89: Portland

The road was getting smoother, and we were passing far more farms now that we were getting close to the town. The saltiness in the air was unmistakable at this point.

“Where is the red scar in the sky?” I asked curiously as I tried to spot it.

“Oh? That’s mostly a story told to kids to scare them. There’s no actual scar in the sky,” Milo said, shattering that belief.

“But they said it’s where the demons came from?” I asked, confused now.

“No. The demons have three portals set up on those lands, and the red scar is believed to be one of the many volcanoes on the land—its glow reflecting in dense ash clouds,” he explained.

“Can’t we just break their portals and end the demon invasion?” I asked, wondering why that hadn’t already been done.

“If only it were so simple. Each portal is owned by a specific demon clan. There used to be five, but due to some infighting, the demons destroyed two of their own portals. We’ve tried to reach the others to destroy them ourselves, but even getting remotely close triggers a demonic lord to come out—and that can backfire spectacularly,” Milo said.

“Couldn’t Lily help?”

“Oh, absolutely. She could probably end the war in a day or two. But consider it from Lily’s perspective—why would she? If the army weren’t preoccupied here, what would they be doing instead?” He gave me a look, clearly trying to lead me to an answer.

I shrugged. I didn’t really get what he was getting at. If Lily could end this in a couple of days, wouldn’t that be better for everyone?

Milo went on. “If the army isn’t here, they’ll be out hunting dangerous beasts. Dangerous beasts like Lily, not that they’d have any success.”

Milo chuckled a before continuing, “But there’s a reason Lily, and the dragons, or any major threat out there, won’t intervene. It’s simply not dangerous to them. If the sapient races lost, then they might step in. But only because they’d no longer have to worry about the armies getting bored and turning on them instead,” he concluded.

“Why doesn’t anyone talk to Lily or the dragons? Work out a deal?” I asked, confused as to how it could be this difficult.

Milo just laughed.

“Trev, my boy,” Hari added, “you might be the only person alive who’s had a discussion with a dragon and a relationship with a Shadow Cat. They’re not exactly known for being kind to the sapient races of the world.”

“What if I ask Lily to do it, then?” I offered. Maybe I could help?

“Say she agrees—and does it. War’s over. What happens when the army marches straight into her forest, just north of here? Arguably the closest place to them. How would Lily feel about you? About people in general? The losses on our side would be absolutely catastrophic—and far worse than the demon invasion,” Milo said.

“Why is it so complicated?” I muttered, feeling lost in the situation.

“The war with the demons is horrible, I won’t sugar-coat it,” Hari said with a sigh. “But right now, it’s almost a stalemate. Neither side is escalating with more powerful forces. It’s like the demons are using our troops as training tools, and our kingdom is using the conflict for its own benefit—at the cost of thousands of lives every year.”

I couldn’t help but feel conflicted by it all, did so many have to die so pointlessly?

I still hadn’t seen Lily all day—and she hadn’t shown up last night either.

***

It was a couple of hours after lunch when I saw a town appear on the horizon—though it looked more like a fort than a town.

Hari rode alongside me. “Crisplet, I don’t suppose you’d be able to revert to your orb for this next part?” he asked directly.

I was surprised when Crisplet gave him the single ember response for no.

“You can’t shrink anymore?” I asked curiously and got a bright burst of embers in return.

Crisplet floated out of the brazier and, upon hitting the ground, began to grow in size—until he stood just below my shoulders.

“Wow, that’s amazing! I didn’t even know you could do that!” I said excitedly, watching as Crisplet let off another burst of embers. This time, they looked dangerous—almost like small burning rocks.

“Curious. Well, we’ll just have to work around it,” Hari said.

“I can carry Crisplet?” Jen offered.

A now-shrinking Crisplet responded with a burst of embers.

“That might work. I’m just trying to take as many eyes as possible off Trev when we enter,” Hari added, as I passed over Crisplet’s brazier to Jen.

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After that, we made our way toward the town.

Much like Boltron and Divinmere, it sat right on the edge of the water. We wouldn’t be doing any shopping today, though. I even had my travel cloak back on—not because they’d recognise me, but because Hari wanted to keep as much of our identities hidden as possible.

Everyone except Micca was wearing one. Unfortunately, she didn’t have one of her own.

As we approached the gate, Hari dismounted and walked up to the guards.

“Polite Company, from the Adventurer’s Guild. Here on a job for a merchant,” he said, gesturing toward Micca.

“Duration of stay?” the guard asked, sounding completely bored.

“Single day, or less, then we’ll be moving on,” Hari answered.

“Very well. Usual rules apply. Barracks are off-limits to all civilians. If you require an audience with the General, an appointment must be made in writing. Any complaints or otherwise are also to be submitted in writing through your local lord or lady,” the guard rattled off, sounding like he’d said it a hundred times and couldn’t think of anything worse than repeating it again.