Sentria: The Age of Adventure (Book 2)

Chapter Thirty-One: Drylands

We got up while it was still dark and had a quick breakfast before we left to make up the time we lost from staying in the castle. Lord Cedric Arrington pleaded for us to stay; he nearly clung to my boots as we rode through the kingdom asking me to wait until noon. I told him that I'd return once all of this was over and I'd repay him for his hospitality. 

instead of taking the road back, we cut through Vilquist northwest, diagonally. It had stopped snowing sometime during the right and yet it was still a solemn sight. Empty spaces and many homeless wanderers hoping to find work for their next meal. In my travels. I wanted to see it all. I had learned that so much of Askeran was troubled. Soon, I'd be responsible for fixing it all.

We traveled through hilly roads and past a scattering of homes that one couldn't quite call villages. They were communities of people that banded together to make the most of their meager lives. As we passed a dying farm of corn stalks, my thoughts drifted to the Iron Lass and who she was as a little girl. She was so intelligent and cunning. What would she have been like if she had been given the chance? What if she was born in a royal house instead of made to tend to the land for barely livable wages? It wasn't fair and it needed to be.

As we left Vilquist and entered Belderaan, the landscape became dry and dusty, as if water had never touched these lands. The forests were completely without leaves and the ground was all different shades of brown. It too was desolate, but my party no longer was. We were closer than ever before and it wasn't something that had to be spoken of. There was an ease between all of us that wasn't there before our stay at Vilquist Castle. In this dry and arid place, all we had was each other.

I watched as a tumbleweed rolled by and it made me think of the goddess of ground, Urca, and I wanted to tell Eldwyn the story of her reign in this land: "This place was—"

"I've been here before," Eldwyn said calmly.

"You have?" asked Prince Lucas.

"Yea," he replied. "The Misty Moors is nearby. When I was a young child, my parents brought me out here to listen to the wind to understand Bronte."

"They left you out here by yourself?" asked Prince Lucas.

"That's the only way. Interpreting the wind isn't the same for everyone. We have to build our own relationship with Bronte, and he tells you what you want to know. To know the truth you have to walk the trail alone."

"That's...actually beautiful," Lucas said, deep in thought.

We made camp that night out in the open. There wasn't much shelter to be found and there weren't any official lords of these lands. These Belderaans would name their own, but outside of this realm, their titles meant nothing. In fairness, my name wouldn't hold as much weight as it did in Vilquist. Belderaans were hardened nomads. Wherever they slept for the night was their home and their lives could change with the weather. 

Eldwyn went to sleep early in the tent; he seemed drained by the journey and the closer we went north, the quieter he became.

"Do you think he will be well?" asked Prince Lucas as we sat around the fire. I was worried that the glow might draw attention to ourselves in the night; most marauders came from this place. I was listening out for anything between the cracks of the fire.

"He will be," I said with absolute faith. "We are a day away from the Ark Library."

"But the book might only lead us to an answer, not take the form of the answer itself. If so, we'll have to do more traveling before we break the curse."

"We will cross that bridge when we get to it." I sat with my knees up to my chest, fiddling with straw and my thoughts were far away. I couldn't consider anything bad happening to Eldwyn.

"I just want him to be well..." Lucas said.

As we rode further north through cold and lifeless woods, Eldwyn's condition worsened. The circles around his eyes got darker, and he swayed back and forth. He looked like he would fall off his horse several times. We had to get there soon. We stopped for a time and I gave him the vital elixir, but it didn't appear to affect him much. When I offered it to him again upon our horses, he slapped it away and I knew that it was the curse and not my Eldwyn.

Between two small encampments, things grew quiet and I felt an uneasiness deep inside. I wanted to ask Eldwyn if he felt anything, but I didn't want to drain any more of his energy. The answer came to me in the form of a sandstorm that whipped up quicker than I had expected. It blinded us and spooked our horses. I snapped the reins and kept going in the direction we were headed. I screamed continuously to ensure that they could hear my voice and not get lost until my mouth filled with sand. 

The sandstorm became too much and we had to stop.

"Everyone, off!" I yelled to them, spitting out sand. We jumped off of our horses and got down on the ground, huddling together. The horses gathered around us, blocking us from the harsh winds.

It took hours for it to stop, and when it did, we decided to make camp there. It had taken too much out of us to go riding again and our horses needed to rest too.

The next day we continued in the same direction and civilization began to reappear. Stone villages with husky people covered in the furs of their kills inhabited them. Small streams flowed through this part of Belderaan too. We passed through Rockhenge Village and those that dwelled there looked at us as if we were people born from the sea. Past this village was the sand-colored the Northern Valley in the Belderaan Mountains which would bring us to the Ark Library.

"We're almost there," I told them as we trotted through this place. The passageway went from narrow to wide at a moment's notice, and we rode in a single file to navigate it. I looked up at the sky between the tops of the mountains and thanked Jorel, the sun god, for warming us up.

We passed through this valley carefully. We didn't know what awaited around every turn, and when we reached the end of it and I saw the high bronze gates of the Ark Library, I nearly let out a scream of excitement.

"We have made it," I turned to Lucas and Eldwyn.

On the other side of the gate was an old tall man with black hair and without a strand of gray hair to be found. He wore all-white robes and was reading from a large book, as if he didn't notice us.

"Sir," I said, stopping at the gate. "I am High Prince Darren of the family Colress and I wish to be let in."

The man took a moment to look up from his book, then said, "I'm sorry, but that won't be happening."

"I'm sorry?" I said. "I can show you my royal records if you'd like." I reached inside my jacket, but the old man held a hand to me.

"That won't be necessary. Only those who have scheduled an appointment are allowed admittance into the Ark Library. I can put down your name and you can return in a week."

I leaned back in surprise. I was offended and I had a few choice words for his insolence, but before I had the chance, Prince Lucas intervened.

"Sir," Lucas said, "I am Prince Lucas Marbury from Stargon. There must be something that can be done. We've traveled all this way and our friend is in dire need." He lifted his hand toward Eldwyn, showing how badly our friend looked. He was swaying around in circles atop his horse and his eyes were half-opened.

"My sincerest apologies," said the old man, "but rules are instated for a reason. Your kingdoms may wish to change them at a whim, but ours have been upheld for centuries. If there are no laws then there is chaos."

"Don't you see?" I said, leaning forward. "We are trying to prevent a war that would put an end to your library. Eldwyn has already helped save this realm and all who dwell in it. You have no right to deny me or my party entry."

The old man breathed loudly out of his nose and said, "Rules. Are. Rules." He looked down at his book.

"Please," Lucas said in a far gentler tone than mine. "I'm sure there is an agreement that can be made. My family oversees the business of Port Irvington which gives me direct access to Cairon. I would think that a nice catalog of works from the southern continent could be of use to you?"

The old man looked up again and said, "Perhaps an agreement can be arranged."