Once everyone had food in them, the atmosphere among the wagons drastically improved. But when they learned that Thor intended to push through the night, with Rae to lead him past any pitfalls they might find in the ash, the atmosphere was nearly ecstatic.
They were already out of the freezing cold that marked the Frost Giants’ territory, and by morning, they intended to be at the human battle lines, where the World Dragon church would gather them and take them somewhere safe.
That notion was a bit dubious among the Beastkin, who were less likely to trust the humans at all, but the Dragon Gods were worshipped all over the world, and that was enough for the refugees to trust Tessa’s word that the Red Dragon Clerics would take them in and care for them.
“Are we really going to travel all night, even though we’re out of the frozen lands?” One of the human refugees asked softly, with a heavy accent.
“Yes. This area belongs to a Magma Dragon, and we’re not certain how his servants will respond to our presence, so we are going to pass through at night and not linger. The sooner we can get you to the safety of the Golden Dragon Nation’s border, the better.” Tessa explained.
The girl smiled. “I have heard so much about it, and now, I have actually met someone from there. I must say, I didn’t know that humans could be so strong.”
Tessa laughed. “It is a blessing from the World Dragon. You’re still young, so perhaps you will get a chance to try one day as well. We all see if we are compatible when we are fourteen years old.”
That was great news for the humans. None of them were fourteen yet. In fact, most of them were not ten yet. Anyone who was grown enough to keep up with the forced march had been taken away by the Frost Giants when they fled.
Well, that or they were dead in the streets because they couldn’t get to safety fast enough when the attack started.
“What about us? Do we get a chance at the blessing?” One of the satyr children asked.
Tessa shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. Our country is almost all humans, and I haven’t met anyone else who was compatible with the blessing. But I also can’t say if you will remain in the Golden Dragon Nation, or if they will arrange to have you join a Red Dragon orphanage in the Beastkin Territories.”
That made sense to them. While being anywhere safe was a thousand times better than their lives yesterday, there was a certain appeal to living among other beastkin. Like, they wouldn’t be a minority group, they wouldn’t be treated as lesser, and they might actually get to live the sort of idyllic life that slaves told stories about.
Thor began pulling them forward, and Rae returned to her space to sleep, while the Spider Golems were instructed to follow Karl’s orders. That should be good enough, and then when Hawk turned in for the night, she would come out again to lead Thor.
Not that Hawk couldn’t do it. From the sky, he would be able to see much more, but there was no reason for them all to suffer a sleepless night if they didn’t have to.
[Oh, this is better already. The ash here is soft and warm on the feet. I like this place.] Thor announced as they began to move through the destroyed aftermath of the volcanic eruption.
[Just be careful if you see solid stone. Many of the volcanic stones can be slippery.] Karl warned him.
Of course, most of them were heavily textured and provided firm grip for the feet, but it was better to be safe and not take any chances with wagons full of people. A slippery side slope could spell disaster for their little adventure.
As they trudged off into the night, Hawk kept a careful eye out for anything that might pose a threat to their group. But what he found was much more exciting to the bird than any elemental.
[There are squirrels and mice and small monsters in the forest again.] He declared a few hours into the ash.
[Already? I thought that they would still be far away from here.] Karl replied.
[Me too, but I can see them. I think it’s a good sign. If the Elementals hated all monsters, they would chase off the little ones first, right?] Hawk replied.
Karl wasn’t certain how sound that logic was. It was easier to scare the little monsters away, but they weren’t really a priority, as they weren’t a danger to anyone or anything.
Not long after that, Rae woke up from her nap, and came out to lead the caravan down the path that Hawk had scouted for them.
[Are you certain that you’re not going to sleep yet, Hawk?] Karl asked.
[I will stay up until we reach the edge of the dangerous area. Once we’re out of that, I will sleep and you can deal with the human soldiers.] He replied easily.
Well, if he wasn’t tired, Karl would let him keep scouting. Between him and Rae, they shouldn’t miss much, if anything.
Thor pressed on well past midnight before they came across their first real obstacle. The remains of a magma flow that were much thinner than they looked, according to Rae’s eyes.
Her thermal vision showed the intense heat below the surface, and if they had only been looking at the top layer, they might have gone right over it without noticing, and possibly collapsed it.
[Is there a better spot nearby?] Karl asked as the Bloodbath Spider raced down the magma flow searching for a crossing point.
He was headed in the opposite direction, doing the same thing, but he was headed toward the core of the territory, and the flow was only getting more intense.
[Yes. Thor, turn right and come to the base of the hill. The flow spread out, and there is a nice thick crust on it here. That should be more than enough for the wagons.] She instructed.
Thor adjusted course, and Karl made his way back to the wagons.
[I think we might need you here.] Rae muttered as Karl was nearly to the convoy.
[Don’t tell me it fell through and burned up the wagons.] Karl sighed.
[Nope, we made it past that. Now, we’re just a bit stuck. The ground on the other side, to get back to the main path Hawk scouted, is really rough with waves of stone, and the wheels are getting stuck in the ruts.]
That was easily enough solved, Karl thought as he approached the wandering line of wagons.
“Gentlemen, and Lady Ophelia, can I get you down here for a moment? We need some strong arms to take the weight off the wagon wheels while they get over the waves in the stone. Thor is losing traction.” Karl explained.
It was a moonless night, and they hadn’t lit any lights, to avoid attracting attention, so to the eyes of everyone else, they were still making progress, and they hadn’t realized there was an issue.
“No problem. We will each lift one from underneath, just enough to get them to move over the ridges. How far do we need to do it?” Bob asked.
“Not far. Twenty metres should put us back on smooth ash again.”
It was a slow and careful process to ensure that they didn’t break a wheel with a side load, and Tessa set a light spell over them so they could all see what they were doing as they worked. Then, when they were on the old road, which was now a smooth spot in the ash, everyone got back on board while Karl moved ahead with Rae to check the area for dangers again.
The progress wasn’t as great as they had hoped, and it only got worse as they left the ash in the small hours of the morning. The ash ended before the snow had, and the result was that the tropical weather on the other side had turned the entire area into a mud bog, which Karl repeatedly had to wake the others to help pull them through, as Thor couldn’t get enough traction on the slippery hills.
But they did eventually make it out of the worst of the mud and onto a hard-packed section of road, where they took a break to let Thor snack and rest while the sun came up.
The radio transmissions were clear now, and the army lines were within Hawk’s visual range, so they would only be four or five more hours before they arrived at their destination.
