The group was laughing as they returned to camp, greeted by the familiar smell of stew and the sight of Mugwort mumbling around it, stirring frantically.
"It's too thin, and too thick! Not enough of this and definitely too much of that!"
Ward and Ferric made a straight line to the keg they had brought back earlier and picked up their mugs as the rest settled around the fire.
Rime glanced over to Cinder, "So 'ugly face' again huh?"
Cinder crossed her arms. "You all were saying serious things and being threatening, when it got to me, I just blanked, and my brain just threw that out!"
"At this point, it's becoming your catch phrase," Rime said, grinning.
Cinder jabbed her elbow into his ribs, "Keep talking, and you will be the third 'ugly face' or worse!"
"I am so scared, especially after seeing you try and swing that giant axe and falling all over today," Rime said jokingly.
"It was strategy," she shot back, puffing out her chest. "I was distracting the giants!"
"Right," Rime said, deadpan. "With interpretive dance."
Ferric chuckled behind them. "If that was a dance, it needed a shorter song."
Everyone began to laugh. Anyone else seeing this scene wouldn't have imagined that this group of people had been ripped out of the worlds they belonged to and brought here to a brutal, war-filled place.
Argent was walking back from grabbing some stew when Ryn walked up to him.
"Thanks," she said, her voice small but steady. "For earlier. I... don't know what would've happened if you hadn't come."
"We are all in this together. I know we haven't been together long, but I feel like I can rely on you all to be there when I need it, so I was just doing the same." Argent replied.
Her eyes widened a little at that. She looked down, brushing a bit of dirt off her sleeve.
"I have never had people I could rely on like that before," she said as her face began to go a little red.
"I'll... grab some stew," she said quickly as she walked off.
He watched her walk off, the firelight catching the faint shimmer of her blonde hair, before he sank beside Cinder and Rime.
"Everyone got their element right?" Argent asked.
Cinder perked up and spoke first, holding out her hand as a small fire appeared. "I got fire, perfect right!"
"Ice for me," Rime said as frost enveloped the outside of his mug.
Ward clapped his hands together, sparks flew out, "Lightning for me, weird, I got something so fast when I am big and slow."
"I got a fast one too!" Veyra exclaimed as the wind blew all around her.
Veyrn followed suit and held his hand a foot over the soil as a vine grew up to meet it. "Nature is what I got."
Argent chimed in, "I fought a giant with nature, it was horrifically strong, that's a good one for sure. I got two elements: light and shadow. The figure said it was rare but could happen."
"I...I got two elements too," Ryn spoke softly from the corner of the fire. "Earth and...spirit, first one seems straightforward, not sure about the second."
"I got one that's a bit different from the rest too," Ferric remarked as he held out his hand, and a small metal ball began to form in his palm. "I got metal, I can only make small brittle things now, but I think it will grow."
"So, we all have element and merits now. The people at the tavern told Ferric and me about a smithy in the city that has reasonable prices. We were going to head there tomorrow and see what's what." Ward spoke while refilling his mug.
"They even said there is something called a 'rune of return' that makes the weapon go with you to the temple when you die. So we wouldn't have to keep going back to the pile and getting scraps," Ferric chimed in.
Argent rummages behind the log where he had been sitting, pulling out the fang he got on the first day.
"I wonder if I could get him to make this into a dagger. Mind if I tag along with you two?"
Ryn perked up. "Can I come too? I want to find arrows that aren't bent or half broken."
"Sure," Ward said. "Let's make a day of it and see what this city looks like."
They stayed up a while longer, talking about small things, food, the battlefield, and stupid jokes. By the time the fire had burned down to glowing embers, laughter still lingered in the air.
***
Morning came, and the mist rolled in through the morning light. Argent rolled over, blinking awake. Ward was already lacing up his boots.
"Tell the man he doesn't need to go fight today, and he sleeps in."
"Hey, I needed my beauty sleep. Or I would end up looking like you." Argent Yawned. "Where are the twins, Rime and Cinder?"
"They already headed back to the field, told us to get prices for them. Cinder was singing a song about finding 'Lucy too' in the pile."
At that moment, Mugwort walked up, spoon in hand. "Going to the city, are you? Hah! Well, that'll rattle your expectations in a gentler sort of way. Some folks in there… they live like this place is just a regular old world. Start families, live in tidy little homes, argue about curtains, and whose turn it is to fetch bread. People talking about futures as if futures aren't just the same old thing over and over again. It's almost sweet. Strange, but sweet. Like watching birds build nests beside a battlefield, pretending the noise is just thunder."
"We will keep that in mind Mugwort. Stay safe today, we ran into some trouble last night," Argent said as they headed out. The stew keeper smiled at the idea of someone telling him to 'stay safe'.
***
The four followed the road towards where the city was. The further they went, the cleaner the road became, the less the walls and surroundings were ruined and run down. Dirt and cobblestone path smoothing into worked stone, dust giving way to polished perfection.
Then they saw it.
A towering white marble archway rising from the earth. Immaculate without a single dent or blemish, rising fifty or sixty feet into the sky. Its surface gleamed ike snow in the morning light.
On either side of the archway stood statues of towering figures, at least twenty feet tall, carved from the same white stone. Their faces were serene, hands clasped, as if in prayer.
The group stopped at the base of the archway.
Ferric exhaled. "Well, guess this is the entrance."
Ryn whispered under her breath, " It's....beautiful."
Argent nodded, the light from the marble reflecting in his eyes, "The city of Precipice..."