Chapter 19 ∞ Lovarda

We rode flying beasts close to three hours before we finally made a land on a seaside skyport. I was still clueless as to where we had gone, but I would say that this experience wasn't really bad. It was my first time riding this sort of thing and the cabin service had been spectacular considering we sat in the privileged section of the ship. It was quiet inside and was free of that noisy, high-pitched squealing of machines that was present in the airplanes I rode back in my old world. However, one would hear occasional heavy flaps of large wings from outside. It sounded like a thick cloth striking against the spirited breeze of the sea. I had to settle with looking out the windows to observe the creatures. We weren't allowed to go near them because they were, well, beasts.

These beasts weren't dragons though. Mistress Veronika told me those creatures were ultra-rare and were very hard to tame because of their reclusive and prideful nature. Not to mention there were really just a few of them in the world. Dragons would hardly lay any eggs. They were fertile for only a small window in their lifetime. Meanwhile, these Skyhorses were quick to breed and very easy to subdue.

Still, I could not help but detest the distasteful name they've given the poor things. 'Skyhorse' was hardly creative.

I realized, however, that that was just from my own perspective. My brain automatically translated stuff that made it so that I understood everything—even certain names. The word 'Skyhorse' was translated from the Ovanolish tongue 'Seikelwern' which meant 'horse of the sky.' That meant other people were referring to these things as Seikelwern while I heard Skyhorse.

The beasts have a large wingspan of around thirty feet and came in all sorts of colors from black to red to yellow and blue. They didn't have snouts like horses. Rather, they had long pterodactyl beaks and rooster-like crowns on the top of their heads.

Mistress Veronika and I mostly had the same thoughts. Her native tongue was Ovanolish after all and I, technically, had native-like fluency on it as well. It made sense. Her people were the ones who first tamed the Skyhorse—a history I pretty much deduced on my own. The Ovanols were warriors and had seen this beast as a great creature to weaponize. They rode them into war until there was no need for any and they began to be used for everyday stuff like delivering goods and transporting people.

There was a port they called 'skyport.'

I sighed, realizing that knowing every language came with a disadvantage. The appreciation as a foreigner to the tongue would vanish. It was impossible not to understand things the way they really were.

The design of the vehicle was simplistic yet sophisticated in its own right. It was the height of the current design and looked nothing like the aircrafts I had gotten used to in my past life. The interior was streamlined, space was maximized without seeming too crowded, and they made sure we were hosted in sections separated by a frosted glass screen doors. It had a very contemporary design comparable to my old world, however, there was that unique touch of this world's culture and providence that made anything my past life's modern society had pale shades in comparison.

My mistress Veronika had been very astute and decided to the pass the time by reading a book and drinking her cup of tea. There was an entertainment unit in the cabin we were renting that resembled a television. I had to scratch my head as I looked towards it curiously, poking around to see if I could have it start.

"Mistress?"

"Mm?" she mumbled, lips rimming her cup as she tipped it to sip.

"What is this thing?"

She put down her cup on the table by her chair and looked up. "I apologize, Evy. I am not familiar with that new technology."

"A new technology, huh? So that's what it is," I muttered. I pulled a string from the corner and a young man came shortly after, knocking on the door briefly before opening it.

"How can I help you?" he inquired in Veneryali, although I could sense the accent that said it wasn't his native tongue—it would probably be the French accent of this world. There was a sensual drawl in his words and a roll of his tongue that was just unique. He had particularly sharp features and was incredibly tall with a tuft of dark hair on his head.

"Would you mind helping me, please?" I asked, pointing to the dark screen. The skirts of my traditional Veneryan dress swayed. "What is this?"

"Ah," he said. He nodded, gazing at me with just the littlest curiosity before smoothly recovering. "That's a geodevision. I know not much about it, but I heard it utilizes a very special kind of geode crystal that is capable of bending light in all sorts of manner. They have found a way to manipulate what is shown within the crystal by using an infraction device at the back. It's a relatively new technology. Aside from light, it is also capable of echoing certain frequencies that imitate sound. It's very good material."

"Do you mind opening it for me?" I asked, eyes wide with excitement. If I wasn't mistaken, this was like a television! I would love to get back to the times when I could watch reruns of good shows. It was a bit of a bummer I would not be able to re-watch the shows I loved the most.

My mistress shook her head with a chuckle.

"Of course, little miss. Pardon my intrusion." He stepped into the cabin and I stepped back. I watched him closely as he removed the communicator that hung around the lobes of his ear. He pressed it against the geodevision. His communicator stuck on the surface and a user interface appeared. He selected a frequency among the available options and pictures began appearing within the screen.

"It's three dimensional!" I muttered under my breath in awe.

Perhaps it was the way the lights bent from within that made it seem like I was only separated from the scenes by glass. No matter! It was still awesome!

"What did you do with the communicator?" I asked.

"Well, those who made this technology thought that a communicator was always easily at hand. Everything you see is live and if you have access to a certain frequency, you can always connect with networks so long as they are unencrypted," he told me.

I understood none of that just now but it's technology and I love technology. I was constantly amazed by the advances in this world. However, the reason why they had had such great productivity was the presence of that somewhat magical element that Earth lacked. If one was to remove that part, their civilization would be severely crippled. They relied too much on that one aspect that they would no fare well without it.

"What is it powered by?" I continued to inquire.

"Everything that powers our society," he patiently replied. "The domains."

Ah. It all made sense now. Everything in this world was built upon such a vital essence. The domains were the energies that made manipulating the different elements of nature possible. If I wasn't mistaken, it had the same status as electricity back in my old world.

"En eltre viu," I said, thanking him in his language.

"And good day to you, little miss. If you need anything else, I am just a ring away."

For the past few years, I had honed my listening and learned that, by exerting a small effort to discern, I could easily know what I was speaking or listening to. Each language, after all, had those distinct characteristics. Some used the tip of the tongue more than the back of it. Some were throatier while the others were quite nasal. The intonation, the accent, the music of the language—I watched out for those closely whenever someone would open their mouth. After a while, the discernment came instinctively to me. Other times, however, it was really hard. It was challenging to distinguish between dialects and languages which rooted from the same source.

It took no time at all for us to finally land.

When we arrived at immigration, the usual scenario unfolded. We were asked to present our documents. They also inquired about the purpose of our visit among other things. Veronika carried identification tokens of some sort—both for herself and I. They acted like passports. They were scanned upon departure and arrival with some sort of special tools I could not wrap my mind around. They were like computers that pulled up a holographic window of information.

The only technology I had ever put my hands on in this world was that communicator that my mistresses gifted me. Quite a while ago too.

"If you have any problems, you can check our clearances," Mistress Veronika said as she impatiently tapped her foot. She spoke straight in a foreign tongue I recognized as Lovardi. Were it not for a slight slip on some vowels, she would have exhibited native-like fluency.

I had been suspecting that we left the country—but wasn't this too sudden? The thought of having finally left Venerya jolted my stomach into flipping.

The officer brushed his nape and lightly fixed his hat as he resumed focus, pulling up another window from the holographic screen and scanning the contents. He nervously brushed down his black coat, replying in Veneryali apologetically. "Ah," he muttered. "Sorry for holding you up. Please proceed."

He pressed a few buttons that had the wall before us flash briefly in green. He then gave us back our identification tokens and proceeded to entertain the next person in line. The walls parted and led us into a waiting area of some sort. It was an open observatory—for the wide landing strips for the Skyhorses and the sea it terraced around. The waves were calm today and the sun was shining fiercely.

"Is that the ocean?" I wondered aloud. I had seen it from inside when we were flying, but this perspective was particularly unique and panoramic.

"It is," my mistress told me. "It's one of the most beautiful places around. The country is wise to greet its visitors with one of its most scenic views, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"This way, Evy." My mistress guided me through as she tightly held my hand. "Make sure not to leave my side. This isn't like Venerya."

I looked around, eyes wide with fascination. Signages were written both in Lovardi and the more known language, Veneryali. This really was not any different from airports back in my old world except that these things relied a little more on alchemical technology and a sort of streamlined renaissance theme. It had a similar feel to waiting in train stations during the industrial revolution only much…ancient, perhaps.

After stepping out of the skyport, we were stopped by a man dressed like a chauffeur. He tipped his hat, greeting us cheerlessly in Lovardi in his deepest voice. He wasn't rude, per se. He merely took a very serious stance that made it hard to act lousy. He gave me that feeling of being an unworthy 'master' to serve—not that he looked like he was looking down on us or anything.

"Encateneral liveur," he softly intoned. He then switched to Veneryali, the language I had grown to be using more frequently than anything else. "I am Jovann. Is there any place I can take you today?"

"We'll be alright, misoneir," my mistress returned. My mind translated that last bit as sir or mister. "But we will appreciate it if you take us to the bazaar."

"Ah." He stepped back. "No problem."

Jovann led us down a flight of stairs and into a waiting carriage. It was plush and comfortable inside. I leaned out the windows the entire time, observing the high-rise skyscraping structures and the people that walked the streets. Surprisingly, I saw many people from the West, Vertvaldenians—such mouthy term for people—casually walking about the streets.

"If you're wondering," my mother began. "Lovarda is a seaside country specializing in trade and exchange with the other continent. That is why their presence is not as exotic here as other countries like Venerya. Borders have been monitored very tightly lately due trouble in the West, considering the influx of refugees."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why don't they accept the refugees?"

"The emperors see them as a liability," she said. "Not only are they incapable of communicating efficiently, they are not skilled and knowledgeable of Eastern culture and are therefore incapable of serving in the society. Compared to the East, they are more fond of the energies at their purest form. Lovarda, however, is under the name of an emperor who believes there are more worth to these people than the others regard them to be."

"I did read that much," I whispered. "But not enough, it seems."

I heard yells in a language other than Venerya and Lovardi. It had a rougher countenance, dipping into guttural lows and dexterous tongue-rolling. They were attempting to communicate in Lovardi, even so, but they switched back to their language frequently.

Our carriage passed by the gates of a building that sported the Veneryan flag. My guess was that it was a government building and an embassy of Venerya. By the wrought iron gates, a conflict was occurring. Protestors dressed in old and worn clothes were making a commotion, raising their voices. Guards stood with their shields propped, pushing back at anyone who tried to dash through.

"We keep those monsters off your land yet you refuse to involve yourself! You benefit from the wars we are enduring yet you refuse to take our families—even just the woman and children! Wait until these monsters reach your land! You will beg for the help we can give!" a man screamed. "Open the borders! Open! Open! Contanuel! Contanuel!"

"Monsters?" I echoed, looking towards my mistress Veronika. "Mistress, what's happening?"

Mistress Veronika sighed. "Around twelve years ago, when you were born, strange occurrences began happening in Vertvalden, the West. A rift opened in a country where unseen things made of dark energy brought down misfortune upon the land. They thought it was a plague at first. However, they realized that the cause of so many deaths wasn't sickness—but creatures of shadows that preyed on life itself."

"Creatures of shadows?" I reiterated. "Why are we only hearing of this now?"

"Because our continent isn't involved and we can't care less about the affairs of a place that does not concern us. Not to mention there is a struggle currently happening for the throne of the Dragon Emperor. Venerya holds the seat of the First Among Equals which makes it a tempting position. We are much too busy minding our own business to pay attention to theirs," Mistress Veronika told me.

I looked out at the protesters. My eyes met with the dark pair of the man who led the group. His pointed gaze rooted me in place.