[Veilbinder] - Chapter 21
A shorter chapter to be sure, but I needed it to set some things up for later.
Thanks for reading!
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“Welp, there she goes…” James quipped quietly to himself. His eyes were squinted against the glare of the early morning sun as he leaned against the side of their vehicle.
They were on a hillside to the south of the city. The brilliant light danced across the surface of the bay which served as the lifeline to the city of Aestrahd and which was speckled with ships and boats slowly meandering their way across the water. He didn’t envy what the Captain, the King, and their respective advisors must have been going through seeing as it was impossible to hide the Bornholm anywhere populated. The sailless steel monolith of a ship dwarfed anything that sailed the Tyran seas, not to mention it looked nothing like any ship yet built in this world. Already, rumors about the giant metal ship were on their way to spreading at a handful of distant ports, so to keep them as just that for a while longer, the ship was being moved to a sheltered cove a short way to the south. It was both away from prying eyes and easily defended, though lacking in natural resources and difficult to reach, which led to the current task of securing the land route to her new berth.
He and the rest of the Charlie One under the command of Sergeant Brian Okoda and currently without their long time second in command were waiting on their counterparts from the imperial garrison. With them was a second squad headed by Lance Corporal William Mason. They had been sitting for only a few minutes when Gabriella Perez called out from her place on the roof of their vehicle.
”Heads up everyone, we got movement along the tree line.” She said, thankful for a distraction as she shifted up to a kneel from her hunched and cross-legged sitting position. She brought up a pair of compact binoculars and in the distance she could make out the familiar dark-furred shape of Commander Atha’s second in command, Mirun. He was accompanied by several subordinates in the scouts’ characteristic cloth and leather armor. “I see Atha’s lap cat and three others. Don’t recognize ‘em but they’re in matching uniforms.”
Thomas snickered, “Bet two silvers you won’t say that to his face.”
”Eh, why not, count me in. Money's on Gabs.” James drawled while Gabriella rolled her eyes. Even now, it still occasionally caught him off guard when he was reminded about how well some were adjusting to their new environment.
”I don’t think that’s going to go as well as you think.” Came Brian’s voice from within the armored hull of the Mutt. “Now can it and mount up.”
Thomas and James both acknowledged the command and shared a glance, the former with a mischievous grin while the latter could only give him a subtle shake of the head to try and warn him off before they both piled into the vehicle.
”Comin’ downstairs.” Gabby announced before unceremoniously dropping down through the roof hatch. Her hands swung up to the lip of the hatch to arrest her fall as, with a soft thud, she landed flat on her rear between the driver and passenger seats. Looking up, she swung the metal lid closed and secured it in place, giving the latch a couple confirmatory tugs before crabbing her way into the passenger seat and refreshing the vehicle's navigation system. This would be a new route for them and once they were out of the mapped region near Aestrahd they would once again launch a drone to start surveying the area just as they had done on the way to the city.
With a final check complete, the Mutts’ electric motors whirred to life as both squads set off towards the trees.
–
Xander missed coffee. It was never a favorite drink of his, but more than three months without it, by his reckoning, left him waxing nostalgic about the caffeinated beverage. He missed the smell of it most of all. Some days it was the only thing that kept him moving in the morning, especially after drill weeks back when he was still stationed on board the ocean defense platforms. Other times it served to ground him when their isolation in the middle of the Pacific ocean started to wear on him. This was like those times. He wasn’t sure why, but on this particular morning the absence of the smell of coffee reminded him of just how unbelievably far away from home he was. Even if he only considered this world, the ship, its crew, and his squad were at least several hundred miles away somewhere to the south west. He resigned himself to the knowledge that if anything happened to either him or them, by the time the news reached either party, it would be too late for anyone to do anything and that was if their respective hosts decided to share any information at all.
After filing that particularly depressing thought away for later, he downed the last of his drink with a sigh. Leaving his payment under the cup at the counter, he exited the mostly empty tavern into the morning glow of the pre-crest sun. He was alone today. Rasklin and Sydira had been given separate assignments. To him, it was a sign that the Order trusted him enough to let him wander off the leash, at least for a little bit.
Being built on the shores of a crater lake, the day started twice in Estyra. For most within and without the city the day began at dawn as one expected but some areas of the city didn't truly come alive until the sun crested the lip of the crater a couple hours after. That time happened to be coming up very soon. As Xander made his way back towards the dock as per the missive he received this morning, a bell rang through the city and reverberated off the walls of the crater. Three long chimes to signal that the sun was finally peering over the mountains and casting its rays directly onto the city. By the time he reached his destination, the same marina he had been led to when he first arrived, the city had brightened up significantly and he could feel life beginning to quicken.
He dug through his hip pouch for the letter as he approached the gate guards. These two were different from the ones he remembered. The first was a lanky man with a rough complexion who kept his hair pulled back into a ponytail. The second was both shorter and much younger looking with close-cropped red hair. It must have been about time for a shift change as they both looked tired, but straightened up as Xander approached. The younger one commanded him to halt and asked for his name and business in heavily accented Vilsirin.
Xander complied while also handing over the letter for good measure, he almost gave his surname first out of habit before he caught himself. After a few seconds scrutinizing the missive the lankier guard jogged over to the guardhouse nearby. A minute later he exited with a gondolier in tow and it wasn’t much longer before Xander was gliding smoothly across the water on a gondola as the pilot eased it into lazy turns around the rocky outcroppings near the shore.
Out of curiosity, Xander looked over at one of the gondola’s enchanted outriggers. As before he could faintly make out the lines of runes that glowed just under the surface of the wood. This time, however, he closed his eyes and concentrated on feeling the movement of magic through his environment. It took magnitudes more effort than he was used to. In the classroom there was absolute quiet when he needed it, in the common rooms there was only the crackle of the fire and his plucking of the sephra. Now, however, it was an assault on his senses. Every time he was able to shut out one sensation another took its place; the splash of the gondola through the water, the breeze as it played across the lake and whistled around him and the boat, the heat of the sun on his neck, the creak of the tiller, the shifting of the boat under him. On and on. One by one he tried to center himself, to force his mind into only concentrating on the flow of aether. Minutes felt like hours as he focused until he finally started to perceive the faintest-
“Hoi, you feeling alright there?” The pilot asked.
Xander almost jumped and his head whipped around to take in his surroundings before focusing on the gondolier seated on his cushion at the rear of the boat. A flash of irritation was immediately quashed as he fully absorbed what had been asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he muttered, his voice more clipped than he intended.
“You sure? Cause you looked like you were about to take a dive.” The gondolier asked.
Xander stifled an exasperated sigh and forcibly relaxed his shoulders. “Yeah, I’m sure. Just… meditating is all.”
It was mostly the truth.
The gondolier studied him for a few seconds before giving him a shrug. “If you say so.” he quipped before returning to mind the tiller.
Xander had half a mind to try again, but a quick glance forward revealed that they were almost at their destination. The familiar stone jetty was coming into view around the crest of the small kidney bean shaped island that housed the Forum. Awaiting him at the foot of the jetty were the silhouettes of Leander and Miri.
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Posted May 13, 2026, 5:21 PM UTC