Eve of Magic chapter 2 - Capital Cograthe
Tenma always rode to the capital on horseback. He was always told that he had a way with the strong powerful animals that had been domesticated by the humans. Whenever he made his journey to the capital, he rode on his favourite horse, Sa-Kar. The pure white stallion had a muscular build, with a golden mane which flowed gracefully as he galloped across the plains. Tenma had helped raise him since he was a colt, sparking an unbreakable bond of loyalty and companionship between the two of them.
Tenma did not need a map in order to reach the capital. Each year, he took the same route. Over the plains and through the Skogr forest, arriving the city of Cograthe. Rather than taking the main path system, Tenma followed the wind. The winds led him through the forest, so he travelled that way.
After riding Sa-Kar over the plains for most of the day, the forest was only a couple more days away. Tenma dismounted from his horse and prepared to set up camp for the night. The best part of the journey for Tenma was sleeping out, under the stars. Though he packed a tent every year, he only ever used it on rainy nights. Lifting a finger to the wind, Tenma was relieved to find out that the winds were blowing in his favour. The clouds would be sailing over to the far east that night. Crashing himself down on the dry grass, Tenma let out a cheerful sigh.
Sa-Kar trotted up to the young boy, nuzzling his chestnut hair. Tenma patted the side of the stallion's head reassuringly, before scratching his mane, much to the horse's delight. After a few more minutes of playful scratching, Tenma finally stood up and pulled a bundle off of Sa-Kar's back.
Inside the bundle were various tools. Knives, crushing stones, blades varying in size, dried meat wrapped in leather, pouches of herbs, chords of sinew and leather, sharp sticks and a carved wooden bowl, amongst other tools of similar natures.
Aki outdid herself this time, Tenma chuckled as he opened one of the pouches to find oats for Sa-Kar. Another contained spices, one contained tea leaves of several flavours. Tenma was astounded at what Aki had prepared for him, considering he would not need most of it on his trip. It took a few seconds for him to realise the lump in his throat. He only snapped back when Sa-Kar rubbed his muzzle against his back.
Coming to his senses, Tenma set up a fireplace in a clearing of shorter grass. Lighting it took a few tries with a flint and steel, though it was eventually burning strong. Emptying a sheep's stomach of water into a patch of leather which was strung up with sticks above the fire, Tenma was able to fashion a cooking pot. Repeating everything that his father had taught him years ago, Tenma remembered when he had first lit a fire. He remembered how happy he had been. He remembered his father and mother clapping and cheering as he held up the flint and steel proudly.
While he waited for the water to boil, he led Sa-Kar to a nearby river to drink. While he was there, he also refilled the sheep stomach. The water was cold and refreshing as Tenma cupped his hands and scooped up some to drink himself. When he returned to the fire, he added herbs and dried meat into the now boiling water.
When the stew had finished cooking, the sun was just about to set over the plains to the west. Looking up from his camp, Tenma watched the last rays of sunlight leave the golden grasses as he ate the food he had just made for himself. Near the camp, Sa-Kar was grazing. Tenma did not need to keep an eye on the loyal stallion. Sa-Kar always found his way back, just like Sasuke had done back in Inazuma town.
The wind was blowing over the plains. It was not strong, however it was not weak either. High in the sky, falcons soared and dove through the air currents. Behind the camp, thick clouds sailed over toward the Fire Mountains, now only hazy shapes on the horizon.
After the food had been mostly devoured, Tenma took the remainder out of the camp left it for the creatures that roamed the plains at night. Hyenas were common, though lynxes and even leopards could appear in the darkness. Several scavanger birds would also not mind a free meal.
Survivor guide rule number five, Tenma thought as he returned to the camp. Never leave unwanted food by your fire.
As he returned to the camp, Tenma noticed a herd of elk in the distance. Their sillouettes wandered on the horizon, minding their own business. It was too late to hunt by now and Tenma had never been very good at killing anything, so he left them be. Returning to Sa-Kar at the camp, Tenma watched as the elk continued onward into the distance.
The night was clear, just as how Tenma had predicted it. As he lay by the embers of the fire, huddled under squirrel pelt travel blanket, he gazed up at the stars. Clear nights gave way to the endless skies, filled with the twinkling glows of far off galaxies.
Tenma cuddled up to Sa-Kar, who was sleeping calmly in the chilly spring night. As the moon radiated its blue-white glow, Tenma's mind began to wander. He thought of his journey. He thought of the banquet. He thought of his God - his Master. Eventually, the spiral of thoughts led him into a deep slumber.
The sun had not risen when Tenma first woke. He had eaten his breakfast cold, the remains of the fire now charred black. Taking a final drink and quick wash from the river, he mounted his horse and set of. He and Sa-Kar were already travelling again by early morning. After a couple of days on the plains, they finally made it to the Skogr forest. Manouvering through the forest was much more difficult than simply riding, like it was out on the plains. Instead, Tenma needed to focus on avoiding the roots of the ancient trees, at some points even dismounting to help Sa-Kar through. As the forest became denser and thicker, Tenma gave up on riding, instead walking alongside his horse in order to help him.
"Look, Tenma came back."
"Back for another year?"
"He's even bigger now."
Tenma could hear the whispers of the wood nymphs. He was used to hearing them, though he never saw them. The wood nymphs were conservative and shy, rarely showing their faces to travellers. They were not hostile however, so Tenma could pass through their territory with realtive ease.
As he reached the darker parts of the forest, Tenma passed by tiny houses burried in the trunks of the gigantic trees. Each little window gave way to sparkling sapphire rooms filled with miniature furnature fashioned from natural resources. The sapphires filled the forest with a mystical azure glow.
The darkest part of the forest, where sunlight would never reach, housed a community of fairies. Tenma had to be careful. The fairies acted on raw emotions. If he accidentally angered them, they would use their dark magic to most likely kill him. Luckily, the fairies gathered in the higher branches of the dense canopy, so they rarely even saw him passing through their village.
After leading Sa-Kar over a shallow river, Tenma watched as a water gnome stood on a moss covered rock downstream. He stood completely still, gripping a carefully carved fishing stick. Just as Tenma thought that the poor creature would never catch anything, the gnome suddenly pounced into the water. After a couple of seconds of spray flying up and uncontrolable splashing about, the gnome scrambled up the bank of the river, a shimmering fish speared on the end of his stick. Tenma wanted to congratulate the creature, but instead carried on his way. He did not want to scare the gnome after all.
As the evening came once again, Tenma settled under a rocky overhang in a sheltered clearing. The sun was not completely gone yet, and the water still needed to boil, so he thought of going to practice his skills in the forest. Sa-Kar was tethered to a tree so that he did not follow his master and get lost in the dark. Tenma lifted a flap on one of the horse's travelling pouches to pull out a tangle of ropes. Within a few seconds, he was able to tie the tangle into a neat ball. Patting his horse reassuringly, he wandered off between the vast tree trunks.
As the shadows of the trees grew more dominent, Tenma stood still in the middle of the forest. Around him, the deep blue glow filled the environment with an enchanting atmosphere.
Listening to the sounds of the forest, Tenma threw up the ball. As he heard the wind current slithering between the trees, the ball fell. Picking up on a route, Tenma gave the rope ball a hard kick. It disappeared into the indigo darkness of the forest ahead, though he could see it clearly. Trying as best as he could, he tried to stabalize the wind currents to keep the ball in the air. With the wind, he could see the ball snaking through the forest, turning onto different currents at his will. Eventually, the ball came flying back, landing at his feet. Tenma was pleased. Though it was not much, he could control the wind to some degree.
After traveling through the Skogr forest for a couple of days, the capital of Cograthe was finally in sight. Tenma gasped when he saw the spires of the great castle in the distance as he left the dense foliage. It never ceased to amaze him. Even from such a distance, the castle was still so grand and strong. Endless skies filled with wispy white clouds stretched over the fields and hamlets surrounding the city.
Mounting Sa-Kar, he shook the reins and dug his feet into his horse's side. The two of them cantered onto the nearest path and began the final trek to the capital.
Galloping along the pathway, the fields on either side of the boy were filled with men and their oxen driving heavy ploughs into the rich earth. As he approached closer and closer to the gates of the capital, he saw travelling caravans of traders and nomads pass him by. Everyone wanted to get to the festival held in the capital. It was the biggest event on the calander, when an entire moon was dedicated to the festivities.
Eventually, the great gates loomed over Tenma. Dismounting from Sa-Kar, he pulled five gold coins out of his pocket and payed his entrance fee.
"Hold it boy," the guard suddenly lowered a polished steel lance in front of Tenma.
Tenma did as he was told, though he was confused. He had done this before and no one had ever stopped him.
"Umm..." Tenma murmured, looking up at the royal guard.
"I recognise you from last year," the guard smiled. "You were with the princess."
The guard proceeded to drop the five coins back into Tenma's hands.
"Take back your money. I'm sure her highness would only want it that way."
Tenma, startled at getting into the capital for free, gladly took back his gold and got back onto Sa-Kar. Waving back to the guard, he rode into the city.
The bridge that everyone needed to cross in order to access the city was wide enough for three mammoths to walk across side by side. Tenma found it easy to avoid crashing into civilians as he cantered over the bridge. The capital city was ahead, each street slightly higher up than the last. Streets could be lined only with shops containing clothes from every remote culture of the empire. People who travelled from the snow covered ice sheets in the far north to the hidden mountain cities in the west flocked to this city. Cograthe was the city of culture.
Tenma though, had not travelled all the way to the capital for the siteseeing. He had not travelled for the shopping or the food or the people. He was riding to where only the Chosens could enter without suspicion. He was going to the castle to meet with the King.
Hello again. I decided to edit this chapter as well. I added some more scenes to the forest and plains. I plan on editing every chapter that I have written so far, though I still need to continue updating with new chapters as well.
As I said before, reviews mean the world to me.
~Princess Erii