The Wandering Inn_Volume 1

by Pirateaba

  It is fixed. Completely, utterly. The power bar reads 100% at the top of the screen. It’s the most glorious thing I’ve ever seen, bar my healed leg. And it is fixed.

  I barely even feel my body as I walk outside. It feels as though I’m floating in a world of my own. Legs—fixed. iPhone—fixed. That’s all I need.

  It’s time. Time to do what I’ve always wanted to do.

  I step out into the middle of the street. No carts are passing by, and the pedestrians are mostly in for lunch. The others ignore me. Some stare at my iPhone, but I am just another Runner. That’s the way I like it.

  Except of course that there’s always someone watching. Ceria, Gerial and Sostrom have come out of the inn to watch me, but I can see several Street Runners casually lounging across the street. Ready to follow and intercept? Most likely.

  And of course, I can’t see anyone else, but there’s a prickle on the back of my neck. I wonder if Lady Magnolia hires assassins, or whether her maids have a diverse skill set. Or maybe it’s someone else. Who knows? Who cares?

  Death. That’s what everyone tells me the High Passes are. And they’re right. It’s probably the most dangerous spot on this part of the continent. Even if it’s not certain death, it’s more than any sane person would want to risk.

  But I’m not sane. Nor am I a normal person. Fear and exhilaration share equal parts in my heart right now. I want to see it. People tell me something is deadly and dangerous? I want to see it for myself.

  Besides, what about this world is normal? What about this world is sane? Ever since I’ve come here I’ve slowly pieced together the real shape of this crazy planet. From the local area you might think it’s safe, a kind of medieval culture advanced several hundred years technologically thanks to magic. But it’s not. I know it.

  In this world the untamed wilds threaten to overwhelm the fragile peace of civilization. Though the thinking races of this world are numerous and possess technology and magic, their hold is tenuous. When the undead rise in numbers or the things living at the far edges of the earth venture out, nations burn.

  The books I bought tell me different things from people. And that’s because books are written by individuals, while people are quite stupid. People only know what they want to know. The individuals who write books make it their business to know as much as they can.

  Peace and stagnation. War that does not change. This continent is wracked by it. The human nations fight against the non-humans to the south, sending armies to fight and die in the Blood Fields each year. A genteel war to fight only in the same place? No. But the cost of a true war where cities fall is too much for either side at the moment. So it’s a long war of attrition and changing alliances. Meanwhile, the natural landscape and monster attacks are enough of a problem for the city-states either way.

  But this continent is peaceful. Compared to some.

  To the east far across the seas, the Blighted King wages an eternal war against monster tribes and demons. His continent has seen war for two hundred years and his is one of the last nations not consumed. Nations send their own armies to support him, but his people have never known peace. Their heroes and soldiers are some of the finest and the most impoverished. He fights a daily war that he is losing over the course of years.

  To the south, an endless desert cuts off the more fertile lands from invading armies. Poverty is ever-present there too, but the nations still fight over what’s left like starving dogs.

  Once, a warlord unlike any other managed to conquer the whole damn continent and was sweeping through this one when his empire suddenly collapsed. None of the books said why this was. This king did not die—nor was he apparently harmed. But he abandoned his dreams of world conquest. Now he sits in his crumbling kingdom as other countries pick apart his once-great empire. The King of Destruction sleeps.

  The continent north of this one is filled with humans. They have subjugated their lands and created a peaceful continent, or at least one with few fewer monsters. But despite that they fight amongst themselves in a never-ending battle for supremacy. Their royal families hold mighty artifacts in their vaults but fear to use them in case of mutually assured destruction.

  Other nations. I have read of them. The western oceans are largely unexplored, but I’ve read of a continent close to a jungle, where few cities exist and the tribal peoples have thrown back every army trying to conquer them. An America that was strong enough to resist the colonial invaders.

  An army of Minotaurs like Calruz fights against…something to the southeast as well. Some sworn enemy of the world is enough to keep nearly a million Minotaurs in a constant state of war and peace. Well, a million is the number the book I read touted, but it was written using information decades old. But the Empire of Minos has its own strange culture humans and other races don’t want to learn about for some reason.

  More continents, more islands and places my books could only hint at. An icy Antarctic shelf with icecaps taller than skyscrapers. A graveyard of broken ships and a maelstrom that never ends. A legendary isle where mages gather to learn spells and where anyone is free to study. Ancient, mythological kingdoms in the sky that fell into the sea.

  These are the legends and wonders that shape this world. Yet here I am, in one of the most boring places in one of the safest parts of the world and people warn me about the High Passes as if they’re dangerous? For all the unrest, this is an era of peace. All the terrible battles happened long ago.

  The Gods fell in war tens of thousands of years ago. Because I knew to look for them, I found hints of the Elves, but no book of nations and countries lists their race anywhere. The Dwarves are hidden in the heart of mountains that make the Himalayas look like foothills.

  The age of great wars, myth and legends has ended. Magic endures, but those who wield it have faded. Nations fight in brush wars, but the balance of power has been kept.

  This is not a time of heroes. And that’s fine with me. I am no hero. But I want to see what remains. I want to see what wonders still lurk in this world. For I am certain: they are legion.

  The world I’ve seen so far—the cities and people here—are so petty. They care only about their small struggles and what they think of each other. Magnolia, for all her cunning is a small landowner in a tiny part of the world. And that is wonderful.

  The worst thing that ever happened to my world was globalization. Once we reached the ends of the earth we lost our curiosity, our drive to grow. But I feel it. It calls to me.

  Adventure. Pure and simple.

  I can see the other Runners watching me. But I don’t care about them. The iPhone is warm in my hand.

  I tap the screen and it lights up. Gerial and the other Horns of Hammerad gasp again, and even Ceria looks amazed. But to me it’s like looking at an old friend.

  An old friend. An iPhone 4, to be exact. Black, sleek. It used to be full of scratches and dents where I dropped it, but now the plastic shines in the daylight. It looks like it just came out of the box.

  Slide to unlock. No password. If I lost my iPhone I deserve to let it get hacked. Not that there’s too much on there. A few books, saved files, an empty contact list, basic essentials like Safari which is useless here…only one thing takes up nearly all 32 GB on my phone.

  Music.

  It’s all there. Thousands of songs, some great, some only mediocre. But every song I ever liked and bought or more often downloaded illegally is here. All here.

  I can’t help it. I start laughing. Laughing for the pure, joyous salvation of magic. It’s given me everything I’ve ever wanted. My wings, and now my music. With it—with this—

  I am free.

  —-

  Ryoka stared down at her iPhone and then began to laugh. For her, it was joyous. But for everyone else—

  Gerial and Sostrom edged away from Ryoka and the other people on the street took one look at her and then hurried away. Ceria could only smile in astonishment.

  “What an evil-sounding laugh.”


  Perhaps Ryoka heard that, because she stopped. She reached into her pocket and drew out two earbuds. To the confusion of everyone watching she plugged them into her iPhone and then into her ears. Then she turned and began to jog.

  The Street Runners left their positions and began to follow, but Ryoka’s jog turned into a fast run in an instant. She disappeared from view even as the Horns of Hammerad watched.

  “What do you suppose that device was? Did it resemble anything you saw in Wistram Academy, Ceria?”

  Ceria raised an eyebrow at Sostrom.

  “I’ve no idea. Besides, that thing had no magic in it. How strange. But I can see why Magnolia is so fascinated by Ryoka and—”

  A thought occurred to Ceria. She reached into the pack she’d brought with her, now stuffed with Ryoka’s clothes and began pawing through it.

  “And—”

  Ceria paled as she checked her pouches and pulled out a blue potion.

  “Oh no. How could this happen? I swear I checked to make sure—”

  “What? What is it?”

  She turned to Gerial and Sostrom and showed them the potion she was holding.

  “The healing potions I gave her—half of them were mana potions.”

  They stared at her in horror. But even as they turned to shout, Ryoka was long gone. She was running. And she couldn’t have heard them in any case.

  The music was about to begin.

  —-

  Ryoka sensed the other Street Runners trying to keep up as she raced through the streets, dodging past cursing pedestrians and keeping well away from any carts, wagons, or larger vehicles. The paved stones felt wonderfully smooth underneath her feet.

  Hm. The Street Runners were keeping up well. Only to be expected since Ryoka had to dodge too many things for her liking. But they weren’t smart. They didn’t know how to shift their weight to get the best out of every step, and how to turn corners quick. They were just talented amateurs or in most cases, just amateurs.

  Ryoka reached the gate and sensed more Runners following her. City Runners. They were faster. She wondered if Persua was in the crowd trying to catch up. Well, they could prepare any kind of trap but they’d have to catch her first. She was already running faster than normal, but it was time.

  She could barely contain the excitement burning in her chest. Time. After so long, the mere thought of it was giving her goose bumps. Ryoka ran while keeping the iPhone in her hand. She flicked through the screens, selected the Music app. Then—it was at the top of the screen, a pair of crossed arrows.

  She hit the button.

  Shuffle.

  —-

  I’ve run races, marathons, even an ultra-marathon once. I’ve run through snow, rain, hail, through thunder and lightning and even hurricanes. But I’ve never run like this.

  Motivation. After so long of running in silence, the instant I heard the guitar’s first chords my legs churn into overdrive.

  “Sweet Home Alabama” thunders in my ears as I race out the city. Lynryrd Skynrd’s lyrics blast through my ears as I pick up speed, shedding Runners left and right. The music’s not the best for running—but far from the worst. And it’s not the song that matters so much right now. It’s just the music.

  Running. Music. Running music. The greatest thing ever to be invented in the history of ever. It takes away the pain of running and puts me right into the zone. I could run barefoot on nails and—

  That’s a terrible idea. But I could probably dodge highway traffic and run a six-minute mile forever while listening to music. How is it that it can take away your focus on running and at the same time focus my mind even more on running? I don’t know.

  It’s just music.

  Sweet home Alabama, where the skies are so blue. I’ve always wanted to go to Alabama just to run around listening to this song.

  Motion. A bunch of Runners are ahead of me. Fals and some of the highest-level City Runners. They want to cut me off and they’re sprinting as fast as they can. And it might be a skill or a Skill, but they’re quick enough that they could actually catch me.

  On any other day.

  I don’t even have to look down. I’ve memorized the exact placement on my iPhone so that my fingers can immediately find the next button. It’s not that I don’t love a good country rock song, but if I’m going to go full-throttle, I want faster music. The shuffle god works his magic. And then I hear it.

  Oh. Hell yeah. I can tell when the first bell tolls which song it is. “I Will Not Bow” by Breaking Benjamin. Then the guitar and drums blast in and everything disappears. I run like I’ve never run before.

  I catch one glimpse of Fals’ stunned face before I blow by him and the other City Runners. They can’t even turn fast enough to see me. The landscape blurs and disappears underneath my feet. I’m running just as fast as I did when I got my leg back. Fast as that. Faster.

  I am heavy metal. I am death and rock. I am running and running becomes me. I will not be stopped.

  The vocalist screams in my ears and I run on. The High Passes await. A mysterious delivery request, deadly monsters, and mystery. I leave behind intrigue, angry Runners, and petty infighting with every step. Onwards, ever onwards. I run with music taking away the pain of the world and run to keep death from catching up.

  At last.

  I am free.

  1.08 R

  I slow down after about twenty minutes of sprinting. Not because I don’t feel like running faster but I know I’ve got a long way to go.

  So I reduce my pace from record-breaking speed to a sustainable jog. A bit faster than normal, but I can’t help it.

  I’ve got the music.

  Currently I’m running to the not-so-fast-paced song, “Heathens” by twenty one pilots. I love it. And the movie it was written for – Suicide Squad – I really wanted to watch it, even though I thought it might not be as insanely horrific as I hoped. PG-13? Really?

  It came out just a month before I came to this world. I always meant to see it but I kept putting it off. Guess I’ll never see it now.

  Hm. Thinking of home, or the world I came from hurts a bit. But it’s more like a thorn that I’ve pulled out of my foot* a while ago. It still hurts, but the place I’ve come to makes up for it. In some ways. In other ways it’s just as crap, but at least—

  *More than once. Painful, and way worse than stepping on glass. Actually, barefoot runners rarely step on glass. Everyone thinks we do, but if you were running around barefoot would you step on glass? Seriously. Think about it.

  Yeah—At least the view is great.

  An open landscape of rolling hills and an open dirt road stretches out before my eyes, punctuated only rarely by inconveniences like rocks or in the distance, small buildings. It’s the most glorious sight for a runner.

  Actually, the geography reminds me a lot of Mongolia. I used to stare at pictures of the endless grasslands there and dream of running by myself for days. But this place, this makes Mongolia look like a cramped hipster coffee shop in the middle of a city.

  This world is big. And even that word is too small to encompass the land around me. Endless is probably a better word for the scale of this planet. Even the sky is larger, or at least that’s how it feels. But how would gravity work if that’s the case?

  Magic. Probably. Anyways, I’m not thinking about this again. Focus, Ryoka. Think about your job.

  Hm. Let’s see. I’ve ditched Fals and the rest of the jackasses that call themselves Runners. That’s a good first step. Now, Celum is a ways away from the High Passes. The closest city to them is actually Liscor, although you have to run around the mountain range to get there.

  In any case, I can relax. I’m running at a quick pace, but it’ll take a few hours to get there. So I relax, and let my mind wander.

  —-

  Run. Run and eat. Run and stop to pee. Run and slow to a walk for a while. Normally, I’d be busy thinking all this time but instead I just listen to music. It’s been so long every
song is fresh and amazing to listen to.

  In between that I do stop the music to concentrate. As a Runner, it’s important to be aware of my surroundings. And a few things have been bothering me.

  Firstly, I know the local landscape. Around here – around most of the northern part of this continent the geography alternates between relatively flat land and the mountainous passes that lead to the southern continent. True, there are heavily forested regions further north and from what I’ve heard, several large rivers that create a transportation network that makes Runners slightly obsolete. But that’s north, and I haven’t travelled that far.

  In the same way, I haven’t gone past Liscor to the south. That’s where the landscape gets nasty, apparently. Marshes, mountainous landscapes, and what some people call the Blood Fields dominate the largest southern section. No wonder humans don’t go down there.

  So where I’m running – the plains – is one of the better parts to be. The only monsters around here are Goblins and a few weaker examples of monsters. But the closer I get to the High Passes, the more likely I am to run into something nasty. Exactly what monsters live in the mountains I don’t know, but they make the ones living in the human lands look cute by comparison.

  That’s the first problem. The second is that there are a bunch of fireflies following me.

  Fireflies. Or—animated sparks of light? That’s the closest thing I can think of to describe them. It’s like—well, it’s like some kind of magic maybe? These…symbols keep flashing around my head and I swear I can hear something whenever I look at these flashes of color that are whirling around my head. They keep trying to get a lock on me, but whenever they do I speed up and lose them.

  It’s probably some kind of curse. I don’t know if Persua has enough money to hire a mage or if it’s possible to call down lightning on me, but I’m not dealing with whatever it is.