The world in all its glory or, at least, the maps of it lay atop a great table stretching almost sixty feet long. Every continent was fully viewed, and several maps had markings on them. The maps were of the continent Delcathim; each mark was a location at which someone had sensed Lanthim Frenost. Staring at these maps was the boy's father, Nedral Frenost.

"It is a boon to us that Lanthim's mana projection range is so large."

A woman's voice could be heard from behind him.

"Sadly for him, it is a double-edged sword; it is simple for a person trying to find him by standing in his zone of influence; they may not be able to find his exact location. However, that would not matter; retrieving him will not be too difficult as long as we know where he is."

A gorgeous elf circled from behind to his left side.

"Fienya, you must have heard something interesting to bring you here."

She always appeared with the same satisfied expression on her face these days. Over the past week, Lanthim had been sensed twice near the tremendous waste.

"Milty Trigel made contact with him three days ago. It appears that he is heading further east."

There was no change in her demeanour as she gave Nedral this information. She seemed almost pleased that the boy had been found by one of Litralia's subordinates. Making Lanthim's mother look unable to control her son was something Fieyna had desired for some time.

"Let us hope that the wastes will remain calm; it will be difficult to retrieve him if there is a storm."

Nedral paid little attention to his wife's attempt to shift his attention to some trivial amusement of hers. He could see her frown with displeasure from the corner of his eye.

"You do not seem interested in the information I bring you, Nedral."

The air became cold around Nedral, so freezing, it seemed to him that he would get nothing done if this elf's mood degraded further. Turning to his wife, he could see that she was not amused with him ignoring her.

'Why must she be this way?'

He was sighing to himself, feeling like this cycle had no end.

Fienya always tried to position herself above others. She had grown up in a society that had both sexes able to manipulate mana, and marrying into where her husband was effectively beneath her in status allowed for the use of pressure to get what she desired from him. The only person she ever had an issue trying to get her way with was Mynrea, but that was common, as dragons never paid much attention to lower-order beings.

"I am sorry you troubled yourself to bring me this important news; please forgive my insensitivity."

A fake smile would not work here, annoying as it was to apologize for some small thing. It was better than sleeping at night, waiting for her reply, looking at this woman who seemed about ready to kill him.

"It has been a great inconvenience for me. You think I enjoy doing the job of one of your messengers?"

It was apparent that she intended to get something out of him; what that thing was, he could not tell.

"I meant no offence to you in any way; it has just been a few long weeks, and finding the boy continues to occupy my thoughts."

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Nedral spoke the truth, giving a slight nod to the maps.

"It is over forty-five thousand miles from Litralia's estate to the Yelsoman Wastes. Considering what we know of his limits, such distance is not unreasonable."

He was placing his right hand on the map, tracing the distance. Lanthim, in such a short time, had travelled such a great distance. The boy achieved a tremendous feat, with them looking closer at the map.

"Once he gets to the other side, it is another eighty thousand miles to the Gieltren Ocean. What he seeks that far east, I can not tell."

Using his free hand, he shuffled through some reports he had received earlier that day. There were small clues here and there, mostly detailing places that Lanthim had used while on the move. Remarkable as it seemed to Nedral, Lanthim appeared to have an exploitable flaw. Unlike most trained witches who, after years of training, would be able to hide the residue left behind from the use of mana, Lanthim was incapable of doing this, so the trail was there to be followed.

"It is over six hundred miles from site to site; one would think he would have changed movements to avoid detection."

Fienya looked at all the makings and saw they ran in a perfect line running east. With such great distance covered, it began to look more like Milty finding Lanthim had been sheer luck on her part.

"Now that he is in that massive salt waste, our choices become few."

Pulling himself away from the table, Nedral took a position beside one of the windows behind him.

"Either the salt will kill him, or he will disappear as he has continued to do."

He was looking out, seeing the capital, and he could see snow begging to fall.

'Another long winter; I only need a little more time.'

As he thought this, Feinya took his hand; it was warm and comforting. Both stood close to one another, looking out at the snow-covered world.

"All that is needed is Lanthim's objective; where is he trying to get to? Once we know that, we will be able to retrieve him."

Feinya spoke softly, drawing closer to Nedral. She told the truth; not knowing what the boy was trying to achieve was causing half of Nedral's headaches.

"Would it be possible for Litralia to come to the capital and bring the child's former caretakers? From what I remember being there, the four had the most direct chance to converse with him."

Everything was starting to come together in Nedral's mind. Having been consumed in finding Lanthim, he did not think to look in the prominent place.

"I think arrangements can be made to have Litralia stay in the capital with her children for the winter this year. I will inform my mother of this immediately."

Releasing Feinya's hand while giving a small bow, Nedral departed. Feeling slight dejection from her husband's quick exit, Feinya moves back towards the maps on the table.

'I wonder how far he will run before he tires; a human child so obsessed with magic he would leave his family has almost no real value.'

With her hands placed firmly on the table, she saw all the makings and all the predictions of where he would likely end up. Feinya smiled a great, cruel smile.

'I wonder what would happen if he did not exit the Yelsoman Wastes.'