243 The Beginning (2/2)

”It is a wonderful gift,” said Li without any reservation. To him, this truly was perhaps one of the best gifts he could have ever received in this world. He did not need riches or gold or power.

But this was something else, something infinitely more valuable. It was belief and appreciation and faith and devotion manifested into something tangible. ”I will cherish it for as long as I can. Please, give my thanks to all my followers.”

Sindra nodded. Ven'thur interjected. ”Oho, but you see, good seer, without Sindra, this wreath would never have seen the light of day. It was her idea, and Ivo the one to execute it, but nevertheless, without the mastermind, there would be nothing to behold! If you asked Ivo, were he here – he is out busy in the forest and fields directing it all – he would most certainly agree with me.”

”This was a collaborative effort,” said Sindra firmly.

”I am only giving credit where it is due, my dear,” said Ven'thur. ”You must not downplay yourself.”

”I understand,” said Li. He looked at Sindra and nodded to her. ”Thank you, Sindra, for keeping me in your mind. I hope I can repay you by making this guild the force of change you believe it to be.”

”It is nothing, good seer,” said Sindra with a slight head bow, her tail slowly curling around her hip in affectionate gesture.

”And I too wonder what you will make of this dreary world and its many meaningless conflicts,” said Ven'thur. ”Perhaps, with your expert touch, you may make this bleak canvas just the bit brighter.”

”Well, I do have a promise to fulfill to you as well,” said Li, letting the lich remember the vow to restore Kel'thor Citadel and his compatriots. ”Perhaps the canvas will start becoming more interesting to you after that.”

”Oh,” said Ven'thur, smiling. ”It most certainly will. I look forward to our next meeting, good seer.”

”As do I.” Li heard the clanking of metal greaves approach – the sound of the knights that would escort them out the city for security purposes – and gave one last smile and farewell, waving his hand. ”I will leave you two to your work. Do make sure to take breaks once in a while. Especially you, Sindra.”

”Bye bye!” said Tia from atop Li's pack, waving her scaled hand vigorously, and Ven'thur and Sindra waved back at her.

And with that, it was time to go. Time to start an adventure.

The knights led Li and his group throughout the empty streets of the city, though some life had returned to it in limited capacity now that the five armies had left. In a couple of days, people would resume their lives as normal, though travel would still be highly restricted and vetted.

Already, there were a few protesting Rivierans who knew that the farmers could leave but they could not, but they were met with a swiftly fatal counterargument that should the farmers not return to their fields, their chances of starving increased all the more.

At the towering gates, the knights opened a small section at the bottom meant for allowing small transports, and as Li prepared to leave, the knights saluted them, wishing them luck, and Li, too, wished them luck for their defense of the city.

It was a pity that Li could not say farewell to Launcelot for the nobleman was far too busy suddenly leading half a legion and ordering the defense of the city, but one could not have everything go their way.

Outside the city walls, Li looked westward, not over the Winterwoods, but beside it where a separate set of trails and roads led to the Midpath that went past the edges of the Winterwoods and into a set of mountains called the Triforge for they were once populated by a now long extinct race of dwarves. ;

Over that, there would be the sparsely forested plains of the Outerlands, and through there, they would make it to the Shibboleth, an upraised split in the earth that separated the Hinterlands from the main continent.

Most did not travel through the Midpath and the Triforge for the high level monsters infesting it, instead opting to take the safer Winterwoods to reach the Shibboleth. However, crossing the Triforge mountain pass took much less time than going through the Winterwoods and circling around to get to the other end of the mountains.

And to Li, the danger level of monsters was truly not much of an issue.

But, as he looked to the horizon, at how it seemed to infinitely expand in front of him, he did decide he did not want to just walk his way through it. At the same time, he did want to synchronize his travel time with that of the five armies, and so he could not simply summon some insanely fast, oppressively powerful creature, especially in light of wanting to make use of this expedition to teach Tia, and most of his faster higher leveled summons were live beings he still had reservations freely creating.

So, he decided on a middle ground.

Yes, thought Li as he knelt down and put a hand to the ground. This would be a suitable, if not a little bit of a festive familiar for this adventure.