A Trip Sidetracked [Travel Kou to Balbadd]

Ariella shoved some more items into her pack, a small frown etched across her face. She really did hate the idea of leaving Azix in Kou while she went to visit her father. She knew Adamus would have been happy to see Azix as well, her father approved of her relationship with the other magician. But Azix had duties as a diplomat and Ambassador of Kou and could not just go traveling about all willy nilly. If he were caught in another country without reason, it could cast suspicion on Kou at a time when they were trying to improve their global reputation. No, she had best just hurry her visit to Magnostadt and get back to Kou so she could be near her lover. It did not take long to pack, she was in the air by late morning and flying high over the foothills of Kou. The nudging of the rukh got stronger as she began flying but she tried to ignore it. Her first day of flying was uneventful and when the sun dipped low in the sky, she began searching for a place to make camp.

That night, she dug out her Journey Book and wrote a quick note to Azix, letting him know her approximate whereabouts and assuring him that she missed him and would try to hurry back. While flying certainly cut her travel time down, the trip to the Plains was still nothing to scoff at. Each night, she found a place to camp and wrote her lover a note before she fell into slumber for the evening. The trip would be faster if she had someone else with her to take over the flying, but she could not fly in her sleep. By the time the Kou mountains began to settle down into smooth plains, the nudging of the rukh became more insistent. She found it harder and harder to ignore the tugging of the tiny, tinkling rukh.

She had been flying for weeks before she finally gave in and decided that perhaps she should follow the rukh. She was, after all, a Magi. It was her responsibility to help Fate and if the rukh were so insistent, it must be important. She aimed her flying carpet to follow the rukh, the tiny flutters taking her path south of her original path. Each night took her further and further south and she conceded that her trip to Magnostadt was apparently going to be delayed quite a bit longer than she had expected. She hoped her father would understand. The lush greenery of the Plains gradually began to turn to sand and she realized she was headed towards Balbadd.

She made sure to keep Azix updated, explaining that the rukh was pushing her to alter her trip but assuring him that she would not dawdle any longer than necessary. At one of the first larger settlements, she scribbled out a note for her Father and sent it by messenger to Magnostadt, not wanting Adamus to worry about her delay. As she flew each day, she grumbled to the flutters of rukh that were sidetracking her from her original path, but it was not in earnest. She understood that she had certain responsibilities as a Magi and she took them seriously. It took another several weeks, but she finally arrived at the coast and Ari’s breath caught in her throat as she gazed out at the sparkling ocean as it lapped along the coast. It was a gorgeous view and she knew she would have to come back with Azix at some point, wanting to share the almost surreal settings with her lover. With a sigh, she brought the carpet down outside of a large city. The rukh had seemed to settle down, somewhat, and she brightened with the hope that she would soon reach wherever it was trying to guide her.

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