In the morning the subtle clouds had grown dark, spreading and asserting itself within the sky.
And by the time Vernon and Bruce had woken, the rain had begun to fall.
Bruce was the first to wake.
Vernon woke shortly after hearing Bruce muttering and groaning for over 5 minutes.
They both got up and had gotten ready to travel without even exchanging a look.
They knew how to do everything efficiently as long as the circumstances were correct.
Soon after they departed once more, this time not running - instead walking at a pace just slow but efficient enough to conserve stamina.
Planning came like as second nature to Vernon, he had already taken an out a map after waking up and getting ready.
"..Riverfolds is too risky." Vernon muttered under his breath.
"Wait, give me a second." Bruce said from behind the tree he had slept on.
"I said Riverfolds is too risky to go to now." he spoke up so that Bruce could hear him.
Silence fell... And then a exaggerated sigh of relief came from behind the tree.
"Ughhhh, Bruce shut up!"
Bruce bluntly avoided responding, "Where do we go to then?"
"hm.. We have two options that are in the direction we are heading."
"..."
"..Well, tell me what they are then." Bruce frowned.
"Lumen Dusk or Verdant Spike." Vernon clarified
"What is the better option?"
"I'm not sure."
"...?" Bruce stared in awe, "..Let's just go to the one which sounds cooler."
Vernon paused for a second, "So Lumen Dusk?"
"What is the point in asking when you already know the answer." Bruce scoffed.
Vernon just stared at him.
"Lets just go, we have a 4 day journey from this point on"
The trees did not end.
They thinned but remained in large numbers.
The more they moved forward, the more the wall of trunks slowly began to widen to reveal the sky painted in pale strips of grey.
Bruce pushed aside a hanging branch and stepped through first.
"..Please tell me we're almost out of this forest.. I'm so sick of trees."
Behind him, Vernon unfolded the map again.
Bruce heard the rustle and sighed.
"You've check that thing like ten times."
"Seven."
"That's not better."
Vernon turned the map slightly, aligning it with the horizon.
"..Hm. By the looks of it we will reach a river by nightfall."
Bruce looked around at the trees.
"So rivers just appear whenever you say they will now?"
A cold drop of rain hit his cheek.
Then another.
"..Come on.. You can't be serious."
Within seconds the rain arrived.
Not heavy - just sudden.
Bruce pulled his hood up.
"This sky has commitment issues."
Vernon ignored him and studied the terrain.
"..Hm? Follow me."
They left the faint animal trail they had been walking along and pushed deeper between the trees.
Branches scratched their sleeves.
Wet leaves slapped against Bruce's shoulders as he forced his way through.
"You know," Bruce muttered while ducking under a low branch, "roads are a very good invention."
"Yes."
"So why aren't we using one?"
"Because we don't know where the nearest one is."
Bruce paused.
"That seems like an important detail huh.."
"About half a day walk past the river seems to be something that resembles a path."
They walked for another half an hour before Vernon stopped.
Through the trees ahead, water glimmered faintly.
A narrow river, bending and creasing dramatically around massive rocks and stale terrain that has yet to bend to the rivers will - Curling almost like a hook.
Bruce stared at it.
"This wasn't meant to be here.."
Vernon folded the map.
"We're still on course."
Bruce crouched by the water and splashed his face.
"Good."
He looked back toward the endless forest behind them.
"Because once we're out, i refuse to do that again."
They had rested up through the night Vernon had done it through meditation whilst Bruce had done it through sleep.
Mist clung low to the ground, sliding between the trees like slow smoke.
Bruce walked ahead, pushing tall grass aside with a long stick he'd picked up.
Behind him Vernon watched the sun through the branches.
They walked for nearly an hour before Vernon stopped.
Bruce kept going.
"Bruce."
No response.
"Bruce."
Bruce turned around.
"What?"
Vernon looked at the sky again.
"We went too far west."
Bruce blinked.
"..Are you joking?"
"I just confirmed it."
Bruce stared at him.
"How long have we been going the wrong way?"
"Forty-ish minutes."
Bruce slowly dragged his hands down his face.
"..Fantastic.. That's Fantastic."
Vernon calmly turned the map.
"We correct east."
Bruce pointed behind them.
"So everything we just walked-"
"Yes."
Bruce sighed so deeply a nearby bird took flight.
"Perfect."
They turned around quietly.
Rain began halfway through the correction
Not a storm, just one of the short bursts that seems to appear out of nowhere.
The ground changed immediately.
Mud formed between the roots.
Bruce stepped on a slope and his foot slid halfway down.
"Whoa-!"
He grabbed a tree trunk.
Vernon caught his arm before he lost balance.
"Bruce, focus we will pick up the pace."
"Yeah yeah, just lead the way correctly this time."
They ran whilst using tree branches as their foot hold, and avoided going on the floor unless necessary.
Around the third day mark the terrain began rising.
Hill replaced the dense forest, and the trees spread apart - scattering along the land around them.
The wind flowed along the grass instead of the branches now.
They admired the great plain of grass before moving forward.
Bruce stepped over a fallen log and stopped suddenly.
"Hey."
Vernon looked up.
Bruce crouched beside the dirt.
Lines cut through the soil.
Not animal tracks.
Wagon maybe carriage tracks.
Vernon knelt beside them.
The mud was still soft.
"These are recent," he said quietly.
Bruce grinned.
"So humans exist."
"They existed yesterday too."
"Yeah but now we have proof."
Bruce stepped directly inside one of the tracks and began walking along it like a guide rail.
"If wagons came through here that means we're close to something."
"..Wow, finally a reasonable assumption from you."
Bruce stretched his arms behind his head.
"Nice."
Vernon glanced sideways.
"Nice?"
"Nice."
The sky darkened again.
Rain returned - quick and sharp.
They took shelter beneath a wide oak at the edge of the hill.
Water tapped steadily against the leaves above them.
Bruce leaned against the trunk and looked out across the hills.
"...You think they're looking for us?"
Vernon knew exactly what he meant.
"Maybe, we did run away which could have looked suspicious.."
Bruce nodded slowly.
"I guess so."
Vernon looked at him.
Bruce shrugged.
The rain stopped again.
Bruce pushed himself off the tree.
"Well."
He pointed forward.
"Lets go that way."
Vernon opened his map again.
"If we go that way we end up going past Lumen dusk instead."
Vernon folded his map.
"We need to go the opposite direction of where you pointed."
Bruce frowned but didn't argue.
The hills opened into a long ridge.
Bruce climbed it first.
At the top he stopped.
"...Vern."
Vernon joined him.
Below them, cutting through the valley floor, was a road.
A real one.
Wide.
Flat.
Clear of roots and branches.
Bruce walked down the slope and stepped onto it slowly.
Then he stomped once.
Solid ground.
He looked back at Vernon.
"I missed this."
A distant creaking sound reached them.
Both turned.
A wagon rolled slowly along the road toward them.
Three adults walked beside it.
Bruce immediately straightened.
"People."
"I see them."
"Do we hide?"
Vernon studied them.
Merchants.
No armour.
No drawn weapons.
"Relax, we haven't done anything wrong."
The wagon stopped when the driver noticed them.
He squinted down from his seat.
"Well I'll be damned."
"Kids?"
Bruce crossed his arms.
"We're not lost."
The driver chuckled.
"That so?"
He leaned forward.
"Then where you headed?"
Vernon answered calmly.
"Lumen Dusk."
The travellers exchanged quick looks.
One of them pointed toward the horizon.
"You're close."
Vernon's attention sharpened.
"How close?"
The driver gestured toward the distant ridge ahead.
"See that hill?"
Bruce squinted.
"...The blurry one?"
"Behind that one is the valley."
"And in the valley," the driver said with a grin,
"is Lumen Dusk."
Bruce slowly turned toward Vernon.
"You told me we weren't close."
Vernon folded the map carefully.
"...We weren't."
Bruce smiled.
"Well."
He started walking down the road.
"Now we are."
The road curved down into the valley behind the hill.
Bruce reached the crest of the hill first and stopped.
"...Vern."
Vernon climbed the last few steps beside him and looked out.
The valley below was enormous.
Stone walls wrapped around a sprawling city that stretched across the basin like a living thing. Towers rose above the rooftops in uneven clusters - some tall and elegant, others thick and practical. Several glowed faintly with pale blue runes that crawled slowly along their surfaces like veins of light.
Thin spirals of shimmering vapor drifted upward from distant chimneys.
Mana vapor.
Bruce stared for a long moment.
"..Holy, ..That's a city?"
"Yes.. It looks incredible."
Bruce squinted.
"Why are some of the buildings glowing?"
"I dont know but I'm excited to learn," Vernon said.
Bruce crossed his arms.
"..There is so many glowing."
They started down the slope.
As they drew closer, the scale of the place only grew larger.
The outer walls towered above the road, reinforced with heavy stone and etched plates of metal set into the masonry. Guards stood posted along the gate towers, their armour marked with thin glowing lines.
Travelers moved steadily through the gates - merchants, wagons, groups of students carrying packs.
Bruce slowed as they passed beneath the archway.
Floating lanterns hovered along the street inside the walls.
He stopped in the middle of the road.
"...Okay."
Vernon kept walking.
Bruce pointed up.
"Why is that lamp floating."
Vernon glanced at it briefly.
"..It might be connected to runes."
Bruce tilted his head.
"I dont want to know.. you will go nerd mode again."
People moved around them in steady currents.
Students passed by in groups wearing uniforms marked with small embroidered crests. Some carried wooden practice weapons. Others pushed carts stacked with metal devices that hummed softly as they rolled.
Bruce turned slowly, watching everything.
"This place is weird."
"It's a research city."
Bruce watched a cart roll past carrying a crate full of shiny glowing crystals.
"...I like it."
They walked deeper into the street.
Shops lined both sides of the road - smithies, potion sellers, supply merchants. The air smelled faintly of metal and something sharp and chemical.
Bruce paused to watch a blacksmith hammer a glowing rune plate.
The metal flashed blue with every strike.
"...That is definitely unsafe."
Vernon was about to respond when a group of students walked past them.
They were older than most of the others.
Confident.
Their uniforms were dark blue with thin silver trim.
One of them wore a jade pendant around his neck.
It swung slightly as he walked.
Vernon's eyes flicked to it.
Then stopped.
His steps slowed.
Bruce took two more steps before realizing Vernon wasn't beside him anymore.
He turned.
"...Why did you stop?"
Vernon didn't answer.
The pendant moved with the student's stride, catching the light.
The jade surface was scratched and slightly worn.
Carved into it was a crest.
Two curved lines spiraling inward.
A thin vertical mark splitting the center.
Something about it tugged at Vernon's memory.
Metal ringing.
The sharp smell of the forge.
Derek's voice, half muffled over the sound of hammering.
"That crest again..."
Then Hunk Blue answering quietly.
"I've seen people in other cities wear it..."
"I remember seeing it in Riverfolds.."
Bruce waved a hand in front of Vernon's face.
"Earth to Vernon."
Vernon blinked once.
"That pendant."
Bruce glanced at the student.
"...What about it?"
Vernon didn't reply immediately.
Bruce leaned closer.
"You're doing that thing again."
"What thing."
"The creepy silent thinking."
Vernon watched the students disappear into the crowd.
"That symbol."
Bruce looked again.
"...Yeah?"
Vernon's voice lowered slightly.
"Dad mentioned it."
Bruce frowned.
"When?"
"At the smithy."
Bruce thought for a moment.
Then his eyes widened slightly.
"Your ears are too good for your own good."
He looked back toward where the students had gone.
"...So what does that mean?"
Vernon lifted his gaze.
Beyond the rooftops, two enormous academy complexes rose above the city skyline.
One was built from massive stone towers surrounding open arenas.
The other was taller, thinner, covered in strange metal structures and antenna-like arrays.
Vernon studied them silently.
"I think," he said finally,
"we need to find out why academy students are wearing it."
Bruce cracked his knuckles.
A slow grin spread across his face.
"Well."
He looked up at the towering academies.
"Looks like we're going to school."