.
I hurried on back to Crystals to grab a few things and to say farewell. ‘Hope she’s there, otherwise I’ll have to leave a note explaining my absence. Actually… explaining to her that I’m going monster hunting in the first place might not go over so well’ I bleakly thought. What should I do? Lie to her and say that I’m just going on a camping trip with some recently met acquaintances or tell her the full truth? Crystal has been nothing but affable to me since I got here; I mean she’s sheltered me in her own home! Lying would probably come back to bite me in the ass so I decided to go the truthful route. Probably wouldn’t hurt to explain why I’m aiding in a monster hunt too.
Reaching her door, I stopped and hesitated briefly before knocking. She opened up and smiled brightly when she saw that it was me. ‘That smile isn’t making this any easier for me’ I gave her a lopsided one in return.
“Hello Zenith, how was your day?” She asked while ushering me inside.
“It’s been great so far, made a fair amount of bits clearing the skies over a bread vender’s crops” I said showing her the bag.
“That’s wonderful! Our crops will grow so much better with a Valkyrian tending to the skies, I’m glad you found an outlet for your skills” She gleefully spoke.
“Well it wasn’t like I was hired for a job or anything. It was more of a mutually beneficial proposition” I said while shaking the bag, which clinked in emphasis. “Though he did say he’d tell his fellow farmers about me” I added as a side note.
“But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about” My tone became more serious which grabbed her full attention.
“What is it?” She hesitantly asked.
“I came across three men who more or less beseeched me to help them with a problem plaguing the livestock owners” At this her eyes widened considerably.
“You mean the Blizzard Beast!?” She gasped.
“Yea, how did you know?” I asked.
“One of my friend's husband is among those whose livestock have been butchered” She shook her head fervently “Oh Zenith, you mustn’t go! It’s too dangerous, you might be killed!” She pleaded with me.
“Relax Crystal, I’m just acting as their scout while they track the beast, I won’t be in any serious danger” ‘At least I hope not’ I morosely thought “Besides, they’re part of the local militia, so they’re trained to handle this stuff” Despite my reassurances, Crystal remained adamantly against the idea of me going out to slay monsters. This went back and forth until I finally grew exasperated.
“Listen Crystal, I appreciate your concern for my wellbeing…but you’re not my mother. This is my decision” I spoke in a tone which indicated finality.
She flinched as if struck, before she sunk to her knees and started lightly sobbing. ‘Is she crying? Not good’ I tensed myself subconsciously for an emotionally intense moment.
She spoke in a choked voice “No… I’m not your mother, but I don’t want to lose you like I lost my son!” She wailed in despair, and I fully realized I just accidentally struck a serious nerve. I was quickly by her side before embracing her in what I hoped was a consoling hug. She didn’t make any effort to shake me off, so I continued comforting her before speaking in a reconciliatory tone.
“I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean to bring back any tragic memories. Especially those of losing a loved one” I said regretfully, she gathered herself together as best she could before speaking mournfully.
“He was so young, eyes so full of life and love and happiness. Then that vile monster Sombra” She practically spat the last word “Enslaved our kingdom and all of its inhabitants, my boy was among those considered too weak to contribute to the labor. So he was…cast out into the wild to be devoured along with the others he deemed useless. The Princesses came to our aid not long afterwards and defeated the tyrant; sealing him away in the frozen ice of the north” She sniffled “But they could not bring my child back, nor the others who lost their lives to the mad king” She continued with her little history lesson.
“As a last spiteful action, Sombra cursed the kingdom to disappear for a millennium so he could reemerge after gathering his strength to enslave us all again”
She laughed mirthlessly before continuing “The only comforting thought I have now is that he was finally vanquished once the crystal heart was returned to us. Sombra and his evil destroyed by the very love and light my son added to, poetic justice at its finest” She humorlessly said before looking me in the eyes.
“You remind me so much of him, always thinking considerately of others. You share his adventurous spirit. You even have the same eyes as him” She pensively spoke and kept her gaze. I returned the look before speaking.
“I’m not your son Crystal, but I promise you won’t lose me the same way you lost him” I resolutely declared.
She shook her head and bore a melancholy smile “You’re just as stubborn as he was when he was set on something” She sighed in a resigned fashion.
“I suppose I can’t keep you from doing this can I?” I shook my head.
“I only ask that you do your utmost to be careful” She requested and I nodded to her in validation.
We both got up off of the floor and Crystal left for the bathroom to compose herself while I sifted through my backpack before grabbing one of those flashbangs I was so graciously provided with. Crystal was waiting for me by the door and gripped me in a tight hug before I left.
“Be safe” She barely spoke in a whisper.
“I’ll be back before you know it” I spoke in a confident manner before she let go of me.
I walked forward a few paces before glancing behind, Crystal was leaning against the doorway; a sad but hopeful smile on her face. I waved to her which she returned before I took off into the sky heading eastward. I spotted the three militia men along with their gathered gear where we agreed to rendezvous and landed. They looked up at me and nodded in acknowledgement which I returned. Arrow decided to speak up.
“Bout time you showed up, we were startin’ to think you reneged on us” He said impatiently.
“Yes well, my caretaker is all for emotional farewells” I said with a tired expression.
“We’re losing daylight here!” Ardent Bastion bellowed “Let’s get going, I want to make that beast pay for spilling the blood of my family’s livestock” He said in a dark tone.
“You’ll have to pardon Bastion’s impassioned desire to hunt the beast, he shepherded his uncles livestock when the beast attacked” Silver Sword explained
“I trust the tiny ewes weren’t slaughtered?” I asked and raised my brow to which Bastion shook his head and smirked.
“Those miniscule things are only good for petting zoos; they lack enough wool to make shearing them worthwhile. Though their diminutive stature is probably the reason why the Blizzard Beast never bothers with them; not enough meat I suppose”
We started making our way to the barrier boundary when Sliver asked me a question.
“Shouldn’t you be wearing something warmer?” He quirked his brow.
“Don’t see why, Valkyrians are more tolerant to cold climates. We can handle them the same as you’d handle a crisp morning breeze” I told him, to which he nodded in understanding. I decided to ask a question of my own.
“You mentioned collars that could be tracked earlier, how does that work?”
Bastion pulled out what looked like a compass before explaining.
“My Uncle had this compass enchanted so that if his livestock ever got lost for whatever reason, he would be able to track the nearest ones by following the direction the red needle pointed. So this will lead us to his collared sheep, or rather what’s left of them” He nauseously remarked at the end.
“Convenient” I remarked to which he shook his head in agreement. I saw Silver’s pause in place as if he forgotten something before speaking.
“I nearly forgot! We gave you our names but we never asked yours. Tell me, by what name does our scout go by?” They all looked at me expectantly.
“Name’s Zenith, pleased to formally make your acquaintance” I said with an exaggerated flourish.
They chuckled at my antics while Silver placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled confidently.
“Well then Zenith, how bout we go hunt ourselves a snow dragon?”
My eyes widened slightly as we stepped out of the climate barrier.