Ventus by Karl Schroeder

the road to Iapysia!"
Karl Schroeder / Ventus / Page 271
All he had done for two days was walk. Jordan was
exhausted now and was beginning to think his journey to meet
with Armiger might be impossible. Calandria had bundled
food for several people into her saddle bags, but it weighed a
lot. He rested when he needed, and carefully lit a fire before
bedding down each night. Despite that, his feet hurt and his
shoulders were strained from carrying the heavy bags. So, as
midmorning burned away the cold of last night, he sat down on
a stone by the side of the road to rest.
He would have given up walking, were it not that
whenever he paused to rest, he saw visions of far-off places,
and knew they were real. Knowing that fed his determination
to keep going.
He needed an activity to keep the visions at bay. He had
taken to whittling, and now he pulled out a stick he’d begun
this morning, and began carving away at it, lips pursed.
Last night Jordan had sat rapt at his meagre fire as
Armiger spoke to Queen Galas. "You wish to hear human
speech issue from the inhuman, from the rocks and trees," the
general had said. "Could a stone speak, what would it say?" It
was almost as though the general knew he was listening.
Armiger had not gone on to tell his story. It was late, and
the queen had deferred the audience until some time today.
Jordan was not disappointed; he had lain awake for hours,
thinking about Armiger’s words. He had pushed aside his selfpity
and exhaustion, and made himself come to a decision. It
was time to take the step he had been avoiding.
Despite his private miseries and loneliness, Jordan had
not forgotten for a moment that Armiger’s was not the only
voice he could hear. On the evening when the Heaven hooks