Tales of a Far Rider: A LitRPG Adventure by Troy Osgood

Author:Troy Osgood [Osgood, Troy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2025-12-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Three

It was a beautiful morning, Culann thought as they walked out of the tavern. The sun was shining bright over the mountains, warming the cool morning. He paused on the porch, breathing in the air. It was clean, pure. There was nothing like mountain air. Minoda wasn’t high up the side of the mountain, not like he was used to, but it was still nice country. He wasn’t a city lover, preferring the mountains and the forests. Luckily, the Centerlands was mostly just that. It was the Southern Marches that had the oldest cities on the continent and maybe the world. Oldest human cities anyways.

“Beautiful country up here,” he said as the two walked to the stage in the middle of the village square. “Reminds me o’ home.”

“Where is that, sir?” Jemas asked.

“The Scholari Highlands,” Culann replied, pointing in a general direction away from the sun. “Far ta the west, almost ta the Perselin Sea.”

“Why did you leave?”

Jemas looked up at Culann when there was no immediate answer. The man was staring into the sky, watching the birds flying. There was a wistful look on his face, a sadness and longing in his eyes.

“That’s a long story, Tern,” he replied a minute later, the same carefreeness that he had been wearing since Jemas had first met him now back in his expression. “Nae one fer now.”

The center of the square was busy. Almost a dozen men and women stood around it, armed with sledgehammers, pickaxes, shovels, and clubs. At the center of the group was Sheren, his own sledge in hand. The miner was directing the others, directing watch assignments. Culann paused and watched. All the villagers looked to Sheren, nodding their heads and accepting the other’s orders. There was no talking back, no questioning. They listened and obeyed.

“Yer Sergeant Jaspers might be a decent man,” Culann started, smiling. “But I doubt it.” He could see Jemas smirking, holding back a laugh. “That’s what he wished he could be.” he finished, nodding to Sheren. “That’s what many o’ yer King’s Guards sergeants wished they could be.”

Jemas was confused at first, but as he watched understanding came to his face.

The crowd around the stage thinned and Sheren noticed the two men. He waved, walking over and meeting them.

“Did Murphy feed you?” he asked

“Aye,” Culann said in reply with Jemas nodding. “Was a good meal.”

“Good.” Sheren looked around the village. “We have sentries posted at the mines with pairs set up to relay down the road,” he said, pointing toward the mines. “The blockade to the cemetery is covered by a half dozen men with a pair of runners further up the road,” he added. “I didn’t think that we should have sentries closer to the cemetery.”

“Good thinking,” Culann replied. “Any closer and they might attract the skeletons’ attention.”

“That’s what I thought,” the miner said, glad to hear he’d been making the right decisions. “What are you going to do?” he asked, focusing on the Far Rider.

“I need ta visit the smithy,” Culann said, moving that way, indicating Sheren and Jemas to follow.

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