CHAPTER 6: A Lantern in the Dark - Part 1

  Varne and Lorn walked eastward. Once down from the highlands, they mostly encountered undulating grasslands and small hills. Meandering rivers made it easy for them to sustain themselves from nature. Summer also meant they did not need to carry too much provision.

  “Varne,” Lorn said before they set off. “We don't have to pass through Fhon, but if you want, we can stop there.”

  He accepted Lorn's offer. When they sold monster parts to the nearby village, they usually rented horses from Eiran's uncle. However, as a Prana Decima, long journeys without horses were not much of an issue. The decreasing number of monsters only made their travels easier.

  Varne spotted the walls of Fhon before the tenth day. This was his first time seeing a city this large. Fhon was a maritime trading city, the largest city, a military base, and the administrative center of this island.

  It stood by the coast, with its northern wall connected to the civilian port. In the west of the city, on a promontory overlooking the sea, stood the island's strongest fortress. Next to it, the military harbor brimmed with galleons and frigates.

  Lorn also mentioned that the sea to the north was a strait. Crossing it would take him to the mainland of Eldarin in just one or two days.

  The winding road through fields and orchards led them to the southern gate. Lorn's sword did not raise any alarms when they entered the city. Due to the presence of monsters, carrying weapons was in general considered acceptable, although each city had its own rules.

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  The hustle and bustle of the city swept Varne away. People in fine clothes jostled on the cobblestone streets. The chiming of bells made them all clear the way as horse-drawn carriages rattled past.

  His village only had a roast pork-with-apple and roast mutton-with-figs seller. Here, shops, bars with large glass windows, tailors' workshops, cobblers' workshops, and who knew what else lined both sides of the street. He had heard stereotypes about country kids coming to the city for the first time and feeling like he fit the criteria.

  At a street intersection, young men in full weapons and armor crowded around a multistory building.

  “Father, is that a Guild office?”

  “That's the Adventurer Guild,” Lorn answered as they continued walking.

  They arrived at a modest building with moss-covered roof overshadowed by the city wall. “This is our inn. I'll wait for you here. What's the name of Eiran's house street? We can ask the innkeeper.”

  “Street name?”

  Lorn slapped his forehead. “Right, I forgot. It's pointless to teach you now. In that case, just look for his uncle's horse ranch. It is outside the east gate.”

  In the forest Varne had rocks or rapids as landmarks, but here all the streets looked the same. Fortunately, he could follow the banners above the gatehouse to find the east gate.

  Waving grassy hills dominated the eastern side of the city. There, horse ranches with their stables stood at intervals. He approached them one by one to check the plaques above the entrance gate. He could not read, but recognized the emblem of Eiran's uncle's ranch.

  He found it after crossing three hills, a plaque with the profile of a curly, black-haired woman on it. The ranch's door was unlocked, but a loud shout from the side prevented him from going further.

  In a meadow with a chest-high fence, a riderless horse ran wild. And, impossible to miss, a young man was dragged around while holding onto its tail. There was only one person who rode like that.

  Varne jumped over the fence. When the horse bucked, he reached for the reins to calm it down. The young man behind the horse rose, spitting out bits of thick, green summer grass from his mouth.

  “Thanks, I–”

  The young man’s eyes widened like a boy seeing a naked woman for the first time. “VARNE?”

  “It's just a piece of advice,” Varne said, “riding a horse means you're on top of it.”

  Eiran burst into laughter. He looked almost unchanged, his thin frame and sunken cheeks giving him an unhealthy appearance. But his black eyes sparkled like always, radiating confidence.