Chapter 359 - The Moonshadow Trading Company Short Stories: 7 - The Desolate Lands (II) (1/2)

*Eldovian Era 1719, 9th day of the 9th month*

Nolan, poised and ready to finish his painting, sighed in disappointment before dropping his brush back into the water again. He turned to look over his shoulder at his anxiously pacing friend.

”Allyra-”

”Do you think they got the message?” asked Allyra, ”I mean, it's been two days, but we can't be sure, right? We should send them another one”.

”We should stop creating a draft, you'll dry my paint before I can blend it properly,” Nolan huffed.

Allyra paused, looking at Nolan's disappointed expression. She looked away sheepishly, ”Right, sorry. I'm intruding again aren't I? I'll just…”

Nolan rolled his eyes, ”Allyra, it's not that you're not welcome, I just think you're worrying about this unnecessarily. Iah Moonshadow is always quite prompt with her replies, usually there is one within three days. As you said, it has only been two”.

Allyra bit her lip, ”So we should wait until tomorrow to send another letter?”

”How about the end of the week?” asked Nolan, ”Give her the benefit of the doubt”.

”That's three days away,” said Allyra.

Nolan nodded, ”Yes, so plenty of time for a reply to come and for you to re-enquire without seeming pushy”.

Allyra sighed, ”But it's too long”.

”For the Gods' sake, Allyra, you've waited nearly three years, a couple more days won't hurt. Go and tend to the shop, it'll keep you busy,” said Nolan.

Allyra pouted as she turned away, ”I'm bothering you again, aren't I?”

Nolan chuckled in exasperation, ”Believe me, if you were bothering me, I would have left by now. You're a friend, no, a sister who has something she dearly cares about. With that in mind, I'm trying to teach you patience”.

”Is it working?” asked Allyra with a hopeful smile.

”It's better than what it was when you first showed up on my doorstep, though I can hardly take all the credit,” said Nolan, ”I think, from what you have achieved over the past couple of years, it's clear that your family was holding you back from your potential. Don't let this mystery man from Moonshadow do the same, yes?”

Allyra nodded, ”Okay”.

Nolan nodded back, watching as Allyra stood.

”Bring some of that Banana Nut Loaf if you have any leftover for breakfast tomorrow,” said Nolan.

Allyra smiled, ”I'll see what I can do”.

***

Banana Nut Loaf. Layton had no idea what that was, but the sound of it was so…normal. It made him wonder if he'd gotten the wrong girl. Though, after another couple of hours of observing from a distance, he was pretty sure it was the same one. The mannerisms were too similar. And the scent…it suddenly made a whole lot of sense why she smelled and tasted so sweet.

”I take it from the brooding silence that you have yet to approach her?”

Layton huffed, ”I'm not brooding”.

”You are,” said Ebony, ”So much so that you didn't bother to stick around and see off Iah, Sel and Rassa”.

Layton bit his lip ring in annoyance, ”I've been assigned a task, I should do it”.

Ebony nodded, ”You should, yes. I'll be sending a letter to Nolan to invite him to my apartment for the portrait sitting”.

”If you're going to tell him too, don't you think it'd be best to give him an escape route?” asked Layton.

”I doubted that you would be comfortable meeting in either his or Allyra's apartments,” replied Ebony.

Layton sighed. She wasn't wrong.

”I'll send the letter now then and request to meet tomorrow afternoon. Plenty of time for you to brood,” said Ebony.

Layton rolled his eyes as he turned away from Ebony, ”Out of all those I could have gotten stuck with, why did it have to be you?”

Ebony scrunched up her nose, ”If you think I relish this arrangement, you're insane”.

***

*Eldovian Era 1719, 10th day of the 9th month*

The three hooded figures stood at the Northern Point of the Endless Lake, looking out at the vast nothingness beyond.

”You know, when you said you wanted to go north, I hoped you meant Northern Eldovia, not the Desolate Lands,” Iah complained, ”I haven't packed appropriately”.

Rassa turned to her grinning, ”Oh come on, you're not the least bit excited? With our abilities we could cross this thing easily and be back in a few days. Besides, you seemed plenty excited the last time we stood here”.

”That was a moment of solidarity. I hadn't thought it would come so soon. Besides, how do you know we can cross it in a few days? No one has ever crossed it before,” said Iah, ”It could take weeks even with our abilities. Is that why you said this trip would take months?”

Rassa rolled his eyes, ”Okay, so I'm not absolutely positive that we could traverse it within days, but I'd still call it a good feeling”.

”Good feeling like, 'I just had a satisfying meal' or good feeling like 'I've got this business idea…'”.

Sel turned his head to hide an amused smile. Rassa caught it as he turned back to face the desert, ”The second one”.

”So…can I assume that your determination that there is something there is a whim brought about by the Ancient Ones?” asked Iah, ”Because I'm positive you said you hadn't recognised any lands from their memories”.

”I hadn't, but I think there's another reason for that,” said Rassa, ”I think Star Crash Coven, where they were all from, was not in our known world”.

”So…it's in an unknown world?” asked Iah.

”In a manner of speaking. It could just be somewhere people haven't been able to map in a few thousand years,” Rassa replied, ”Like a land devoid of any life”.

”It's the 'devoid of any life' part that concerns me, why doesn't it concern you?”

Rassa shrugged, ”Because I think that that is the exciting part about this trip”.

Iah sighed, accepting that there was no way that she could change Rassa's mind at this point. Not that she ever could change his mind.

”We should feed before we set out,” said Iah, ”If we run for six days and find nothing, we turn around and come back, agreed?”

Rassa nodded, ”Agreed. Meet back here tomorrow evening”.

”Are you sure this is a good idea?” asked Allyra, ”I mean, we're both sure this is where we lost our memories in the first place. Why exactly are we back here? Why not request a public location, or-”

”Allyra, you've wanted this meeting for years,” Nolan sighed, ”You've wanted your answers. If this is how you're going to get them, you're going to have to go in. Are you coming or not?”

Nolan didn't wait for an answer as he stepped inside. A middle-aged woman stood off to the side, a pair of spectacles perched on her nose as she read the papers before her. She glanced up upon Nolan's entrance, Allyra trailing her friend.

”Hello,” she stated, ”This is a private residence, do you have an appointment with one of the residents?”

Nolan gave a warm smile. One he was adept at giving. He'd flash that smile to just about anyone and they'd do their best to help him.

”Good afternoon, my name is Nolan Reinhart. I'm here to meet with Lady Ebony Moonshadow for a Portrait sitting?” Nolan stated.

The woman glanced over his shoulder at Allyra.

”Ah, this is my friend, Allyra Cavahall,” Nolan stated, ”Her presence was requested as well”.

The woman looked between them, then nodded, ”Very well”.

She pointed towards the staircase opposite the entrance, ”Fourth Floor, Apartment three. She is waiting”.

Nolan nodded, ”Thank you”.

He then proceeded towards the staircase with Allyra who fell into step beside him. If they were in here now, there was no point in being hesitant anymore.

”This place is so…”

”It's dripping with wealth and elegance,” Nolan finished for her.

Allyra nodded in agreement, ”No wonder the Moonshadow Apartments are so highly sought after”.

The two of them climbed to the fourth floor, Allyra taking some of Nolan's painting equipment so that they could make it up.

Finally, they reached the top of the staircase. Unlike the other floors where they'd seen halls with at least four doors to the left and right of the staircase, on this floor there were only two doors. One to the left of the stairs and one to the right.

Above the left was the number three, and above the other the number four.

Allyra stepped forward and pointed at the door with the number three on it. Nolan nodded, and Allyra sighed before she knocked.

There was a beat of silence before the door opened to reveal Ebony Moonshadow.