Servants and Followers (The Legends of Arria, Volume 2) Read Free Page B

thousand years ago, and was also the
location of Tau’s Cup, a sacred relic that had been used by the god
Tau to create the first humans, had been lost to the outside world
when Doomba and his Wastelands had surrounded it. No one, as far as
they knew of, had seen Coe Pidaria since that time, but now they
were heading there, to that legendary city, in the hopes of
retrieving Tau’s Cup so that Basha might bestow it upon his beloved
Jawen back in Coe Baba as a dower. It was a risky quest,
considering the territory they would have to cross through to reach
Coe Pidaria, but Basha hoped that it might be worth the
reward.
    “ It’s either in the
northwest corner, the southeast corner, or the northeast corner of
the Wastelands.” Sir Nickleby had told them. “People are not sure
of the precise location because it has been so long since anyone
has been there. Personally, I think it might be in the southeast
corner, because it supposedly was as far south as anyone could go
in Arria. We, however, need to be careful about how we’re going to
approach it.” Sir Nickleby said. “My feeling is that, if we were to
travel southeast all the way down to Coe Pidaria, we might be
noticed. And so we are going southwest, not southeast. I believe
that is the safest way.” The knight told them.
    “ Isn’t that the long
way around?” Oaka had asked, looking at the map and getting a grasp
on it. “I mean, if we were going to go southwest from Coe Baba,
then we would have to circle around to get
to Coe Pidaria in the southeast...” He said, trailing off as he
traced the route on the map. “We’re going around on the coast all
the way down to the south, aren’t we?” He asked.
“ And then we will be
t raveling from west to east when we’re on
the edges of the Wastelands, that is dangerous. And we’ll be practically traveling along the
whole border of Arria throughout this entire trip, if we do manage
to make the return journey, we’ll be making one great big circle or
square! ” Oaka cried.
    “ The reports I’ve
heard seem to indicate that most of the coast is clear of Doomba’s
influence,” Sir Nickleby had said. “It’s only further inland,
deeper in the heart of the Wastelands, that Doomba’s presence is
really felt. There have been ships that went around the coast to
get to Mirandor on the other sid e, though the waterway has been treacherous.”
    “ But that’s
still … I don’t want to spend any more time in the Wastelands than is
necessary,” Oaka had said, shuddering. “ Not to mention traveling throughout all of Arria, the
length and width of it twice. I don’t
think this is very wise. And how do we know that Coe Pidaria is out
of Doomba’s influence in the first place ? ”
    “ We would know if Coe
Pidaria was ever taken by Doomba.” Sir Nickleby had said, turning
around to face Oaka. “There would have been a disaster of the worst kind,” The knight muttered. “Doomba
would have swept Arria right off the map if he ever got his hands
on Coe Pidaria.” The knight said.
    “ Uh, Arria was nearly
swept off of the map all those centuries ago,” Oaka remarked, “But
it came back again.”
    “ Barely.” Sir
Nickleby added.
    Basha now thought
that Sir Nickleby had worried a little overmuch about the
challenges they might face .
W hile Doomba’s Wastelands certainly would
be dangerous, thus far nothing much had happened to them as they
traversed the forest road, and slept with one of them on guard duty
for part of the night before they switched shifts. It was still
early, but if the rest of the trip was going to be like this, it
might be easy. Basha and Oaka had been warned for much of their
lives of the dangers of the outside world, how Coe Baba was a safe haven, but if the whole world was like this, like Coe Baba, then it
might not be so bad.
    “ How much further is
it to Coe Anji now, sir?” He asked Sir Nickleby on this third
day.
    “ Fifty-five more
miles, we have a full day ahead of us.” The