Chapter 4
Not Really an Excursion
The preparations were underway. The planning complete. The soldiers of Unit Seven flowed in and out of the Captain’s cabin collecting weapons, maps and food to carry. Liraz had laid out the plans to his crew three days ago. There had been some resistance to his ideas at first but, he felt the crew’s excitement. It was not everyday that the Fell Guard allowed long excursions.
Liraz had informed Casraegar of his plans. The Battalion lord had all but jumped with his fist held high. He was so pleased, in fact, that he had let the unit borrow four large carts from the stables.
Deepcross. That was the place they would start with. Not everyone in the crew had seen it. Gwen would enjoy it. And so would Ruce and Druin. They seemed calmer in there. Liraz had felt particularly restless the last time he was there. He tried not to think about it.
Holard entered the cabin. He was trailing rainwater all over the rug. A bust of wind entered the warm cabin making the occupants shiver. The short man closed the door behind him.
“The weapons are loaded, Captain,” he said, saluting.
Liraz nodded. He handed his own bags to Holard. The man sighed and headed back out into the rains with a bag in each hand.
Taeo made it to the Archives just in time. One of the large doors was already closed. People were entering and exiting through the other half of the large entrance. As he steadied himself from the long run, he couldn’t help but admire the intricate architecture of the structure. The closed door was easily five times taller than him, with delicate sculpting. Each half showed six Gods – twelve in total.
The building itself was a large structure with a glass ceiling. He had seen it glimmer in different colors based on the viewer’s location relative to the reflective light of the sun. But now, in the evening light it barely felt transparent. The pseudo-ceiling underneath it was an opaque shadow. The large stones in the structure had been imported from Shiraz, back when Chealena welcomed visitors from distant lands. Before it had the reputation of being the worst prison on the planet.
Taeo hurried inside heading straight to the Cartography section on the right. As he made his way up the stairs, Captain Hewanne of Unit Six was speaking to another captain he did not recognize. The man looked at Taeo and raised his eyebrow.
“Liraz making you train on your days off soldier?,” he said gruffly. “Your crew made us look bad in training last week. Why can’t you just stick to the routine, eh?”
Taeo winced. He bowed to the man. Hewanne was a captain after all. Taeo wondered what it would be like to be under another captain. Captain Liraz was easy going. He was not unpleasant but he was strict. Well, disciplined. Taeo had seen other captains treat their underlings unpleasantly.
Taeo had been far from a soldier when he was first on the island. He had owned a brewery back home. Naturally, he had needed more time than everyone else to master the spear. He still struggled with new weapons. Liraz had spent more than a month training the lad after their regular bouts. Taeo doubted Hewanne or any of the other captains he had come across would do that for anyone.
“You’re not another mute, are you?,” said Hewanne. “Liraz has a tendency to pick the lamest new recruits.”
The two men laughed. Taeo gritted his teeth. It was one thing to be jealous of Unit Seven, another to openly insult his captain and team in front of others. Hewanne was truly disgusting.
“Captain Liraz doesn’t like stagnation. With all due respect, isn’t it your duty to make sure you’re crew is up to the mark in their skills, Captain?”
Hewanne’s smile faded. The other captain standing next to him opened his mouth to speak but groaned.
“Why you little- ? How could you address a Captain this way,” Hewanne roared. “I can have you arrested, boy. You… and your crew… bah… to the depths of the Konnen’s pit with you.”
He continued to glare at Taeo. Taeo struggled to keep his face passive, devoid of emotions. It took all he had to not spit in the man’s face. The man who currently held an unimpeachable semblance to a red turkey stuffed to the brim. It was almost too easy to get these captains riled up.
Taeo saluted the captains and made his leave. Hewanne continued to yell threats after him but he ignored them and walked on.
“… you’ll be at guard duty for rest of the month. Mark my words, boy. And tell your captain to keep an eye out for me. Your squad needs to be dealt with.”
The cartography room was a large rectangular room. The ceiling was part glass and part stone. Taeo saw charts upon charts heaved upon the many small tables in the room. Only two people stood by one of the tables. A young woman and an older man. The man dictated words in another language while the woman made quick notes on a large sheet. Whether that paper was a map, Taeo could not tell.
He cleared his throat. The woman glanced up from her writing and looked up. She whispered something to the old man and made her way to the front desk at the front of the room. Her hair that had seemed black from a distance was actually a dark shade of green. She had brown skin like that of a Gleanne and she wore a white dress that parted at her knees. The cloth had multiple blue lines at the edges that faded into the white. Her ears had large rings in them. The thing rings carried a faint blue gemstone at the bottom. She bowed once she reached the front desk.
“Yes?,” she said, her voice almost singsong.
Taeo dug out the letter from Liraz and handed it to the woman.
“Very professional,” she said. She grinned and opened the letter.
Taeo glanced at the old man behind her. The man had a long grey beard, the hair on his head scarce. He wore the same rings on his ears as the woman. The same blue gems. And his single robe was stark white. He had closed his eyes and stood motionless at the table.
The woman glanced up from the letter, thoughtful. She glanced at Taeo but seemed not to see him. She raised her eyebrows and blinked twice before recomposing herself.
“Unit seven, you say?,” she asked.
Without waiting for an answer, she moved to the nearest shelf that held maps and a small number of books. She shuffled a few to the side and reached inside. Her hand dragged out a dust-covered book as a few maps fell to the floor.
“Here,” she said, handing the book to Taeo.
“It is collection of detailed maps of Chaelena. Captain Liraz would want to inspect these. And this chapter,” she said, folding a particular page. “It contains the number of hours required to cover each known paths between cities.”
She said it all in a hurry. Taeo kept his silence because the woman was engrossed in another parchment in front of her.
“No one really goes on excursions in the Fell Guard, you know. But it has been a long while since the last war. And I heard from Lord Casraegar that you are not even recruiting. You will have plenty of time to explore. I assume you will be starting from Deepcross. That’s good.”
She handed him two large sheets of maps that were folded. And then bowed.
“And here,” she added, keeping the letter from Liraz on top of the table. “The letter back.”
She bowed to Taeo and returned to the old man at the table. Taeo just stared after her. What had just happened? These scholars were bizarre. The woman had started scribbling again, and the old man continued to dictate.
Taeo left the room with what she had given him. He took a detour to the back of the building, not wanting to run into Hewanne again. The detailed maps were what he had come for.
Liraz stood at the table in his quarters. A woman sat at the chair across from him. The cartographer. She sat silently at the moment, her hands on the table.
“It’s your meeting,” Liraz said.
The woman, Klare, cleared her throat.
“Captain, about your excursion,” she began.
“It’s not really an excursion anymore,” Liraz said. Of course, the Fell Guard would never let anyone have free reign. He had been foolish not to expect it. It only surprised him that the they had waited this long before intervening in the unit’s travel plans.
“Please Captain,” Klare said. “I am not asking you to stop your plans. I am only here for a favor.”
Liraz raised his eyebrows at her.
“It’s not for the Guard. It’s a small favor for me. I will be in your debt,” she said.
“A small favor?,” Liraz said. “It is hundreds of hours of work. I cannot put my men through this. We will also be running recruitment campaigns for Lord Casraegar.”
Klare glared at him. Liraz turned away from her and walked to the door. He held it open for her but she did not budge from her seat.
“We both know that recruitment will not really be part of your travel, Captain. It was added to give a reason for your days off,” she said with gritted teeth. “The job I am asking of you is a much needed proof for what I am working on. You don’t have to do it yourself. One of your recruits could do it.”
Liraz closed the door and sighed.
“None of my crew would do it, Klare,” he said softly. “It is just way out of our path.”
Klare hesitated. Liraz was known for the way he treated his unit. They were friends. Back when he had formed the unit, he had chosen these men and women from various units specifically. Never had Klare seen a unit more dedicated to its members. It would really be out of the question for Liraz to let a few men of the unit take up the task she was asking of them.
“Then I believe we are back to you, Captain,” she said. “Let your men enjoy. You could do the investigating on your own time.”
Liraz chuckled. At least he could smile. She relaxed a little.
“It is simply not possible, Klare,” he said. “I really appreciate your initiative, but do I really need to state the obvious here?”
She narrowed his eyes at him.
“Why can’t you do this investigation yourself?,” he asked.
“Because I cannot travel, not at this time,” she said, clapping her hands in annoyance. “We are only allowed to go during the spring time, and together. And we would need the guard with us. Soldiers to protect us during long stretches of bare land between Deepcross and Gelenat.”
“We’re soldiers,” Liraz said, shrugging.
“You’re -”
“We would welcome your company, Klare. Provided you don’t talk to me during the length of our travel,” Liraz said smiling. “And I am pretty sure, if this is really your research, you don’t need others to do your cartography.”
Klare glanced at him. He was right. All she would really need is Lord Casraegar’s permission. Golod would not stop her then. But why would Casraegar let her go?
“If you could make an official request for me to be your guide in your travels, Captain Liraz,” she said, smiling at Liraz. “That would be wonderful.”
the Broken Dragon 