"What's taking him so long?"
"Has something happened?"
"Don't worry, he won't die. He can just fly back up with his fancy flying mount."
"Flying mounts… so jealous!"
"And Mirage's fox is so cute! Even more jealous!"
"Let's hurry up and reach level 60, guys!"
[Bleary Mirage: Ok, you can come down.]
"See, I knew nothing would happen."
The friends kept talking about their flying mounts, boasting about who would have the most impressive or the cutest mount. It was a great method to distract themselves from the fact that the rocky path ahead was narrow and partially covered in ice, making every step incredibly dangerous. Fortunately, the friends were already far beyond common humans. They had strong control over their steps and with some vigilance nothing happened to them.
After a short while the friends already felt the solid ground below their feet. However, this left them somewhat confused. The descend was way shorted than expected. Looking around they could barely make out the towering icy cliffs on both sides. Somehow it was unusually dark. And in front of them. the darkness thickened even more obscuring everyone's vision.
The friends looked at each other noticing something fishy. Something seemed off. However, Mirage had already messaged them. If there was any real danger Mirage wouldn't joke around. Thus, the friends put their worries aside and advanced deeper into the darkness.
After a while the friends couldn't even see their own hands anymore. At that point Radiant Shield came up with a clever trick. He showed his usually hidden wings. Two wings covered in gorgeous, white feathers suddenly appeared in the darkness, emitting a light halo, guiding the lost souls like a lighthouse. His friends praised the tank as they copied him. Only Bloody Edge couldn't do the same.
"I have forsaken my wings and chosen a life in darkness.", said the thief in a hoarse voice.
Silver Blade watched as Bloody Edge stayed at the very edge of where the light could reach and rolled her eyes:
"Yeah, I get it, but don't run off into the dark. You might get lost. And I'm surely not going to search for you."
"My friend, there is no need to fear the light! Stay close and let me be your guide! Darkness and light do not need to contradict each other.", said Radiant Shield with a sonorous voice, reaching out his hand to Bloody Edge.
"You speak the truth. Let our abilities complement each other!"
"Aaaand, stop! Nice one, guys! That will land in my next video!"
Hearing Fortune's laugh, both Radiant Shield and Bloody Edge suddenly felt a little embarrassed. Perhaps they had somewhat overdone their roleplay this time. Just as they were thinking how to remedy the situation, the darkness in front of everyone suddenly dispersed.
Everyone stopped dead in their tracks. Some distance in front there was a tall wall built between the cliffsides, blocking the path. The ice and snow added an additional layer of armour, giving the wall an unbreakable feel. Behind the wall there was seemingly a city. There were only a few large buildings but there were paths along the cliffs leading to cave entrances. However, at this moment the city was silent like the ice which decorated most of it.
"What took you guys so long?"
A voice brought everyone out of their thoughts, and they placed their attention on Liam who stood a few steps away.
"Mirage, what is this place?"
"You will see in a second, come."
The friends kept admiring the scenery bathed in an icy blue light as they followed behind Liam. After they reached a certain distance from the wall a thundering shout suddenly brought them to a stop.
"Halt! Who are you?!"
Life suddenly came into the city. On top of the walls warriors seemingly sprung up from the ground. They wore armours in white, grey, and blue, with a lot of fur isolating the cold, extremely useful for blending into the environment.
But not only the armours had a lot of fur attached, the warriors themselves were no different. Amazingly, they were all beastkin of different races. There were burly men and women, taller than humans, with white fur on their faces, clearly bearkin. Others had athletic bodies with tails and bushy ears, belonging to the wolfkin. Those two made up the biggest faction of warriors but there were also foxkin, catkin, dogkin, even ratkin. Obviously, this city in front was one inhabited by varying kinds of beastkin and no other races, something extremely rare in the world.
However, the friends didn't feel much amazement right now as a chill was freezing their bones. They glanced left and right where some holes had opened on the cliffs, allowing them to view dangerously glinting arrows. One wrong word and they would be turned into hedgehogs on the spot. Perhaps this would also qualify them as beastkin? Well, better not to try it out.
"Talk now or we shoot!"
The leading warrior, a majestic bearkin, spoke again. The friends all looked at Liam for an answer. Fortunately, the veteran didn't disappoint them. He took a step forward and replied:
"There is no need to turn hostile. We are friends of the beastkin! Here!"
Liam produced something from his inventory. It was a small black stone in the form of a rat's head. The friends all looked at him puzzledly but the beastkin warriors visibly relaxed.
"So you are a friend of the ratkin. Nephilim, I am pleased to meet people like you. Men! Open the gates! They are friends!"
On the bearkin's order movement came into the city. Extremely loud cracking sounds echoed from the cliffs as the tall gate in front slowly opened, inviting the friends to enter. Liam took the lead, and the others didn't hesitate to follow.
Once past the gate they got a better view on the city. Although it was made from ice and stone it didn't seem cold with many fires burning, and intricate decorations everywhere. There was almost no stone which didn't have some kind of engraving. Furs hung from the walls. There were even some extremely stubborn flowers which survived the harsh environment.
However, there was something strange as expect for a few soldiers who were already dispersing there were seemingly no inhabitants.
At that moment a door opened, and a head peeked out. Seeing that it was safe the person finally came out. They nodded at the party before walking away, going about their business. As if they had only waited for someone to set an example, suddenly the city's inhabitants appeared everywhere. From buildings, caves, some even from the ground. Within seconds the city was filled with vitality.
The friends were shocked by the scene. Did the entire city's inhabitants hide only because a few intruders appeared? Was it only because they were beastkin?
Thinking about it the friends couldn't help but feel a little sad. Beastkin really didn't have it easy, facing discrimination wherever they went. The main issue was actually that there weren't enough powerful beastkin to give their race a voice. For example, during the War on the Void they only had a few representatives and not one was at the commander level.
On top of that even the strongest among the beastkin, the dragonkin, also called Draconian, didn't have a good life as they were usually despised by their progenitors, the dragons. If they could somehow convince the dragons to be their backers, the standing of all beastkin would rise meteorically. But alas…
Boom!
As the friends were admiring the view, a tremor suddenly shook the earth. The friends looked towards its source and realized that the bearkin commander had jumped from the wall, approaching them with a smile on his hairy face, which made him not one bit less intimidating.
"Friends of the beastkin, welcome to the beautiful city of Icehaven. I am General Turs, but you can just call me Turs. I am pleased to meet you. If you want, I can show you around the city!"
Turs let out a booming laugh, appearing genuinely happy. However, the friends sadly had to reject him.
"Thank you for your hospitality, but we are on a mission. We won't stay long.", said Silver Blade politely.
"Ah, I understand. No worries. But if you are on a mission, you should at least stock up on supplies. Let me tell you, you will never find a better drink than our Sorov Brew than here in Icehaven. Don't miss out on it."
"Ok, thank you for the recommendation."
"Haha, my pleasure, my pleasure."
With those words Turs waved at the group and strolled down the street.
"Damn, why is that guy so enthusiastic?", asked a bewildered Balm.
"Mirage, what did you show him?"
"Seems you already forgot…", responded Liam with a grin. He pulled out the black stone again and showed it to his friends. It took a few seconds before Silver Blade suddenly exclaimed:
"Oh, I got it! It's that Ratkin Pass! Wow, that's been a while."
Finally, everyone's eyes lit up. They remembered the quest from an eternity ago when they had to help a little ratkin village to get their hands on a skillbook for [Heal]. Back then they also received this Ratkin Pass which could be used to take the underground paths of the ratkin which existed everywhere in Crunaboul. However, so far, they never had much of a need for it.