Three days later...
The preparations had been made. It was nearly time...
For the journey, the entirety of Jubilife and the surrounding towns had allotted a measure of supplies that allowed for The seven chosen companions and their Pokémon would travel in a caravan of supplies, an Avalugg carrying the goods and equipment. Enduring food, blessed water, weapons, and a manner of Pokémon to aid the Company in the wild.
"Remember," Kamado had told the seven. "You are not to travel at night. Rather, make camp and set a watch. Make sure that the fire has been put out! Do not go on the roads once you have left the Obsidian Fieldlands! Go either a furlong east or west along the path. And do not make for the Crimson Mirelands! Enamorus rules there, and the servants of the Black Foe have roamed that region as of late. Arrive at the mountains before winter, do not sojourn long. Do not tell anyone of the purpose of this journey, for no one can be taken to be trustful except those whom you travel with. If you must give your names, say that you are the merchants of the Ginko Guild."
"How should we make our path, if we are to follow the omens?" Adaman had asked. "For the lands of Hisui are wide, and many dangers and threats unknown may assail us."
"The Original One will provide if Young Master Rei has the wisdom to see what He has provided. That will be resolved in its own time, for it is not our current duty to master all the tides of the world that we shall face, but to do what we may succor in the time that we dwell in. What weather you shall have is not ours to concern ourselves of."
"What of the air?" Cyllene had inquired. "Should we not travel in the skies as well as the land? By the flight of the Fearow, the Northerlands might be reached in a month's time."
Kamado's face turned grave. "You must not travel through the first heaven under any circumstances unless it depends on the success of the journey. The Enemy has long held the title of Lord of the Air, rivaled only by the great Dragon Lord Rayquaza. The winds and storms are his, and all doings in the skies he perceives with a withering gaze. You will not be availed by flight."
Iscan and his Kleavor were fletching white arrows and sharpening blades as they conversed with the High Elder. "I am troubled in my heart, as I do not think it would be wise to bring a young girl and lady on this perilous journey. I will not object to their presence, but many of the wise would not wish for Young Mistress Akari and Lady Cyllene to go into the north. They fear being caged, but the cage is safe. What of battle? Battle is the sport of Men."
Kamado did not waver. "The word of the Original One deems that the two are to go. And has it not been proven in many a rout that the woman of Hisui can be as fell and hardy as the men? If the girl should go as with my daughter, then I will trust that they should hold their own. If they perish, they will perish. A time or grief will come if such a fate comes to pass, but some good shall come of their deeds before the end."
Laventon had also brought his entire supply of Apricorn capture devices from the dark scullery of his stronghold. "Perhaps these will serve us yet!" he said when Lian had questioned their usefulness. "Along the path, other Children of Arceus may be captured, and join our cause...our own Pokémon will be an invaluable aid. For what blade can pierce the hide of the Firstborn, and who among Men can outlast them?"
In the hour before Rei was to depart, he had gone to receive his father's blessing, and bid farewell to his mother and other siblings, as it was accustomed to do of those who left to an uncertain fate.
"Remember, my son, do not travel down the path of the wicked." Rei's father had said. "Run from it! Rather, give thanks to the Original One your foundation, who trains your hand and eye for battle, and your mind and tongue to speak fair words. All who hate Him love death, but they who receive His mercy shall find life. You may go to a land that I know not, and return with greater knowledge of He Who is Above All Titles and Thrones and His workings."
Rei's father then entrusted his Magmar to Rei. "The flames of this one shall keep the black hand of the frozen night away. As such, you will hear my prayers on the wind, like an echo upon the breeze. When I give love, He who marked the earth's foundations will bring it to you in distant regions, even in aggressive nations of strange speech. As the many dark waters of the Enemy seek to drown it, my blessing will endure, as the Original One willed that love should."
The man then had given Rei his blessing.
When the sun was high, the journey set out from Jubilife Town to much fanfare and the blowing of golden horns. The road stretched ever on north, and the members of the Golden Company watched the distant crowds vanish as they rode into the north, to an uncertain path.
Once home and hearth lay behind, Akari began to sing softly in the waning sun.
"The Road goes ever on and on,"
"Down from the door where it began."
"Now far ahead the road has gone,"
"And we must follow, if we may,"
"Pursuing it with eager feet,"
"Until it joins some larger way,"
"Where many paths and errands meet."
"And wither then? We cannot say."
.
.
.
Deeds will not be less valiant even if they are unpraised.
.
In the cold, alpine expanses of the far north...
A regent robed in burgundy rested upon a carved-granite throne in the vast mountain hold that he held lordship over.
His earthly servants called him Marcus, but he was known as something else to the rest of the world. The Elder King, the Mbelekoro, the Evil Djinn, the Base Master of Treachery, the Nameless Foe of the South.
Like a black vapor-spewing missile, a monstrous wraith fell through the gambrel-roofed dome and appeared in the empty throne room. It bowed, unfurling its wings in a reverential fashion as Marcus looked on, and the gaze of his eyes was like a dart of poisoned ice to the lesser elohim.
"What news, Prince Enamorus?"
The being told its account, red smoke huffing out of its dark nostrils. "They have set out today, my lord. The false witness that we had sent was thwarted under certain...circumstances. He is traveling to this land with our aid, but I have doubts about his usefulness in performing your Will, o luminiferous and eternally resplendent one."
"Then you have failed," Marcus said, his eyes flashing red for just a moment. "I will consider your punishment. You will be permitted to fall upon them if they ever pass through the Crimson Mirelands. What is to be done now, if you would give your say in the matter? What is their strength in arms or numbers?"
"Limited."
"That may be, but we cannot touch them. Not one of them is under our power, and no lie crafted by us is in their hearts. However, you are to do whatever you must to delay their passage. In three months' time, the Free Peoples will fall. We will sweep into their lands like a plague, leaving none alive!"
Enamorus drew a great, ruby-encrusted scimitar of black iron from a sheath of hell-tanned leather, and emitted a noxious cloud of fume within the Unseen World, the stench rising to Deep Heaven. "Great Evening Star, If they were to be brought to me, in the fastness of my power in the Scarlet Bog, I would be able to slay them myself. My worshippers are of great strength to-"
Marcus held up his hand, ignoring the demon's request. Immediately, a garrison of soldiers marched into the hall, not seeming to notice Enamorus at all. When the commander walked through the spirit without a reaction, it became clear that not all that was could be seen by the eyes of man.
"Commander Malacus...you are to travel south, and find the man who goes by Volo. Bring him to me...I have need of him. He shall do my Will, for before the throne of the Dark Lord all must quail in terror."
The commander quickly bowed, and set out into the night.
For a long while, there was no sound to be heard but the marching of the soldiers and the long, everlasting groan of overburdened stone all around the two remaining beings. One was the greater, one was the lesser. The Will of the greater overwhelmed the lesser, and it had no freedom outside of its thrallhood, and both hated and loved its master as it hated and loved itself.
Finally, Marcus responded to the wondering of the demon. "Very well. You are to lure them into your domain, although they surely have been warned against doing such a thing. Use your earthly worshippers to carry out your wiles. I have errantry to attend to, as well..."
.
.
.
Dawn is ever the hope of Men.
.
The journey began with high spirits. The surrounding lands were full of allies and places of rest, and nearly everyone knew at least someone in the company. Across the territory, the travelers received many gifts, such as a weedwood bow for Akari, finer than the one she bore. A new spade for Lian, berries and medicinal herbs of great virtue in healing prowess, and far more food than could be hoped for, so much that the Avaluggs began to move at a halt.
As time passed, however, they began to enter the northern reaches of Hisui where they knew little of the folk that dwelt there, and the inhabitants little of them. They now did not sleep in any roadside lodges and traveled away from the unpaved roads. More troubling signs appeared, rumors of Noble Pokemon, of the high blood of Hisui, running mad within the wilds, and of strange creatures from Dor-na-Daeracheas marching ever southward. The night was full of strange creatures and Pokémon, and the watch was first set.
Adaman, although seldom amicable, did not prove to be a quarrelsome presence, and he was mostly silent throughout the days. Still, he gave maddening hints of horrors in the wild that they did not perceive, all of which were unwelcome tales. To redeem his grave warnings, he told tales of ancient heroes and legends, and stories of his doings in Barad Nimaras and on the northern frontier. Whenever he finished, Rei's mind was full of wonderous images of the deeds of the Clan of Diamond, and the fair white towers and flying banners of Barad Nimaras.
In what seemed to be little time, the Company entered strange lands in which unfriendly people shied away from them, speaking in hushed tongues. Old ruins loomed all about the land, a mere memory of the long passed glory of Hisui at its height. A strict watch was kept throughout the night, and the group became warier, to the point in which Iscan and Cyllene were convinced that every rustling of the forest was a bandit or foe-man in wait.
Three weeks since they had set out, the company rested in a forest on a night of torrential, freezing autumn rain, of which the likes of were common in Northern Hisui. Laventon had managed to get a fire going with the company's Magmar, and Rei's Sneasler had caught four full-grown hares, enough for a suitable meal.
While the rabbits were being cooked, Adaman and Rei went out to get some sap to make a stew from a collection of splintered trees, cursing the rain.
"Well! Either we shall freeze to death, or drown in our sleep!" Adaman grumbled. "Winter is coming, so I can only expect more of this dreadful weather. And going north as well...perhaps we won't have to make any more of this miserable stew once it becomes less worthwhile. I wish for battles and stratagems, of hewing foes, not wandering in the dark woods, making a living from rocks and roots!"
Rei reasoned that things couldn't possibly get much worse regarding the weather, and that a warrior of the high stature of the Diamond Clan should be above petty grumbling. Adaman fell silent, and he was greatly ashamed.
A cluster of black trees of maple stood unmoving against the rushing water, ripe for harvesting. After casting aside the Caterpie that had made an abode in the branches, Sneasler scratched holes into the bark, making gooey rivulets of the amber-colored sticky liquid spill in great torrents. Five glass vials had been brought among the two, ready to be filled.
After he had filled his share, Rei saw that Adaman was no longer laboring, and was looking toward the encampment where they had set out from, concealed in the foreboding mist of the downpour of heaven.
"Young Master Rei...how long have we been gone?"
Rei thought that the query was a frivolous and unwarranted question, but a tone of dread in Adaman's speech gave him pause. "Thirty minutes at most. Has something terrible occurred?"
"The fire was still going quite strong when we left, and if Laventon's skill at flame-tending has not wholly deserted him, it still should be burning. Now, I cannot see a glimpse of it. We have not ventured too far, and the light should be visible from where we stand."
Either the fire had somehow been naturally extinguished, or...
"Adaman," Rei whispered. "We should back go as slowly and quietly as we can, as to elude the eyes of whatever may be threatening our camp. I sincerely hope that they are alright..."
The two made a path through the soggy, cold forest, staying in the tall and weedy underbrush whenever possible, Sneasler following closely. Around some point when they were very near to the site, the fire came up again, showing that the camp was intact in its orange light. Rei went to his feet, assuming that it was safe, but Adaman covered his mouth and threw him down with a muffled cry.
"Hold! What reason do you have to do this?! Rei said, brushing wet leaves out of his dark hair. "I think I can see Iscan on watch-"
"Look!" Adaman said, and his voice was the voice of a commander of a great army, a lord of old; dragon-slayer, seafarer, warrior of Elder Days. Rei was a lowly soldier and was required to wait for a command, like a dog that waits for its master's call. "Three figures are around the fire. Certainly not one of us...the middling being could be Cyllene, but the others are of similar size, and are larger than Akari. I believe that three women have taken over our camp...Iscan is asleep against a tree, we must wake him!"
Rei snuck over to Iscan, who was dead asleep against a tree, not facing the three talking strangers, who were speaking in feminine and accusatory voices, exchanging blame and commands. He must have been on watch...but he would never fall asleep on active duty. The eyes of the Folk of Hisui do not weary so swiftly in the dark.
Iscan was not moving whatsoever except for a faint rising and falling of his chest, and it seemed as though his Willpower had left him. Rei also saw the other four asleep, bound with ropes, bundled on the ground. The other Pokémon, including Rei's Typhlosion, were also asleep and imprisoned in a similar fashion.
Adaman drew Mormakil from its sheath. "Give orders to Sneasler to follow me...I personally do not wish to slay a woman, but we must do what is necessary in these dark times...you may stay here, but be ready to act. Whatever witchery put the others to sleep may still be strong..." Rei withdrew his own small dagger, if Adaman was in need of aid.
Rei had Sneasler follow Adaman, who crept behind one of the female bandits, as silent as a Leavanny in a thicket. He put the great blade to the smallest raider's throat, while Sneasler put its own claws to the base of another's neck. "Surrender, or die by the hand of the iron of death!"
A Hypno came out from behind a broad spruce tree, and waved its glittering pendant. Waves of sleep fell over the warrior like a muffling blanket. Adaman fought to remain in the Waking World, but he and Sneasler hit the ground at once, and their two captives leaped aside from the still forms.
"Look what we caught, Charm!" The youngest said. "A foolish man, and a fine Pokémon...ain't much of those in these parts."
"Shut it, Clover!" Charm yelled, a squint-eyed matron who looked as though she might have some Calathrim blood in her. "There could be others, there are always others! No one would go alone at night with only one Pokémon! Search the area, they might be hiding some pretty little drachmas about.
Rei knew that he would be found by the wild-women if he did not cause a distraction of sorts. He grabbed hold of Iscan's shoulders, and made him fall over, into the sight of the bandits. The unnamed one, a hunched witch, ran over and grabbed the brawler, while Rei stayed hidden, the thrum of the rain covering his stale exhalation.
"Looks like this one got put to sleep as well!" Charm said. "Very good, Coin, my darling. This one is a Southlander, from those stinking Four Islands with their savages that worship trees and serpents. In the north, the natives honor a god that they call Almighty Sinnoh, or pay homage to Pokemon. I wonder if we are the only sane people in the world."
"Must be!" Clover squeaked. "We are the fighting wild-woman, the Miss Fortunes bandits! We serve neither the Dark Tower nor the White! We fight for coin, not for glory! Also, Charm...I wonder, do the citizens who dwell in Barad Nimaras relieve themselves on the heads of those on the lower battlements?"
"As if they would ever let you in the White Tower to see," Charm scoffed. "Now, time to haul these fine Pokémon off to the buyer...and give these people to that strange cultist from the Crimson Mirelands that we met back at Kirobara...shifty fellow, but he ought to pay out for these folk. Strange that he knew they would be here, no less..."
"We can't go now, eh?" Coin said. "Look, they were cooking up some good coneys! Might as well wait and eat 'em. Should we skin 'em or eat 'em raw? I like them raw, so does-"
Charm gave a growl, but stood down. "Ai, you forest-rats. But if this rain keeps up, we might just pack up for Kirobara anyhow! Remember the dream. We get filthy rich, and then we buy a good galleon with many oars. Then, we make sail for Kalos! The Rumhoth still survive around the Sunset Havens of Anduinie..."
When all three looked away from the foliage, Rei called back his Typhlosion inside Laventon's Capture Device. The noise made Clover swiftly turn in alarm, and she saw that the Pokémon was gone.
"Ai! Where did it go?! The ropes are still on th' ground!"
Charm ordered the others to scour the forest again. While this was happening, Rei moved over to the others, and cut their ropes with his blade. The written work of Easternesse, that is, Hisui, severed the cords like spider-silk, for the dark ties fell away at the spells engraved deep within the dagger.
By the time he had freed all the other members of the Company, the two unsavory bandits had returned. "Nothin'! No trace of it!"
"Well," Charm said. "If this happens again, tell me...ai! Those tarkul were bound! What in Yveltal's name is afoot?"
Rei moved to the final plan. Hypno turned away its burning stare from where Rei hid, so he rolled Typhlosion's Capture Ball over to its feet, and it opened with a click like a falling pebble.
Typhlosion was now awake, and Hypno was thrown aside by a great spell of darkness from Typhlosion's dark mane of flame. Rei hurled for the Capture Ball again, and sent back Typhlosion, throwing the Capture Ball at Charm's booted feet.
In an unlovely blow to the head, Charm fell into a dead faint. Clover and Coin whistled, perceiving the new threat. Immediately, an Abomasnow and a Toxicroak came out of the treeline behind the twin mercenaries, mad in their blood-rage. Typlosion took on Abomasnow while defending itself against the other, and Rei sent back Sneasler to its Capture Ball, where it came out of its slumber.
"You!" Charm howled at Rei. "The Miss Fortunes will not be defeated by a mere boy, only a sliver away from manhood! We will deliver on our-"
There was cry, and scuffle. Charm was cast to the ground by a beam of wrought steel. Laventon and his Gurdurr had awoken, and joined the terrible battle. Rei sent out Snealer again, and Adaman began to stir.
Abomasnow was defeated first, collapsing amidst a ring of dark flames. Toxicroak fell second, overborne by its many wounds. Sneasler held the two thieves at the length of its dark claws, while Laventon and Rei awoke the others, and the skirmish had ended.
...
The Miss Fortunes bandits had been put to sleep by Akari's Parasect, and lay bound upon the expeditionary Avalugg. Adaman had planned on bringing the three to Kirobara Outpost in a day's time, since honor demanded that they would not simply be left in the forest, at mercy to torment and death. The enemy Pokémon had been caught in Rei's Capture Balls, to bring them to the Free Peoples for them to aid the cause of Hisui.
A torn piece of parchment had been found in Charm's linen pocket, giving the location of an eastern settlement near the Crimson Mirelands inhabited by the dreadful Enamorus Cultists, where she would give the people she captured. Yet unknown to the Hisuians, the traffic of cultists emerging from the settlement had likely waylaid many travelers, condemning them to sacrifice upon some cruel altar.
"Perhaps this is a sign to go westward around the marsh, not eastward." Cyllene mused. "The omens of the Original One work in mysterious ways, do they not? Through wild-woman to the Beasts of the Earth and Sea in Elder Days long past. We are not abandoned in this forest by Lord Arceus, which I name the Taur-I-Gaurwaith, the Forest of Thieves."
"I would be filled with great dread about the intention that those three had for us," Rei said. "They said that they were to bring us to the Crimson Mirelands, the domain of Enamorus. That would be worse than even going through the Forests of the Unwilling! We may very well be hunted by the servants of the enemy, ere we leave the northern regions of Hisui."
Lian clapped his hands, as if he had a simple solution to resolve the whole matter. "Once we reach Kirobara, we will gather the knowledge and arms to reach past the Crimson Mirelands without being assailed by the Cultists. Now, we rest! I shall sing a new song, of a similar mode to Akari's poem..."
"The road goes ever on and on,"
"Out from the door from which it began."
"Now far ahead the road has gone,"
"Let others follow it who can!"
"Let them a journey new begin,"
"But we at last with weary feet"
"Will turn towards the lighted inn,"
"My evening-rest and sleep to meet!"
Akari laughed, a merry sound. "Not much finery we have in the wild. But our tents shall serve us well. And the journey has not ended, for the Road does stretch on farther than can be seen to whatever end. To bed, to bed and rest!"
Adaman took the watch, and within a time everyone has been lulled to sleep by the pouring rain, sent from heaven above.