Author Notes: Weeee! I didn't realise that there were so many Darkangel trilogy fans around! Thank you very much ailpods1986, Rashiea, Calcifersgrl, Mel, RaspberryGirl, Saranha de Angelo, LadyofLorien, Hyacinth Myst (Mystique in Japanese is apparently shinpisei) and ah...'Me', whoever you are.
And an extra special thanks to Jezebel for constantly pushing me along with this chapter and helping me with some of my tricker creative decisions. ~hugs~
Just to clear up some confusion, this story is set during that time before the start of the actual war, when everyone was loitering around in the desert. So at this point in time Aeriel and Irrylath's relationship is still pretty rocky. Aeriel can only assume that Irrylath doesn't love her, as he is always pushing her away. And Irrylath for his part seems to be showing a great deal of interest in Sabr….
Um….And also as to why I've been taking so long to update this along with my other fics…well…ah…I could tell you all about how busy I've been with school and how I've been suffering from writers block (which is part of the reason) but the real truth of the matter is this this: I'm lazy. Terribly, terribly slack and lazy. : ( I'm very sorry everyone. I'll try and do better now that I'm almost starting summer holidays.
Also I apologise if there are some mistakes in this chapter too…I tried to fix everything up as best as I could. So if you see anything feel free to point it out and I'll fix it. (Thanks btw Saranha de Angelo and RaspberryGirl : ) I've revised the first chapter and fixed up the ones you guys pointed out)
Disclaimer: I do not own the Darkangel Trilogy, Meredith Ann Pierce does, and if I was Meredith Ann Pierce don't you think my writing standard would be a little (a lot) better?
The Land in the Sky
Chapter 2
The once boisterous crowd turned silent as all eyes fixed on the map. Gazes locked on a particular point, just a little below where Aeriel's pale index finger rested. An inked sketch of snow capped mountains rose proudly from the faded parchment, with that odd sounding name scrawled gracefully above the topmost peak.
"Well…" The Lady Syllva was the first to speak, "I must say I am in full agreement with you, my dear Aeriel, I've never even noticed this 'Aozora' on the map before, let alone know anything about it."
"Do any of your troops come from there?" Irrylath questioned Sabr; "After all it is part of Westernese."
Sabr shook her head; "I make it my business to know everything about every single last one of my fighters. I would most certainly know if they came from…whatever place this is. It's strange." Her voice was clouded with fascination as the bandit queen leaned over the table to get a closer view of the chart.
Aeriel silently agreed with her rival. Even just looking at the simplistic drawing on the map made a little shiver run up her spine. There wasn't any justifiable reason for this excitement, there where probably plenty of smaller, quieter countries that had been overlooked in their speedy preparations for war. There was no need for any fuss, the sensible thing would be to forget about this discovery and continue on with the meeting.
But she couldn't. She found herself compelled, almost hypnotized, into gazing down at the image of distant mountain ranges.
"Does anyone know anything about this land." Aeriel asked at last.
Unfortunately, her question received a negative response from the rest of the tent's occupants. Even the learned Talb had nothing to offer.
"It used to be this world's center of magic and learning." The words were spoken from right beside Aeriel's left ear and the pale girl jumped in fright. This abrupt motion sent the heron flying from her shoulder with an indignant squawk.
"It's you! Heron!" Aeriel cried, eyes finally torn from the map to rest on the bird that had so suddenly appeared.
"Yes, it is I." The snowy creature sniffed haughtily from her new perch atop Talb's hat, obviously displeased with Aeriel for giving her such a shock.
Aeriel quickly realized that most of the table, with the exception of Talb and Erin, were now staring at both her and the heron with astonishment. Some introductions may be in order.
"This is ah…" Aeriel fumbled, unsure how she could possibly explain her feathered friend to her comrades. "This is Heron." She stated finally. Hopefully, they could work the rest out for themselves.
"Pleased to meet you Heron, I am Syllva, the Lady of Isternes." Ah, Lady Syllva, always the diplomat. Quickly the rest of the table followed the Lady's example, politely introducing themselves to the bird. Heron, for her part, bowed to each new acquaintance gracefully, her ego now assuaged.
"You were saying something about Aozora?" Roshka prompted.
Heron nodded. "Yes, I said it used to be corner stone of this world's magical community. Lonwury is as simple and unrefined as a fishing village compared to the grandeur that was once Aozora." Here, the bird paused in her speech to cast a cool look Talb, who had snorted loudly in response to her last comment. Aeriel remembered that the duarough had learnt his own magic at Lonwury.
"I'm surprised that you managed to gain hold of a map with Aozora's location on it though. No one has been able to journey there for centuries. It's because of the snow you see." Heron tapped the mountain peaks with her bill. "Once the world started to fall into disarray, that land's climate slipped out of the Ancients' control. There are terrible blizzards and avalanches that make it almost impossible to reach the heart of Aozora itself, which lies in a valley between these mountain ranges."
Irrylath moved leaned forward to observe the map in more detail. But in order to do so he had to lean slightly on the person sitting directly before it: Aeriel.
The pale girl had to concentrate so hard on not trembling at her husband's sudden closeness, that the world around her began to fade a little. The faces of her allies and family were as blurred and fragmented as one's reflections in water. The words they spoke as muddled and senseless as the droning of insects, each syllable melding into the next so thoroughly that no identifiable sentence could be pulled apart from the tangled mess Aeriel's mind registered. The only thing she could understand was that even through the rough material of his sark, she could feel the heat coming off of her husband's skin.
Then after what seemed like an eternity, Irrylath spoke. His rich, husky voice bringing Aeriel back to the present time, inside the tent, with her comrades and the heron, the latter to whom Irrylath was addressing his question.
"This map, I feel something from it. A pull of some sort." Aeriel couldn't help but noticing, that there was a slight tremor to her husband's voice. It was so slight, so minuscule, that if Aeriel hadn't been so close to Irrylath at the time she wouldn't have realised it was there at all. But it was.
The prince continued, "Is there perhaps, some enchantment upon it?"
Ah…so that was the cause of Irrylath's discomfort. With his past history, it was no surprise to Aeriel that the prince probably loathed the idea of being controlled by any magic. Even if it was as impartial and benign as this map seemed to be.
"Of course," Heron said in reply to the prince's query, "This map was specially designed by the Aozorans to aid travellers who were coming to their country; back when they had scores of visitors coming to seek aid and teachings from their high mages. Those days being long gone, specimens like this," the bird nudged the parchment with her long bill, "are quite rare."
"But why wasn't this magic working before?" Hadin wondered aloud, "I mean…Wouldn't we have noticed earlier if the map was trying to direct us in someway?"
Everyone murmured in agreement.
Except for Talb, who had sunk a little lower into his chair, his cheeks a dusky pink, and a sheepish expression on his face.
Slowly the rest of the table gradually became aware of the duarough's awkwardness and turned in their seats as one to stare at him curiously.
The Pendarlon growled in rough, yet not unfriendly tones, "Little mage…I don't suppose you might know something about this?"
"Well…ah…you see the thing is…" The diminutive wizard's face flushed further, "I was just looking over our old map earlier, when I started feeling thirsty. Well, since we all know with the witch's drought, that water is a bit lacking, and I thought it best I left off having some so there would be more for the troops…and the flagon of mead was right there, all rather convenient you know, one little sip probably wouldn't hurt…"
"Are you trying to tell us that you spilt mead all over are old map?" Syllva prodded gently.
For an instant Talb looked quite surprised, his jaw hanging slack as he stared at the Lady with genuine befuddlement, then…"Yes, yes of course my dear Lady! Ah…that is to say I'm terribly, terribly sorry! The entire parchment was soaked through, entirely beyond repair. It was quite fortunate, however that I was able to find this substitute hidden between the pages of one of my older books."
Aeriel couldn't help but notice that through all of the mage's talk, Erin had been sniggering quite loudly into her fist. Upon looking up and seeing her friend's confusion, the dark girl moved her hand from her face long enough to flash Aeriel a toothy grin and a wink.
"Perhaps the book you found it in had once come from Aozora then. So that is one mystery solved." The Lady said to Talb. She then turned to the heron and asked, "How long do you think it would take for a small band of our number to travel to Aozora?"
"Two daymoths I'd wager…Although that's only if the journey is a smooth and efficient one."
"And, do you think there are still people living there in this city, people that know powerful magics?"
Heron tilted her head to the side thoughtfully for a moment before nodding gracefully, "I suppose so, otherwise the map wouldn't continue to work."
The Lady smiled brilliantly; "Well I suppose we had better get organised quickly, if he want to get to Aozora and back before the Witch decides to start this war without us."
This statement was met with a stunned silence by the rest of the table.
"Oh now come on all of you!" The Lady said, "Surely you must realise, that if we could gain aid from these Aozorans it would be of great benefit to our cause. The witch is a powerful Sorceress and we will need magic of our own to combat her's."
"But…We already have Talb," Roshka counted warily, "And Aeriel too, surely that should be enough."
"Still… the more advantages we can have, the more likely we are to win this war."
"But how should we do this? Can we be expected to merely abandon the troops to run off on what might very well be a random goose chase."
Syllva paused to think for a moment before slowly answering, "Ah...so it that case it might be best to only send a small party. A handful of troops, maybe two of you boys who don't have too much to do at the moment…Talb and Aeriel of course as our resident magic users…" The lady's voice turned sweet and gentle now, "Would that be alright with you Aeriel, dearheart?"
But Aeriel wasn't listening, because at that moment Irrylath had become aware of just how very close he was sitting to his 'wife', he jerked away from her and leaned back into his seat quickly, as if her very touch was repellent.
Aeriel wondered if she should be relieved that she was the only one to see the horrified look in his eyes.
*~*
TBC