“A gift given like this has power, Master,” Yono whispered. “Something far stronger than mere Augmentation. Do not do this poor man a disservice. Bear his son’s armor with pride.”
I bowed and took the bracers. They had a comfortable weight to them. Simple leather braided itself around steel plates designed to deflect damage to the forearms. I’d never made a habit of wearing actual armor in the Seven Realms before, but Baldwell’s encouraging nod was all I needed to change that. I fixed the bracers around my forearms. They were a little too long, and the padding covered the tops of my hands, but with a little adjustment, I rearranged the armor until it sat comfortably on my arms.
“It’s an honor,” I told Baldwell. “I’ll wear them with pride.”
“Another drink, Swordslinger?” Baldwell asked quietly.
“Time grows short,” Nydarth warned me.
“If I find the time, I’ll certainly be back for a barrel,” I said with a smile, “but we need to move on. If you have any way of contacting the other villages, let them know that we came through and to keep their houses secure, particularly at night.”
“We’ll send out a rider as soon as we’re able,” Gerry assured me. “Safe travels, Swordslinger. Tread your Path with pride.”
“I will,” I said. “Thanks again.”
I turned back to the golem. Mahrai sat on its knee, gently trading punches with an enthusiastic young boy, and Vesma danced around the others with grace and good humor. She beamed at me as I approached and turned back to the kids. They went quiet as she addressed them seriously.
“Now, remember, little ones, you must listen to your parents.”
“Awww, do we have to?” a short kid with a pudgy belly asked. “All the time?”
“All the time,” Vesma assured him. “That’s how I became an Augmenter.”
Their faces brightened suddenly, and Vesma nodded to the houses. “Back you go.”
The village’s children trailed back to the houses. They skipped, danced, and some of them even sparred with each other. The boy with the bowl cut tried to chop at his little sister, but she just turned and fixed him with a withering look that made him back down immediately. I turned my attention back to the others.
Mahrai fingered the floral garland around her neck.
“It looks great,” I told her. “Really brings out the confusion in your eyes.”
Mahrai growled under her breath.
“She couldn’t figure out why they wanted to be around her,” Vesma said with a conspiratorial stage whisper. “But it turns out that all of them want a golem as a friend.”
The golem shifted as Mahrai climbed on her back. “I hear you talking down there, Vesma, and I’d like to remind you that I’m the one who controls the pace here. So, unless you really want to spend the next two hours throwing up into the fields, I suggest you cut it out.”
Vesma’s face tightened, but she didn’t quite lose her smile.
“Those are new,” she observed, with a nod at my arms.
“A gift from the people of the village,” I said. “We should leave, before they start loading us down with beer. I’d hate to see what the three of us could do to their cellars.”
Vesma climbed up beside Mahrai, and the golem trotted out of the small village. It broke into a full sprint as we cleared the houses. I activated Flight again and kept up with the golem’s cracking pace as it thundered over the road toward the mountains.
We made good time across the floor of the valley toward Wysaro Castle. Mahrai skirted her golem around two more villages as the morning bled into late afternoon. I’d have liked to stop, especially after our last meeting with the locals of Flametongue Valley, but Nydarth was right. Time was of the essence, and we couldn’t afford to slow down now. I had to trust that Gerry would keep his word and send out a rider to the other villages.
“They’ll be fine,” Choshi said. “You’ll stop whatever’s going on, Master.”
I grimaced as a nightmare scenario crossed my mind. Hundreds of demons streaming down from the mountains to wreak havoc on the defenseless villages and bringing death and destruction right to the gates of Wysaro City.
“You won’t let it happen,” Nydarth said. “You’ve dealt with demons before, Master. This is no different than last time. Look at your wives. They ride beside you with absolute confidence. Your newfound power will give you everything you need.”
“This is bigger than us now,” I pointed out. “We’ve fought to the death before. But if we let a single demon through our fingers, it could tear through an entire village by itself.”
“And what of Qihin City? Was it different then?” Yono asked.
“You can still kill regular monsters with weapons,” I said. “Augmentation makes it easier, sure. But it takes a strong Augmenter to deal with a single demon, let alone an entire army of them.”
“Then it’s a good thing you sent the others on to the guild, isn’t it?” Yono said.
I knew Kegohr, Faryn, and Kumi were more than capable of organizing the guild if our worst fears were realized. There wasn’t any point in worrying. It hadn’t helped me in the past.
Mahrai waved me over, and I adjusted my flight path until I drew level with her. The late afternoon sun washed over us as it peeked out from its descent over the mountains.
“What’s up?”
“We’re almost there,” she said.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I turned my eyes upward and saw a small stone outpost at the base of the mountain. I gained some altitude and scouted out the area ahead. Wysaro Castle loomed over us from the mountain, and a rudimentary elevator system hung from the base of one of the tall spires. Six guards in the Wysaro tabard stood around a wide platform designed to hoist travelers or visitors to the castle up into its depths. There was no sign of black-furred demons, monks with shaved heads,
