Passenger

Chapter 15

We continued on for the rest of the day until it was too dark to see. Neb had wanted us to stop earlier, but I made Krys insist that they kept going until they couldn't. Sarah had a horse, and was a good rider. We needed to put as much distance between us and her as we could.

But when we finally did have to rest – or at least when Neb and Krys did – it was pitch black outside, providing very little light to see. Neb made a small fire to give them some warmth and light as they settled in for the night, both falling into a deep sleep.

I watched them from beside the fire, smiling slightly. But then it faded as I remembered where we were headed. The capital. That was where Petre had said to go. Why? That was literally the last place we should be going, seeing how my mother was on getting ahold of an Avian for some reason – and I could only assume the worst. That letter Petre gave Krys likely had the answers. But did I really want to wake him up in the middle of the night just to read it?

I decided not to; well, at least initially. But the anxiety of the situation was starting to gnaw at me. Even trying to slip into my usual time-passing trance was hard to do. After a few hours, my answer changed from no to yes, I was really willing to wake Krys up just so the anxiety would go away.

Floating down next to the Avian, I leaned next to his ear. "hey, Krys. Krys, wake up, come on!"

After a few moments, Krys stirred. "hm?" he mumbled, not quite awake yet. "no, you said I was done for the day..."

"huh? No, Krys, it's me." I waved my hand in front of his face, prompting him to blink his eyes a few times and focus on me. "hi, wake up. I need you to read that letter."

Sitting up, Krys rubbed his eyes. "the letter – you mean the one Petre gave me?" he asked, confused. "why now? It's the middle of the night."

"I know, I know. I'm just...it's been bugging me since we left. And I don't get to forget about it and go to sleep, you know?" I sighed in frustration. "I need to know why we're going towards the capital. We're heading right into the place you don't want to be, you know? So it's kind of important."

Krys nodded in understanding, frowning. "you're right. Sorry, there was just so much happening today that it was the last thing on my mind."

Taking the note from his pocket, Krys unfolded the piece of paper and held it near the fire to read it. I looked over his shoulder to read it myself as both of us scanned the words.

Krys, I apologize in advance. I have about five minutes to write this, so likely I will not answer all of your questions, but I will start with the important things.

It has come to my attention that the sky barrier the Avians have created would likely require a power source on the ground somewhere to properly sustain it. As such, it is a likely guess that they would utilize Ley Lines for maximum efficiency and power gain.

Krys paused at that line. "what are Ley Lines?" he asked, looking at me.

"oh yeah, guess they wouldn't have those in the air." I paused, thinking. "they're like...power lines for magic, naturally occurring all over the continents. They intersect a lot like grids on a map or something – where they intersect, magic is a lot stronger. Make sense?" The Avian nodded thoughtfully, then turned his attention back to the letter for us both to continue reading.

A quick double-checking of the mapped Ley Lines shows that the most prominent intersection in the local area happens to occur near the capital. I know it is dangerous – however, a direct examination of the Ley Lines is the only way to tell if it does interact with the sky barrier. I'd do it myself, but something tells me I'll be preoccupied for a time. The process of checking is simple – sense with your magic to find the point where the Ley Lines are strongest, then attempt to observe if any of the Ley Line's magic is being diverted elsewhere. If you can follow that, it will likely lead you to the power source of the barrier.