Vir flushed red.
“And your mother?” Vason asked, scratching his nose.
“I was adopted. Mother died well before then, so I never knew her. My father raised me. He… passed away. Just under a year ago.”
“I’m sorry, friend. I should not have pried.”
Vir waved away Vason’s concern. “I’ve made my peace with it.”
Before an awkward silence settled on the group, Haymi spoke up.
“As you know, we’re all from Matali. It’s not a happy tale. To be Matali is to know grief. We’ve all lost loved ones or dear friends. Either to the Ash or to other countries.”
Vir frowned. “But the Ash has been encroaching on the Known World for centuries, hasn’t it? Why is Matali suffering so much while Kin’jal and the Altani flourish? Shouldn’t the Ash make Matali strong like it does them?”
“You’d be right,” Tia said, “if Matali was a militaristic country. We’re not. For millennia, we prided ourselves on our agriculture.”
“Because of the Artifact you possess?” Maiya had mentioned that to Vir.
“Right. It’s a device that makes it possible to grow crops year-round. They grow faster, larger, and healthier than normal crops. Matali used to produce a significant portion of the Known World’s food for a long time. But crops need land. Lots of it, and so the Ash’s encroachment has impacted our economy the most.”
“We’ve been forced to rent land from neighboring countries—Kin’jal and Rani—to continue growing our crops,” Haymi said. “As you might guess, the terms have not been favorable. Rani is better about it, but Kin’jal takes most of our output for free. And both countries happily accept Matali refugees fleeing our lands.”
“What can be done?” Vir asked. It sounded like a no-win situation.
Tia shook her head. “If it could have been resolved so easily, we’d have done so. Either the Ash stops expanding, or Matali finds another way to prop up its economy. Both seem bleak.”
Vir coughed. “What of the Pagan Order? I’ve heard so many rumors, but what’s it really like there?”
The group fell silent, with Vason and Haymi staring at Tia.
“They’re honestly doing the world a service,” Tia spat. “We should be giving them medals, not ostracizing them. Sure, they might be a little extreme about it, but their mission is a noble one.”
“Their mission?” Vir asked. “You mean…”
“Exterminating demons,” Vason replied. “Though, rumors abound. Some say they’re not nearly as uncivil as people make them out to be. That they’re secretly powerful, and their demon hunting’s just a ruse for their actual operations.”
“Unfounded rumors,” Tia said. “People like their gossip.”
Haymi spoke up. “It’s… not an easy topic, Param. For any of us. Demons have ravaged our lands for centuries. They killed Tia’s parents when she was young.”
“Killed?” Tia snorted. “Let’s not sugarcoat the facts, Haymi. Demons butchered my parents. In front of my very eyes, smiling while they plunged their daggers into my mother’s body. Over and over, until her cries died out. Then they did it again, to my father.”
“I’m so sorry, Tia,” Vir said.
“My brother and I… they made us watch, Param. They made us watch. We pleaded with them, of course. Begged, even. But there is no reasoning with their kind.”
Vir opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say. What could he say to someone who’d been through something like that? What words would heal such a terrible wound?
“It’s… not just that,” Haymi said softly. “Demons… don’t have a good reputation in Matali lands. They’re actually among the worst threats we deal with. Feral, animalistic. They’ve even wiped out entire villages in the past.”
Is that really true? The demons Vir met onboard Bakura’s ship certainly didn’t give him that impression. Nor had Bakura warned him of anything like that. It made him wonder whether the demons that plagued Matali were different, somehow.
“Their reputation is well-earned,” Tia whispered, fury dancing in her eyes. Unbridled, burning hatred. “I’m not the only one to have lost family to those savages. Not even close to it. Believe me, this isn’t just personal revenge. Ask anyone in Matali, they’ll sing the same song. Every demon killed makes this world a safer place.”
With just those words, Vir’s dreams of kinship crumbled to dust.
11AVI—CITY OF WATER
Vir soon learned that Rani’s peace and prosperity made for some very boring journeys. While the company was appreciated—even in light of their conversation the first night—everything else was monotonous.
The same perfectly maintained road led them the entire way south, making the navigation simple. No highwaymen accosted them, demanding ransom, and the weather was mild and temperate the whole way. Even Neel had begun itching for some action, and he ran alongside the Ash’vas more often than not.
He’d learned much during that time. Tia and her friends were good people, despite their views on demons. For one, Haymi and Vason didn’t harbor nearly the same level of distaste for demonkind as Tia did. And, as he’d heard more, Vir was starting to think they had good reasons for their hatred. The beings they described sounded like horrific barbarians—killing and pillaging with absolutely no concern for life. While not quite a demon himself, demons were the closest thing Vir had to his own people. It saddened him to hear of such atrocities.
Despite that, he found himself getting along well with the party. The group was tight-knit, with a loyalty that simply couldn’t be bought. Loyalty and trust, built up over a lifetime of friendship. While Vir would never truly fit in, they made for good traveling companions; he couldn’t complain.
And now, after more than a week of travel, they’d arrived at Avi. The City of Water. River City. He’d heard the stories, but nothing had prepared him for the glorious sight ahead.
Avi wasn’t like the other places he’d visited. Normally, a city had roads leading up to its tall walls. Avi… had waterways. The entire city butted up against the South Legion Mountains to the west. On all other sides, water surrounded it, and small canals led into the city, bisecting the walls. And while the walls were tall and manned, the waterways boasted no gates—anyone could enter, provided the boat was small enough to fit.
That gave Vir pause. “How do they fit ships inside? Those canals look way too small.”
They currently stood at the north shore nearby. A great moat separated them from the city, and the only way in was to charter a canal boat.
“They don’t,” Tia said, pointing to the southern shore.
The haze was thick on Daiya Lake, and Vir had to strain to see silhouettes in the distance. But there was no mistaking the tall masts of ocean-going vessels.
“Ships enter via the Avi canal to the south, which leads out to the ocean. Then they put in at the docks to the south, where they offload supplies. Crates are then transferred to canal boats and sent into the city that way. I know, it sounds inconvenient, but they have enough of those boats that it’s actually not much of a bother. And it makes attacking the city incredibly hard.”
It surprised Vir that such a peaceful economy would build their capital with military defense in mind, but it was a smart decision. Diplomacy only went so far, after all.
“Besides, Avi’s waterways are a feature of the city,” said Haymi. “Its hundreds of bridges are renowned throughout the Known World. I just booked us passage on a boat. We’re to gather over by those piers.”
A dozen small jetties jutted out into the clear blue lake, along which several dozen small canal boats sat. Long enough to seat twenty people and just wide enough to accommodate a few Ash’va at the center, they looked custom-designed to fit through Avi’s waterways.