Lore of Eternal Shadow: The Fugitive King

Chapter Twenty

"Are you good to drive?" asked Zicone to Tiberan.

Tiberan sat in front of a large wheel, his seating position a little elevated compared to the others. "I caught some sleep earlier after your big thing with the Senate," he answered, "I think I'm good."

The massive coach the seven of them rode in glided quietly away from Tiberan's family estate. They crossed smooth suburban streets that radiated for miles and miles from Zysandra proper. The coach was much smoother looking than any carriage any of them had seen in their lives and it floated through the air with ease. Zicone pointed out the various circles of Zey^Rey calculation magic that kept the thing afloat a foot or two off the ground. The carriage was massive, forty feet long, fifteen feet high, and at the helm was a beaming Tiberan.

Perhaps his smile was a bit too early. Lauren was passed out in the back, only groggily moving from her bedroom to the coach at the behest of the others. Fifty or so seats faced forward in two rows and obviously the vehicle was meant for many more passengers. The seats were soft, the upholstery inside was rather plush, but the styling was foreign and strange to them. The sleepy five behind Zicone all half-sat and half-laid-down in their seats—it was in the wee hours of the morning after all.

Zicone sat just behind Tiberan and turned in his seat from his exhausted companions. "So why does your family have a Zey^Rey Stagecoach?" he asked his friend.

He shrugged, "It's nice when your dad's a senator, Zicone." He laughed, "I'm kidding... actually, he keeps this thing for whenever we have a big Talsis Family-Reunion-Trip... Usually he coaxes all my aunts and uncles onboard and we have a rainy adventure in some holiday camp..."

"It's been a very long time since I've ridden in one of these," Zicone commented as he felt the upholstery, "I really am in another world entirely."

"If you get sick, there's a privy in the back," Tiberan said.

"So will we be able to travel all the way to the Toxicon in this?"

"I'm not sure," replied Tiberan, "I wouldn't think so since that entire part of the continent is still technically off limits, along with the other areas our ancestors so lovingly scorched with their wars. I can't imagine we'll be able to take this thing very far into the Toxicon. We may have a day or two's worth of a walk ahead once I find a place to park."

"Where we come from that's not a problem... at all," said Zicone with an honest chuckle.

Tiberan steered the massive carriage onto a larger road that he could go faster on. The road was identical to the roads through Galgaroth the Zey^Rey had built hundreds of years ago. Zicone was reminded what those roads were intended for; the floating contraption was right at home here cruising above two-hundred miles an hour. The landscape, lit up by the galaxies hanging above, changed and moved almost nauseatingly quickly to those unused such speed. "Aren't you tired?" asked Tiberan.

Zicone shrugged, "Maybe my anger at the Senate is keeping me awake." The endless thoughts on his brother were the real reason behind Zicone's insomnia. Zicone had been thinking heavily about the meeting with Alva since it had happened and he kept navigating the same mind-loops... Most of him balked at what his brother had proposed but a small part of him entertained the idea. It was soul searching to say the least.

The sky-less tapestry of stars wound above, a whole universe displayed before them. Zicone was surprised when the sun came up suddenly behind him. A world with no sky as such didn't alert him to the coming day. As Tiberan and Lauren chatted all morning, the people behind were peacefully quiet. They didn't stir until nearly midday when Tiberan stopped the coach at a roadhouse.