The Mage Wars

The Town of Kilmat

16 Lepus of the year 13004

Everest's Pov

Kilmat should be close—rather new Kilmat. Old Kilmat was in Vanora and is now under thousands of gallons of water. Ooh, perhaps I'll get to see Old Kilmat. New Kilmat, like Old Kilmat, is located on the road north.

Father used to stop in Kilmat when he rode for Caelora to visit Great Uncle Havard or for Ciaran Evanath to visit Great Aunt Bryce. Great Aunt Bryce and Great Uncle Havard haven't been seen in years. At least not with my eyes. I saw them five years ago at mine and Kaelen's twelfth birthday.

I haven't seen them since.

It's hard to believe they failed to come through the other end of the war. Father might know. Hopefully, they made contact to ease tension and stress regarding their welfare. Great Aunt Bryce hasn't been the same since her son died. Father's cousin, Kitcher, was caught in the crossfire when the war first broke out. 

I remember hearing about it. I was standing outside Father and Mother's room. Through the crack in the doorway, I could hear the conversation. It was the only time I'd ever heard Father openly weep. 

Just peaking through the thinning trees is Kilmat. The last town before the edge. It's a marvel that it still stands after the raids Korbin sent. It took years for the knights and guards to drive back the boats. If we are lucky, an outpost will still be in operation at the edge. It's more likely that it'll be abandoned. 

Father recalled the knights when Korbin broke through Lucien's front line. It was a way of redeploying aid for Uncle Aveyard. It was why we met Baren and his company in Belshire. Father left a handful of guards and a knight at each outpost for protection but not much more. 

Other issues needed more people, swords and magic to combat Korbin. It was not in vain. The more I think about it, the front line in Lucien shouldn't have broken. No matter how magically incompetent Uncle Aveyard is.

Lucien's front line never would have broken if it wasn't a tactical decision. 

It could have been a tact to lure Korbin into thinking he was about to win. Then we come in and foil his plans. It's smart and something Father would think of. We didn't come across many adversaries on the road. Korbin wouldn't have been able to redeploy his army on a whim or at the drop of a coin. 

It makes my head hurt at how easy it was for the Spirit King to disperse Korbin's magical army. Spirits, now I've poked a hole in my distraction theory. 

In the early years of the war, when Kilmat was still being established, Korbin used to send ships to attack the coast. In the year 12988, Kilmat was burned to ash. There wasn't much anyone could do. Even the local water mages couldn't save the buildings.

As many towns were re-established in the early years of the war, many learned it was best to rebuild further inland than on the coast. Now, we get to see it in a time of peace. 

We travel along the main path until we reach an inn with a stable off to the side. A stable hand comes out and takes our horses. He tells us we can find accommodations inside the inn. We thank the boy and follow his recommendation. 

The smells of a hearth and warm comfort foods pull us further into the inn. It's so cozy. And it doesn't smell like sour ale. Galen walks up to the counter and asks for two rooms for the night. 

The male we will come to know as Alistar shows us the rooms and tells us they usually get busy around seven at night. Many want to celebrate the end of the war. We thank Alistar and let ourselves settle for an hour before going downstairs for food. 

"Excuse me," A male voice interrupts mine and Neirin's conversation about Sir Haedyn, the knight journeying with Kaelen's group. He seemed nice when I first met him. Neirin likes him well enough but finds him better with his second half, a male named Jude.