Chapter 457: The Music of Fantasy
“You don’t need to come with me.”
Echo walked along the Redwater River, the snow crunching under her boots with each step.
“The city isn’t safe here.” Iron Axe kept two paces behind her. “It’s not Border Town. His Highness told me to stay with you if you left the castle without another witch.”
“I shouldn’t have told him,” she muttered, her breath dissolving into the cold air. “And you don’t need to call me lady anymore.”
“You will always be the head of the Osha clan in my heart, my lady Drow Silvermoon.”
At the word Osha, she went quiet. Iron Axe couldn’t see her expression from behind, but he felt the silence settle differently — heavier, with something in it that he didn’t know how to address. He wanted to say something. He didn’t know what. He kept walking.
The stretch of river here was different from the inner-city branch, which ran straight and disciplined between masoned levees. This one curved through the fields beyond the walls, wide and unhurried, with stone-lined banks and cut-in stairways every ten steps where people came to draw water. The snowfall today was light. A few pedestrians moved along the path, and when they looked at Echo — at her height, the blue-gray hair, the sand-pale skin rare in these inland territories — their gazes lingered.
“Other side,” Echo said.
“Yes.”
They crossed a frozen arch bridge, stepping carefully on the ice, and came out into the eastern quarter: almost no houses here, only broad farmland blanketed in white, and in the far distance the city wall rising like a dark smudge against the pale sky. Open. Quiet. A different Stronghold from the one they’d just left.
“Nothing like Iron Sand City,” Echo said, mostly to herself. “When I was in the Southernmost Region, I assumed the whole world was sand. Water and oases were what you killed for. Here—” She stopped for a moment, watching the river move under its skin of ice. “Here you just walk down and drink.”
“Here you fight for other things,” Iron Axe said. “Gold royals. Jewels. Honor. Status. The fighting doesn’t go away.”
“Nightingale told me our prince would end it.” She looked up at the grey overcast, not quite expecting an answer from the sky. “Everyone equal — the Sand Nation, the Four Kingdoms, ordinary people, witches. She said he’d make it real.”
Iron Axe was quiet for a moment. He tried to imagine it honestly and found the seam where his faith in the prince ended and his understanding of the world began. His Highness had the strength of gods; that much was beyond doubt. But willing submission was something else. You could conquer a man. You could not easily conquer what he believed he was owed.
“Do you want to go back to Iron Sand City?” Echo asked.
“No.” He didn’t hesitate. “I swore to the Three Gods that I’d serve His Highness Roland Wimbledon and help him expand his dominion. You’ll go back someday, my lady — when His Highness has kept his promise to you. No one will disrespect you then.”
“But I don’t want to be the head of the Osha clan,” she said, very quietly. “I want to stay somewhere the trees stay green. I want to stay with Wendy and Nightingale. I want His Highness to teach me more songs.” A pause. “I’d like to go back one day and look. But I don’t want to live in the desert and fight for water every season.”
“No one can force you,” Iron Axe said. He didn’t say the rest.
They reached an open field beyond the last farmhouses and Echo stopped.
“Here. I won’t disturb anyone.”
She usually practiced in the castle’s rear courtyard. Today she’d chosen this open ground deliberately — there were important negotiations with the nobles, and the last thing she wanted was her practice carrying through the walls into whatever careful moment His Highness was managing.
Iron Axe stepped back two paces. “I’ll stand watch.”
She turned. “I wrote a song. For our homeland.” Her expression had changed — no longer the quiet preoccupation of the walk, but something more open. “Do you want to hear it?”
“A song?”
“His Highness taught me to layer instruments — the arrangement method. You take different sounds and stack them, each one adding something the last one didn’t have.” She said this easily, the pleasure of it evident. “I tried it and couldn’t believe how it changed things. I didn’t know music could work that way. He gave the techniques the strangest names — ‘electric sound’, ‘agricultural heavy metal.’” A small smile. “Only he could invent those.”
“Prince Roland has always been singular,” Iron Axe said. The Gods had marked him; that was the only explanation that held.
Before he could say more, Echo closed her eyes and began.
The first notes reached him and he stopped moving. Just — stopped. Every thought in his body went still.
It sounded like sand touching water. Like something deep in the earth answering something up in the air. The sounds were layered the way she’d described, each voice distinct, each one lending the others a fullness they couldn’t have alone.
The field disappeared.
Iron Axe was standing in desert. The sun was enormous and close. Beneath his feet: not snow, not mud, but the dry edge of an oasis, the water shallow enough that he could see his reflection wavering. And there was Echo in the shallow water ahead of him, eyes closed, her voice carrying across the sand in every direction, and beyond her, nothing — only dunes to the horizon, burning and still.
Going through sand and dust
to seek the traces of the oasis.
Your footprints were left in the sea of sand.
Your shadow was reflected in the spring.
Someday the oases will become the new deserts
and the deserts will breed new oases.
The only eternal thing
is the legend of you.
Someday
I’ll follow your footprints
to find your shadow
at the sleepless and wordless moment
before dawn.
When the song ended, Iron Axe was standing in the snow outside Longsong Stronghold. Wind moved over the white field. The city wall rose dark in the distance. Nothing had changed.
He swallowed. Then he opened his hand, the one that had been hanging at his side.
A single grain of transparent sand lay in his palm, catching the winter light.
Chapter 457: The Music of Fantasy
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
“You don’t need to come with me.” Echo walked along the Redwater River, the snow under her shoes crunching.
“Here the city isn’t safe. It’s not Border Town.” Iron Axe walked behind her, with two steps between them. “His Highness told me to protect you if you leave the castle without other witches accompanying you.”
“I shouldn’t have told him.” She mumbled, breathing out into the cold air. “Also, you don’t need to call me lady anymore.”
“You will always be the head of the Osha clan in my heart, my lady Drow Silvermoon.”
When he mentioned Osha, Echo fell silent. Even though Iron Axe couldn’t see her expression, he could feel Echo sadden at the mention of her clan. He wanted to console her, but he didn’t know how or what to say. So, he just kept his mouth shut and followed her silently.
The branch of Redwater River that wound its way through the field outside of the city was different from the one that flowed into the inner city, which was almost a straight line. The river levees on both sides were covered by masonries, stacked, flat, and neat. About every ten steps, there was an opening with stairways to the river, which allowed the people to get water from the river.
Today’s snow fall hadn’t been too heavy and there were several pedestrians on the street. The men and women would look at Echo with surprised expressions on their faces. Lady Silvermoon was tall, and shapely with a lovely figure. Her beige skin and long blue-gray hair were quite special and
eye-catching. In the inland of the Kingdom of Graycastle, it was seldom that one would see a purebred from the Sand Nation.
“Let’s switch to the other side of the river.” Echo obviously wasn’t enjoying the attention.
“Yes.”
They cautiously stepped on a frozen arch bridge across over the river and then arrived at the eastern zone of Stronghold. There were almost no houses and vast areas of farmland were all covered by snow. What they could see was just limitless flatlands and a dim, black figure of the city wall. This area was in sharp contrast to the western zone of the city.
“This place is nothing like the Iron Sand City.” Echo said. “When I was in the Southernmost Region, I thought everywhere was the same. The sands covered almost all of the ground. Water sources and the Oasis were the most valuable resources and people would fight to the death over them. However, here, no blood would be shed over the Redwater River. If they want to drink the water, they just need to crouch down and drink it.”
“However, here they would fight for other things,” Iron Axe said seriously, “such as gold royals, jewels, honor, status… There’s no escape from fights.”
“Really? But, Nightingale told me that our prince would end all disputes.” She looked up at the cloudy sky. “No matter who you are, people of the Sand Nation or people of the Four Kingdoms, ordinary people or witches, you can enjoy equal rights and live a free life.”
“I… I don’t know.” Iron Axe hesitated. He couldn’t imagine that everyone would throw off all barriers and live together peacefully. He thought that even though His Highness had the power of the gods and he would undoubtedly conquer all of his enemies, it would just be impossible for him to make all of his enemies accept his dominance willingly. Making enemies during the process of conquering was an unavoidable by product of battle.
“Do you want to go back to Iron Sand City?” Echo suddenly asked.
“No, Lady Silvermoon,” Iron Axe quickly came to his senses and answered without hesitation. “I’ve sworn to the Three Gods that I’ll serve His Highness, Roland Wimbledon forever and help him to expand his territory. Don’t worry my lady. His Highness has promised to seek revenge for you. Please believe in him. When you go back to Iron Sand City, no one will disrespect you.”
“But I don’t want to be the head of the Osha clan,” she whispered. “I’d like to stay somewhere the trees are evergreen. I’d like to stay with Wendy and Nightingale. I’d like His Highness to teach me songs. I hope someday I can go back to have a look, but I don’t want to live in the desert and continuously fight for water.”
“Either way, you’re the only successor of Osha in my heart.” Iron Axe didn’t speak his mind fully. Instead, he just looked down and said, “No one can force you.”
They walked across the white field to an open area where Echo stopped. “I’ll practice here. I don’t think I will disturb anyone.”
Iron Axe knew that her power was to make various sounds and she usually practiced in the backyard of the town’s castle. But this time, in order to not disturb the important meeting between His Highness and the nobles, she intentionally chose here to practice her power.
He nodded and took two steps back. “I’ll stand guard for you.”
“Oh, I made a song for our hometown.” Echo turned around, “Would you like to hear?”
“A Song?” Iron Axe was a little surprised.
“Yes, I learned to use the arrangement method His Highness taught me. I now mix various instruments’ sounds together to add a layering effect and build complexity,” Echo talked about this with a relaxed expression on her face. “I’ve tried it and to my surprise, it worked. I didn’t know a song could be so pleasant. Each added tone would add in a distinct feeling. I don’t know
where His Highness learned this method though. When I was sold to King’s City, I never heard anything about something like this from any noble.”
“Prince Roland was always special,” said Iron Axe, he believed the Gods favored Roland.
“Yes… No one treats witches as sincerely as him.” Echo fully agreed with Iron Axe. “However, His Highness gave me really strange and irrelevant names to the mix performance methods, such as ‘Electricity sound’ and ‘Agricultural heavy metal’.” She shook her head with a smile. “I think only he could think up names like that.”
Before Iron Axe could reply, she started to sing.
When the mixed melody reached his ears, he was shocked and immediately stood, frozen in place. What an amazing tune! It sounded like the sands had gently touched the oasis. It was like a bright fire plum bursting from the earth’s depths.
At the moment, Iron Axe felt that he had been transported to the desert and was standing under the scorching sun. “Is this… an illusion?” He looked down and found that the snow had disappeared and he was now standing in an Oasis. When he looked into the distance, what he could see was only sand. The girl before him kept her eyes closed. Her song resounded through the air as she stood in the shallow water, disturbing its smooth surface. What a breathtaking beauty!
“Going through sand and dust
to seek the traces of the Oasis.
Your footprints were left in the sea of sand.
Your shadow was reflected in the spring.
Someday, the oases will become the new deserts
and the deserts will also breed new oases.
The only eternal thing
is the legend of you.
Someday
I’ll follow your footprints
to find your shadow
at the sleepless and wordless moment
before dawn.”
…
When the song faded out, Iron Axe was back at the snowy Longsong Stronghold. It seemed that nothing had happened and that everything he had experienced just now was an illusion. He swallowed hard for a while and then opened his hand, there was a tiny grain of transparent sand shining on his palm.