by Seth Ring
[That is an impressive trick.] Thorn looked around. [Is this your real size?]
[What? No, no, I’m still using shrinking magic.]
[Shrinking magic? Your normal size is bigger than this?] Thorn looked blankly at the over one hundred foot wingspan under his feet, trying to imagine what an even larger bird would look like.
[Haha, man, you have no idea. Maybe someday I’ll show you, but if I release it here I will get in so much trouble. Haha, I promised I wouldn’t cause trouble so I have to stay tiny while I’m hanging out around the land. Alright, you might want to sit down for this. Here we go. Don’t blink or you’ll miss it.]
With a gentle push, Vento floated into the sky, his wings catching the wind as he floated above the valley. Within seconds they had floated to the other end of the valley and the dense mountains stretched out before them. For a brief moment they hung in the air, giving Thorn and the rest of the team a clear view of Moon Wolf Citadel and Fang Valley. Then, with a flap of his wings, Vento shot forward and the valley disappeared from view.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The air was clear and cold, though the wind was not nearly as strong as Thorn anticipated considering how fast they were going. Rather, the air seemed to bend around the team as they sat on the Emperor of the Sky’s back. The ride was as smooth as any vehicle that Thorn had ever ridden on and unbelievably fast. The clouds that dotted the sky flew by giving the impression that the entire world was rotating underneath them.
“It is totally crazy to be up this high. Oooh, look, you can see the three oceans from up here!” Standing up on her toes, Mina pointed to the thin band of glittering silver ringing the horizon.
Standing next to her, Velin admired the view for a few moments. Then, flipping her notebook open, Velin sat down next to Thorn.
“Before we get the sap from the World Tree and cure your curse, we need a better, more immediate way of communicating. Writing is too slow. Per Corvo’s suggestion, we’re going to try out sign language.”
Flipping her book around so Thorn could see the pages, she slowly leafed through them.
“I compiled a small series of signs that I think will be important to know. We can increase the number of signs as you remember these ones.”
[Hey, Thorn, we are about two hours away from the capital. Where do you want me to drop you off? Remember, I have to stay around fifty miles away to avoid triggering the defenses.]
Hearing Vento’s voice echo in his head, Thorn’s eyes went wide. They had just left the valley a bit less than twenty minutes earlier. He had been expecting the trip to go quickly, but this level of speed was nearly unimaginable. Velin, seeing his exaggerated reaction, lifted her eyebrows and opened her mouth, only to have Thorn hold a finger for her to wait.
[You mean it is only going to take two hours to get across half of Angoril?]
[Eh, only Northern Angoril. It is about three and a half to get to the channel.]
[Wow, you were not kidding about being fast.]
[I am an Imperial Roc, after all. Speed is my first, middle, and last name.]
[No kidding. Hey, out of curiosity, how fast could you get to Rasyn?]
[Elf island? Hmm. Probably five hours or so. We can catch a jetstream over the northern coast and ride it all the way over.]
Quickly scribbling a note, Thorn called the others over to discuss.
Vento says that he can get us to Rasyn in about five hours. Is there any reason we can’t just go straight to the island?
“I dunno. I’m not sure why we were going to the capital anyway,” Baxby shrugged. “Getting there in five hours sounds good to me.”
“Originally, we were going to go to the capital to take the Aether Gate which will allow us to arrive at Shaylathemar, the main city on the island. There is a library there that I want to look through for clues.” Tapping her finger on the cover of her notebook, Velin thought for a second before shaking her head. “I cannot think of any reason we could not arrive on the island a different way.”
“Weren’t we going to visit with Athena?”
“Yes,” Velin nodded at Mina’s question. “I can send her a message to let her know about the change of plans. If we need to talk to her, we can meet in Fantasia. One of the benefits of being in a game I guess.”
Good, I’ll see if he minds.
[Hey, Vento, what are the chances you just want to drop us off on Rasyn? We were originally only going to go to the capital to take an Aether Gate there anyway. If it is not going to take much longer, could you just take us?]
[Oh, sure. Yeah, that won’t be a problem at all. Like I said, it only takes like five hours or so because of the lift from the ocean winds. So, there is this massive tower on the tallest peak of Gerund that is constantly blowing hot air up into the atmosphere. As it cools, it sinks down and blows away from the island. Creates a great updraft as it gets out over the ocean and heats up again. Also has the effect of making it really hard to get to the island by boat. Easy to leave the island, hard to get back. I think that is why everyone from the island has such big muscles. It’s all the rowing they do trying to get home.]
He says that is fine.
“Good, that will save us quite a bit of trouble.” Velin smiled in relief. “I was not quite sure how it was going to go once we were in the city because you are currently under investigation and your opponents might use it as an excuse to detain you until the date of the hearing. I have been thinking about ways to sneak you in, but, as you can understand, that is not an easy task.”
“No, it would be a gargantuan task, indeed.” Baxby said, his face straight.
“Yeah, hehe. A monumental task, one might say.” Mina, quick to join in, hid her smile behind her hand as she tried not to giggle.
Rolling her eyes, Velin opened her book back up, not deigning to reply to the banter. Thorn, on the other hand grinned and gave them a thumbs up before giving Velin his attention. Underneath them, Vento turned to the east, shooting toward the coast.
“This is the list of basic signs I would like to concentrate on. Sign language is an incredibly rich language in its own right, and learning a few signs will not do it justice, but it should help speed up our communication in the field. Let’s start with the most basic list. Yes, no, danger, quiet, enemies, forward, speed up, slow down, stop, disperse, engage, take cover. These are the basic tactical signals that a squad is going to use. We’ll be adding some sign language to the list.
“I also found a helpful list of one hundred signs that will give us a reasonable breadth of conversation. So that is what we will be using for the time being, until we have time to learn more. The advantage of learning this in Nova Terra cannot be overstated, as the game will assist with memorizing the hand motion and meaning, making it easier to remember. Alright, are you ready? Mina, Baxby, come here. You need to learn this too.”
Over the next four hours Thorn split his time between studying the list of signs that Velin had organized and chatting with Vento. The one hundred different words allowed him to roughly convey his meaning with his team, and he was excited to learn more. Baxby had taken to signing well and quickly mastered the list of words, much to Mina’s frustration. The Ice Witch was not picking it up as quickly as the rest of the group, causing her to pout.
Sending Akira over to comfort Mina, Thorn looked down at the land passing by underneath them. The Emperor of the Sky had carried them along the north coast of Northern Angoril, pointing out Gerund in the distance. Once they caught the updraft coming off of the ocean, they turned to the southeast and shot out over the ocean, riding the winds toward Rasyn.
[The peak where I can drop you off is on the northern end of the mountain chain on the west side of Rasyn. I don’t know what the locals call it, but it is the tallest mountain on the island. Ooh, there is a fish down there. Hold on, I’m going to grab a snack.]
Dropping like a rock, Vento suddenly descended toward the surface of the ocean. At first, the change in height was not that noticeable, but as they
approached the water, it began to stretch out on every side. Paling slightly, Mina grabbed onto Thorn’s arm.
Still dropping toward the surface of the ocean, Vento suddenly flapped his wings, propelling himself forward at an unbelievable speed. With a whoosh he shot down into the water, causing the world around Thorn and the others to turn emerald blue for a brief moment. Stunned by the development, Thorn fully expected to get washed away by the water, only to realize that the water rushed around them, separated from them by a layer of air.
Grabbing an unfortunate fish the size of a small whale that had been enjoying the warm waters by the surface, Vento shot up and out of the water, another flap of his wings taking him back up into the air. Not a drop of water had touched him or the passengers on his back due to his skillful molding of the air around him.
[Hahaha, didn’t expect that, did you?] Chuckling to himself, Vento asked Thorn.
[I confess, I didn’t. That was pretty impressive though. How did you keep us from getting wet?]
[Wind Shaping. It is one of my many, awesome, natural abilities. That is how I fly. As you can imagine, I’m way too big to fly like a normal bird, good thing I have magic, huh? It allows me to create a void in front of and around me. That is why the wind doesn’t bother you when you’re on my back. I created a pocket of air for you that is separated from the outside space. It slows me down quite a bit, but if I didn’t you would just blow right off.]
[Ha, well thanks. I can’t imagine blowing off would be any fun.]
[Yeah, probably not. Hey, when we get to the mountain can you cook this thing for me? I’m not so good with fire, but I’d much rather eat it cooked than raw.]
[Of course, that shouldn’t be a problem. We might need your help gathering the wood, but we should be able to fashion something.]
[Oooh, thanks! I can’t wait! This is going to be so good. You know, it has probably been close to seventy years since I last had roasted fish. I mean, don’t get me wrong, raw fish isn’t bad, but there is something about the crispy bits of a fish just off the flame that can’t be beat. Hey, there is the mountain. We should be there in about twenty-five minutes.]
As they got closer, Thorn looked with interest at the rapidly approaching island. Off the eastern coast of the main continents of Angoril, Rasyn was known as the home of Elves. Shaped like a crescent, the island boasted a natural harbor with a few islands, an impressive mountain range that ran along the western shore, and a massive forest that covered the northern part of the island. The center of the island was a rich plain where farming flourished.
The mountains on the western side of the island were steep and numerous, with a strange piled up look as if they had been smashed together at some point. The tallest of the mountains was at the northmost end of the mountain range, its peak wreathed in wispy clouds. With a few flaps of his wings, Vento landed on the peak. He had transferred the giant fish to his beak to avoid crushing it when he landed and he dropped it off to the side as he let Thorn and the others down from his back.
After looking around the top of the mountain, Thorn recommended a few options. [So, we have a couple ways to do this. If you want the whole thing roasted at once, we could make a huge bonfire. Or, if you don’t mind shrinking, we could use a smaller fire to cook pieces one at a time.]
[Oooh, a big bonfire would be great. And then I could eat the whole thing at once!]
[It might attract some attention.] Just imagining how large a fire would be needed to cook the whale of a fish left Thorn sweating.
[Ha, have I ever been afraid of attention? I’m the Emperor of the Sky, Thorn. There are like two things in Angoril that scare me and neither of them is here. Besides, I should be able to handle the fire fine. I just need you to light it for me.] The gleam of excitement in Vento’s eyes made it hard for Thorn to say no so he agreed and walked over to Velin, Baxby, and Mina.
After thinking for a moment, Thorn tried some of the signs that he had learned.
*Wait. Start Fire. Animal.*
“You want to set Akira on fire?” Baxby squinted at Thorn’s pet who was perched on his shoulder, causing her to sit bolt upright in surprise.
Shaking his head no, Thorn tried again, this time clearly pointing to Vento and the fish.
*No. Start fire. He eat.*
“Oh, Vento wants to eat the fish so we’re going to cook it.” Baxby nodded sagely, pretending he had understood the whole time.
“How long is it going to take to cook that whole fish?” Velin asked, her brow furrowed.
*No. Start fire, leave.*
“Why is he setting the fish on fire?” Mina had been concentrating so hard on Thorn’s signs that she had missed the whole conversation.
“No, we are starting a fire for Vento. To cook the fish? And then leaving. Or something?” Baxby tried to explain the situation to Mina but since he was not quite sure what was going on he did not sound very confident.
Nodding and giving a thumbs up, Thorn turned back to Vento.
[Does that work for you? We can get the fire started and then we’ll head down the mountain.]
[Yeah that is great. I can start fires but it is a real pain. If you start it then I can keep it going by adding wood and air. Hold on, let me get some wood so you can start the fire. I’ll be right back.]
With a whoosh, Vento vanished from the mountaintop, appearing above the forest half way up the mountainside. Within minutes he was back, two tree trunks grasped in his talons and a bunch of branches held in his beak. Looking at the massive trees that Vento had dropped on the top of the mountain, Baxby was about to ask how they were going to cut them down when Thorn walked over and lifted one up into the air. Flexing the claws on his armored gauntlets, Thorn grabbed a chunk of wood and dug his fingers in, splintering it into pieces.
“Oh, right. I forgot that we have the human demolition crew over here. Hey, bring me some of the small pieces and I can get the fire started.” Baxby said, getting flint and steel out of his pack. Together, Akira, Mina, and Velin gathered up small branches and some of the small shards that had fallen when Thorn began ripping the tree trunks apart with his bare hands.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
With Thorn breaking the trees and branches into manageable chunks, and the girls gathering them into piles according to size, Baxby quickly got a blaze going. At Vento’s request, Thorn got out one of the large swords he had in his inventory and cut the fish into six pieces which they stuck on sticks so Vento could hold them over the raging fire. It quickly became so hot that they had to retreat from the peak. Only the Emperor of the Sky did not seem bothered by the waves of heat rolling off of the bonfire.
[Thanks again for the ride.] Giving a wave to the giant bird who was holding a stick with a piece of fish and hopping around the huge fire to roast it, Thorn led the others down the mountain. About half way down, the rocky mountainside gave way to thick forests of pine trees. Because of his size, the forests were a bit difficult for Thorn to get through so he sent Akira on ahead. While he could have just pushed through, he did not want to damage the forest, so he had to be careful how quickly he forged through.
Bouncing from branch to branch, Akira led the group through the forests until the terrain began to level out. The trees began to get taller, making it easier for Thorn to see and allowing the group to move a bit faster. Once they had made it off the mountain, Velin called for the group to stop and checked her map.
The plan had originally been to go to Shaylathemar, but because of the change in their travel arrangements, they now found themselves much closer to the cities of Maandell and Thilvena. Maandell was a trading town at the foot of the mountain range that served as a hub for all of the hunters and prospectors who sought their fortunes in the mountains. It was situated on a river that flowed out of the mountains and all the way to the capital of Rasyn, Shaylathemar.
Thilvena was located in the middle of the ancient forests that blanketed the northern side of the island. Built in the treetops, it was a mystical city, known
as the ancient home of the Elven race. Originally intending to go to the library in Shaylathemar first before visiting Thilvena, Velin was torn since they were so much closer now. After considering for a while, she decided to stick with her original plan.
“We’ll head south along the mountain range until we get to Maandell. From there we’ll catch a boat to Shaylathemar. We should be able to make it to Maandell tomorrow around noon. A fast boat will get us to the coast by the evening. This puts us about a day ahead of the schedule that I originally anticipated, which is great. Do your best to avoid getting sucked into anything because I suspect that we will need every possible moment for this quest.”
*Agree.*