goodbye part 1

The first instalment of my fantasy short story. Meet Brie and Oric!

Listen to an audio version of this instalment by clicking here!

Brie stood on the cobblestone central square of the University of Illaizaro, feeling both confident and apprehensive. A few students were milling around, perched on ledges or grassy patches on campus, reading books, or at least appearing as if they were reading books. A cool tropical breeze snaked in between the campus trees and buildings from the coastline only a few kilometres away. Brie adjusted her pack, looking out for the guide she was supposed to be meeting. Apparently, according to her thesis advisor, Brie actually needed to do fieldwork for her thesis, which required going onto the depths of the continent of Vieora. Brie was annoyed that she hadn’t known this before she’d signed up for this thesis, but it didn’t matter; she wasn’t going to let anything stop her from graduating. Her five-year plan that she had tightly held onto for so long was almost at completion. Within a few months, her thesis would be handed in, she would be marrying the girl of her dreams, and her four-month required stint in the Vieoran continent would be long forgotten. Still, Professor Archer had seen the need to set Brie up with a guide, since she’d never so much as set foot past the wall in her life. When Brie had told her parents that she was going out onto the continent for four months, they had reacted with the panicked worry she was already feeling.