"Terrasen, dead ahead," Evie called from the ship helm, folding her spyglass in and securing it to her belt.
At the very front of the ship, Aelin leaned forward against the railing, taking in the green landscape and rising mountains that marked it as Terrasen. Rowan wrapped his arms around her waist, and she leaned her head into his chest.
"I won't ask if you missed it," Rowan murmured into her hair.
"Terrasen gave me something good to fight for before I had you or Aedion or Lysandra. It was the first and last thing I thought of at night while I was Abroynn and even when I paid my debt and was with Sam."
"I know, Fireheart."
"Terrasen was something that would always be there. It couldn't be killed or tortured or destroyed. I missed it so much, Rowan."
"Then, we better go save it," he answered.
The fleet weighed anchor off the the coast and hundreds of smaller rowboats cast themselves into the water, carrying more than five thousand soldiers and magic-wielders. No one greeted them when they landed, which Aelin found odd. She'd sent a messenger hawk, not Rowan, to let her cousins know she would be landing within a few days time.
The fleet had landed as close to the seaside town of Suria as possible where Aelin hoped to buy horses at the port city.
"Evie, make camp for tonight. Rowan and I will ride over to Suria and see how many good horses they have," Aelin said.
The two of them took off running in the direction of the town, dodging trees and laughing as Aelin tried to outmaneuver him. It was only a five-minute run, but it left her heart pumping as Rowan threw out a hand to stop her.
"Stop. Look," he said, pointing to the quiet town.
Aelin had only been to Suria several times in her life, and there were many words to describe it, but Suria was far from quiet. The bustling seaport was a smaller version of Rifthold, with a bustling market square, a busy dock, even a little bit of a slum. There were no traders walking in out of the city gates, no shouting from the docks.
"Come on," she whispered, pulling him along the road to the gates.
The two of them walked through the abandoned streets, where Aelin remembered children used to play. The carts in the market were abandoned and barren as they walked past. The only noise was their footsteps and the creak of the blacksmith sign above his abandoned shop.
"Where is everybody?" Aelin whispered. There was no sign of an epidemic or fires or anything else. It looked like the citizens just up and left.
Rowan stopped in front of a dressmaker's shop and read a paper attached to the window, "MADAME DILLAD'S DRESSMAKING HAS MOVED TO ORYNTH UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE."
Aelin peered into the shop, "She had enough time to move most of her things."
"Do you think everyone went to Orynth?" Rowan asked.
"I don't know. Tomorrow, we'll start moving the soldiers towards the capital. Can you fly west, and see how far Adrian had advanced? We need to know how much time we have. I'll send another hawk to my family in the meantime," Aelin said, retracing her footsteps to the stone gate and the forest beyond.
Rowan gave her a hard kiss before shifting and shooting off into the sky.
"Be careful, Buzzard!" she called as he flew away.
When she returned back to camp, she wrote a quick note to her cousins about their march towards Orynth and attached it to a hawk.
"Come back with reply this time. Got it?" she huffed and sent the bird soaring.
Evie and Declan stood around the table in her tent, a map spread wide that included all the cities and territories in Erilea and the Southern Continent.
"Femora's much larger than I expected," Evie said, tracing the inked border.
"Femora takes pleasure in conquering new lands and killing the traditions and customs of the people they rule," Aelin answered. "They've conquered most of the Southern Continent, but the Free Kingdoms are united against them, and the current king is looking for something to be remembered in the history books, hence Erilea."
"How did they conquer so much of the continent though? It covers more than all of Erilea combined," Evie breathed.
"For the most part, they force young boys in lands they conquer into military service. By the time they're of age, they're fighting machines. It's all they know."
Declan asked, "Where did they find that dragon?"
"I have no idea. I thought all of the dragons had died long ago, even before Rowan was alive. It was too big and lasted too long to be a shifter."
"What's our plan?" Declan asked.
"We're here," Aelin said, pointing to Suria on the map. "We're going to move the army towards Orynth, the capital. If we get word back from Queen Nehi that we are needed on the border, we'll have to turn south and meet the Terrasen army."
"The base is here," she continued, pointing to a empty spot on the map. "This is the heart of the Oakwald Forest. One of Terrasen's best kept secrets, aside from me of course."
Aelin was describing the terrain in different parts of Terrasen and the populations of several of its cities when the flaps of the tent flew open.
Rowan stalked to the side of the table and gripped it with both hands, the wood groaning under his touch.
"We have a problem."