174 Shaihshire

As the easterly autumn sun streamed into the kitchen, Jayde, Takara, and Lucia ate a hearty breakfast. Jayde had arranged to meet Maianna in an hour at the griffin stables in Aeris, the two were flying to Shaihshire for Jayde to have a look at the village Maianna had bought.

Jayde had debated about informing Raven, Ash, and Nova regarding her plans for Shaihshire, in the end, she decided to bring the three along with her. It was an excellent opportunity for her to test their loyalty and see their true colors. During the past couple of months Jayde had often spoken to the three about the conditions in the Lower Realm and bringing up uncomfortable subjects like slavery and social inequality, while the three often expressed the same outrage as Jayde, to Jayde talk was cheap—actions spoke louder.

Jayde had learned through all her years that humans were often the most deceptive of all races, and could often hide their darker natures, and her experiences had taught her not to trust blindly. Jayde was really hoping that she had found trusted companions, as she desperately needed allies, but before Jayde took her plans a step further, she needed to know that those by her side had her back.

Once Ash, Nova, and Raven arrived Jayde left the cottage with Takara after bidding Lucia goodbye. Lucia would be spending the day with her family in Aeris. Jayde had already arranged with Lucia to move her family to Shaihshire once accommodation was ready for them. Lucia had been delighted when Jayde had offered her the opportunity to move her family out of the slums in Aeris.

Like most low born commoners Lucia family suffered under the iron fist of the noble families in Aeris, and Lucia had to bear the burden of raising her brothers and sisters and looking after her sick mother all on her own. It was only due to the extra gold that Jayde paid her, that Lucia's mother was finally getting better as Lucia had been able to afford to buy better food and Jayde had given Lucia healing potions for her mother.

The four friends with Takara lounging on Jayde's shoulder made their way over to the school's griffin stables to rent two griffins to fly them to Aeris. Reiko still spent most of the time complaining to Jayde every time she flew using one of the griffins. Even though Jayde spent a lot of time soaring through the skies in her own dimensional space with Reiko and Yinxin using her Fire Wing spell, Reiko still considered himself as Jayde's flying mount and believed Jayde flying on anything besides himself was an insult.

By the time the griffins landed in Aeris, Jayde was feeling a slight headache from Reiko's continuous bitching. Seeing Maianna waiting for them, Jayde decided to bribe Reiko before they hired new griffins to take them to Shaihshire. It was only after Jayde promised to barbecue one of the deer like creatures found in her dimensional forest that Reiko promised to shut up about how pathetic griffins were.

With Reiko promise, Jayde and the rest quickly arranged five griffins to fly them to Shaihshire. Since they would be flying a greater distance, Maianna had suggested that they each get their own griffin to not to tire the beasts out.

Within twenty minutes the five mages were up in the air and flying towards Shaihshire. The five flew in a tight V formation. Since Maianna was the only one who knew the way, she took the lead with the Jayde and Ash flying to the right just behind her. Raven and Nova were to the left of Maianna.

The flight took just over an hour, and it was just before mid-morning tea time when the five landed just outside Shaihshire. Since the griffins they had hired were well trained the five mages had no concerns letting the five griffins relax on the outskirts of the small village. The five griffins would come when Maianna whistled for them.

Jayde looked around the beautiful meadow they had landed in. The grass was still a verdant green even though it was autumn. The long grass was seeded with a vibrant range of wildflowers, tall trees surrounded the meadow, flutterbies and tarragonflies flew between the flowering plants, small sparkling spiderwebs shone brightly under the autumn sun.

Jayde took a deep breath, the clean air was filled with the scent of grass, warm earth, pollen and the sweet smell of the many flowering wildflowers. With the warm sun on her face, and a slight breeze playing with her hair, Jayde followed Maianna to the village.

As the five walked along the overgrown path, Jayde could hear the drone of insects above the swishing of grasses blowing in the breeze. Every now and then the five would startle a nesting bird, and the air would be filled with the flapping of wings as the small birds took flight.

Before long the five mages arrived at the entrance to the village. Looking around Jayde could see that the town had fallen into a state of disrepair. The weather-worn stones of the half-built defense wall stood testament to the abandonment of Shaihshire. Stepping over and around the cracked blocks and rocks littering their paths, the group followed the dusty road into the village.

The village reminded Jayde of many ghost towns she had come across in her travels. The old roads were barely discernible through the flora and weeds that had colonized it. The soft wind blew through the broken windows of the abandoned homes lining the streets, broken shutters hung on their hinges and groaned at every sway. Most of the doors to the houses lay on the ground, rotting, decaying in the morning sun.

Maianna led Jayde and her friends to the south side of the village, where the harbor was located. Jayde could now see small signs of life. They passed a small shop, its window full of various fruits and vegetables, next to the grocery shop was a butcher shop with its bloody lumps of meat on display and naked chickens hanging up. A small group of old men and women sat in rocking chairs on the wooden walkway—rocking, silently watching the group as they ambled their way down the street.

Jayde noticed a small child dart off ahead of them. A few minutes later a portly man came rushing down the dusty road, he was desperately tugging on a coat, while a young woman rushed alongside him, trying to finger comb his mane of salt and pepper hair. Jayde's group came to a stop and waited for the man to walk up to them.

When Jayde glanced over at Maianna, she could see a small indulgent smile gracing Maianna's lips. The portly man hurried over to the group, Jayde observed him waving off the young women and child. As the stout man came to a halt in front of Jayde's group, he tugged at the bottom of his buttoned-up coat nervously. Taking a deep breath, he bowed down awkwardly.

"Lady Maianna, it is good to see you again," he said in a deep timbered voice.

"Elder Terrakeep," Maianna greeted the portly man. "This here is my partner Jayde Centauri," Maianna said indicating Jayde.

"Jayde, this here is Elder Terrakeep, the elected leader of Shaihshire."

"Elder Terrakeep," Jayde said greeting the older man.

Elder Terrakeep could not help showing his shock as he observed the young, elegant woman standing in front of him. When Maianna had told him that she would be bringing her partner through to show her the village he had imagined an older, mature woman — not a young girl just entering adulthood.

Elder Terrakeep had been delighted when Maianna had visited their village two weeks ago and informed him that she had bought the entire town. For the first time in his life he had felt optimistic about the future of his people, especially when Maianna had informed him of their future plans, but now seeing the young woman standing alongside her, he was doubtful how these two women expected to revive Shaihshire.

As Jayde observed Elder Terrakeep, she saw the flash of doubt and disappointment in his eyes. Turning she introduced Raven, Ash, and Nova to the Elder. Ignoring the Elder's subdued tone Jayde then instructed the Elder to show her the village. Jayde noticed how Elder Terrakeep looked to Maianna first as to get her permission before turning around and leading the group towards the harbor.

One the way, Jayde grilled the Elder with regards to the village. Initially, Elder Terrakeep's answers were short and hesitant. Sensitive to Jayde's mood, Maianna quickly noticed Jayde's voice had become curt and cold. After gentling rebuking the Elder, Elder Terrakeep's answers became more detailed, and he soon forgot his skepticism as his natural enthusiasm for his town and people took over.

Once they arrived at the harbor, Jayde was pleasantly surprised to see that the port was in relatively good condition. When Jayde inquired about the well-maintained harbor, Elder Terrakeep informed Jayde that Shaihshire had a couple of carpenters and stonemasons, who maintained the current buildings. Since the villagers relied on fishing for most of their sustenance, they kept the harbor in good working order.

"We even have a shipwright, who builds and repairs our fishing boats in the shipyard over there," Elder Terrakeep boasted, as he pointed out a building with a large yard and drydock next to one of the wharves.

"The shracia trees growing in the nearby woods are perfect for shipbuilding. We also have an abundant amount of aivleaf trees which produces lumber for home building and thabark for furniture, and in the woods surrounding the meadow there are many echander trees which are perfect for creating products that need to hold enchantments."

Jayde was happy to hear that there was an abundant amount of natural resources for the village, but she made a mental note to ensure that the villagers used these resources responsibly to ensure that the natural resources were sustainable.

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