Mountain Duties

It seems like maybe I am half-way through now. I cannot tell, but the ground here is more level than earlier. The horse catches my attention when he knocks into a tree, causing a whole cartful of snow to fall on top of him. I give him a small smile, whistling softly.

The stallion turns to look at me, and I wave him over. I started walking on the flat terrain earlier to stretch my legs half way up our journey through the mountain. My bags are still strapped to his large body, and snow clings to the leather. The horse comes over, and I pat him on the head.

"Good boy. I am sorry I do not have any snacks to reward you."

He lets out a soft noise, and I brush some snow off his eyes.

"You need a name, you know."

The horse nods, as if he knows what I am talking about. I reward him with a rare smile, "Hm, what would you say suits you best? Kiren? Cyrus? Arlo?"

The stallion whines at the last one, and I let out a half-sigh half-laugh.

"Arlo, hm?"

The stallion's eyes sparkle and I laugh. "Arlo, it is. Come on. Let us get going."

I mount the horse, and suddenly an arrow flies into my vicinity. The horse jumps in surprise and starts to whine. I unsheathe my sword, scanning my surroundings frantically. Oh, god. Where are they? There are shadows everywhere, and I kick Arlo, picking some up speed. If they aren't going to come get me, it seems I have to make them come out. More arrows fly my way, but the horse and I are fast enough to evade them.

The world turns into a white blur as we glide further into the mountain. The snow wets my face, blinding my eyes and I cast a light sheltering spell over him and I. The spell is a light one, so it will not drain my power. We shutter to stop at a ravine, and I look down. The huge crevice in the Earth has death written all over it. Snow and jagged rocks lay at the bottom with glassy, ice walls. I pat the stallion, and sigh.

"What do you say?"

The horse makes a sound of encouragement, but it seems the choice has been taken out of our hands when pieces of snow start to break off around us into the huge ravine. The ground beneath us starts to rumble, causing everything to tilt slightly. Hard snow starts to fall from above, and I spot snow slide off the curve of the peak closest to us all.

Hearing the sound of footsteps on crunching snow, I look back to see Lexie, Holden, and Lane, my fellow mercenaries, appear.

"Ardele! Just turn yourself in!" Lexie pleads.

Holden cocks his crossbow at me, "I don't want to have to kill you."

I pause. I do not want to kill them. And I don't have to. Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, I softly say, "You don't."

And together, the stallion and I fall into the ravine.

Cold. So cold. Emptiness yet vastness in a sense. The numbness jerks me wake, and I wiggle my fingers and toes. Shaking the fog out of my head, I push myself up to my elbows. A huge tunnel that is filled with sunlight is a just a little ways to my right. Thank the heavens. Testing my strength, I pull myself up to my feet, gathering the place around me. It seems that we have fallen into a bed of soft snow on the bottom. The sharp, jagged edges of the stones beside me are taunting and I brush away the what-if thoughts. I do not have time for that. Being grateful to be alive is enough.

I brush off the snow clinging to my body, and I look around for the stallion. I hear him whine a little farther away to the right, and I run towards him. Before grabbing onto the stallion's reins, the ground starts to rumble again. Light snow rains upon us, and I glance up. If we do not move fast, we are going to get covered up with snow really soon. I grab the stallion's reins leading him quickly out of the opening and into the sunlight filled tunnel.

As the biting cold ceased from the warmth of the sunlight, a dull ache from my side catches my attention. I press my hand there to feel wetness. Pulling my hand back, I catch sight of my wine-colored blood, and wash it clean in the snow. Taking off my pack, I take out the necessary items to dress the wound. We do not have much time. An avalanche is bound to happen in a couple of hours, if not a couple of minutes. We also need to hurry our pace so that we can get out of the mountains by nightfall as the night guarantees snow leopards and other predators.

Dressing the wound quick, I wince when I realize that the arrow has cut me deep. All I can do now is pray that it will not get infected. Hopefully when we get to warmer land, I will be able to stitch it closed without leaving a scar. Shoving everything back into my pack, I mount the stallion again, being careful of my left side, and continue to ride south.

The evening has come and went, and mountains are long behind us. We got out of the mountains right before the sun fell. I do not know if there are still mercenaries trailing us. But knowing their level of training, I am sure they survived. Still, I pat the stallion in gratitude. We made it this far. And I am sure we can go further until we reach safety.

Arlo and I continue into another forest land, and I frown when I realize that I do not recognize the area. The trees are not how I remembered them to be when I came to the South. The trunks of these trees are black, and the leaves are bright maroon. It is an odd combination of colors here in the North. However the trees are a delight as they are as beautiful as they are frightening. The stallion emits a low warning noise, and I run my hand over his mane to soothe him.

"Shhh, it is okay," I pause. "Arlo. I do not know if this land has begun to decay. But the vegetation still looks to be prospering."

Arlo and I go through the dense trees and hear footsteps behind us. It has to be past midnight by now. Could they have the really followed us this far? It will take weeks for them to get back to Clairemont at this rate.

I kick the horse on faster, and we glide through the burgundy-crimson leaves. Suddenly I see a massive grey brick wall blocking our path. What kingdom is this? I hear Lexie's voice echoing through the forest.

"Ardele! Ardele! Come back! Do not go in there!"

My heart starts to speed up. Is this a trick? Is Lexie lying to me? But the ominous aura I get from the aura is daunting. Still, Arlo and I continue to stride closer to the wall. The stallion whines, and I so badly want to drink some herbal tea to help with my headache right now. There are so many things going at the same time. What do I do? In a split moment decision, I get up on Arlo.

"Thank you for your help. Hopefully, we will meet again."

I grip onto the wall and pull myself up by the nooks and crannies of the wall. I have my dagger with me to aid the trek up the wall. The angles of the stones painfully into my shoes, and I grit my teeth. This pain is nothing compared to everything I had to go through. Finally, I make it to the top of the wall. Blowing out an exhausted breath, I glance over my shoulder to spot Arlo's figure still looking up at me.

"Go. Go Arlo. Lead them somewhere else."

Digging into my pack, I toss him my last apple, and I send him a grim smile.

"I wish you the best."

Turning back around, I jump down from the massive wall, and into the mysterious kingdom. Maybe the Lord be with me. God knows I need it.