The Mad Queen

Chapter Forty-One

Visara, with both centaurs, Mer and Sirens on her side, set up camp in the Westland Woodlands. The great home of the Centaurs was vast and almost empty. It was easy to hide great military camps in the endless miles of Woodlands. Woodlands that were well known by the centaurs and not by those who were their enemies. The Camp was called the Queen's Camp. The Sirens and Mer left Tarlon also and lived with the centaurs in the safety of the camps. As the centaurs were back to their full force with hundreds of free and powerful Mer and Sirens on their side, to attack would be stupid. They were safe.

Visara alone left the safety of the Queen's camp. Against the wishes of those who followed her. She, however, insisted that she must undertake the next part of her journey alone. Visara travelled out of the Westlands and toward Northern Lupine Territory. Knowing she could not survive the desert to get their capital city of Talson where their leader the Solavar lived, she got herself captured. The Lupine were known not to take prisoners. Prisoners meant extra mouths to feed. However, Visara had a reputation and the Lupine were curious to hear what she had to say. So they lead her through the deserts and into their city. Visara knew that if she had marched with an army, it would have been completely different.

The Lupine were different from the other races. They were not being taken as slaves and they were safe from all other forces in their home. However, the Northern Deserts are a harsh environment where not much grows. What they were desperate for, was food. Food with more flavour than the red potatoes and dry weed they would feast on. The only two edible plants that would grow and thrive in such dry and hot environments. They weren't nice foods. They were dry and tasted of mud. Though it kept them from starving. That and the animals they would hunt and farm. So they did not need Visara's help as much as the other three races. For though they longed for nicer food, if it meant giving up their freedoms, they would deny it. They would not follow just anyone.

~ The History of Visara

Flying over Tarlon is incredible. The mountains rise from bright blue lakes. The towering grey cliffs go on for as far as I can see. Rich green plants grow along the stone and banks of the sparkling waters. Small sprinkles of snow dust the peaks of the mountains. They glitter in the sunlight. Though all the lakes and mountains are beautiful, it does present one major problem. How are we going to find the Mer and the Sirens? For three days, we've been flying over Tarlon and there has been no sign of them. Sometimes, Nianzu would transform into some sort of water creature and dive around some of the lakes but he would find nothing. It would take years to search every single body of water in this place.
"Try that one," I sigh. Nianzu sweeps down and lands on one of the banks. I slide off his body and he transforms back into his human form. I see the book. It pokes out of his coat pocket. When he transforms into his animal form, his clothes disappear. They reappear when he transforms into his human body. Nianzu thinks that they are in some magic bubble around him, though that is only a theory. The book in his pocket obviously joins the place where his clothes are during animal form. Meaning he is still carrying it.
"Keep an eye out," Nianzu warns with a frown. I roll my eyes. He's been very worried since the centaurs. He looks into the woods around me before he walks to the water.
"Go," I sigh "They can't track us from the sky. They can only track where we land. If they find us this quick, then it is an accident and there is nothing we could have done to stop it. Plus, if they do find us, you have to leave me and hide the book. Remember?" I ask. He glares at me before letting out a soft sigh and walking to the water. Tensions have been high between us ever since I made him promise to take the book. He thinks I'm making a stupid decision and being paranoid. He thinks I don't trust him to protect me. It's not that and I've tried to explain it to him. But I can't explain it properly. I can't even understand it myself. All I know is that I cannot let my father get hold of that book. That I know that what I saw was far more than a dream.