The Collector

CHAPTER 5

Three mountains and a hill toward a great sea of grass were to be passed through to reach Dev. In the interim of our eleven-day journey, we often visited small villages that scattered throughout the land. There, we get our supplies and nice places to sleep at night. We also had managed to purchase two small mules at the first village we went through the next day. Our setting was, I'll ride one, the other was to carry our supplies; baskets filled with bread and dried goods were tied up on the sides of the other horse, and so Irvid was to walk by foot - guiding the two horses and myself with a braided rope, and saddles, that was included upon our purchase. I didn't expect Irvid to have kept some money after all what we've been through. He's a natural survivor.

In between the course of our jumping from a village to another, I managed to help him identify several wild herbs and berries for foraging, especially when we were to rest in a meadow or at a brush of a vale. He might be an expert at being ready, but at least I had prior knowledge of bushcraft from what I'd experienced doing in my world. Blackberries, hawthorns that we made into fruit leathers, crab apples, wild grapes turned into currants, and even apricots that I made into jams were some of my favorite picks about our foraging. I also taught him how penny buns, a distinctively large, brown mushroom, could be fatally misidentified with others of its class - boletus, but if understood completely with all of the important details, would relatively be a treat of the forest if meat should be scarce. Additionally, Irvid enjoyed the idea that some trees, such as local willows, contain medicinal properties in its sap; a medicine we could use to alleviate pain or fever along our way.

It was close to twilight when we reached a mile front of the walls of Dev. I saw the grassy plains while we rode through an elevated landscape. On there, I imagined the piles of dead bodies Irvid told in his story. Yet, there was none; not even a single trace. I also began to see their instruments of war: catapults, siege weapons, even their House banners laid down as they played drums for their war cry. Yet then again, there was none. From across the horizon of the city, I saw a towering structure of pale, mortared bricks - the High Fortress. I did not pry reimagining things again for focus.

We strode down the hillside, without attempting to let our mules suffer any much longer, and led ourselves to the lower grounds.  When we got closer to the arched gate, I noticed how the intricate designs on the front columns resembled that of a thorny vine; big, pitch-black overlapping vines that wrapped the two towering columns to the point it exceeded beyond the wall. There were two guards in their full black armors standing at each column face to face, holding spears, that as we inched closer, they faced our direction, gradually lowered their spears, and then they faced each other once again and a man wearing a red cape came out. And the two guards intersected their spears.
We were at the front gates.

"Who dares enter the Thorny Gate?", said the man with a red cape.

"An old servant of the Lady of the midlands.", said Irvid quite briefly.
"With me is my dedicated squire."

"So you're a knight, ser?", replied the man.

"Yes. In fact, I require the audience of Lady Elrene. We have matters to discuss, if you permit it... ser?", responded Irvid, a bit nervously.

The man with a red cape looked at his back and signaled one of the guards. Then, he eventually agreed to let us in, however, we must surrender any forms of weaponry within our reach. I reluctantly offered my sword Odine gave back in the caverns. But Irvid turned his head towards mine and gave me an expression of persuasion. I blatantly handed it over in a hurry.

"Please don't make any nuisance.", reminded Irvid.

The scenery inside the front gates was like the usual villages we've been through albeit it was far more larger and wider. Streets on cobblestone pavements covered the entire ground. On a short walk from the front water pond, you could already see several indoor shops that lined the streets. They're obvious from the distance for their exaggerated shop signs that hang just beside their doors. Pubs, inns, apothecaries, boutiques and even an armory were presently active during the time of the day.