Path to the Void [Points of Light 1 - RPG fantasy]

2.02

A week into the pass, we arrived at the highest point, and there, the village of Highfort, which wasn't much of a fort at all, in contrast to its name. The walls for which the town had been named were still there, but the houses and shops spilled out of them, built along the road leading to the gate in the walls. No doubt it was the same on the other side, down the road to the capital.

It was nearly sunset when we arrived, and the town was winding down business for the night. As we headed towards the traveler's lodgings, I noticed that there were fewer men than women in the town, and most of the men were young, while the women were of the same range of ages as in the other towns I had visited. I could see that Jack has noticed as well, from how they turned their head at the sight of the few older men, even as many of the people of the town turned their heads towards us, eyes drawn by Diana's armor and spirits drawn by the element of lightning within Jack.

"What happened here?" I said quietly, just loud enough for the others to hear. "A battle?"

Diana shook her head. "A sickness - there were still a few ill when I passed through here the last time. It seems like the town is still recovering."

As we walked, I saw other signs that the town had been affected by a localized plague, now that I knew to look for them. Women and children with scarves over their mouths, just in case, and a house built on ground that still bore the ashes of its predecessor, burned to keep the illness within from spreading. I shivered, going that no one had been inside when it was put to the torch.

The road narrowed after we passed through the gate, and the houses within were a bit grander and older, making this as the richer part of town. Several had gardens with climbing mountain vines creeping over their fences. Diana lead us past all, into the center of town where the travelers' lodge was located.

It was a huge building, built from study logs stacked on top of each other, taking up an entire block at the site of the main road, more if you counted the stable beside it, where horses and donkeys were already picketed for the evening, most with baskets of goods on the ground next to them. Across from the lodge, there was another wide road, this one with a simple, with wooden sign.

Temple of Earth, it read, in letters I couldn't remember being taught but could read easily. The script was archaic, dissimilar enough to the common script that the text had been carved a second time below the first, so that anyone who could read the common letters could find their way.

I nudged Jack with an elbow and nodded towards the sign. The two of us turned to peer down the road as Diana went into the lodge, but as far as we could see, there were no strange soldiers camped in black tents. Of course, we couldn't see all the way to the temple, either; at the end of the road was a stone gate, barely within sight, blocking the temple from the rest of the town.

"It'd be a lot harder for them to do anything funny with a town right here," Jack observed, and I hummed agreement.

"We can ask around tonight, at least." If anything had happened, the townsfolk would surely have heard something.

"If Diana Snooty lets us," Jack muttered, casting a glance towards the door of the lodge. "Come on, they've got benches out front. No reason to stand around waiting for her."

We sat on the bench under the eaves, and were there for about twenty minutes. A couple people passed by, making their way into the lodge for the night, their rooms already reserved. About then was when Diana came out; although she was trying to hold her temper, I could tell that she was fuming.

"They don't have any more rooms," she said in answer to our questioning faces, before Jack or I could even stand from the bench. "Not even a place in the stables - it seems that the merchants who avoided the plague all came through at once now that it's passed."