Chapter 21 "Come on, I dont want to be seen leaving the city." Said Nolan as he spurred his white stallion forward, the mares hooves clopping agianst the cobblestone road. Its mane was so silky that it swished in the wind gracefully, even though their speed was at a moderate pace.
Trey, Austin, and Connor slowly mounted their horses and steadied themselves as they proceeded ahead behind Nolan. The sun wasn't even above the horizon the slightest bit, so as they had expected when Nolan mentioned waking early to venture towards Reavestone where they are to meet with a 'friend' of Xeno's. Supposeably his friend owned a shipping company and volunteered to take them as close to the Beors as he could.
During he span of three weeks, Nolan and some highly educated scholars studied maps and scrolls of ancient origins, hoping to find a connection to he Riders within the vast expanse of knowledge. Most of the scripts written about the Riders were destroyed by King Aodin or taken with the elves when they left Alageasia. So the findings they discovered were rare indeed. But the travel would be hard. They would have to travel far east from Alageasia and across some sort of sea until they find a long forgotten island. The fastest way for them to go would be to take a route south towards Reavestone, take a ship to the shores by the Beors, travel through the ancient dwarven cities, and finally sail east.
They soon found themselves galloping across the plains southeast of Xeon. The grasslands stretched for leagues, often times split by a small stream connected to a lake. With much distance traveled, they stopped to rest by a small jumble of birch trees. The sun had began to rise faster as they rested. The sky, originally being dark, was now being filled with an orange light, painting the underbellies of the clouds with a pinkish glint.
When they were done eating and their horses the same, they mounted the mares and continued on their way. As the sun reached its greatest hieght in the sky, they saw a dark, hazy line that twisted along the land, far out in the distance. It appeared to be a river, and upon closer inspection they found that it was a quite large river.
"Okay everyone, the Jiet river is ahead of us, maybe about three leagues away. If push hard we could make it there by night." Nolan said as he didnt dare stop for fear of loosing precious time. Then he urged them forward and their mares galloped towards the river as hope of water came into their minds.
The time passed by slowly, extremely agonizing and tiresome, especially for the horses who were being driven to their limits as they raced towards the river. No scenery inhabited the plains, it was desolate and flat with insignificant shrubs that grew amoung small hazardous rocks. The horses were eventually so tired that they stopped themselves, ignoring the commands of their riders, without no other choice the group dimounted and set up camp, the Jiet river was at least half a league away by then.
They ate a cold dinner and went to bed with no words spoken, the travel tired out all conversation they had. Morning came to fast for them, without a proper bed their bodies became sore due to the hard rocky ground they slept upon. But that didnt hinder their progress. They packed up camp and doused the fire after making a quick breakfast. Their horses were somewhat in better condition than the day before, but whinned when their riders mounted them. As they traveled towards the river they saw a group of Aroughian soldiers scouting the land, the predawn atmosphere kept them hidden in shadows but didnt interfere wih their torches that bobbed up and down as they walked.
But as the sun rose it appeared as though the soldiers redirected their course and were now chasing them. This incident sped their trudge into a full gallop towards the river. They headed through the hills, avoiding the tops for fear that they would be seen by the sentries. Eventually the sky brightened in the east as they reached the edge of a steep bank covered with mounds of brush. Water roared below as it tore over boulders and sluiced through branches.
"The Jiet river!" Said Austin over the noise.
Nolan nodded. "Yes! We have to find a place to ford safely."
The group followed Nolan, leading their horses. The bank came to an abrupt end at the Jiet, where the river ran dark and swift. White mist wafted up from the water, like blood streaming in winter. It was impossible to see the other side. Trey rossed a branch into the torrent and watched it race away, bobbing on the rough water. "How deep do you think it is?" Asked Austin.
"I cant tell." Replied Nolan, worry coloring his voice. Austin looked across the misty band of water. He could see a dark shape that went across the river, but the fog made it hard to see.
He pointed his out to Nolan. "Look, I think that that is a bridge." They slowly trudged across the bank, their feet sinking into the moss covered ground. The bridge looked old and worn from excessive use, not to count the fact that it looked to be hundreds of years old, its supports swayed in the rapids loosely. Moss and lichen grew along he walkway and the frayed rope hand rail. Nolan dimounted Barok and, holding the reigns tightly, pounded the bridge with his foot, testing its stability. The walkway held firm so he continued further, taking big yet careful steps. "Be careful not to make sudden movements, there's no telling how old this bridge is."
The others followed close behind, keeping their hands wrapped around their horses' reigns. The mares whinned in protest, but that couldnt be helped.
Either they stopped and tried to find another way over the river and risk getting captured, or they continued and risked getting trown into the Jiet by the horses.
They were soon on firm ground once again wih the Jiet river to their backs. They quickly readjusted their saddles and Nolan calmed the horses with reassuring words in the ancient language. "Now here comes the fun part." Said Nolan as they galloped away from the river. "We will have to cross a small desert until we get to the southern shores of the ocean, there we will travel along the coastline until we reach Reavestone. After that...well I dont know."
The group stared in the direction their destination lied, hoping that no trouble came on their journey to the Beor mountains.
Trey, Austin, and Connor slowly mounted their horses and steadied themselves as they proceeded ahead behind Nolan. The sun wasn't even above the horizon the slightest bit, so as they had expected when Nolan mentioned waking early to venture towards Reavestone where they are to meet with a 'friend' of Xeno's. Supposeably his friend owned a shipping company and volunteered to take them as close to the Beors as he could.
During he span of three weeks, Nolan and some highly educated scholars studied maps and scrolls of ancient origins, hoping to find a connection to he Riders within the vast expanse of knowledge. Most of the scripts written about the Riders were destroyed by King Aodin or taken with the elves when they left Alageasia. So the findings they discovered were rare indeed. But the travel would be hard. They would have to travel far east from Alageasia and across some sort of sea until they find a long forgotten island. The fastest way for them to go would be to take a route south towards Reavestone, take a ship to the shores by the Beors, travel through the ancient dwarven cities, and finally sail east.
They soon found themselves galloping across the plains southeast of Xeon. The grasslands stretched for leagues, often times split by a small stream connected to a lake. With much distance traveled, they stopped to rest by a small jumble of birch trees. The sun had began to rise faster as they rested. The sky, originally being dark, was now being filled with an orange light, painting the underbellies of the clouds with a pinkish glint.
When they were done eating and their horses the same, they mounted the mares and continued on their way. As the sun reached its greatest hieght in the sky, they saw a dark, hazy line that twisted along the land, far out in the distance. It appeared to be a river, and upon closer inspection they found that it was a quite large river.
"Okay everyone, the Jiet river is ahead of us, maybe about three leagues away. If push hard we could make it there by night." Nolan said as he didnt dare stop for fear of loosing precious time. Then he urged them forward and their mares galloped towards the river as hope of water came into their minds.
The time passed by slowly, extremely agonizing and tiresome, especially for the horses who were being driven to their limits as they raced towards the river. No scenery inhabited the plains, it was desolate and flat with insignificant shrubs that grew amoung small hazardous rocks. The horses were eventually so tired that they stopped themselves, ignoring the commands of their riders, without no other choice the group dimounted and set up camp, the Jiet river was at least half a league away by then.
They ate a cold dinner and went to bed with no words spoken, the travel tired out all conversation they had. Morning came to fast for them, without a proper bed their bodies became sore due to the hard rocky ground they slept upon. But that didnt hinder their progress. They packed up camp and doused the fire after making a quick breakfast. Their horses were somewhat in better condition than the day before, but whinned when their riders mounted them. As they traveled towards the river they saw a group of Aroughian soldiers scouting the land, the predawn atmosphere kept them hidden in shadows but didnt interfere wih their torches that bobbed up and down as they walked.
But as the sun rose it appeared as though the soldiers redirected their course and were now chasing them. This incident sped their trudge into a full gallop towards the river. They headed through the hills, avoiding the tops for fear that they would be seen by the sentries. Eventually the sky brightened in the east as they reached the edge of a steep bank covered with mounds of brush. Water roared below as it tore over boulders and sluiced through branches.
"The Jiet river!" Said Austin over the noise.
Nolan nodded. "Yes! We have to find a place to ford safely."
The group followed Nolan, leading their horses. The bank came to an abrupt end at the Jiet, where the river ran dark and swift. White mist wafted up from the water, like blood streaming in winter. It was impossible to see the other side. Trey rossed a branch into the torrent and watched it race away, bobbing on the rough water. "How deep do you think it is?" Asked Austin.
"I cant tell." Replied Nolan, worry coloring his voice. Austin looked across the misty band of water. He could see a dark shape that went across the river, but the fog made it hard to see.
He pointed his out to Nolan. "Look, I think that that is a bridge." They slowly trudged across the bank, their feet sinking into the moss covered ground. The bridge looked old and worn from excessive use, not to count the fact that it looked to be hundreds of years old, its supports swayed in the rapids loosely. Moss and lichen grew along he walkway and the frayed rope hand rail. Nolan dimounted Barok and, holding the reigns tightly, pounded the bridge with his foot, testing its stability. The walkway held firm so he continued further, taking big yet careful steps. "Be careful not to make sudden movements, there's no telling how old this bridge is."
The others followed close behind, keeping their hands wrapped around their horses' reigns. The mares whinned in protest, but that couldnt be helped.
Either they stopped and tried to find another way over the river and risk getting captured, or they continued and risked getting trown into the Jiet by the horses.
They were soon on firm ground once again wih the Jiet river to their backs. They quickly readjusted their saddles and Nolan calmed the horses with reassuring words in the ancient language. "Now here comes the fun part." Said Nolan as they galloped away from the river. "We will have to cross a small desert until we get to the southern shores of the ocean, there we will travel along the coastline until we reach Reavestone. After that...well I dont know."
The group stared in the direction their destination lied, hoping that no trouble came on their journey to the Beor mountains.
Author's note: Sorry for the extensive wait for this update, but my computer mess up and wont turn on. So now I will be using my tablet to write the chapters on. But the app im using only supports documents of up to 1000-1500 words :( Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will try to update at a normal pace. As always, review and most of all ENJOY.