Road Trip

Tormund, Ayleah, and Telon headed down the main shore road, through large cedar trees, toward the namesake feature of Silver Cove. The road was gravelly, with larger stones poking through here and there, smoothed by years of traffic. The land to either side rolled peacefully, a carpet of moss and rock outcroppings extending under the protective canopy of the towering trees. Ahead, Ayleah could see the waves of the lake as they danced around the docks and riggings of the town port in the distance. Eventually they were out on the rocks, gently sloping down toward the beach. Ayleah liked it out here, but it was exhilarating. Out beyond the cover of the trees, on bare rock that slanted against the sky and distant horizon. It was like being on a boat near the shore, though not. There was no rocking, but the waves were ever present- a tremendous crash and roar behind the stable ground. Before long though, the rocks sloped upward again in narrow ledges and they turned away from the port road toward the trees again. Up a long flight of stairs cut into the sagging bank, and Tormund led the other two to a parking area in one of the groves along a forest street.

“I'll be taking a route straight across the point to Pebble Cove, if the two of you want to catch a ride” he said, unlocking his personal hauler. “From there at least you'll be a little closer to the mainland, if that's where you're headed.” He paused and looked at Ayleah for a moment, his eyes sincere. Telon responded. “We'd be glad of it, thank you.” He then turned and motioned Ayleah to follow him.

Telon led her a short distance off to where the cedar grove overlooked the rocks and water. He gazed out at the lake for a moment silently before calling her attention. “Should you still desire to come with me, this may be the last time you see these waters for quite a long while. I want you to listen to them, and think on your decision one last time before you commit to leaving this place.”

Ayleah listened to his words, and nodded to show she had heard. She turned to face the lake. Its deep green-blue waters undulated, unceasingly. The waves were without form, disrupted by hidden rocks and other secrets of that surface. The mountains on the other shore spoke to her, saying that they would hold that water and its secrets as they always had until she returned. The shoreline, stretching out in a rough fringe of evergreen against the open blue above and below, held the magic and the safety of home. Ayleah closed her eyes and breathed in the sight of the cedar fringes and the rushing sound of the waves. She held the breath for a moment, and let it out into the fresh lakeside air. Thoughts of all her explorations came to her. All the magic and wonder she had discovered in this little corner of the world was hers to hold and use wherever she might go. Every place would hold a special magic of its own, but hers was unique, because it came from this special place. Turning to her new teacher, she spoke with confidence in her voice. “I'm ready, let's go.”

Back at the hauler, Tormund packed their minimal luggage into a storage compartment in the back of the vehicle, and they drove out of the village of Silver Cove, away from the lake. The inland road took them up out of the village cedar groves and into a broader, more open forest. Clumps of smaller trees made dense patches here and there where larger ones had fallen and left a brief mossy meadow. To their right, a prominent rocky ridge raised its shoulder and shuttled them into a wedge in the land. On its upper slopes, foresters went about their business, navigating the steep side paths for work with lumber or minerals, or patrolling in the wilder areas of woods. Tall thick pines and oaks towered above their course, and large boulders or cairns marked the side of the woodland road.

As the ridge gave way to the flatter uplands of the peninsula, Ayleah lost track of which direction they were going. The road turned this way and that, but there was no shoreline with which to orient oneself. She liked watching the mysterious deep woods go past though. Sometimes they were filled with light, and delicate fluttery things danced above little mossy bedrock ridges in groves of twisted thorny trees. Other times the undergrowth was impenetrable and dark, curving high above their heads to either side. These places felt ominous, though Ayleah reasoned they must be of the same family as the rest of the forest, just a different part. Still, she was glad when they were through the dark tangles and the forest opened up once more. There were more species of tree beside the path than Ayleah was used to seeing back in the village, or even the township. Back in Silver Cove, most trees were of a certain width, and were primarily cedars and hemlocks. The rare occasion would find a birch or special bush on the shore, but the forests of her childhood were a special case. These woods on the road were more like the far back woods behind the town that she had hardly ever visited. Oaks and maples grew here, some reaching gigantic size, out of proportion from the rest of the woods around. These giants attracted settlers, and off the road, side paths led to these hamlet glens. Older evidence was imprinted in the landscape; the giant trees only one sign of previous management of the land by cities. Massive rock walls, now tumbled, and curious flat parts of the forest floor, were also signs that this had not always been the forest it was now.

Ayleah had learned of the land's history in her classes at the college. She had heard of vast open farmlands, and how where she lived was not like much of the world around. She had never been to a city, but had seen pictures of their grand walls. They were like massive boxes that almost touched the sky. Within their sturdy walls and safeguarded doors, an entire large township could thrive. Most cities owned a plot of the land surrounding them, and would sponsor any villages that wanted to settle on that land. By practice though, most people would rather live inside the city than next to it. Ayleah had always wanted to see those strange wastelands, the city fields. It was odd to think that this whole peninsula might have been like that at one point in time.

A particularly large bump in the road, reminded Ayleah that she was in a repulsor-hauler riding through a forest still near her youth, not yet in some far off city. The trees were turning back to evergreen, and the road slanted downwards; she knew they must be nearing the other shore. The peninsula stuck out like a flat thumb into the vastness of the Lake, corralling Kings Bay and the lands managed by their Park authority. Silver Cove was on the outer side of the thumb, a dimple in the lakeside next to the College of the Silver Shore (with its own private port). Tormund had driven them all the way east across the point to Pebble Cove, a small port on the calm waters of Kings Bay. As they entered the township, Ayleah noted the surrounding terrain. Pebble Cove opened from a gentler cleft in the land than her hometown. A wide road led around through the upper forest, descending from the hill to the south and leading out along the shore to the north. Shops and residences lined the main street, and rooflines dotted the forest all the way toward the water. There was a somewhat gloomier air here than at Silver Cove, but there were plenty of signs that this was the happy vacation home of many a local resident. The beach at the port was muddy, and long docks were used to access the boats. Ayleah much preferred the tumbled rocks of Silver Shores, even if they were dangerous sometimes.

Tormund drove up to a parking lot near the edge of the land. He narrowed his eyes slightly as they passed a particularly dingy fishing camp. “I want you taking good care of her Telon,” he said, “there're places out there that make Pebble Cove look quaint and comforting.”

The scholar regarded the muddy roadway, and then the towering pines as they stopped and the engine whined down. “Have no worry, good marshal. Our ways will not take us to those places.” Tormund resigned himself to be satisfied with this statement. The hauler settled onto its platform, and the three of them stepped out onto the pine-needled ground.

Getting her pack out of the storage compartment, Ayleah said eagerly: “I'm not afraid; Telon's going to teach me how to do magic!”

“Oh?” Tormund looked amused.

Telon looked at Ayleah, “Well, I didn't say exactly that. I said the way in which knowledge can transform your life is like magic. Our specialty at Queen City is homestead and property management, though I do know a bit about geologic metallurgy as well.”

“More depth than I've ever bothered to wrap my head around for sure.” Tormund said. “You're going to have a great time Ayleah. Be careful, but make some good stories to tell me when you get back. You'll get your head filled with all sorts of useful things I'm sure.”

Ayleah grinned and hugged him. “Thanks Tormund. I'm sure I will.”

She released him, and the marshal shook Telon's hand. Their eyes met and they wished each other favor on their respective travels. Then Tormund turned and descended the stairs down to the beach, a fine figure heading for the docks with his marshal's badge as a sign of passage. He would hire a ferry to take him across the bay to the parklands. There he would spend the night, and in the morning argue the case for their village.