The Fields of Asphodel

Chapter One: I cannot believe I am doing this

Audio by myself.

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Excerpt from the diary of Delilah Tessel Rider, an Ambassador of the King of the Land.

Umbriere, Day 1

Morning

I cannot believe I am doing this.

Today is the day that I set out for the Rim of the world, or the Hinterlands, as most of the humans know it as. The town that I am to stay in will be predominantly human-populated, and I must do well to refer to their lands by the appropriate name.

All my bags are packed, and I am ready to go. Thankfully the dragon, Deleiri, had offered to fly most of my belongings, along with some heating shards the King wishes to gift to the Hinterlands, to Port Edge. I will be taking the Cross-continental speed train—two hours from here I must change at the Loccas station, and ride for another hour to the Edge. I will meet her there, and there should be enough time for lunch before boarding the three o’clock ship to the Hinterlands. There. My itinerary all written down. I shall not forget a thing.

I hope that Deleiri will not attempt to stay to lunch with me this afternoon. She vehemently opposed my wish to move to the Hinterlands, even though I had explained that it was only temporary. One, perhaps two years, if necessary. From the moment she found out—which was why I only told her at the very last moment. Three days before!—she has been trying to conjure up every reason to convince me not to go. The frigid weather. The feral dragons. “The people may be meanies.” Honestly, her speech becomes more and more human by the day… Honestly I hope she will not change the way she is, not in the slightest. Finally she admitted that she will miss me greatly, the poor, oversized lizard.

I will miss her too.

And now, I must be off.

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Evening

I am on the ship now. My first time!!

Thank the heavens that I do not get sea-sick. I had spent the last hour in trepidation, wondering if and when the nausea will hit me. Dear Mael had given medication in case it occurred, so I was very prepared. Still, sea-sickness has been described to be incredibly unpleasant, and my journey was four hours long. I am grateful. I wanted to be able to write.

As expected, Deleiri insisted that she stay for lunch, but spent most of her time bawling her eyes out and scaring off the poor restaurant-owner’s business. He was kind enough to leave us be. Or perhaps it was, again, the teeth and the potential fire that he feared.

Either way, as she dropped our baggage off at port, she begged me not to go.

I had to explain to her all over that we had promised the town’s Grave-Keeper, Gerra, and also a very old human lady, that help was to arrive, and if we were to go back on our promise, she would have no choice but to continue with the grave-keeping on her own despite her recent surgery, and we could not have that. Deleiri reluctantly agreed, but continued with her sulking. Then she attempted a change in tactics and asked if she could go along. I had to admire her persistence… and completely intentional forgetfulness. She knew that dragons were not very welcome outside the Kingdom. And besides, Mael would not be able to come along because of his duties.

“Who cares about Mael,” the dragon groused, but fell quiet after that. Because she did. She cared about Mael. Apologies. I did not have to say the obvious, now, did I?

Speaking of Gerra, I will be living with her… In a mansion, no less, can you believe it? I don’t know how a little old lady like her is able to maintain both the graveyards and the grounds of the mansion. Apparently it used to belong to a ridiculously rich young fellow, who was so inspired by the acts of the King that he sold all that he had to live in the King’s lands. He has long passed, but the land that he sold was used to house the poor souls that were lost during the war with the dragons some two-hundred years ago. And now, it seems, whoever tends to the graves will live in it as their reward.

I am excited, to say the least.

Write tomorrow, after I have settled in.

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