Chapter 216 - Laws

Miles

The cart shuddered as the wagon wheel fell into yet another divot on the dirt path, nearly throwing him from his seat. While the road was getting better the closer they were to arriving, it was still far from the smooth asphalt from Before.

Oh, what he wouldn't give for travel to be as easy as it used to be.

His journey would've equated to a few hours in the car rather than the months spent walking, riding, or otherwise moving along he'd experienced. He almost regretted deciding to come.

If he had known it was so far North, he would've at least given it a second thought.

A rough wind blew in and his cloak flew open, leaving his body unprotected from the chill the air brought. He shivered, unused to it being so cold so soon. He was lucky it wasn't snowing. It was certainly cold enough for it.

It's not even Winter yet! This is absurd.

Miles was a proud Canadian, but even he wasn't used to bitter cold. Toronto wasn't usually that bad, being as far South as it was. But this, this was farther North than he'd ever been and the Cold made that fact known.

He cursed and muttered under his breath but didn't manage to keep quiet enough.

"You'll be alright, kid, you'll get used to it." The cart driver assured him with a pat.

"Used to it? How will I get used to it when it's only going to get worse? It's only October!" He exclaimed. Late October, but still October.

The cart driver laughed, "Hah, I remember having the same thought when I first arrived, but it really isn't that bad."

Miles struggled to think how the dreaded winter 'wouldn't be that bad'. He wasn't going to call his wagon companion a liar, but he certainly wasn't telling the whole truth.

"Is it your first time being up North?" The man asked, striking up a conversation now that the silence was broken.

"Yes." Miles said as he sinched his cloak closed, tying the knot tighter this time, "Never really left Toronto before and if I did, it was never to come North."

"Yeah, I hear that. Never thought I'd be 'ere myself." The man chuckled.

The question flew faster than Miles could stop it, "Then why are you here?"

The man looked at Miles, but then shrugged, not taking offense to the personal question. Not many liked to talk about personal subjects nowadays, "Names Nathan, by the way, don't remember if I introduced myself."

"Miles."

"Well, Miles," calling him by name instead of 'kid', "After the Change I didn't really have anywhere to go. I lived hours away from my family and without anything tying me down, I left to go find them and make sure they were safe." Nathan said, "Little did I know at the time they had joined a group traveling North and it took months to finally reach them."

The man didn't sound too put out by it but just thinking about traveling for that long made Miles shudder. His ass was already sore and all he did was sit on the cart!

"After I found them, I just never had a reason to leave. After that... well..." Nathan spread his arms as if to say 'Here I am.'

Nathan's story was sadly common. So many people had been separated that the following chaos was even worse. Not only was their home destroyed, but they had no way to contact their loved ones.

Miles was thankful he didn't have to worry about that.

"What about you, kid? What're you doing all the way up here?" Nathan asked.

In the ass end of nowhere, Miles wanted to add.

"It was either this or starve." Miles said grimly, "I don't care for starving."

"I hear that. That first year was all berries and dried meat. When that failed, it was anything I could find." The man reminisced, "It was rough."

Something in him wanted to yell and scream that Nathan didn't know anything about rough but held it in. He didn't know the man's situation. Even if it felt like no one could've possibly had it worse.

The nights spent hungry, the hope he felt when he found a berry bush only to puke it back up when he found out they were poisonous. His trials hunting beasts so far above his level that a mistake meant death that often ended in failure and left him more hungry than when he started.

"There wasn't any food and I didn't have a reason to stay. So when people came advertising for a City up North, I didn't have a reason to refuse." Miles stated.

"Oh, you came from down there." Nathan realized, "I thought you were from The Fort."

To hear his home referred to as 'down there' hurt, but it was an apt description. There wasn't much down there. The Fort, on the other hand, at least had a semblance of society.

It was crowded, underfed, unorganized, and Miles would get shanked if he openly revealed he had food, but it was better than 'down there.'

With Toronto under the water, it was every man for himself. People lied, stole, and cheated, all to survive the day. The food situation was bad before, but it was even worse now.

"There won't be a 'down there' much longer," Miles said bitterly.

"What's it like? I've heard stories but this is the first time I've met someone that came from there." Nathan asked earnestly.

A part of Miles didn't want to answer. Answering made all the memories he had pushed away come back, but he did so anyway. Maybe it would help him through it.

"Hell." He said, "It wasn't too bad at first. People worked together, formed groups for safety, and set up what camps and shelters they could. It worked, for a time."

"Then the food ran out. We didn't have crops to grow and the seeds we did have we couldn't protect. Animals and beasts ate up anything we tried to plant. Hunting worked until the beasts grew stronger than us, then it wasn't hunting anymore. It was fighting for survival."

"Until slowly, we didn't have any way to gather food anymore. The only thing keeping people alive is the lake. Fish reproduce so fast there's always something to catch but even that came with... difficulties."

The memory came quickly before he could push it away. The water churned, waves splashing over the boat walls. The shaking was so hard he could barely stand. The... thing that came up from the depths.

Miles barely survived.

The only survivor on a boat of twenty.

He left the next week after he recovered.

"If nothing changes, everyone there'll be dead by the end of the year." He finished.

The cart driver whistled sadly, "Damn, I heard it was bad but not that bad. What about the stronger people? Can't they do anything?"

"All the good ones are dead. Slowly worn down by endless battles." Miles spat, "And those that lived will sooner kill you for experience than protect anyone."

His voice was hot in anger talking about those animals. He didn't blame them for not helping, but they were worse than that. They actively made it worse. They cut down anyone who challenged them and stole anything they wanted.

The two didn't have anything to say after that. Miles hadn't meant to kill the conversation but it felt good to talk about it, even if it was painful to remember.

It was a few days later when Nathan started up again. Enough time for the air to clear. His ass was all the sorer, but the conversation made the time go by faster.

Funny enough, it started after Miles was muttering about the cold again. The segue used twice to spark it up.

"If you hate the cold so much, why didn't you stay in The Fort?"

Miles didn't stop his muttering but he did think about the question. He could have stayed in the previous city. It at least had walls and protection from the wild beasts, but it didn't have much more than that.

"I didn't want to get gutted in my sleep." He answered.

To his surprise, Nathan laughed. Miles didn't think that The Fort's crime was funny but his driver obviously did.

His face voiced his question before he could ask.

"You won't have to worry about that where we're going." Nathan boldly claimed, "But you shouldn't be too hard on The Fort. They just got through a rough patch and didn't expect the amount of refugees flooding in. It'll get better in time."

"How come this other city doesn't have the same problem? I've seen the caravans filled with people leaving The Fort the same way we're going." Miles couldn't help but ask.

Everywhere had crime. It was a fact of life. The Change just made it worse.

"Let's just say lawbreakers don't last long and leave it at that. There won't be any gutting while you sleep."

Miles wasn't one to pry, but this was important to him. He was about to take up residence in this City, any information he found out would be useful. The veiled threat was disturbing as well.

Did they kill anyone who disobeyed?

"What do you mean?" Miles asked.

"There aren't many Laws in Frostheim, but no one breaks the ones there are. Few are willing to risk the wrath of the City Lord and he deals with every lawbreaker personally." Nathan answered with a shutter. The fear he held for the City Lord was clear.

Miles was curious about what had caused such fear but didn't say anything.

"There are Laws?" Miles asked instead.

Everywhere since the Change enforced order, but he hadn't heard of anywhere with explicit Laws before. His home surely didn't have any, as people were cut down openly. The Fort tried to enforce the peace but there were too many people and far too little food for that to work.

Most places didn't have a central power strong enough to come out and state any, let alone enforce them.

"Of course there are Laws! We aren't barbarians!" Nathan defended before rooting through his pack under the driver's bench, "I have them here somewhere, stamped with the official sigil, too."

It took a moment for Nathan to find what he was looking for but he eventually did, pulling his prize out of his pack and handing it to Miles. He wasn't sure what to expect, but a single piece of paper wasn't it.

A book maybe, or at least a stack of papers detailing everything in legalese no one could understand. Instead, it was a piece of paper that had words inked from what looked like a paper press.

It was frighteningly easy to read and understand. There were no minced words or confusing phrases. It was more like a list of things and their accompanying punishments if you did them.

A far cry from the Constitutions there used to be.

Murder, theft, assault, all the obvious crimes were listed next to their punishments and his eyes went wide reading those. Forced labor, removal of hand, restitution payments, fines, and exile.

No wonder no one broke the law if these were the punishments. The death penalty was even on the list. It wasn't listed often and only followed the heinous crimes, but the fact they so openly stated it was alarming.

"The death penalty?" Miles whispered.

Nathan flinched but didn't show the alarm that Miles felt inside. "Nasty business that. I felt much the same way when I read it but I've come around since then."

It sounded like Nathan was speaking from experience.

"You've seen it?"

Nathan nodded solemnly, "There's only been one and nearly everyone was there. Everyone in the City heard about what happened and came out to watch. Some wish they hadn't."

Miles couldn't help but find himself curious, "What happened?"

"It wasn't that long ago, actually. Some hot-shot among the groups traveling sauntered in like he owned the place not caring for the rules, thinking his high level made him better. He ambushed a team coming back from the Dungeon, killed all but one, and looted the bodies." Nathan spat off the cart in disgust.

"He thought that since he did it outside the City he would be fine." Nathan looked Miles in the eye, "He was wrong."

"The bodies were found and the survivor was brought back and healed. With the crime reported, the guards were sent out to figure out what happened. They had the survivor's testimony, but they investigated to make sure he was telling the truth.

"They confirmed the man's story and sent out the Trackers. The Trackers followed his trail back into the city. It wasn't hard to find him after that. The prick wasn't even hiding and was found wearing the dead team's gear."

"The trial was short and he was found guilty of three counts of premeditated murder." Nathan finished.

Miles looked through the list in his hand for premeditated murder. It was listed under Murder with levels of severities.

Premeditated Murder: Death

Nathan let out a dark chuckle, "After he was sentenced to Death, he ranted and raved, defending himself. Saying he was in the right and that those he killed and stole from were weak. That they didn't deserve the gear they had.

"Everyone watching was stunned. First at what he said, then at what he did next."

Miles expected to hear that he went wild, attacking anyone that came close.

"He demanded a Trial by Combat."

"A Trial by Combat?!" Miles sputtered. There was no way that was a thing.

Nathan shattered that thought with his next words, "And the City Lord granted it."

Miles was incredulous and couldn't keep his expression neutral.

"Once you live here long enough, you'll come to understand. The City Lord has what some would call... a warped sense of Honor. No one talks about it openly, but it's well-known. The prick demanded it because he knew it would be granted."

Even knowing how the story ended, Miles couldn't help but feel his anticipation rising for the conclusion.

"Without warning, he pulled a dagger and charged. The City Lord didn't even have his weapon with him, but it ended up not mattering. He punched him so hard that his chest caved in and lungs collapsed."

"The man died choking on his own blood."