Kile of Zumada

41. Motorboats and Bridges

The boy introduced himself as Jaquihm Ironborne, and a friend of Connol's. Connol, he explained, had built the drill he and his family used for excavating. He had heard noises and decided to investigate, and realized they needed help.

"So what are a bunch of outsiders doing in Clanground?" He asked.

"Callan brought us," Lija clarified, "she wanted to help us with something. Now we need to get to the Lake of the Lens. What do you think would be the fastest way?"

"Lady Callan gave you permission? Impressive! I'm happy to help anyone working with her. My family actually has a boat on the river. We use it to go up and down the Spine to trade quicker, we can certainly use it to get you to at least the edge of the Bloodwood, round where the Lost Ruins are. You'll be on your own from there, though."

"Thank you so much," Kile said.

"Thankfully, it's not too far from here, either," he said. "There's an exit nearby."

They made their way through the dark, until they heard a familiar and unpleasant skittering sound. Lija held up the luxite and they saw, filling the cavern, a brownish-black shape. It had a long, thin body with 3 legs bursting from either side. The legs curved upward, and then down, and could fold in to shrink the creature into crevices you'd never think it could fit. Two white patches marked its shoulders, and instead of a head it had a long, thin trunk, at the end which was a whirling maw of teeth, dripping with fresh saliva.

A Cave Scuttler.

Kile quickly came up with a plan. They were super sensitive to sound, so he had the whole party make noise and crash everything together they could to be as disruptive as possible. He then had Lija set a stick on fire, the heat chasing it off completely. Alora pelted it with rocks, and it decided this attack was not worth it and slunk off into the darkness.

They made their way out into the fresh air, through a camouflaged door in the mountain. Small and discreet, there were apparently hundreds of these that each clan kept secret amongst themselves. It only took them a few hours from then to finally get to the Spine River, where the boat was waiting.

For the most part, it was a normal small metal boat, with space for cargo and certainly enough room for four people. The only thing that made it look different was the large paddle strapped to the back, connected to some kind of chunk of metal. It had a bar covered in leather that could angle it.

"It's a motor," Jaquihm explained, "Ogrim built it for us too. It speeds the boat around

"That's brilliant!" Alora said. "See this is what I was talking about. With this sort of thing anyone can move through the water with the speed of a Waterbound, without being one!"

"Yes, they just need to rely on Metalbound to power it with electricity," Lija pointed out

"Yes it's not perfect," Alora rolled her eyes, "but you get the idea. We shouldn't limit ourselves by magic! Look what the Architects were able to accomplish without it."

Jaquihm looked at them, "What's to say the Architects didn't bring magic with them?"

Kile looked at Alora. He could feel the part of him bound to Wilds seething upon hearing this. He felt angry too. The Architects found magic here and twisted it into a weapon. It was a strange feeling. He knew he himself was also angry, independent of the Wildvoice, but where his anger began and where its ended was impossible for him to tell.

"There's evidence to suggest that the world has been magical before their arrival," Alora said.

"Fair enough, I suppose."

The day's trip on the boat seemed to pass by like lightning. They knew both Geffray and Callan were on their way there. Callan may have had a head start, but she didn't have a motorboat. Though it would not be impossible for her to have access to something similar, and no one would question an Exemplar requesting something for the good of the people in a hurry. Either way, she probably wasn't taking the river, and would have to go through the Dark Gate on the other side of the mountains - a longer route than the one they were taking, especially where bridges were concerned.

Geffray's advantages were less clear. He seemed to have every kind of Bound on retainer, and a flying Airbound could certainly get him here quick as a flash, but that would be obvious. The Everfolk had no love for outsiders, and especially did not like Imperials. If the Prince of the Empire came around, that would be a huge problem for all parties involved. Traveling with an entourage would also make him slower, but he could forgo that. They weren't even positive that he knew he'd need to go there next. There were too many unknown variables.

The plan, then, was to get there as quickly as possible and deal with whatever they found on the way. Once they left the boat and said their farewells to Jaquhim, they moved on and looked for new problems. The first of which was the remnants of a bridge that had been built out of separated materials and then collapsed into the river.

"She's using her own bridges," Alora noted.

"That cuts our timetable down considerably." Lija said.

Kile shook his head, "not if we take a page from her book."

He once again constructed a bridge, and Lija once again destroyed it. They entered the Crescent Forest, and they were pestered the whole time by Redhowlers, Shriekbirds, and even had to fight off a Trickleback before stealthing their way around an Everfolk hunting party. Not that they wanted to intrude on their territory, and they were sure they would let them go, but the wrong Everfolk could keep them trapped for days while waiting for confirmation of their story and that was not time they could afford, and perhaps not the best idea in the world to explain. They managed to escape, before finding themselves in the Lost Ruins. They realized there was a glowing door in the ruins that lead deep underground. Alora's device said that it would led to the Compressor at the Lake, and so they followed the path, that being their best option..