96 Catching Up With A Friend

"Vyrena, it's been a while," Nestor greeted in shock as she sat down opposite him.

She gave him a smile, "It has been indeed, how have you been?"

Both of them caught up with one another over the things that had happened. The last time they had met was six months ago when Nestor made a trip to the Prism Sector. While certain business matters kept them from catching up very much, they were still able to update one another on how things were going.

"Wow, it seems like you had a really fruitful year," Nestor said as he took a gulp of his mug of beer.

"Indeed," Vy replied with a smile, "So, have you found a partner yet?"

The sudden question caused Nestor to spit out the beer in his mouth. Vy instantly started laughing, catching the attention of several other patrons in the tavern.

"Ha ha, Nestor boy, the lass is just asking a fair question. Do you really like her that much?" one of the other patrons asked while the rest of the patrons laughed.

Nestor's face was all red, as he coughed out the beer that he choked on. Vy could not stop laughing, she was just merely teasing him after all.

"I was just joking, relax! I'm actually here to ask you a question," she revealed the three snakes that had been coiled on her arm.

In order to avoid unnecessary attention, Vy had cloaked them with an invisibility spell. Now that she was in the tavern she revealed the snakes to Nestor. Upon seeing the snakes, Nestor smiled. Reaching for them, the snakes immediately slithered onto his palm, hissing.

"Where did you find these lovelies?" Nestor asked as he admired the snakes in his palm.

Vy explained everything to Nestor and he listened.

"They like you alot, I can tell you that," Nestor said as he observed the snakes as they hissed and slithered.

Vy wondered what the voices of the snakes sounded like. Was it similar to how she heard the wolves? It was not that she heard voices, but she saw the messages they were trying to communicate to her. A myriad of colours and waves of emotions.

"How is it like communicating with them," she asked, she could no longer contain her curiosity.

Nestor pondered for a moment, "It's like hearing rhythms,"

"You mean like sound waves?"

"Sound waves?" Nestor asked, confused.

"Like pulses of sound?" Vy continued.

"Yes, something like that."

-So it's different after all.- she thought to herself.

~

Vy sat comfortably in front of her large lacquered wood table. She was looking through three different maps and a set of assorted documents. All of them were scattered on the table in organised chaos.

"Vy," Lycster called out as he waved at her, "Vy?"

She was so engrossed in her work that Vy did not notice Lycster had entered the room. It was not until Dotty nudged her, that she realised he was waving at her.

"Oh, Lycster, I did not see you there. Is something wrong," Vy asked as she looked up at him.

Lycster shook his head, "No, nothing urgent," he glanced over to the documents, "What are these documents and… maps?"

"These are maps and documents I had asked Rodrick to get for me. It leads to a place on a different continent."

"Continent?"

"It's like a different country, just really far away."

"Oh, I see. How many days would it take to get there?" Lycster asked.

Vy chuckled, "It would take a lot longer than that. From the look of these maps and documents, if we were to get there by horse carriage, just to the border of the continent would be a year."

"A year?" Lycster exclaimed.

"Yes, it would be much quicker if we flew, but that would still be months of travelling."

"What about the portals? Like the ones we used to get to the Elves Alliance?"

"That's a good idea, I was thinking of that too. But according to these documents, we would need to get permits to set it up. Not to mention…"

Vy went on to explain all the necessary paperwork and approvals they needed for the portal to be built. It was a really long list and getting all of it together would take months, maybe even years to process.

"That sounds like a lot." Lycster sighed.

"It is, hence I am looking through to see if there might be other ways to do this."

It was at this point, that Lycster recalled something he had once heard about. While they were in the Elves Alliance, Lycster often kept an ear open to conversations that occurred around him. It was a skill he picked up while living on the streets.

"I remember hearing a rumour about an underground society that claims to own something unique, that would speed up travelling and stuff like that. I thought it was all just gossip and wild ideas but…"

"Speed up travelling?" Vy asked.

"Yes, they were talking about a carriage that would be able to move on its own."

Vy looked up at Lycster, she could not believe her ears.

"Is something wrong," Lycster asked out of concern. Vy was staring at him, unblinking.

"Did you just say a carriage that moved on its own? Like without the need for horses, but with something else attached to the carriage instead?" Vy asked.

"Yes! How did you know?"

Vy leaned back in her chair, thinking. Dotty, on the other hand, was looking intently at Vy. Patiently waiting for Vy to ask her the questions.