Path Of The Broken

6. Ilarith-1

6

Ilarith

Jessalan stood in one of her favourite places in a high tower overlooking the mountain realm of Ilarith. It wasn’t a city in the traditional way, nor a kingdom. Most of the land was wild and uninhabited as far as her eye could see, kept that way by the few that possessed the power to breach the barriers that protected this secret realm—the domain of the Elder, Kin and some humans. The few scattered settlements of humans who called Ilarith home lived their lives with little interference from the Elder they were beholden to. They assured her that while they were free to leave and seek a life elsewhere, most showed little inclination to do so. Merchant delegations left to trade occasionally and keep in touch with the world outside their magic realm, yet always returned. One of the Kin or Elder would go with them to ensure they were able to depart and return to Ilarith, and also to protect them while abroad.

Moving between places was difficult for the humans since there were only a few roads stretching between their villages. It was the Elder who had forged the roads through the wilderness for the humans living among them using the power of the veil. Jess didn’t understand how they had done so. The Elder had no limitations on their travel using the veiled paths, and could travel from place to place with ease. The villages paid tribute to the Elder both in food and with the occasional person to help maintain their own castles, towers and estates. Despite her initial concern, they assured her it wasn’t something they demanded, just something the locals did. Given the Elder represented peace and prosperity for the locals that lived here, Jess could see why they did so.

She had been here for months now as Damien’s guest, since this was the sprawling multileveled estate he called home. The floor-to-ceiling windows, a prominent feature of the estate, were to be found at every vantage point, affording incredible views of the surrounding countryside. It hadn’t taken her long to track him down after she’d decided to do so, although it was more like he had tracked her down. Jess smiled, remembering; she’d been cast adrift, lost, searching for some sign of the Elder that she had known must exist, yet had not been having much luck.