Children Of The Sky (The Scripts Of Neptune, Book 2)

Chapter 30

The birch meadows that spotted the forest at the foot of the mountains were Chad's favorite place to go when he had the time. The mountains sat west of Cassar, a great stone mandible blocking the city from the sea, capped with snow even in the heat of summer. They weren't much trouble for trade on the coast; the villages that sat on the opposite side were easily accessed by a series of roads that wove through the foothills south of the mountains. No one dared cross the highest peaks, however, unless they had minimal luggage and the wings with which to carry themselves.

Being among the trees and the late-blooming grasses had an odd habit of helping Chad clear his mind of the fog that so often encompassed him. There were no people out here to worry about, no Dria, no Craventi. Just his thoughts and the mountains looming over him. And so it'd become increasing habit, though he often came back past dark and had to kindle a feeble, exhausting sphere of light to be sure of his path home, to wander out here by himself after the day's lessons had ended at the university. It was helping him with those, too, he found, for out here he could hear himself think, and pondering the history and names of the different orders was considerably easier in the shadow of a birch's boughs than it was under the piercing gaze of his professors.

Today had brought rain on the first part of his wanderings, but the sun dried him out well enough afterwards; he pulled off his wet shoes and walked barefoot through the open fields that preceded the woodland. The wind curled his hair at the ends as it dried--he rather needed a trim soon.

The forest was radiant with fallen rain as he walked, and everything smelled of damp earth and living things. The air, warm and humid, seemed to embrace him; this corner of nature had long ago adopted his lonely, silent self into its being.

He wandered with his thoughts until the dusk drove him back to the path, then pulled on his still-damp shoes to protect his feet from things he could no longer see to avoid. The stars winked on above him in the pale-blue sky, crickets serenading them in a song made almost deafening by their sheer numbers in the grasses, and the air chilled and changed its scent to that of dew and moist, cool earth. The sliver-moon was just beginning to crest as he started home; he let its lavender light guide him this time, rather than making his own.

The cottage glowed soft yellow from its windows against the dark. Chad left his shoes on the porch by the door and slipped inside, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the lamplight, and waved a little to Craventi, who sat in his old chair by the kitchen table. He often sat there, book in hand and glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, and Chad had caught him sitting there asleep in the morning more than once.

"How was the rain?" Craventi asked with a twinkle in his eye.

Chad shrugged and went to the stove to spoon some dinner onto his plate--it was stew tonight, and it smelled like heaven after not eating since before he'd gone hiking. It tasted even better than it smelled; Chad's eyes fluttered shut for a moment when he sat down with a glass of water and ate the first spoonful. "What're you reading?"

"Oh, just an old novel I found lying around the library earlier. Pirates and mages and things. Horribly unrealistic. I wish the author had done their research."

Chad huffed a laugh between bites. "See anything about the orders while you were there? We're studying them, and listening to a professor drawl for hours is a bloody pain."

Craventi chuckled and rose, setting his spectacles and book on the table. Taking a thick book from the shelf above the washbasin, he set it next to Chad's bowl and tapped it with his fingers. "This should help you. I got it for Dria, but she didn't show a particular interest. Don't swap this for the word of your instructors, though. They have more wisdom and experience than many."