It was late the following day, after dealing with the various reports, minor injuries, and other detritus of being a \u201ccommander\u201d, that Ira was able to track down Yaden and Canere. Who were engaged, as often, in an argument.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, I need you to come help me with the research. You\u2019re the only other person who\u2019s been willing to help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yaden snorted. \u201cThat\u2019s because everyone else has seen you do this kind of crazy thing for years and has figured out that helping you is a waste of their time. So no, I think you need to get one of the archivists to give you a hand. Or to work on it yourself. Me, I have better things to do than be stuck in a library.\u201d<\/p>\n
Quirking an eyebrow, Canere gazed at Yaden. \u201cAnd what, pray tell, are those? Chasing women you can\u2019t catch? Drinking yourself under the table on cheap whiskey? Gambling away what little money you can make for even smaller trinkets? Do tell me, I\u2019ve always wondered what the famous roustabout of Yn Dref actually did in his free time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Met with a truly thunderous glare, Canere let his needling die off. There was always the chance of pushing Yaden too far, although his temper had been mostly in abeyance since childhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes it matter? It\u2019s something I enjoy<\/em>. If nothing else, I should at least be allowed to live my life so that it\u2019s worth living, not always at the beck and call of everyone else in this damn skycity.\u201d<\/p>\n It was at this point that Ira decided enough was enough. \u201cAre you two arguing about Canere\u2019s plan from yesterday? Why?\u201d<\/p>\n After shooting daggers at one another, Canere and Yaden both stepped forward to explain. Which led to the two of them stumbling over one another\u2019s words, and more angry looks.<\/p>\n Finally, after they had settled down for a moment, Yaden continued. \u201cCanere thinks he\u2019s found a reference that might prove to be helpful. But he needs to spend more time digging through the archives in order to expand on it. And he wants me to go along with him. I\u2019ve already wasted one whole night and day on this fruitless quest, and we\u2019ve chased vapours on the wind the whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n At which, Canere began spluttering. \u201cIt was not vapours! It was a rigorous process of narrowing down the list of items that could conceivably have something of use. There has<\/em> to be a reason why the arcanists of today aren\u2019t as strong as those of yesteryear, and I am determined to find some source for it. Now I think I have. There\u2019s a series of references to both a particular training manual, entitled Keleborn\u2019s Arcanum<\/em>, as well as an item, perhaps an artefact, that was used to initiate children into the ranks of the arcanists. I\u2019ve never heard of either of those things before this research, and so there has to be something there. Clearly, we\u2019ve lost part of what our ancestor Hanians did to train mages!\u201d<\/p>\n Ira held up her hand, causing the rant to run out of steam. \u201cOkay, fine. You appear to have found something. But according to Yaden, it\u2019s not here. So\u2026 now what?\u201d<\/p>\n A certain look came into Canere\u2019s eyes, and he turned so he faced out from the skycity, looking off the edge and towards the rippling mountain peaks to the north. The breezes of the flying world ruffled his hair for a moment before he looked back to Ira and opened his mouth to speak.<\/p>\n \u201cOh no. No no no. I can see exactly where you\u2019re going with this, and I\u2019m not following you.\u201d<\/p>\n Yaden appeared blank for a moment. \u201cWait\u2026 Canere, you want us to go out there<\/em>? You think we need to go treasure hunting in another skycity. A fallen skycity. Why?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause Keleborn\u2019s Arcanum<\/em> makes reference to a skycity called Adweyed. Repeatedly. It\u2019s even mentioned that that\u2019s where Keleborn, whoever he was, lived. It stands to reason that not only would Adweyed have copies of his works, but also the initiation artefacts that were once used.\u201d<\/p>\n Pausing him there, Ira spoke. \u201cYou say that\u2026 but why don\u2019t we have them here in Yn Dref?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know, and I can\u2019t know until I finish my research in the archives, but wherever they are, they\u2019re not used anymore. A quick study of the entrance records of the arcanist school here shows no such item being mentioned, at least for the last hundred years or so.\u201d Canere turned to Yaden. \u201cWhat I\u2019m offering you is the chance to go on a grand adventure, one that could save Hania. After all your gazing over the edge of the world, are you really going to turn that down?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe thing about gazing over the edge of the world is that gazing<\/em> is all it is. You\u2019re asking me to leap<\/em> off the edge of the world. And to read another host of dusty old tomes before I get to the exciting parts.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, yes. Even so, it would be a remarkable find. And would help you turn from someone who does magic at a brief sleight of hand to a true user of the gift.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGiven all the work you have to do once that\u2019s true? I might pass. But it\u2019s intriguing. Let me think on it.\u201d<\/p>\n Both of them then looked to Ira, who had been watching the interplay between Canere and Yaden with some amusement. \u201cLet me guess, you want someone who knows which end of a weapon goes into the other man.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cExcuse me, Ira, but I\u2019m just as good with a blade as you are!\u201d Yaden had drawn himself up to his entirely average height. Which still wasn\u2019t enough to look down his nose at her. On the other hand, he was right. Yaden was almost certainly the only talented swordsman not<\/em> in the Yn Dref guard.<\/p>\n \u201cOkay, I\u2019ll give you that. But you still need me, all the more so because I can requisition supplies and the like. Because I bet neither of you have any idea how to spend a night roughing it, let alone in that wasteland.\u201d<\/p>\n The looks she got in response were rather sheepish. It was quite probable that neither of them had ever slept anywhere aside from Yn Dref, or perhaps a night or two down in one of the farm villages below.<\/p>\n \u201cRight, so you need my expertise and supplies just as much as we\u2019d need Canere\u2019s intelligence to get through this. Given I know you two idiots are going to try and set off with or without me, mostly because Canere has a giant bee up his bonnet, I\u2019ll come along. But only<\/em>, and I do mean only<\/em>, after we spend a great deal of time planning on how to make the journey as safe as it can be. Because otherwise, all three of us are going to end up as a morning snack to some great beast.\u201d<\/p>\n The expressions of thanks that followed were effusive and heartfelt. Although they dried up quickly when she suggested that Yaden could best spend his time helping Canere in the archives. But with ill grace he acquiesced, and each went to contribute what they could to the final stages of planning and research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was late the following day, after dealing with the various reports, minor injuries, and other detritus of being a \u201ccommander\u201d, that Ira was able to track down Yaden and Canere. Who were engaged, as often, in an argument. \u201cLook, I need you to come help me with the research. You\u2019re the only other person […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[60,4],"tags":[19,62],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pRIK4-bA","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":710,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=710","url_meta":{"origin":718,"position":0},"title":"The Last City – Part 1","date":"May 21, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The Last City is the next in the series of short stories and novellas that take place in the land of Arhosa, a long standing setting of mine. The city of Yn Dref floats among the clouds of the Ogleddol Mountains, the great expanse that spans the north-eastern region of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Arhosa"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":722,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=722","url_meta":{"origin":718,"position":1},"title":"The Journey North – Part 2","date":"June 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cBehave, children.\u201d Ira shot an amused glare at them both. \u201cYou\u2019re right, though. It\u2019s been more drudgery and less excitement than I\u2019d expected. Not that I particularly want to be fending off hordes of ravening monsters each night, but we\u2019re journeying through a land that was once owned by the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Arhosa"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":711,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=711","url_meta":{"origin":718,"position":2},"title":"The Last City – Part 2","date":"May 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Dinner had been a tepid affair, as it always was these days, with little to recommend it and no flavours to speak of. It was nutrition, pure and simple, and that was all that could be said in its favour. Indeed, it was a meal to dampen the spirits, as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Arhosa"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":719,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=719","url_meta":{"origin":718,"position":3},"title":"The Last City – Part 8","date":"June 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"It had taken two weeks of wheedling, purchasing, and research, but at last the three friends were standing around the portal, each of them heavily laden with supplies and other materials. Canere, for his part, had spent those two weeks discovering everything he could about Keleborn\u2019s Arcanum and Adweyed. Which,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Arhosa"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":724,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=724","url_meta":{"origin":718,"position":4},"title":"The Journey North – Part 4","date":"June 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The three friends glanced at once another with bemused expressions, ones that changed as the shock of combat wore off from grim focus to delayed surprise, and thence to laughter. \u201cReally, Canere? You fired sparks at its butt?\u201d Ira, by now, was laughing, her whole body shaking, even as she\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Arhosa"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":712,"url":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/?p=712","url_meta":{"origin":718,"position":5},"title":"The Last City – Part 3","date":"May 25, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The sound of a bell startled Yaden awake from where he had been dozing, nose down in a particularly dry and academic tract on the families of the High Arcanist, and what had caused each one to rise to that position. Across from him, Canere was still awake, although with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Arhosa"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thefourpartland.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}