On the last day of our stay in Pontikiz, I finally had my day off, and I was going to fill it with the primary reason why I wanted to come here in the first place. Today I was finally going to visit the unearthed ruins of the ancient city of Ponticum, the predecessor to the present day Pontikiz.

  Pontikiz wasn’t actually built on top of Ponticum, but rather about half an hour northwest of it. Thus, Fluminix set off at dawn in a more or less westward trek. Really, we were going in a leisurely pace, with frequent spots whenever Fluminix spotted something of interest.

  Which was every other minute or so.

  Not that I minded, as I wasn’t in a rush to reach the dig site. So it was that it wasn’t until midday that we reached Pontikiz. Our trek had taken us there both out of necessity for some food for Fluminix – I hadn’t brought any with me – and that’s the direction she’d taken us with her exploration.

  The city was abuzz with activity, much more than when we’d arrived. The number of yurts outside of the palisade had grown, as had the amount of young and old riders that were trotting and galloping across the land beyond. Among them were a couple of the most feared fighting units known across the world: the centaur cavalry.

  The centaurs were a subsection of the horsekin, however nobody seemed to ever refer to them as such. Horsekin were mostly considered to be just the four limbed humanoid with horse physiology mixed into them. Centaurs didn’t fit that, rather narrow definitions. In part, because the steppe nomads regarded them to be a separate class in their own right.

  Centaur cavalry, though, wasn’t what someone who’d never seen them would think they were. They weren’t merely armoured and armed centaurs that charged their enemy with all of the deadly mass of a large horse. No, they were armoured and armed centaurs mounted by an armoured and armed humanoid, often one who was deadly skilled with the bow. They were melee and ranged cavalry in one.

  The bane of all expansionist empire, ancient and present.

  I felt a bit irked at the sight of them, born from ancient hatred against the steppe nomads that had prevented the Vesperan Empire from expanding farther into the northeastern reaches of the Argithean continent and the northern parts of the Mitarian continent. They were ‘the ones that got away’ for those of us in the upper echelons of the Vesperan Empire, and it birthed quite a bit of a grudge, if I were honest.

  Still, it was ancient history, and I was able to shrug it off easily enough. Not that they had a very positive opinion of me.

  Case in point, two scowling, apprehensive guards stopped me before I could enter the settlement proper.

  “What brings you here, lich?” the one on the right demanded, before spitting in my direction.

  “Just passing through to get some food for the little one,” I replied calmly, whilst pointing at the large dog sized dragon at my side. Though, on the inside I was quite irked.

  Both guards placed their hands on their sword whilst eyeing the innocent, but insidious looking dragon. Fluminix blinked up at them with cute bewilderment, though not everyone would see it as such.

  “Food for ‘the little one’, huh?” the one on the right asked in disbelief. “You think we’d believe that a lich and a dragon are merely here to get some food?”

  I shrugged, not really caring if he believed me or not. “We are. We’re also here with the permission of Dilyaver Khan.”

  The one on the right, whom I’d started to think was the superior of the two, frowned in clear annoyance, still not believing me. “And why would Dilyaver Khan welcome one of your kind on our land, huh?”

  I shrugged again, much to their annoyance, and pointed back in the direction where our encampment was. “Because I’m leading the field trip of Paideia, camped with the Qanatl?lar tribe.”

  Their eyes widened, though the one on the right was quick to bring it under control and turn it into a displeased frown. “Very well. But just to buy food. We’ll be keeping an eye on you to make sure you don’t overstay your welcome.”

  I shrugged once more, as I walked past them and into the city proper. “Don’t let me stop you.”

  True to their words, they did follow after me, keeping me in their lines of sight the whole time I went to the stalls to haggle for some food for Fluminix. Not that I did much haggling, I merely made sure they weren’t overcharging me.

  Once done, we left for the ruins, not even wanting to stick around to feed her.

  *******

  I wouldn’t say I became giddy when the dig site came into view, but rather that I started to drift into nostalgic reminiscence. Much like on the night of New Year's Eve, I could see the ghost of the past projected over the landscape. Though, it was much fainter this time, both because I’d never actually set foot in Ponticum, and I wasn’t nearly as lost in the past as I was that night.

  The pristine grassy landscape was broken up with several hundred square paces that were unearthed, and, of course, a wall made of the dirt they’d dug up. The hole was almost one and a half paces deep, which was just enough to reveal the foundations of the former settlement, as well as remaining, cracked pavement between them.

  I jumped down into the hole, forgoing a ladder, and waited patiently for Fluminix to follow after me. She looked down at me with great apprehension, though.

  “Come on, you know I won’t let anything bad happen to you, right?” I asked with a soft, coaxing tone, whilst I beckoned her with my hands.

  Fluminix squeaked in complaint and shuddered, whilst taking a step back.

  I sighed softly, before I tried again. “I promise I’ll catch you. No harm will come to you.”

  She peeked her head over the wall of the hole, looking apprehensive still, however also as if she was gathering her courage. When she took another step back, I feared I’d have to get back up there and carry her down.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  However, only a moment later she jumped down after me, legs and wings spread wide without any effect. I moved to step into her path, and…

  She landed, face first, next to my waiting arms.

  I cursed mentally, and quickly crouched down to the unfortunate dragon, but not before she let out a piercing shriek of anguish.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said softly, as I stroked the scales on her head. “I truly thought I was in the right place to catch you. I can heal your nose, if you want me to?”

  She eyed me with positively pleading eyes, and I obliged with a fond chuckle.

  Honestly, though, the only thing that had truly gotten hurt with her fall was her pride.

  When Fluminix stopped shrieking over her superficial wounds, we finally set about exploring the ruins, ignoring the stares the mishap had given us.

  After walking a few dozen paces across the former pavement, we reached what looked like a plaza of sorts. I looked around a few times to see if I could figure out where we were in the ancient city, and grinned when I figured it out. Thanks to the standardisation of city planning in the Vesperan Empire, any two city centres looked practically alike.

  “Now, I’m quite sure that we’re standing in, what used to be, Ponticum’s Forum Custodiea,” I said, before I faced direction of the sea and spread my arms out to the sides. “That would mean that this used to be the Via Cyanaea. It was the major road that looped all around the Kyanean Sea, from Lycaonium to Ponticum, here, and back to Lycaonium again.

  “There have been some efforts over the past centuries to rebuild the road, actually. However, infighting between various kingdoms, and the near complete nonnecessity of roads in a nomad society, means that it’s only built and maintained in a few, stable places. One of them is in the Lycaonian Empire.”

  I snorted in derisive humour. “Not that it is much of an empire. At best it’s a kingdom.”

  By now, the archaeologists that had paused their work when we arrived – primarily due to our method of arrival – had started to gather around the former plaza. Not that I paid them much mind, as I continued my explanation to Fluminix.

  “That one,” I started, as I pointed at the gap in the ruins in the direction of the sea, “was the other major thoroughfare of the city. Plateia Portuensis led from here, Forum Custodiea, to the harbour, cutting straight through the older settlement. Between here and the sea was where the Ancient Pelagonic people founded the colony city of Pontikón. Hence the name Ponticum, and now Pontikiz.

  “The Pelagones were also the ones that founded Lycaonium, mind you. They actually used to be a major rival of Vespera. That is, until their fractured coalition collapsed. They still tend to bicker amongst themselves too much to be of any major import.”

  One of the archaeologists had made their way over to us, whilst I gave my explanation. He clearly wasn’t a native, as the local beastkin tended to more horse related, and he had some pretty obvious squirrel features. Small stature and a bushy red tail as tall as he was.

  “You sure sound like you know your stuff,” he commented chipperly, tail swishing behind them.

  “I guess you could call me an expert of sorts,” I replied with a small, nonchalant shrug, whilst Fluminix moved closer to the squirrelkin’s tail out of curiosity.

  He chuckled warmly, as he calmly angled their stiffened tail away from the curious dragon.

  “I reckon,” he said, before stretching a hand out to me. “Oured Tailadis is the name, lead archaeologist, hailing from the empire you just belittled. You speak as if you’ve been here before, but your letter implied you hadn’t?”

  “Morgana,” I stated, as I took their hand and shook it, not bothering with an apology as he didn’t seem to care that I insulted their home. “And no, I haven’t.”

  He gave me a surprised look, whilst he twisted around to keep their tail away from Fluminix, who had started to round them to reach it.

  I ignored their surprise, and instead asked a more burning question. “You didn’t know it was me? Or care about who I am?”

  “No!” he yelped, as he jumped back when Fluminix lunged around them to reach the tantalising tail. “I-I mean, yes. I just didn’t want to be rude and just assume, you know. Would be troublesome if I managed to piss off the great Morgana.

  “But it’s a shame you’ve never been here. We could have used your insights to have an accurate image of what the place used to look li–” he suddenly was interrupted when Fluminix made another attempt to lunge for their tail. “Hey! Stop that! Can’t you tell your pet to behave?”

  I went from begrudging respect to an annoyed frown. “She isn’t my pet. We are getting sidetracked, though, Fluminix.”

  The dragon paused and looked back at me as if to ask me why I interrupted her fun. Or, at least, that’s how I interpreted it. Draconic facial features weren’t always the easiest to understand.

  “This, right here, used to be the beating heart of the region,” I said, as if nothing had happened, after I’d turned around, away from the direction of the sea. “From the Praetorium Tutoris, here, the praetor, the governor, of Provincia Leimonicae administrated the region that nowadays mostly falls under the Khanate of Altyn Yalga. The palace complex would have a main building, where the regional assembly hall and the administrative offices would be. A residential wing – most likely on the left side, there – and a servants’ wing, though it mainly housed work rooms, not living quarters. Out back, there typically was a garden that served as a bit of a regional pride.”

  I turned around again, and saw that Fluminix wasn’t even paying attention to me. So focused on the bushy tail she was, she didn’t even notice the barrier I placed between her and the poor squirrelkin. A pained squeak came from her, before she faced me and walked over to me with her head hanging low.

  Paying no mind to the overly dramatic, sulking dragon, I continued regaling her about the buildings that used to stand around here. “Over there, on the right side, was the tabularium, with the one here being named Tabularium Leimonicae, after the name of the province. There scribes worked and were housed, some of them working directly under the praetor, others were responsible for maintaining the records in the local archive and corresponded with tabularia in other provinces.

  “Then, there were also those that worked in the separately walled complex to the left. There, in the Castra Legionis, scribes worked for the regional detachment of one of the legions. Each legion was named after the province they were charged with protecting, aside from those specifically responsible for protecting the borders against barbarian raiders and rival powers, such as the Shān dynasty, one of the predecessors of the current Huáng dynasty, of the Lushan Empire.

  “Which meant that these once used to house Legio XX Leimonicae, as well as Legio IV Vigiliae. The necromancers would be housed closest to the palace, whereas the armoury would be on the far wall. The seaside, for lack of a better description, is where the mortuary would be. That’s where the dead were prepared for reanimation.”

  I finally turned my attention to Oured, who was holding their tail in a guarded death grip. “You should be able to access the catacombs from the far left of that place. From where I’m standing, of course.”

  He blinked in shock and focused on me, instead of the dragon pouting at my feet. “Huh? Oh, yeah, maybe. Do you think they’re still intact? We didn’t really find any entrance there.”

  I scoffed softly, but pridefully. “That’s because those were hidden, and magically locked. If anything could have withstood the tests of time, it’s the catacombs. Want me to aid you?”

  Oured’s mood brightened at the offer. “If you don’t mind, your help would be greatly appreciated!”

  I stared at them for a long moment, before I sighed and walked over towards where the entrance would most likely be, whilst muttering, “Not like I’ve much else to do right now…

  “Want me to create some illusion of an approximation of what the plaza would have looked like back then?” I asked casually.

  To an overly enthusiastic ‘yes’ from not just the lead archaeologist, but the entire team, I set about working alongside of them for the rest of the day, and most of the night. Finding that, yes, they were still intact – and, more surprisingly, completely untouched and mostly full.

  Hundreds of thousands of remains lay there, waiting for a service that would never come. As the empire they were meant to serve ceased to exist a long time ago. With Ponticum being amongst the first cities to fall, taken completely unaware.