Chapter 8: Steam City

The road was long and arduous journey. Daimon had only a days worth of provisions and his body was still recovering from the sudden loss of magical energy. He tried not to think about his blade. Sykrons sudden entry into his life had come with a curse as well as a great blessing. He equally sudden departure had left him with mixed feelings. He was heading to Atilius. It would be the first of the great steam cities he would visit. He still wasn't sure what he was going to do, but was sure that he would figure it out when he got there. He was curious to see if the rumors where true. The city was a centre of innovation, a city at the very heart of the steam revolution that had invented the boiler in his room, magytek batteries that could store magical energy and power engines and even great machines that could do the work of ten men. He heard the sound of hoofs against the road. "Hey you!" Daimon turned around, his appearance no longer elderai, he had stopped hiding his face when he passed travelers, but had kept his robes and hood, his hood was up to shield himself from the sun. He had done his best to pass himself off as a traveling monk. Hiding his blade under his black robes, he told others he was making his way to the Church at Atilius to work with his brothers. A few asked for blessing. He made them up as he went along. "Yes, my sister?" He adopted the serene voice and calm voice that he used to talk to other travellers and turned around. "Oh, sorry brother I mistook you for something else," Said the girl. Dragon's blood, it's The Girl. "What is it that you seek sister?" "Have you seen an imperial patrol or know the route to the nearest town? I cannot say that I have sister, I am a travelling monk and am following where the roads take me. If you wish for direction I could pray to the creator, Thats alright brother Ill just follow this road She made the horse go into a trot and was 15 feet away when she turned around and came back. Could I offer you a ride, brother monk? Daimon rushed to think of a suitable excuse, I could not possibly accept sister, walking the road gives me much time to commune with our creator and I would not wish to burden you Brother monk, I say this out of concern, the roads are no longer a safe place to be, A shade is stalking the night, I must insist that I give you a ride, at least until we reach a town, That is no something to be said lightly, A shade! Daimon paused then said slowly Then I will accept He climbed on and sat behind the girl, trying his best to maintain his distance. Most monks dont carry a sword Most women dont chase after shades They left it at that. Lia rode on. She occasionally looked back to see if her passenger was alright. Each time she just saw the side of his hood as she rode. He rode sideways as if he wanted to be ready to jump off as soon as His presence had been an unexpected occurrence, she

hadnt passed anyone in days since she left AshCrater, she needed to find a city, Amell had told her that Atilius was nearby, and she would most likely find an imperial outpost there. I got to warn them She rode as hard as she could, the trees suddenly cut away to reveal huge plains. Her eyes widened in awe, she could see for miles in everyone distance, the grass varied in length from knee, to shoulder height. She looked back and saw that hood had come off of her passenger. He hurriedly tried to put back on the hood. A thought came to her I never found out what your name was He paused and let his hood stay down, he waited as if expecting something then said Initiate Daimon Thats an odd name for a monk Why? Youre a holy man, and your name is Daimon, She looked back and saw him smile. I guess there is a certain irony to my situation. He paused, thinking, and then looked at her. You didnt tell me your name She turned around and paused. She didnt like telling people her name, she didnt trust people. She could talk to people, she could like a person, but she couldnt trust people. Lia He just accepted this new information. She looked around the plains, grasslands and saw a herd of well she didnt know what. Theyre Krintt Said Daimon Theyre big They were about 500 feet away, Lia estimated them to be at least 10 feet tall and just as long. They had light brown fur and had curved horns. They were well, built as if covered in fat, or muscle. They have teeth as sharp as knives, but eat plants. Most people think theyre anomalies but in fact, their teeth are for ripping the fleshy grass sacks that grow in these fields, How do you know so much? I studied such information as part of my initiation. What kind of monastery did you go to?. She thought incredulously. Lia kept that to herself though. They must not have many predators then, You would think so wouldnt you, He said staring out intently into the field, eyes searching. What on earth could hunt those? There! He said pointing at a straggler to the heard; it seemed to be stumbling, as if its feet were on uneven ground. As she looked she saw hazes of green, red and black shift around the Krintt, where ever the hazes went, streak of red sprayed soon after. The lone Krintt fell as its brethren continued to run away. What the hell was that? Lia asked quietly worried that whatever caused the beast to fall would attack them. Shrike dragons, theyre small things, about as big as a dog. They have serrated claws and razor teeth He said, looking almost gleeful at what they had just seen How do they kill the Krintt? Numbers, each flight can range in size from a dozen to forty. They hunt a single krintt, a dozen or so will work together to separate one from the herd. Then the remaining will latch onto its hide and starting clawing at it, the lead shrike will go for the neck. Even

still few, hunts go without three of four of the shrikes being trampled or bitten in half by the krintt. This then means that some of shrikes start eating early, You dont mean they she trailed off The smaller shrikes go for the chest as much as possible, where its softer meat, claw in and start eating. Its worse if they find a lone one, they just skip the hunt altogether, Thats disgusting Daimon shrugged Thats life, What if they hunt us? I would say that the reason they can take down krintt, is because krintt arent dexterous, they cant swipe of the little demons off their sides. We dont have that problem, What about the horse? And how do you think a monk and lone women can take down forty shrike, He paused in contemplation. It doesnt matter by night we should have be at least 10 Passages away. Well deal with the problem if and when it comes, This is the strangest monk Ive met. She thought in disbelief but then again this is the only monk Ive met.