free hand, Gareth
swept everything that was left on the desktop off onto the floor.
Henry returned, and put four ancient looking maps, along with one
recent one, on the desk. “We need these two,” Gareth declared as he
picked up one of the ancient maps and the most recent one. Both
maps were atlases of Hadronus, just 13,000 years apart. Gareth
carefully unrolled the ancient map, and held down one edge with the
book Tralnis had found and the other edge with his journal.
Gareth opened up the Kraunish book, and flipped to
the page he was looking for. He ran his finger down a table of
numbers and matched them up with points on the map. When he was
sure he understood the way the ancient Krauns wrote map
coordinates, he used the set of numbers from the tablet and located
a small town on the coast of the Northern Continent. Gareth flipped
through the book again, and found a table that showed how to
translate Issian coordinates to Kraunish ones. The numbers used by
the Issians matched the second group of numbers on the metal
tablet. Gareth double checked the numbers, and found the Issian
coordinates pinpointed the same town. “There!” Gareth shouted as he
put his finger on the town.
Henry and Tralnis shared excited looks. This was the
first time since they had been given this seemingly impossible
quest that they thought they might actually have a chance of
pulling it off. Their happy looks slipped however when Gareth
added, “… and that’s going to make things difficult.”
“Why? All we need to do is charter an airship and
we’ll be there in a week, maybe two,” Tralnis said
optimistically.
Gareth pointed to the ancient map, “This map was made
before the Second Great Apocalypse. During the cataclysm, one of
the ancient races released weapons that caused tremendous
earthquakes,” he said before rolling out the newer map. “This is
what the coastline looks like now and here…” he put his finger down
in an expanse of blue next to the coastline, “is where that town is
now. It’s at least 50 miles off of the coast.”
Tralnis stepped back from the desk, and ran his
fingers through his long beard in a sign of nervousness. “A great
big bloody ocean… why did the town have to be in the middle of tons
and tons of liquid death,” he moaned.
“What’s wrong?” Gareth asked, concerned since he had
never seen this side of his father before.
Tralnis closed his eyes, and took in a few deep
breaths to calm himself. “One of the things Dwarves are most scared
of is drowning when a cave suddenly fills up with water. Large
bodies of water scare us silly,” he admitted.
Creasing his brows in confusion, Gareth pointed out,
“Tralnis, you live on an island in the middle of the Narrow
Sea.”
Tralnis met Gareth’s eyes with steel in his own.
“Yes, and you’ve not once seen me at the beach the whole time we’ve
known each other,” he countered.
“Alright, since Chims can’t swim, I’ll just have to
make the dive myself. At least, as soon as I figure out how to get
my hands on a diving suit that is,” Gareth muttered.
“No, you better make it two suits. I’ll not let my
son go into a dark, watery hell alone,” Tralnis corrected him. “And
while we’re on the subject, any ideas where to find a pair of
diving suits? It’s not like we can ask the Dean to loan us some
from the School of Nautical Sciences,” he pointed out.
Henry snarled, and blew air past his lips and
followed up with an opened lipped smile that showed his sharp
teeth.
“What did he say?” Tralnis asked Gareth.
“He said we just won’t ask before we take them. It’s
easier that way,” Gareth replied. Tralnis matched Henry’s feral
smile with one of his own.
Chapter 6
Tralnis checked over Gareth’s black clothes, making
sure that only the young scholar’s face was visible. They were both
wearing black trousers, black sweaters, and knee length black
overcoats. Black watch caps purchased on the dock earlier that
evening
swept everything that was left on the desktop off onto the floor.
Henry returned, and put four ancient looking maps, along with one
recent one, on the desk. “We need these two,” Gareth declared as he
picked up one of the ancient maps and the most recent one. Both
maps were atlases of Hadronus, just 13,000 years apart. Gareth
carefully unrolled the ancient map, and held down one edge with the
book Tralnis had found and the other edge with his journal.
Gareth opened up the Kraunish book, and flipped to
the page he was looking for. He ran his finger down a table of
numbers and matched them up with points on the map. When he was
sure he understood the way the ancient Krauns wrote map
coordinates, he used the set of numbers from the tablet and located
a small town on the coast of the Northern Continent. Gareth flipped
through the book again, and found a table that showed how to
translate Issian coordinates to Kraunish ones. The numbers used by
the Issians matched the second group of numbers on the metal
tablet. Gareth double checked the numbers, and found the Issian
coordinates pinpointed the same town. “There!” Gareth shouted as he
put his finger on the town.
Henry and Tralnis shared excited looks. This was the
first time since they had been given this seemingly impossible
quest that they thought they might actually have a chance of
pulling it off. Their happy looks slipped however when Gareth
added, “… and that’s going to make things difficult.”
“Why? All we need to do is charter an airship and
we’ll be there in a week, maybe two,” Tralnis said
optimistically.
Gareth pointed to the ancient map, “This map was made
before the Second Great Apocalypse. During the cataclysm, one of
the ancient races released weapons that caused tremendous
earthquakes,” he said before rolling out the newer map. “This is
what the coastline looks like now and here…” he put his finger down
in an expanse of blue next to the coastline, “is where that town is
now. It’s at least 50 miles off of the coast.”
Tralnis stepped back from the desk, and ran his
fingers through his long beard in a sign of nervousness. “A great
big bloody ocean… why did the town have to be in the middle of tons
and tons of liquid death,” he moaned.
“What’s wrong?” Gareth asked, concerned since he had
never seen this side of his father before.
Tralnis closed his eyes, and took in a few deep
breaths to calm himself. “One of the things Dwarves are most scared
of is drowning when a cave suddenly fills up with water. Large
bodies of water scare us silly,” he admitted.
Creasing his brows in confusion, Gareth pointed out,
“Tralnis, you live on an island in the middle of the Narrow
Sea.”
Tralnis met Gareth’s eyes with steel in his own.
“Yes, and you’ve not once seen me at the beach the whole time we’ve
known each other,” he countered.
“Alright, since Chims can’t swim, I’ll just have to
make the dive myself. At least, as soon as I figure out how to get
my hands on a diving suit that is,” Gareth muttered.
“No, you better make it two suits. I’ll not let my
son go into a dark, watery hell alone,” Tralnis corrected him. “And
while we’re on the subject, any ideas where to find a pair of
diving suits? It’s not like we can ask the Dean to loan us some
from the School of Nautical Sciences,” he pointed out.
Henry snarled, and blew air past his lips and
followed up with an opened lipped smile that showed his sharp
teeth.
“What did he say?” Tralnis asked Gareth.
“He said we just won’t ask before we take them. It’s
easier that way,” Gareth replied. Tralnis matched Henry’s feral
smile with one of his own.
Chapter 6
Tralnis checked over Gareth’s black clothes, making
sure that only the young scholar’s face was visible. They were both
wearing black trousers, black sweaters, and knee length black
overcoats. Black watch caps purchased on the dock earlier that
evening
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