Chapter Five

Thalia

True to her word Neda stopped at a large basin surrounded by a nice bit of trees giving shade and even hiding Neda from view.

I was awoken by Adora's impatient calls. Somehow in that jolting ride I had slipped off into sleep.

I stood and walked over to the edge. My stomach jumped. I was about five or six feet off the ground. Adora stood on the ground holding something that looked like a pile of logs and rope.

"Here I'm going to throw this to you. Fasten it between the two polls."

I was surprised that Adora actually threw it, which turned out to be a latter, to where I could ketch it. I guess it's all the practice with the bow and arrow.

'What time was it anyways?' I thought to myself.

I tied the ladder between the two poles of the basket and climbed down.

Adora was standing over a fire cooking something that looked like two rabbits and several fish.

She smiled as I raided an eyebrow.

"It's a little after noon. You slept a long time, and I went hunting to fill that time."

I excepted the excuse and looked back at Neda. She looked exhausted even in sleep. I felt guilty for asking her to help us, but by what we had discussed I did not want to be with the Haradrim much longer.

"We'll move at night. It's cooler and easier on Neda." Adora said. "Here take some fish, the rabbits are kind of thin."

I excepted the meal gladly—I was starving.

It took less time to get to the village of Círyon than we thought. The town was nestled into the side of a mountain. The bend of the river was about three yards away. The town was surrounded by four feet thick stone walls to keep out the flood waters.

Neda stopped on a hill in front of the town and informed Thalia this was as far as she would go. The sun was beginning to sink when we finally made it to the town. No guards patrolled the walls and the large wooden door was open. Without hesitation Thalia and I entered. No one seemed to notice us, and when we traded our goods for currency no one batted an eye. Círyon we found out an old trading town that had seen easier times, some of the buildings were in the process of being repaired.

After acquiring a room at an inn Adora decided she wanted to explore the town and I opted to stay in the room. The inn was much different from the ones we saw at home. They were much nicer, the beds were held above the ground with bedding made of feathers, instead of furs and blankets made out of a course material. On the wall hung a large looking glass, that Adora and I had only seen a few places in our travels. There was a small table and two chairs by the window that over looked the town square. I set our bags down on one of the chairs and did a check while Adora was gone.

Adora

Círyon was an interesting town. All the buildings were pushed close together and the merchants lined the streets. The streets weren't crowded, which for a trading town wasn't a good sign. After spending some time in the inn's common room I had learned the basics of the language. As I explored the town I picked up some things I knew we would need. The other thing is that they didn't trade by a bartering system, but rather small discs of silver, copper and gold.

I had taken a bag of the rest of the things we had planned on trading and found several merchants willing to buy them in exchange for the 'money'. As the day began to wan I found myself at a stable. Inside was housed and animal, they called an 'elk'. They were a little smaller then horses and much hairier, with horns that looked like branches coming out of there head, called "antlers". The man selling the elk said they were for travelers into the mountains. The elk had better footing and could jump from rock to rock. I bought two and arranged for Thalia and me to be able come and get them in the morning.

I picked up a few more travel necessities then headed back to the inn.

Thalia

We set out early the next day after getting a few things that Adora hadn't gotten. The elk were smooth rides, and I was surprised at how fast they traveled. By nightfall we had almost reached the top within a week. Days later we had reached the river that ran through the valley. It was the first night by the river that I felt a sudden pain in my in my stomach. I wasn't sure what it was, after a while the pain left leaving me lightheaded and a little confused. Adora asked me what was wrong, but I had no answer. As she sat down and started making our evening meal I suddenly need to finds something. A desperate feeling rose up inside me and I ran. I didn't know where I was going, but the closer I got the calmer I felt.

A lake emerged out form a bed of rocks and near the lake was a large form. As I moved closer I realized it was a wolf, unlike any I had ever seen. It was as large as a horse and about as wide as two. Then I saw the smaller form, about the size of a large dog I realized just looking at it that it was the baby of the larger one, and just I realized that I realized that the mother was dead. The baby looked up as I approached. It whined and cautiously stepped towards me, shoulders hunched and tails between it's legs.

I knelt slowly as it approached and held out my hand. It pressed its nose against my hand, whined, looked at me with large fearful yellow eyes then lunged barrying it's face in my chest. I gasped and fell back in surprise. It whimpered and I realized it was crying. I sat up and help the animal in my lap, making small comforting noises.

I heard footsteps crunch behind me and we both looked up and saw Adora with a look of wide eyed shock approach.

It whined and looked at me. I smiled, "A friend."

It seemed to understand and except for it lay it's muzzle on my shoulder and trembled in my arms. I felt tears spring to my eyes, never had I held an animal as terrified as this one.

Adora nelt behind me and whispered softly, "What's wrong?"

"It's afraid. It's mother's died and it's not sure if it can survive with out her. " I said.

Yongxi, the name whispered through my head.

"Yongxi." I said allowed, "Come with me Yongxi."

It turned it's yellow eyes on me and licked my face.

I smiled and it climbed out of my lap. It was quiet and suddenly I heard voices. Loud gruff voices. I had no idea what they were saying so I looked at Adora. She was listening intently, her face had paled and her body was tense.

The voices faded and Adora physically relaxed.

"What was that all about?" I asked.

She shook her head, "Later, common, we should get back to camp."