Passenger

Chapter 10

The next day, we spotted the city of Cassion.

It would still be a few hours until we reached it, but now that we had cleared the majority of the trees, the city was in view. Large buildings rose up into the sky, most of them with peaked or domed roofs. There wasn't any sort of wall around the city – it was entirely open. They had spent very little time on any sort of military defenses...why had that been?

Oh, right. Suddenly I recalled a conversation I'd had with my mother. Cassion was a city of science – there was a menagerie of almost every single race on the continents and the subsurface, especially important figures and diplomats. It was sort of a defensive strategy in itself – after all, if someone was going to attack, why would you attack a city of science with one of your own important figures within?

I recalled that I had griped about the flaws in that plan to my mother. Her reply had been something along the lines of...'Cassion has its own means of defending itself'. Whatever that meant. Guess you know some things when you're the queen, though.

Huh. I wondered how mom was doing, these days. I hadn't heard any mention of dad, but if Leif was living out on his own and I was...dead, then maybe she was getting a bit lonely in that big capital city. Well, then again, she was probably still going on her usual strolls around the streets, so probably not. I just hoped she was doing alright. It had been four years, after all – she'd probably moved on by now.

"Rachel." Krys whisper shook me from my thoughts. "do you know where the Royal Scientist is, in Cassion?"

I thought for a moment. "well, assuming they haven't changed locations in the past few years, I should be able to guide us." Then I paused. "but, uh...how're you gonna explain to Neb how you know where you're going?"

At that, Krys frowned. "well...maybe you could just point out the right building to me?" he suggested. "that way I can find a way to guide Neb to it."

There really wasn't a better idea, so I shrugged and nodded in agreement. Krys and Neb continued walking, and I followed along behind them.

The only kind of greeting we got at the entry of Cassion was a slight wave from a pair of guards, busy playing poker at a table. I couldn't help but roll my eyes as we passed. "if this was any other city, those guards would have stopped us and asked for some kind of identification." I muttered. "Cassion really couldn't care less about that sort of thing."

Well, this time it was probably to our advantage. Neb used his bulk to keep Krys a little more out of their view as we continued further into the city, weaving around the various denizens.

Cassion was easily twice the size of Tannem, probably more than that. It was much busier as well, with people bustling through the streets. Everything felt very methodical – everyone was moving with a specific purpose or location in mind, it was clear. Merchants were on the side of the streets and weaving through the crowds to try and sell their wares, citizens were heading to shops and work, and on the occasional street corner was a person standing on a box, shouting about some piece of news. Heh. Human civilization at its finest.

Krys and Neb, however, didn't seem as fond of the city as I was. "too many smells." The Gnoll grumbled, shaking his head with a snort. "too much noise and too many smells. I need one of those clips for my nose or something." As he spoke, Krys suddenly pressed against Neb's side. "hey, little buddy, you good?"

Wordlessly, Krys nodded. He seemed nervous, almost afraid. My guess was that he was overwhelmed by the sights and sounds around him. But...they had to have cities this big on the islands, right? I mean, the Avians were supposed to be better at magic and other stuff than us – surely they'd built cities up there.