Chapter 44: Ch44 – Smells like…

The group waited.

One minute passed. Then another.

Myna’s foot tapped on the wooden floorboards of the corridor. Her patience was visibly evaporating. She glanced at Ryan one more time, then back down the corridor to the entrance of the tavern.

“We are done waiting,” she said. “We move.”

The group quickly formed up and marched out into the street. After a quick look around, Myna turned into the city centre.

The morning was already busy with merchants setting up stalls and guards changing shifts. Myna led them toward the eastern road, scanning the streets.

“We’ll need horses,” she added. “There should be stables nearby.”

They had gone only a short distance when hurried footsteps sounded behind them.

“Ryan, Captain!”

Ryan turned first.

Ryan’s face crinkled.

Ben?

Ben emerged from between two buildings, walking fast, clothes rumpled, hair unkempt, his expression pale and strained. When he reached them, he stopped abruptly and bowed, deep and rigid, holding it far longer than necessary.

“I’m sorry,” Ben said, voice tight. “I am sorry for leaving and for lying. I should have stayed. I deserve to d—”

“No, it’s my fault, Ben.”

Ryan stepped forward before Ben could continue. He drew in a sharp breath, more to steady his thoughts than anything else.

“Myna,” he said, forcing calm into his voice, “I could tell he wasn’t doing well mentally. I encouraged him to go visit the friend he mentioned yesterday. I didn’t think about his mission and his duties.”

Ben looked up at Ryan, eyes wide with concern and confusion, but he said nothing.

Myna studied them both in silence.

“Hm.”

She crossed her arms. “That is fine, he does not need to remain with us. He is on his own mission.” Her gaze sharpened. “However, abandoning your post to visit a friend is still a crime, desertion.”

Ben stiffened, opening his mouth to respond.

Myna raised a hand, stopping him.

“I will take your recent experiences into account,” she continued. “You returned of your own volition. For that reason, I will overlook this mistake.” Her voice hardened. “Do not make it again as I am not usually so forgiving.”

There was a long pause.

Then Ben bowed again, even deeper than before, but more toward Ryan than Myna.

“Thank you, Captain,” he said quietly. “I won’t fail again.”

He straightened slowly, shock still rippled across his face. His eyes flicked to Ryan for a brief moment before dropping to the ground.

Myna turned away. “Good. Now let’s find those stables. We’ve wasted enough time.”

The group resumed walking. Ben fell into step behind them, silent even more than normal, his hands clenched at his sides.

Ryan did not turn back.

If he had, he would’ve noticed a man born anew.

And in that moment, something settled in Ben, heavy and unbreakable.

Loyalty.

“You there,” Myna pointed at a villager, “Where is the nearest horse merchant?”

After receiving directions, the group soon came across a merchant who sold them five fine horses for a fair price.

Micah and Ryan rode together, with the rest of the group riding solo.

I still really don’t like horses… but I guess it’s not as bad as I remember. He thought as he climbed up onto a brown horse, one that had four white socks and a white diamond shape on its forehead.

They made their way out of the town, to the capital of Rupes, Lithara.

They left the town behind at a steady pace, hooves striking stone, then gravel, then packed earth as the road stretched eastward.

Ryan adjusted himself on the saddle behind Micah, one hand resting lightly against the saddle as the horse settled into its rhythm. Down here, the land was much more traversable. The slopes softened, rolling outward instead of up, but the ground never truly lost its harshness that it had back up there.

Sparse forests dotted the landscape. Not dense woods, but clusters of hardy, wind-bent trees spaced far apart, their roots gripping stubbornly into shallow soil. Between them, rock jutted from the ground like broken teeth. Slabs of stone lay half-buried beneath gravel beds, remnants of something ancient pushed up by time or pressure. In some places, the road narrowed where stone had crept inward, forcing the horses into single file for a few dozen metres.

“This land doesn’t like being tamed,” Ryan murmured, mostly to himself.

Micah smiled faintly. “The land of the Rupes Kingdom is sometimes said to have its own spirit. I like to imagine it is a very rebellious teen’s spirit.”

They passed by other travellers as the morning wore on. Merchants with carts piled high with grain, cloth, or metal goods. Families moving between towns, oxen trudging patiently ahead of creaking wagons. A pair of armed escorts rode alongside one caravan, alert but relaxed. Ryan noticed that not one time was there a solo traveler. Not one.

Every group gave Myna’s unit a wide berth. Some nodded respectfully. Others simply watched in silence as they passed.

The general consensus seemed to be that soldiers were respected.

The road itself was well maintained, surprisingly so for what Ryan had imagined. Stone markers lined the way at regular intervals, etched with worn symbols and distances. The further east they rode, the less frequent the outcroppings became.

However, there were still entire stretches of land turned to grey gravel fields, where grass struggled to grow, crunching loudly beneath the horses’ hooves. Dust clung to boots and armour alike.

Ryan glanced ahead, where the road rose slightly, cresting on a low ridge.

Beyond it, faint on the horizon, something darker broke the line of sky. Some parts rising high above the rest.

“Lithara?” Ryan muttered.

Even from this distance, Ryan could tell it was a massive settlement. Big enough for maybe… a million?

The land itself leaned toward it, drawn by sheer weight and permanence.

“Lithara? Haha!” Micah chuckled aloud, “No! That is just a Great Town. I promise you, you will know when you see our great capital.” Micah smiled, mischievously.

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