Nathaniel sat in the library of Fort Cadarn looking through several books trying to find any information that could be of use. Among the books was a map of the world. At the center of the map was Everhall. It was hard to tell due to its shape, but he guessed that Everhall was slightly smaller than the continent of Asia back in his own world. The five kingdoms inhabiting the continent were marked on the map.
Gilbrant, the largest kingdom, took up the entire western side and most of the central part of the continent. It’s size required the kingdom to have nearly a dozen duchies to properly operate. Umvral, the second largest kingdom, took up most of the eastern side of the continent, and it sat beneath the Dwarven kingdom of Nevran which was the third largest. Nevran sat in the northeast as a collection of mountains that bordered Gilbrant as well. The fourth largest kingdom of Turlen was a slim nation that ran along the entire eastern coast. Melmaria, the smallest kingdom, sat on the southeast of the continent separated from Gilbrant by the Black Iron mountains. The southwestern part of the continent was marked as The Wilderness.
Pa’palla, the continent that the Horde hails from, sat to the west of Everhall with a land bridge connecting the two continents. His [Intuition] informed him that the land bridge had to be around two hundred miles long. Across the ocean in the north was Zechriel, the demon homeland, and two more continents sat to the east and south with oceans separating them from Everhall. Nathaniel scratched his chin in confusion.
“What has you so deep in thought?” Nathaniel jumped and turned to see Ophelia standing behind him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you!”
“No, it’s fine,” Nathaniel calmed himself down, “I’m trying to make the most of my general study days by learning about this world. However, there are things about this world that doesn’t make sense.”
“What has you confused?” Ophelia leaned over him to look at the map.
Nathaniel cleared his throat, aware of how close she was to him, “It’s the geography,” he said pointing at the land bridge, Black Iron mountain range, and the Nevran mountains. “Back in my world, we came to understand that the landmasses were moving. We called the phenomenon tectonic plates,” Ophelia looked at him confused. Nathaniel held out his hands with the palms down, so that his fingers were touching. “When the landmasses collided and pushed against each other, it caused the land to shift and the result was mountains forming,” he demonstrated by pushing his hands together which forced his fingers upward.
“I understand now,” Ophelia’s eyes sparkled, “People in your world must be incredibly intelligent.”
“Right,” Nathaniel chuckled nervously, “The point is, we could determine where these plates were thanks to mountain ranges. The problem is that doesn’t seem to be the case here,” He pointed to Nevran, “The northeast of Everhall is a clump of mountains. At first, I thought it was due to it being a collection of volcanoes,” he touched a book to his right, “But then you have this mountain range that separates Umvral from Turlen, and then you have the Black Iron mountain range that runs east to west. Not to mention, it’s too wide of a range to be explained by tectonic plates. Then there’s the land bridge. Several of these books make it sound more like a mountain pass, or maybe a canyon, that splits the ocean. I can’t see any reason to these landmarks.”
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
“Maybe that’s how Creation wanted it?” Ophelia tapped her chin, “After all, everything exists as Creation willed it.”
“So, this world was created,” Nathaniel sighed scratching his head, “As much as I don’t want to accept that answer, it’s the only one that makes sense now, and without a fully detailed map of the world, I can’t look into this further.”
“I’m sorry,” Ophelia frowned holding herself, “Truthfully, Pa’palla was the only other landmass we were aware of, but when we realized how inhospitable it was, no one wanted to scout it out. We mainly focused on reclaiming the Wilderness from the fairies.”
“What about the other landmasses?”
“We only recently discovered those,” Ophelia pointed to the northern coast of Gilbrant, “When the demons landed their castles, Turlen thought it would be best to try and find any other potential threats. However, their ships aren’t capable of long voyages, so as soon as the landmasses were found, we marked their locations. What you’re seeing on the map is what we think the sizes of those continents are.”
“I kind of figured that when I saw pictures of your ships,” Nathaniel pointed to a picture of a ship that reminded him of an old Nordic longboat. “The fact that you were able to make it though is interesting. It suggests that these bodies of water are closer to seas than oceans. Which could mean that this world is more land than water.”
“Is that not true for yours?”
Nathaniel shook his head, “No, our world was mostly covered in water,”
“I see,” Ophelia said sitting down, “Is there anything else you want to know?”
“Yeah, how is it that Gilbrant has proper roads without having cement?”
Ophelia chuckled, “You can thank the previous Archmage for that,” she ran a finger over the map brushing them close to Nathaniel’s, “Apparently in his world, they used earth magic to manipulate clay and rock to create sturdy roads. It was thanks to these roads, and the previous Champion’s courier service, that Gilbrant grew as large as it did.”
“You did mention that one of the previous heroes introduced the pony express,” Nathaniel chuckled, “Nothing helps a kingdom grow than good roads and quick correspondence.”
“Many heroes provide new insights when they’re summoned,” Ophelia smiled warmly at him, “You’re already leaving your own mark with that cement and anesthetic paste.”
“Still, I’d like to do more,” Nathaniel sighed, looking at the shaded area around the Everhall entrance of the land bridge, “That’s why I’m trying to learn as much as I can. Maybe there’s something that I can create to help with the war.”
Ophelia took his hand, “I know you will, and everyone will acknowledge how incredible you are,” her smile made his heart skip.
“Thanks, I’ll try not to let you down,” Nathaniel couldn’t stop blushing.
Ophelia chuckled as she rose to her feet, “You’re a hero, Nathaniel. Never forget that you’re important to this war, even if you’re not expected to fight in it.” She waved at him as she left the library.
Nathaniel waved back as she left. His eyes returned to the map and his eyes landed on a spot marked as Castle VuRant. It sat near the Wilderness and was between the land taken by the Horde and the duchy of Rumand. Even though it was a brief exchange, Nathaniel couldn’t help but remember the scarlet redhead with vibrant green eyes, and the warmth of her lips on his cheek.
“Maybe…I should try getting in touch with them,” The thought immediately elicited the image of an angry Ophelia, “On second thought, I don’t think that would be a good idea.”