Dawn's Light

Chapter 18

Xan and Celia released the handshake after a single shake. "I say we should save Urre's for last to give us more time to formulate a plan," Xan stated, "so, that leaves three—wait, you supposedly have one already—so, we two more to find. This may not be as impossible as I thought, but it still seems pretty close to impossible." He released a nervous sigh and mumbled softly to himself, "how did Irin manage to convince me to go along with this?"

Though Celia heard his attempt at secretive mumblings, she decided to ignore the comment and looked to the closest thing she and Verbena had to an expert on the geography of the region. "Any idea where they could be? Like hints of certain towns that have similar characteristics to that of Orre?"

"Urre," he corrected her pronunciation, then paused to searches mental knowledge for an answer, "the only thing I can really think of is the Ulven, who seem to have a lot of green crops they export to other towns. I've never been in their capital, but they are very rich overall." His expression became one of slight nervousness as he paused, "the only problem is that they blame all humans for the fact that they are trapped in a world without light," he added a half-hearted laugh.

Celia frowned at his feeble laugh, "couldn't we at least try to talk to the Ulven and try to explain that we are trying to return the light to the world and we are not going to steal it? Maybe if we ask politely, then they'll willingly help us. It's not like we're trying to take over the world or anything, we're trying to save it."

"I've never had any real luck before they start trying to blast Irin and me with magic or their strange weapons," Xan admitted, and his dragon nodded in agreement and snorted as if the encounter reminded both of them of unpleasant memories. "I do not think we can get close of them to ask them to stop either."

At the mention of magic, Celia glanced to the warm bottle of fire she held in her hands. "Is there any way to talk to them? You said they trade to other towns for wealth right? Then they must have some minor tolerance to people who come to trade. Maybe they will at least be less hostile."

Xan seemed uncertain at first, then shrugged, "It could work, but they may only be interested in us if we have something to trade," he paused and mentally took an inventory on what he had on his person.

Celia did the same, but frowned as she gazed down to her options and realized how little she had left to trade, "I have a few magical items from Snouw, and some crystals from my home that were popular in Snow, but my rope has been split into two, and my food rations have dwindled over time," she looked to Xan. "I don't know how useful any of this could be."

"I do not have much in the way of trade either. I tend to avoid towns," he admitted as he scratched his head. "I guess we could go hunt for some furs to trade, and some meat for both us and to trade, but I doubt the ulvens will want any food from us anyway. They are the ones with all the food, and I can't offer anything magical either, as they have much stronger magic than I."

Celia hummed and mused over Xan's comments, then blinked and turned to him in pure surprise. "Wait, you have magic?"

In response to the question, Xan sent Celia a bewildered expression, "you don't?" He blinked, "then how do you survive out here without warming spells? How did your people survive the Dawn of Darkness?"

At first, Celia was unsure on how to answer and stood with a blank stare on her face, "no human back home has magic," she eventually croaked, "I guess we have the dragons for everything, including magic."

Xan nodded in understanding, then paused and mentally surveyed their options again. "As much as I do not want to go into Ulven territory again, I doubt we will get any headway with the Ulven unless we go to them," Xan sighs, "Though I think we should just wait for them to notice us at a border rather than entering their lands. I think we won't be perceived as threats or dangerous if we do that."