Melody of the Builders 10

The Stromroot Mountains were unique for more than just the scope of the mountain range and the unusually warm climbs even at its peaks where other mountains would have been snowcapped. Rife with gullies, valleys, chasms, and a number of cavern systems as well as the most expansive and labyrinthine of any known ruin from the Age of Ash the black rock and grass coated Stormroot Mountains were a sight to behold. The wonders of the mountains extended beyond just the mountains alone however as the geography of the land surrounding the mountains was just as astounding. To the south countless spires of stone and earth known as the Teeth erupted over rolling and fractured grasslands like a barricade to stop impossibly huge horsemen from reaching the peaks. To the north the geography gave way to grassland covered bluffs and cliffs that were structured in such a way as to look like the giant waves of a green sea crashing and breaking against the mountains. This spectacular landscape was known far and wide as the Emerald Sea.

Amongst the fissures and chasms of the Emerald Sea cities and towns were carved into the cliff sides and a culture that specialized in bridge construction, mining, stonework, and airship expertise thrived. This collection of cities and towns was collectively the nation of Bright Rift so named for the motes of light that floated up from the depths of the fissures where no man dared to tread. For all of the kingdom’s wealth and expertise however life in the Emerald Sea was no easy task. Farming was beyond difficult as the grasslands could not be tamed due to the giant beasts that roamed them forcing farms to be established in caves and along cliff faces. The beasts were not without their purpose in Bright Rift however as the fat from successfully slaying one was of extremely high quality for converting into oils for national use and export. Hunting these beasts was a line of work few should have normally pursued but for those who found no calling in mining, agriculture, or trades and crafts, it was a call to glory that even the Soarmont Adventuring Company did not offer. Those who would seek these great beasts and the glory and death they brought did so from the cabins of specialized airships.

“You’re kind of scrawny kid. Think you’re really up for this.”

Within the cabin of one such airship with the typically Brightrift design of a zeppelin dressed in a mess of catwalks and gondola cars a man asked that all important question many years ago. Among the youths who sat within the cabin one particularly scrawny youth with a mane of fiery red hair flashed the man a smile.

“It’s ‘cause I’m scrawny that I’m here. I’ve no smarts for trade and no talent for crafts. No foreman wants me in his mine or quarry and no farmer believes that I can even work a field. The adventurers tell me I’d be dead in an hour so if I’m going to die in the first hour I might as well be a spear that feeds my village.”

“Heh. I like the look in your eyes kid. What’s your name?”

“Kyte. Kyte Ardea!”

Fishermen they were called and the Emerald Sea was where they fished. The fish they sought though were far from docile however and firing a harpoon from an airship was like to just get the airship pulled from the sky and destroyed. Instead of risking the entire airship and its crew these fishermen instead risked their own lives leaping from the airships spear first into the beasts they hunted. Should the beast not die from the gravity accelerated attack and the fisherman survived the fall the spears they wielded were crafted for combat at close range allowing the fisherman to try and finish their prey on foot and fend off anything lured by their kill. Most fatalities in Bright Rift were attributed to youths who would be fishermen missing their marks dying horrible deaths as they met their ends in their return to the earth or in the maws of the beasts they hunted. Still these hopeless youths like Kyte before the Builders sung of him sang the songs there elders sung as they leapt fearlessly from the airships they fished from.

“♪~ Throw a spear right for your mark ~♪
♪~ Kill it dead or kill yourself ~♪
♪~ If the first throw fails then throw a second, a third, a score! ~♪
♪~ Become the rain, that floods the banks ~♪
♪~ A flood of blood and death and tears ~♪
♪~ When the floods recedes a bounty revealed! ~♪”

With that song on his lips Kyte joined such a score of youths who leapt from the airship to the Emerald Sea below. For all of the praise the vaunted Hero’s place in the Builders’ Song leveled him with his first hunt ended in what would have killed most as he not only met the ground as he missed his target but tumbled right off a cliff. In the five meter and taller grass of the Emerald Sea where smaller beasts preyed upon the unfortunate and were preyed upon by the giant beasts in turn Kyte was left for dead and abandoned.

“No way! Is that Kyte? It couldn’t be!”

Defying expectations the young Kyte not only survived his plunge and subsequent tumble but returned to his village under his own power a smile on his lips and a gash drawn down his face. With that same smile Kyte returned to the skies and partook in hunt after hunt. No matter the injury he survived every hunt and even began hunting bandits and fugitives who sought refuge in the Emerald Sea. As his spear work improved and he grew more muscular his feats began to add up as well and rumors of his ability began to spread. In his village he was sung of as undying while in the field his peers would argue that he threw his spear as a god would a comet. These feats in time would capture the attention of the Builders but not before he too met a Hero who would shape his life.

Copyright © 2018 Joshua D Tarwater