They knew that they had to keep on walking. It wasn't possible for them to stop. The snow had no longer stopped falling and began to cover the first blanket. The stones in the ground rose up gradually on the side of the mountain path in mimicry of a staircase. They walked up staggering and occasionally tripping. They needed to get to the first city. It was just one more staircase, he told himself. Each step was counted and each step was treasured.
Higher and higher the mountain's stairs went. The snow would attempt to disguise their path but the harsh wind would almost instantaneously reveal them again. They reached the summit and looked down. There was a small city far below them, nestled between two mountains. The city was aligned in a square with a rather tall but slim castle at the centre. It looked vaguely like a chess piece. The backs of the buildings all faced outwards in an attempt to block the winds from the mountains.
The stairs down were steeper than the stairs up and they had to take it slow. A few fell but the rest carried on. The fallen would pick themselves up and continue without a word. It was too cold to try and speak. They followed the strategically placed flags to the city centre, where no one was in the streets except the homeless and the drunk. The inn had to be around here somewhere. Mindless wandering was unaided by their numb minds. No one suggested a route but they followed each other around in circles, no specific person leading the group.
There was a sudden burst of noise and a shaft of light split the dimness of the streets. A man was pushed out and fell face down into the cobbles and the mud. There were loud happy noises flooding out the door. It was easy to deduce that this must be the inn. They dragged themselves in and went up to the bar. The tallest went up to discuss places to stay, as no one would deny him anything that he asked for. Even though the inn was busy he had managed to secure all six of them their own rooms. Each traveller clutched the key like a lifeline and followed one another to sit at one of the tables.
One ordered the food, another ordered drink. One just laughed while the other three said nothing. They ate and they drank and attempted idle chit chat with each other. The travellers became more open and talkative as the evening drew on, but nothing of importance was discussed and two of them said nothing for the whole evening. They decided it would be best just to go to their rooms for the night.
He sat on the bed and pushed back the hood that had been covering his face. It would only be a little longer, he told himself. Then they would all be going back home and could then put this ordeal behind them, just like he had done with many other events. He ran his fingers through the heavy black hair, his usual grin uncharacteristically absent. Those usually bright eyes seemed dull. Yes, he reflected, he was very far from home. Spain could not wait to get out of this haphazard world.
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Yay new story ^^ Trenches is still being written but it'll kind of be on the back burner which I guess doesn't really matter as no one is reading it anyway ^^' Well please review and thanks for reading ^^
