Leaving behind the golden wilderness bathed in sunset's dying light, the Silverdove caravan crossed into shadow territory and slowly entered the darkness sheltered by the mountains.
"The Blackstone Mountains are dead ahead. Through the valley, just over an hour more and we'll hit Blackstone Village."
Maxim glanced at Pamin riding beside him—this was the fifth time he'd tried to strike up a conversation.
This knight was top-notch, constantly scanning their surroundings as they moved forward, occasionally scouting ahead, staying razor-sharp the whole time.
If all the caravan guards he hired were as solid as this knight, Maxim would gladly pay double.
The only downside was the guy barely said two words.
"Mm."
Pamin gave a slight nod in response.
He'd been giving Maxim the same treatment the entire trip.
Maxim wasn't surprised anymore.
The group entered the valley, following the twisting mountain trail.
The road was narrow as hell, like a dried-up creek bed full of rocks, making the wagons struggle and immediately slowing them to a crawl.
Pamin could barely wrap his head around how Maxim had originally stumbled onto this place.
Just as he was wondering about that, a sharp whistle cut through the air from above!
"Incoming!"
The second Pamin shouted, the guards snapped their shields up in defensive formation.
But the arrow didn't nail anyone—instead it stuck in a tree right in front of the caravan.
"Easy there."
Maxim flashed a reassuring smile, then hollered toward the valley: "I'm Maxim Silverdove, your old buddy!"
His voice bounced around the valley, then after a beat, everything went quiet again.
Night was closing in fast, and Pamin caught a glimpse of some figure dropping down from the slope ahead.
"Someone's coming to roll out the welcome mat."
Maxim grinned and started walking forward, but Pamin grabbed his arm.
He whispered his instructions: "Mr. Maxim, if the Blackstone Mountain folks ask who I am, just say I'm one of your caravan guards."
"Why?" Maxim asked, looking confused.
Pamin laid it out: "These people might not know jack about the lord's business, and I have no clue how they feel about him. Keeping it simple avoids unnecessary drama. I don't want any extra headaches—I just want to get you there safe and get back to Fontdmer Town ASAP."
Maxim went quiet for a moment, getting the feeling something was off.
But they'd come this far, and Pamin seemed sincere enough, so Maxim finally nodded.
"Thanks for getting it." Pamin replied politely.
Maxim then turned to meet the approaching figure.
"Really great to see you again, Ryan, my friend. May the Dawn Lord's light shine on you."
"I've been waiting for you all damn winter, you handsome devil."
The guy called Ryan stepped up and gave Maxim a bear hug that instantly turned his face red.
But Maxim didn't get pissed at Ryan's rough, in-your-face behavior—just smiled awkwardly and pushed him back.
After some enthusiastic back-and-forth, Ryan turned his attention to Pamin:
"You've got quick reflexes. I could tell you'd spotted me before my arrow even got close."
Pamin kept his mouth shut, sizing up Ryan.
This was a guy about his age, built like a brick shithouse just like Eliric, wearing rough leather armor with a fur cloak thrown over his shoulders, bow and arrows on his back, plus a hunting knife at his hip—the whole package screaming danger.
He had a gut feeling this Ryan was one of those skilled hunters.
Pamin's instincts were screaming at him to draw his sword and take out the hunter right then and there.
But common sense made him hold back.
"Well yeah, I dropped some serious coin on caravan guards this time."
Maxim finally broke the awkward silence.
"I can see that."
Ryan nodded, looked away, and said to Maxim: "Let's move. If we're too late, we'll miss chow time. We bagged three deer today—need to hustle back and get them all roasted up right to treat you proper."
Ryan took point, and the convoy kept climbing through the valley.
But they hadn't gone far when the valley path suddenly narrowed to a gap barely six feet wide that the wagons couldn't squeeze through.
Maxim had seen this coming from a mile away. He had his people unload the goods, leaving some to set up camp while the rest hauled cargo on foot.
Without waiting for Maxim to give orders, Pamin jumped in and had the guards grab the goods and push through the narrow valley pass.
After hiking about thirty yards, the view opened up ahead, and Pamin got his first look at the village settlement tucked away in the mountain hollow forest.
Just like Fontdmer Town, it was ringed by fencing over six feet high. In the flickering firelight, he could make out several wooden houses.
The most obvious feature was a 16-foot-tall two-story watchtower. Pamin did a quick count of the other wooden houses—thirteen total.
Eleven of them had smoke drifting up nearby.
With Ryan leading the way, Pamin and the guards carried goods into the village settlement without any hassle.
Under makeshift shelters, women bundled up in fur coats stirred soup pots over fires, while several similarly dressed men nearby were butchering what looked like wild deer.
The folks here seemed to still live like tribes, even more old-school than Fontdmer Town.
Just as Pamin was taking in the village scene, a tall, slim figure walked over.
"My daughter Aleya—you should remember her." Ryan introduced her to Maxim.
The girl had delicate features and a natural, innocent vibe, looking nothing like Ryan whatsoever.
Maxim bowed and spoke first: "Of course, really great to see you again, beautiful Miss Aleya. May the Dawn Lord's light shine on you."
"Welcome back. We've got tons of stuff ready to trade with you."
Aleya looked thrilled and said mysteriously in a hushed voice: "And you showed up at the perfect time—I scored two awesome things today!"
"Oh yeah?"
"What kind of awesome things?"
Maxim was immediately hooked.
Ryan standing next to them looked totally clueless, having no idea what awesome things his daughter was talking about.
"You two come with me!"
Aleya didn't just talk—she led the two deeper into the village.
Pamin wasn't invited, so naturally he couldn't tag along.
This worked out perfectly for him. He stayed put to scope out the surroundings and tried his best to memorize every detail.
Pamin couldn't care less about whatever awesome things Aleya was talking about.
What he cared about was whether he and his guys could take this village settlement on their own.
Meanwhile.
Aleya led Maxim and Ryan into a wooden house in the corner, packed with grain, with dried mushrooms and cured meat hanging from the walls.
"Is this your grain storage?"
Maxim looked around curiously, thinking Aleya wanted him to sample some fresh fruit.
"The awesome stuff is right here!"
Aleya walked over to a nearby haystack and suddenly swept away the hay, revealing two oval objects covered in dark blue scales and slightly bigger than watermelons.
"This is..."
Maxim's eyes went huge as he carefully bent down: "Holy crap, are those legendary dragon eggs?!"
"What are you smoking? How could they be legendary dragon eggs?"
Aleya rolled her eyes and explained with a bit less enthusiasm: "Wyvern eggs."
"That's still incredible. Wyverns are dragons too—this really is awesome stuff."
Maxim was totally mesmerized by the dragon eggs, staring at them like they were made of gold.
Only Ryan stood off to the side, frowning and demanding loudly: "Are those eggs from the wyvern that's squatting in our mine?!"