Abberthorn

An Unexpected Turn

The dew-covered treetops glistened in the moonlight, as the wind swept through the valley on a cold cloudless night while Leakly and Aramore flew overhead. The days had been long with Aramore and Leakly only stopping to sleep for a few hours a night, rising early in the morning to make the most of the day light. Nearing the city of Rohishnar they decided to forgo their next stop, so that they might reach the city before the night was through. As Rohishnar came into view the second moon had already made it halfway across the night sky. Knowing how people in Abberthorn felt about dragons, Aramore made Elaquor land just out of sight of the city, behind a tree studded hill. With Leakly's mind still plagued by the memories of the dark spell he had cast, the two travellers walked in silence, hoping only that they might receive the help they had come here in search of.

As the city came fully into view the silence of the night was broken when Leakly caught his first glimpse of the Island City. 'Aramore, why do they call it an island city, when there is clearly no island to be seen?' He asked as he looked at the enormous metropolis that stood before him. The city was like none they had visited, it was so large that it appeared to have no end. The landscape had been completely consumed by buildings and towering structures, with seven elevated watch towers dotted throughout the city. The watch towers stood far higher than any structure in the city, giving the city guard the perfect vantage point from which they would be able to maintain order.

'Well this city... when I was last here, was significantly smaller. It covered roughly ten square kilometres in its entirety, and was surrounded by a square manmade lake, which was around half a kilometre wide. With the lake surrounding the city, it made the city appear to be an island city. But, standing here looking down on the city, it doesn't appear that the lake survived its expansion' said Aramore amazed by what he saw.

'Well it must have been quite the expansion. I mean the city covers significantly more than ten square kilometres now. When did you say you were last here?' asked Leakly.

'About one hundred years ago, give or take' answered Aramore vaguely.

'And your friend was a human, right?'

'Yes, that is correct.'

'Well, being a human myself, I consider myself to be somewhat of an expert on the human condition. Let me just say, don't go getting your hopes up about seeing him again. He probably died a very long time ago' said Leakly.

'I sincerely doubt that. He is not called Olaf the Eternal for nothing you know. He was blessed by Bellum the God of war to have a long life. Bellum said that the only way that Olaf would ever fall, would be in battle.'

'In that case, your friend has been very busy in these past hundred years' said Leakly admiring the vast city that stretched out before them.

'Well let us not waist anymore time here, let's get in there and go see him' said Aramore.

'Aramore it's the middle of the night. I am sure that he will not be too thrilled to see you at this hour. No matter how good your friendship is.'

'I suppose you're right. We should camp here for the night. We can head into the city in the morning' said Aramore.

'Camp here, now why would we do such a thing when there is a perfectly good city right down there? A city that would probably have inns, which would probably have very comfortable beds' said Leakly tired of sleeping rough.

'I guess I am just not ready to enter the city yet' answered Aramore.

'And why not, your friend is the Stjorna of this city is he not?'

'He is, but I just have a strange feeling about this city. I think it would be best for us to wait until morning to check it out.'

'Fine we can camp here for the night' said Leakly, knowing that this was a fight that he was not going to win.