Air Commander Marwin Caellaigh idly tapped his foot on the hard balgaed birch floor as he waited for the secretary sitting at her desk to let him into the office behind her. Even though he came with an appointment and arrived on time, he still couldn't help but wonder if there was a chance that he would suspect the reasons for why he came here and refuse his request. Subconsciously, he felt himself brush his dark brown hair in worrisome before he stopped himself, it would be unbecoming off himself to show signs of nervousness.
Next to him stood a servant girl holding a tray filled with a bronze scroll, several pieces of metal, and a strange piece of circuitry. Every so often she would glance at him to confirm something before returning to look straight ahead in silence, waiting until he gave her a new command.
Nearly a minute would pass until he noticed the signal scope on the secretary’s desk flashed and she nodded at its order. She then turned to Marwin, “Sky Admiral Aengus will now see you in, Air Commander.”
Marwin straightened in relief and gave his thanks before turning to the servant. “Wait until I give you the signal to come in, until then, wait out here.”
The servant nodded her head at his instruction. Satisfied, Marwin walked to the door and entered.
The first thing that came to his attention is the large window taking up the entire wall at the end of the office. On the right side stood many bookcases containing dozens of books of all kinds while the left wall was covered in cabinets and shelves holding unique, expensive objects and devices that Marwin could not be certain of their value or their purpose.
In the center of the room stood a desk containing the very man he wanted to speak to, Sky Admiral Aengus Caellaigh. Walking up to the desk, he could see the aged, withered face of the officer as he worked on his paperwork on his magierna desk, the man still had not looked up to see him. Hovering before his face were several screens composed of wispy light displaying numbers and words too small to read for him. Harwin approached and stopped a good few feet away and stood straight and clasped his arms behind his back and waited.
The Sky Admiral gave no indication that he saw him there, continuing to work on his reports. Harwin watched as he finished signing his name on one sheet and moved to a growing pile of papers before snatching another from a larger pile and began scribbling on it. “For what reason have you come to my office.” He spoke finally after almost giving the impression of not caring for guests.
“I want to lead an expedition for the Belathor Cores, sir.” Marwin as he stood at attention before the desk of his superior.
Sky Admiral Aengus paused in the middle of writing, the fountain pen in his right hand still pressed to the paper and releasing blotches of ink, before looking back up to the Air Commander. His withered face bore a gaze of scrutiny. “Repeat what you just said.”
“I wish to lead an expedition for the Belathor Cores,” Marwin replied again, his posture unchanging.
The scrutinizing gaze of Aengus held for what felt like minutes, causing Marwin to fidget slightly in suspension before the Sky Admiral dropped his gaze and sighed loudly, allowing the tension to leave the room. He watched as the screens disappeared into the air as the Sky Admiral took his fountain pen and lightly taped it on the surface of the desk four times in a rhythmic pattern, before stopping and nodding to himself.
Marwin relaxed his posture slightly, no longer fearing the possibility of his superior ordering him out of the room for his request. He watched as the older man leaned back in his chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his left hand, contemplating the request Marwin had made.
Seconds passed by until the older man finished, letting his left arm thump down on the desk, and looked back at the young Air Commander with a resigned look. “Dare I ask why you would wish to search for such a relic?”
“Sir, I believe that it is imperative we make use of any possible advantage to increase our military projection in light of increased aggression by the Mechians and Sinelchis with their current territorial dispute,” Marwin replied, the words flowing from his mouth recited countless times in preparation for this meeting. “Their disputes have resulted in the other powers raising their awareness and military readiness in response to a possibility of a future conflict. Word in the air has it that the Kingdom of Tamth’en has increased its dreadnought productions and the United Bescher Republic has been renewing its military alliances.”
“Yes, and so has our nation done so. The High Lord and the General Assembly have increased funding to the military with the recent bill to increase our shipyard production and personnel.”
“I am aware of that sir, but I believe it is not enough.”
“Oh,” Aengus raised an eyebrow at the claim. “You believe that it is not enough?”
“Increasing our military power will ensure that we stay on the same level as our rivals and potential foes. But that does not mean much when we are still on the same playing field.” Marwin took a pause. “We need an edge.”
Aengus took a moment to digest Marwin’s reasoning, the fountain pen idly twirling in his hand before the older man set the pen down and clasped his hands together on the desk. “You raise many points but there is one crucial detail that I must ask.”
Marwin blinked at the question. “Sir?”
Aengus leaned forward until he was mostly resting on his elbows, “How certain are you the existence of the Belathor Core? Wait!” He interrupted Marwin with a raised hand, “don’t answer that, how certain can you be that anything of the A'elserine Kingdom is intact enough to be usable for our nation such as a core? It has been ages since the elven kingdom had fallen to ruin, time has not been kind to it.”
“Sir I-no,” Marwin corrected himself, “Uncle, I’m not bringing empty air for you.”
“I would certainly hope so, boy,” Aengus replied as the furrows on his face deepened as his expression tightened at Marwin’s choice of words. “Even though you are my nephew, I cannot make a call for an expedition without the explicit permission of the Western Sky Lord. Even if I tried to use the political influence of our family, it would not be enough to move to pass his authority, and doing so would result in me losing standing among his command staff. But,” Aengus trailed off, his eyes narrowing at his nephew as he took note of his posture.
“You have something to prove to me about your request, don’t you?”
Marwin nodded his head, “Yes uncle, I brought them to show you that I am not talking with empty air.” He finished with both of his raised and clapped them three times.
Stolen story; please report.
A moment passed after the clapping before the door of the office opened to admit a female servant holding a metal tray filled with objects. The servant walked to the desk and stood at attention. Aengus swept his eyes over the tray, noting the presence of several metal pieces, a bronze scroll, and a piece of circuitry of some kind that clearly looked damaged.
“Thank you.” Spoke Marwin as he took the bronze scroll and looked at his uncle expectantly. Aengus sighed in exasperation and moved the papers on his desk to allow room. Placing the scroll on one side of the desk, he unraveled it across the desk, allowing his uncle to look it over.
Looking at it, Aengus could already tell it was an expensive bronze map engraved with a complex carving of land with numerous depictions of beasts, gods, and stars surrounding the entire land to symbolize the nature of realms and worlds. He wordlessly watched as Marwin took the metal pieces and the damaged circuitry and set them next to the map.
Looking back at the servant, Marwin gave her a nod, “You are dismissed.”
The servant gave both officers a bow and walked to the door. Silently, she opened the door under their eyes and closed it gently behind her back. Moving from the door, Aengus looked back to his nephew and indicated the metal pieces and circuitry. “Exactly what are these pieces, Marwin?”
“The remains of what used to be a part of a Belathor Core,” Marwin answered truthfully.
Aengus snorted as he picked up one of the pieces. “A remain that could be thousands of years old.” Turning it over, he looked over it with a critical eye.
“It was recovered from an explosion three years ago. These were the only pieces left afterward for identification with the entire area sun-kissed.”
At the mention of the last two words, Aengus froze as he registered to two words and slowly looked back at this nephew. “Where,” Came the demand.
Wordlessly, Marwin reach out and hovered his hand above the bronze map. A second passed without any action before wisps of bluish aether flowed from the palm and entered the carved lines of the metal. The entire process lasted only three seconds before he cut off the flow and withdrew his hand.
Aengus watched in silence as every groove on the map glowed in the bluish color of the aether and began releasing wisps of light into the air. The light hovered several centimeters above the metal and began taking shape. Standing from his chair, he moved around his desk until he stood by his nephew as the light grew more prominent. Before his eyes, the light took shape and began forming a base larger than his desk. A wave of large hills and mountains took shape followed by buildings of stone and metal forming into a variety of sizes. He watched as buildings the size of family homes grew like flowers across the grounded hills, monolithic towers spreading on the ridges, and large hangers carving themselves into the mountains.
Once the light finished forming, he could see the complete view of the massive city of Lairg Unnich, the administrative and military provincial capital of the Dans Miach Realm, one of the twenty-four realms and sixteen worlds that compromised the Kingdom of Broc Árdghal.
The map of the city suddenly collapsed with a flicker from Marwin’s hand as the light suddenly began shifting in one direction, the light coalescing in a manner that reminded Aengus of watching the ground move faster than he could keep track of when he flew a piker in his younger years.
He felt the tug of a smile on the corner of his mouth at the memory, those were the old days.
A full minute and a half passed before the light suddenly stopped coalescing and shifted into a coast covered in large formations of stone and low cliffs.
“Where exactly am I looking at?” Inquired Aengus as he inspected the geographical features the map was displaying, looking if he could recognize something.
“This marks the end of the Kegh Wildlands and the starting point for the Corlaen Sea,” Marwin replied as he waved his hand over the map.
‘That,’ thought Aengu, ‘was very far.’ The nearest border of the kingdom in that direction is the Laisgrow Realm, which bordered the Lands of Safred, a collection of poorly charted realms and worlds filled with smaller nations, city-states, tribes, and beasts. Those lands would then be followed by the immense uncharted Kegh Wildlands.
All in all, the entire distance from the kingdom’s border to the Corlaen Sea without taking into account the non-descriptive distance of the wayfare pathways stood at over eight hundred thousand kilometers. Which raised further questions for Aengus. Such as how exactly did his nephew come across this.
Aengus looked towards Marwin. “How did you find these remains?”
“I was part the 16th Scout Flotilla through the Kegh Wildlands as part of the long duty to survey the wildlands and build maps when we heard the explosion,” Marwin explained as he manipulated the map to zoom in on a location on the coast. “I was part of two ships sent to investigate what could have caused it, we would find pieces and people.”
Ah, he had forgotten that his nephew had been part of a recent duty of surveying the Kegh Wildlands in an effort to build accurate maps for any future plans should the kingdom ever be given the chance to expand into the region. As if such a possibility could ever occur.
“And those people were?”
“Scavengers and explorers, they had been returning from a trip and had accidentally dropped one of the Belathor cores to the ground and it exploded, damaging their airsail to the extent that they crashed.” Explained Marwin.
“They dropped a Belathor Core accidentally?” Aengus asked incredulously.
Marwin shrugged. “Those were their words.” He then grimaced. “The crash had killed most of the crew and destroyed much of their supplies, including the remaining two cores in their hold. But.” He held out a hand and pointed to the map. “Through much interrogation, I have been able to learn how they came across the cores and why they were near the Corlaen Sea and thus, built a pathway for the expedition.”
With a wave of his hand, the map shifted once more until seconds later, a new sea coalesced into view.
Aengus stared at the sea before turning to look at his nephew with irritation. “That is the White Mist Expanse.”
“Yes, uncle I-”
“Those are uncharted waters, boy!” He interrupted his nephew angrily. “We have no idea what lies within those mists. Nobody does! The last group of people who even had a modest idea of the insides of those waters have been dead for the last nine hundred years! And you want to lead an expedition into it?”
Marwin quietly waited until his uncle finished venting before he spoke up, “Uncle, I know of a passage through the expanse.”
Aengus gave an exasperated sound, throwing his right hand in the air while looking away. A second pass before he looked at his nephew. “Tell me you tested the pathway or do you plan on attempting the first flight with an entire fleet?”
“I have indeed tested it, uncle.” Replied Marwin before frowning. “I hired several explorer teams in order to map the pathway under our family name. The last few were the only ones to have made it through the expanse and return alive. That is why I believe that a military expedition would be more appropriate.”
Marwin watched his uncle go into deep thought at his words and tried to bolster his argument. “One of the old coastal borders of the A'elserine Kingdom shares with a sea that connects with the White Mist Expanse, it would allow for the expedition direct access to the industrial heartland of the kingdom and the possibility of establishing an outpost there for future endeavors.”
“Yet, it is still a dangerous task.” Growled Aengus.
“Uncle, the only other path to the elven kingdom is through the territories of the Mechia Kingdom, the Cities of Fondon, and the Cergia Commonwealth. We send any significant through their skies, even if we hugged the edges, they will not only notice our presence but may very well learn our objective.”
Once again, Aengus was left in deep thought as he mulled over the words of his nephew. Marwin watched as his uncle seemingly came to a decision and clasped his hands behind his back and looked up.
“Are you satisfied with what you heard Western Sky Lord?”
Harwin flinched in surprise at his uncle’s words and snapped his head up reflexively, almost fully expecting to see the Sky Lord himself hanging from the ceiling.
There was nothing but cedar oak tiles on the ceiling, no sign or indication of the commander of the western administrative region of the kingdom in the room or listening in.
“He-The Sky Lord was listening in?”
A snort could be heard from Aengus, “Of course he was, I notified him about this conversation.”
Marwin blinked, he had not seen his uncle press the longscope on his desk for communication nor had done anything noteworthy.
No, that was not important, what he should focus on is the fact that the highest-ranking officer on this side of the kingdom had been listening to his argument and from what his uncle hinted, was now coming to a decision.
“We should know what his verdict on the matt-” Aengus was cut off by several knocks on his door.
The door opened to admit an aide who stood at attention with both arms clasped behind him. “The Western Sky Lord has ordered the two of you to report to his personal office. You have till the end of the second hour to arrive or to consider your request permanently voided.” Finished, the aide gave a sharp nod and exited the room without another word.
Silence dominated the room after the exit of the aide.
“Well,” Aengus mentioned as he turned to his nephew who now just realized who he was about to meet. “It appears he is interested in your proposal, congratulations.”