By Lamp Genie
The morning sun shone bright over the battlements
of Loire castle, the brightness visible even from the long shadow it cast
over the back side. This shadow hid a small group of people, clustered
together in front of a currently open hidden door. The space between the
castle and the moat was a mere ten feet, and Elle knew that to swim the
moat was to leave the protection of the shade.
Royd handed Ordel a small bundle, "Keep it safe. It contains
all our provisions for the journey."
Ordel nodded and slung the bundle over his shoulder and began
to swim the moat. Royd turned then to Perel.
"You next!", he said.
Perel nodded and followed Ordel, swimming across the filthy
moat in only a few strokes. Royd turned to Elle. She knew she was about
to leave her kinsmen on a journey of an unknown length, after a life of
only knowing her home in Loire and the lands around it. To her, the thought
of being away for more than a day was not at all pleasing. She turned to
her mother, who was standing nearby, accompanied by Jean, Louis and MeiHou.
"Goodbye, mother...", she muttered in a low, soft voice.
"Goodbye, Elle..."
Elle then turned towards her father. His gentle nature was exposed
in this moment. He put a hand on Elle's back and escorted her towards the
edge of the moat.
"Go on now, Elle. We'll only be gone a few days.", he said.
"I hope that's true...", responded Elle, in the same, weak voice
that she had before. As she started to swim across, Royd finally turned
to Fyda.
"Are you sure she's capable of doing this?", he asked her.
"Yes..."
"But she's flaking out before the troubles have even begun."
Fyda sighed. "Royd, it takes bravery to enter battle voluntarily,
risking your life for a cause. Lots of bravery, as you well know. Yet no
amount of bravery will make it enjoyable. Elle is very brave. She has it
in her blood."
Royd contemplated Fyda's words for a bit, then spoke. "Yes,
you're right... Elle is probably very brave, she's just..."
"She is very brave, Royd. She's just concerned. And the more
concerned one is, the braver they may be. She'll be fine."
Royd nodded. Fyda leaned forward and kissed him.
"Go now. They're waiting for you.", said Fyda.
Jean stepped forwards, "We have horses for you waiting in a
cave to the east. They were sent there yesterday in case we needed to evacuate.
You'll need them!"
Royd nodded silently. He turned around, dived into the moat
and began to swim, away from the castle and the safety of home.
Elle shook her hair free of water and looked around. There was
a line of trees to the north and to the east the foothills of the Loiran
Alps began. Royd pulled himself out of the water behind her and faced east,
silently pointing. Perel moved up beside him and whispered something. He
nodded and turned around, gesturing the party to cluster together. Once
they were close enough, Royd whispered.
"Okay, we'll run one at a time.", he turned and pointed to a
standing stone between two hills.
"Along the valley east of that standing stone lies the cave
where the horses are hidden. We'll run one at a time across the gap between
the castle and the stone. There is a chance that the enemy will see us.
If that happens, Fyda will order the castle bowmen to open fire, thus diverting
attention. Ready?" He was answered by the angry hum of an arrow flying
by. "RUN!!"
All four began a desperate sprint towards the standing stone.
Shooting out from behind the castle, Royd pointed to his right. As Elle
emerged she looked. A group of a dozen armed horsemen was charging up the
gap between the castle and the hills. Their shields bore the emblem of
a green tiger roaring on a red background. Only 50 meters were left between
Elle and the hills. The sound of hoof beats gradually got louder, and occasionally
a patch of ground would explode as an arrow hit it. Elle was almost hit
several times. 30 meters left. She jumped left, right, right. An arrow
hummed in her ear and stuck quivering in the ground. Behind her she heard
a cry. Looking back, she saw Ordel. An arrow had nicked his leg and he
was limping.
"Perel! Royd!", she cried.
Royd had reached the standing stone and had disappeared around
the other side. Perel looked back. It was too late for him to help. The
ground shook. The horses seemed closer than ever. Elle grabbed Ordel and
helped him along. An arrow. Another arrow. Both narrowly missed. The horses
seemed to loom up to her side.
Then they fell back. An arrow hit one of them, dismounting him.
A cry went up from the battlements of the castle. The Battle of Loire Castle
had began.
The horsemen wheeled around and charged at the castle. The enemies
wouldn't be sending anymore horsemen, but there were still the archers.
Elle quickened her pace, half dragging Ordel along. An arrow barely missed
her. She moved as fast as she could with Ordel. 10 meters. She ran as fast
as she could under his weight. 5 meters. An arrow shattered against the
standing stone. Safe! She collapsed behind the standing stone, only pausing
to catch her breath. Royd and Perel were standing up, ready to go. Cries
echoed through the air, as the battle increased in intensity. Perel
and Elle picked up Ordel and together, followed Royd through a gap in the
hills towards the east.
The horses had been waiting in the cave, just as Jean had said.
The small group had taken one for each of them and had left to the south,
along the outskirts of the Alps, heading for the Desert Road. The general
mood had lightened a bit, yet there was still a feeling of urgency prevalent
in everyone. Rising over a small hill, Ordel's horse whinnied and bucked,
scaring him considerably. By the time he had gotten it under control, everyone
was laughing.
"H.. have you ever ridden a horse before?", Perel asked.
Ordel scowled, "Of course! How else could I have gotten this
far!"
"Well, you've obviously ridden before, but how much experience
do you have?"
"Err... I just know the basics..."
Elle laughed, "And what do you mean by the 'basics'?"
"Well... I can trot!"
Perel clapped his hands, "Okay, Royd! What do you say we give
this kid a few pointers!"
Royd nodded impatiently, "Go ahead! Just hurry up!"
It was noon when the road became visible. Royd had been leading
the way, while Elle watched Perel's pathetic attempt at Ordel how to gallop.
She had frequently had to remind him that the horse was alive- it was not
a skateboard. Perel was a fine rider, but one can be good at something
yet unable to teach it to others. The sea had been visible for a while,
and had just become audible, when Ordel's horse had almost plowed Royd
down and had emerged noisily on to the top of a hill. When the others had
caught up with him, they saw, at the base of the hill, the Desert Road.
Beyond it, the Mediterranean Sea spread seemingly endlessly. The road was
right by the water, almost on the beach. It stretched east following the
coast, turning south when it met the Alps, at the end of ones eyesight.
Royd spurred his horse into the middle of the road. The others soon came
up beside him.
"Perel, you scout. Return, don't call, if you see any sign of
either Ark and Elle or the enemy.", he said seriously, staring ahead.
Perel nodded and directed his horse to the side of the rode,
almost out of view, then spurred his horse to a gallop, leaving Royd, Elle
and Ordel.
"Let's go."
They started off at a trot.
Over the next few weeks, Elle began to teach Ordel something
about horse riding. Perel would also give him pointers occasionally, but
spent most of his time discussing plans with Royd. Elle and Ordel would
also get in on these conversations, but not as much as their older companions.
From what Elle heard, they were now in a place called the Balkans. She
liked this place. The landscape, unlike the fertile plains of Loire, was
made up of forested mountains. Small fishing villages were scattered here
and there along the coastline. Unfortunately, it also made for hell out
of scouting. Remaining unseen, seeing the road and getting one's horse
to behave didn't seem to work together in this area. And when it did work,
the horses would trot at the fastest. And it made for extreme hell when
Ordel, with skill to acquire yet, had attempted scouting duty. To make
a long story short, they had had to reshoe his horse at the next village.
They were headed for a city called Bizantine. It was a large
fortress, built on the channel between the Balkans and Little Asia, another
land to the east. And it was this way, according to Royd, that Ark and
Elle were most likely to go.
When they reached a certain point on the Balkan Peninsula, the road turned east, away from the sea, still skirting the mountains that made up the bulk of the peninsula. It was here that riding off trail became easier, as a forest was to the south. And it was here that Elle made an interesting find. She was scouting, about a mile in front of the others when she noticed a sparkle in the sun on the edge of the road. Approaching it, she found it to be a translucent, blue crystal, about the size of her fist. Out of curiosity, she dismounted and picked it up. The crystal seemed strangely warm to the touch, yet that was probably from its lying in the sun for who knows long. Yet she was sure it would fetch a good price when they arrived in Bizantine, so she put it in her cloak and continued scouting.
It was the next day that Perel returned from scouting duty, with
news that he had seen a company of cloaked horsemen, bearing the green
tiger.
"They're moving at a trot.", Perel explained, "I believe we're
approaching Bizantine, though. If we catch them at a gallop now, we may
intercept them before they reach the city."
Royd was breathing heavily, a look of determination on his face.
"Let's go... If we lose them here, we've got a very long journey on our
hands. Ordel, now is the time to have talent. Use what you've learned!"
And with that, they spurred their horses to a gallop.
The sun beat down on the Gobi desert. It was an unusually calm day and the dunes were beautiful, yet the beauty hid danger. Meilin stood at the gate to Louran. The city had been nearly rebuilt, and Meilin's work had paid off, yet there was still something wrong. That something could be seen on the horizon. A patch of black, spreading over the distant dunes. It came from the north, and was gradually taking shape. It was the reason that Meilin had sent armed troops to deliver a message to Lhasa. Her fists clutched by her sides and a grim expression on her face, she silently prayed that help would arrive on time. She knew exactly what it was, having been raised to the age of 14 in the desert. She had seen it once before, 17 years ago. It was a mass of insane barbarians, hungry for battle. It was an army. The barbarian tribes of the Gobi were attacking Louran.
To be continued....
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Well, that was Coming of Age, Chapter 2! I've realized
that there will probably be at least 5 more chapters, and then I'll be
starting something new. Anyway, I'd like to thank Cabusginifrobo and The
Great ElBobo for proofreading this and chapter 1 for me. Expect Chapter
3: Bizantine soon enough.
Lamp Genie - jss84@hotmail.com
PS: I'd love to know what I can improve on in future episodes.
Please e-mail me with feedback!