Fledging

Chapter 23

                “There’s little else to do at the moment so that sounds like a good idea.”  Alida looked around at the tall ceiling above us and with a heavy sigh, looked back at me.

                “I found a series of nest like rooms that branch out from the Library, we could go to one of those.”

                “Lead the way.”

                Once situated around a round table in a small, cubby of a room, the three of us poured over the maps of the land that we had borrowed from the Library.  One focused on the topographical aspects of their route, while the other simply stated where the cities and being made lines that separated the territories of each race and their sub groups.

                “So if we take this road here, we can make it to the small village indicated by this blue dot right here by the edge of this river before long.  There we can make any final adjustments before heading to our final destination.” Kenneth surveyed the political map, his finger tracing lightly across the indicated path of the parchment.

                “What race inhabits that area?” I asked tensely.

                “It’s not Skaal if that’s what you’re worried about, they don’t have any land that is technically theirs that far south or west.  And the humans haven’t lived in that region for centuries so you won’t have to worry about that kind of trouble either.”

Alida nodded. “So I’m guessing it’s one of the Azinza’s places?  I don’t recall there being any Pavox settlement around there except of course for the capital.”

                “Right, it’s one of their few land based homes, given that the majority of them live in the oceans or lakes.”

                “So wait, that’s almost near the edge of this land, where exactly is Veiliegstad?” I asked, leaning forward confused as I surveyed the map for our objective.

                “It’s not on here.  At least it’s not marked, the royal flight worked hard to keep their exact location hidden from all but a select few.  The Royal Skavlieu a few years ago made sure that all maps, which indicated their exact whereabouts, be destroyed.”

                “Then why are we even looking at a map to begin with?  Do you even know where it is?”

                “Not in great specifics, but I was told the general location years ago.  I will of course be getting more information on where it is and how to get there before we leave, but given that it is a closely guarded secret, they aren’t so keen on giving out the information quite so easily.”

“So how are we supposed to convince whoever it is we need to convince to tell us where to go?” I looked at him accusingly.

                “Well that was actually part of a tiny snag we found for this whole thing.”  Kenneth glanced up at me before awkwardly scratching at his neck.

“Why didn’t Keever tell me anything like this while I was meeting with her?” I snapped, slamming my hands on the table as I stood up angrily.  “What do I need to do?”

“They probably thought that it didn’t matter much because you would find a way one way or another.”

“Doesn’t matter?  We need to know where we’re going to be able to get there, Kenneth!”

“True, but years ago I was given the general location so I know where to head to first, which would be this village here.”

“Ok so say we get there without knowing anything else, where do we go from there?”