Zelda nodded. “I will have rooms made up for the others. What assignments do you want?”
Tom thought for a moment. “Maybe a two-bedroom suite for Boggy and Tizzy, and then a three-bedroom suite for Antefalken, Estrebrius and Reggie? Or whatever combination they want, I don’t care.”
“The rooms will be ready later this afternoon. I will be down near kitchen one, awaiting the first kills,” Zelda said.
“Thanks!” Tom said.
“Fer-Rog, you will need to be in the kitchen when the kills arrive; you need to learn how to prepare them,” Zelda said. She looked at Tom. “As do I, for that matter. I’ve been taught but never done it, since I’m not that old.”
“I am starting to think this place is a very comfortable prison,” Gastropé said to Maelen as he entered the port observation lounge, where Maelen was relaxing on a sofa and sipping tea as he gazed out the large port viewing lens. He sat down next to the seer.
“A very nice prison with good food, wine and a very nice library of work done by non-humans,” Maelen said, smiling and gesturing to the wall of books to their left. “I have to tell you, getting access to alvaren texts is quite a treat for me. Add in Modgriensofarthgonosefren works, as well as several others, and I could spend years floating on this cloud.”
Gastropé chuckled. “I should probably be a better scholar. Although I am learning a lot about aerial combat magic with Peter, Zed and the other carpet warriors. This ship truly is incredible. That, in fact, may be the problem.”
Maelen gave him a questioning look.
“On a ship, you feel the sea’s rocking motion continuously. You can walk on deck and get the wind in your hair, smell the salt of the sea. You feel the movement, the progress of the ship’s journey. This cloud moves incredibly smoothly when not under attack. I cannot even discern that we are moving other than by staring at the ground so far below us. And that is through a lens, not even a real window!” Gastropé complained.
It was Maelen’s turn to chuckle. “You will, however, at least admit it’s a far better view than you get in the middle of a sea, yes?”
Gastropé grinned. “I will give you that. It’s a view I could not even have imagined from a flying carpet until this trip!” He shook his head. “It just doesn’t feel quite real.”
“And during your combat practice? I heard you were drilling with the carpet warriors,” Maelen asked.
“That is more surreal than real. I try very hard not to look at or even think of the view there; otherwise, my muscles would freeze over faster than a storm lich’s butt.”
Maelen grinned. “I will take your word concerning flying on a combat carpet. As for the Nimbus, I understand. I have been a traveler nearly my entire life. I have never traveled in such luxury or with such ease. I doubt the gods themselves could arrange better transport than this cloudship.” He shrugged again. “So, I shall enjoy it. It’s a rare luxury in this world — or any, I should imagine.”
“I just like this piped-in water they have!” Jenn said, joining the conversation as she entered the lounge. “Imagine, just turn a knob and a pipe delivers water into a basin or a tub. Then imagine two pipes, one with cold water, the other with hot! This is wizardry at its finest! It would be an unbelievable luxury on the ground, but in the air, leagues above the ground? It’s like living in some sort of fairy tale!” She grabbed a biscuit off the tray next to the teapot.
“If your fairy tale has dragon-riding liches that like to attack you every so often.” Gastropé grinned at her.
“True, I could do without them in my fairy tale.” She shook her head. “Everything has its price.”
So where are we now?” Jenn changed the subject, leaning over the sofa back to look out the lens.
“The forest below us is The United Federation,” Maelen said, pointing to the large forest that they were passing over. “A very large and dense forest, with significant logging operations and paper production.”
“Yeah, at my old school we ordered all our paper and books from the UF,” Gastropé said. “I didn’t exactly know where it was, just a long way southeast of the school. Over-Grove One, Master called it.”
“It and Murgandy have somehow managed to survive millennia of wars with the jötnar races without using extensive defenses,” Maelen said.
“I’m not sure I would completely agree,” Elrose said, walking into the lounge. “The UF has walled cities and clusters of keeps to protect their eastern farmlands.”
“True, for their eastern farmlands. However, there are large sections of exposed forests where their rangers have done a very good job of keeping out undesirables,” Maelen replied. “On the other hand, Murgandy has no fortresses and even trades with the various orc tribes.”
“Yes, but have you ever been to their forests? A place only Trisfelt could find even remotely tolerable, and then only for the beer.” Elrose shook his head and continued, “A very rough and tumble, primitive region filled with more than a few unsavory rogues and brigands.”
“But they seem to have a relatively good relationship with the orcs. And given that a lot of the citizens are alfar, that’s saying quite a bit.” Maelen noted.
“Sounds like a fun place.” Gastropé said.
Elrose grinned. “Well, you’ll get a taste soon enough. We’ll be heading right by Murgatroy and then down to Murgandor, where we will be making our first stop.”
“Why are we stopping in Murgandor?” Jenn asked, apparently not liking the description of the region.
Elrose nodded understandingly. “Seamach has contacts there who can give us recent information on Murgandy, Ferundy and Noajar. None of us have been to this part of the world in a long time, so we need to get up to speed on current events in the region.”
“Yes — for example, if the rat and mouse problems have suddenly improved considerably,” Maelen said, grinning.
Gastropé shook his head, not understanding at first, and then suddenly remembered who they were looking for. He chuckled at the seer’s joke.
Tal Gor gripped Schwarzenfürze’s neck harness with his left hand, his right hand tightly gripping the long-handled and very sharp scythe, hooking his right thumb under the harness. His legs squeezed the D’Warg’s shoulders tightly as they dove out of the sky with insane speed, swooping down on the gazelle that had been separated from the herd.
“Stick Vengeance!” Tal Gor screamed as the D’Warg rocked hard underneath him. With a mighty roar, the D’Warg’s long front claws grabbed the gazelle at the base of the neck, and her rear claws grabbed at the flanks. He felt the D’Warg pushing up against him as her mighty wings beat at three times their previous rate as she pulled up sharply, lifting the three of them off the ground.
Tal Gor raised his right arm and brought it down and around as he had been shown, slicing the gazelle’s neck with a dark splatter of blood. The animal’s struggles slowly ceased as it perished and Schwarzenfürze banked hard to the right while still lifting them higher into the air to return to the agreed-upon collection spot.
“Best hunt ever!” Tal Gor shouted, even though no one other than Schwarzenfürze could hear him. The others were all pursuing other herd members. They had broken up into ten teams of four, two D’Orcs and two orcs with D’Wargs, and gone in different directions to find game. Tal Gor was amazed at the speed of the D’Orcs and D’Wargs. Their ability to fly faster than an orc could run allowed them to cover an unprecedented amount of ground. When one combined the speed with the aerial vantage point of several hundred feet, locating and tracking game herds became almost too easy.