Chapter One: The Red Waste
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Location Unknown
Arthur
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The heat was unbearable. It took over all their thoughts.
They had travelled for miles last night and decided to set up camp when exhausted. By now it was clear to everyone that they certainly weren't in New Austin. The terrain remained foreign and there were no towns, establishments or even roads this far out, but the comet was still up in the sky in all its red-tailed glory. After eating some dried meat, they decided to continue and rode for another ten miles.
"I think we are all going insane." John grumbled. "Just tell me it's a bad dream." They all wished it was, but unfortunately nothing seemed to confirm that line of thought.
"We have no lack of food and water, but the heat will get worse if we don't find shelter soon." Charles added, sweating profusely. He was a man always on his guard, so it was very discouraging to see him in such a sorry state. Dutch and Hosea weren't in better shape either. "How far have we travelled since morning?"
"About ten miles. Still no sign of people" Arthur told him. The conversation then turned into a long silence. It was decided that they'll keep on following the comet no matter what. He thought about the events that had transpired since last night and the entire situation was so bizarre and mind-boggling. It's just not possible for people to get spirited away from a place.
But then again, that's exactly what's happened to us.
Boadicea was tough, but she hadn't eaten anything proper since yesterday, surviving only on carrots and some water. It was equally hard for the horses. To get his mind off things he couldn't control, Arthur decided to stare at the comet. Most of his life had been spent in the wild, moving from place to place without settling down and throughout his travels across America, he had seen beautiful sights- mountains, prairies, meadows and hills alike. Even though snowy regions and scorching deserts were a pain in the ass to live in, there was still an undeniable beauty to them. The comet was in a different league entirely. Arthur was sure that nothing else would top this sight.
A distant thing in the horizon interrupted him. It was small but moving and getting closer. Soon, he could figure out what it was.
"A rider." he said, and everyone stopped their horses. He took his binoculars out and looked in that direction. It was a man on the horse, wearing a light shirt and hanging a strange blade on his animal. His appearance was a mystery, for his clothes looked…medieval? Like the costumes donned by actors playing exotic barbarians in shows. The man was looking in their directions and then started riding towards them.
"Perhaps the gentleman can point us to the nearest town." Dutch said as the rider got close enough. "But be on your guard."
They dismounted their horses and walked ahead to meet the man. He had dark skin and long braided hair with a long mustache. The man had the look of a fighter, and his eyes examined them before he dismounted as well and walked towards them. Just like Arthur, his companions too had noticed the peculiarity of his attire, and the lack of weapons except a strange, curved blade. This man was not an Indian like Charles but didn't look like a Mexican either.
"Good day to you, young man!" Dutch said, extending his hand. The man didn't shake it though.
"You…Andal?" while his language was broken, his tone seemed like he was asking something.
The group looked at each other. "I don't think he knows much English." said Hosea. Dutch got the message and soon started speaking in broken sentences, like one would speak to a toddler. "My name…Dutch. What's yours?"
"Rakharo. Bloodrider…Khaleesi." the man revealed his name. Neither of those words made sense to anyone. What the hell is a Bloodrider? A gang name perhaps?
"Well met…Rakharo." Dutch said. "Where is…town?"
"There…no town…only…desert." Rakharo answered.
That was not something they wanted to hear. They came all this way for nothing.
"Where you…come from?" Dutch asked the man. "We need help."
"You don't…have…weapon?" he replied with another question. His hand went straight to his blade, a suspecting look on his face. Dutch put his hands up in a friendly gesture.
"We mean no harm sir."
That made the man chuckle. "You…think…I…knight?"
Knight?
"Can you help us?"
"I come from…Vaes Tolorro." the man replied. "You have…food?"
"Yes, we have food and water. Can you take us to…Toledo?"
Rakharo smirked before putting his hand off his blade. "Khaleesi…reward you. I take you to her."
With that, they mounted their horses and followed the foreigner's lead. They didn't fully trust the man but there was no other way. Hopefully this Khaleesi woman would clear any doubts they have, that is, if she didn't speak broken English as well. Arthur watched as Dutch exchanged some words with the man in their broken sentences and suppressed a smirk. Dutch was known for his way with words and seeing him talk like a child was an amusing sight to say the least. Rakharo learnt a few more words and revealed that the city he came from wasn't far and they could be arriving any moment.
"Friend…Who is Khaleesi?" Dutch asked. He opened a can of dried strawberries and offered them to the foreigner.
"Daenerys Stormborn…mother of dragons." he replied, eating the berries with a pleased look.
"Dragons?"
"She has three." the man said.
"Did we just catch ourselves an idiot?" Hosea whispered to Arthur.
"Possible. But he might be speaking of something else. He doesn't know much of the language after all."
"Why is he dressed like that? And carrying that sword." It was John who spoke now. "Is he an actor or something?"
"An actor in the middle of the desert? I doubt it." said Charles. Soon Dutch joined them.
"I think this man might be insane. He talks about dragons and this…Khaleesi being unburnt by fire." he chuckled. That last part got Arthur's attention.
"He tell you what she looks like?" he asked.
"She's a girl with silver hair. He doesn't know the words to describe more. Maybe she's blonde and he is confused."
Silver hair. It couldn't be.
Arthur's thoughts went back to the vision. He remembered it clearly, for one doesn't forget something like that easily. He thought of telling it to Dutch but ultimately decided against it. He had to confirm things first.
"We will be reaching this city soon and hopefully they'll have someone who can speak proper English. Now, there are some things you need to know." Dutch said, his tone serious now. "The woman he talks of is important, like royalty. So remember your courtesies."
"Like a princess? Why would a princess be in this godforsaken place?" asked Hosea.
"I don't know. He might be lying but let's not take any risks. We don't want to offend the people who will give us shelter, do we?"
"I'll call her whatever she wants if I get a roof over my head." said John, taking a sip of water.
"That's the spirit." Dutch said. "Now, we have some leverage. Our friend Rakharo mentioned that the people back in the city have plenty of water but no food. As it happens, we have a ticket to get in their good graces."
"You can't expect us to just hand over the food." Charles said, with others agreeing. He didn't talk much except in important situations. "We have more than enough for five men, but it will run out quickly if their group is large and there is no town to resupply."
"I know it's a difficult choice son, but we must do it. We are not in America anymore and that man is not Mexican either. What happened to us was an act of God…"
"An act of God? What is this nonsense?" Hosea argued.
The words made Arthur think. Their current situation was certainly hard to explain or understand, but he had never made any connection of it to God. Like everybody else around him, he went to church a few times as a boy but that was it. To him, God was just a man in the sky who never took part in the matters of people.
Looks like he finally did.
"Dutch is right. How do you explain the stars? The comet? That strange tree disappearing? I know all this talk of magic or God might seem stupid, but what other explanation do we have?" He finally decided to speak his mind. Everyone looked at him. "I haven't had much time for religion, but something…" He hesitated to say it, but he thought he must. "Something happened to me last night. I touched that tree and saw something strange. I didn't talk about that cause I thought y'all would think I'm an idiot."
"What did you see?" asked Charles, clearly taking an interest.
"I saw a girl with silver hair walking into a fire. That matches the story of our new friend. But I also saw her eyes. They were violet." Arthur revealed.
The gang was silent, pondering about this new information. Charles was in deep thought, with a more serious look than the one he usually carried, despite his youth. Rakharo was a bit further away, and they were slowly riding towards him.
"My mother used to tell me about the gods and spirits of her tribe, who were part of nature and everything around us. While those were simpler and happier times, the real world can make a man lose all interest in these stories, especially someone with my heritage. But last night, I started to think differently. I was thinking that maybe there is some truth to them after all. Maybe there is a power we don't understand." Charles declared and looked at Arthur. "So, if that girl really has silver hair and violet eyes, I will believe everything you said without question."
The moment was broken by Rakharo's voice. "We…Here." he said.
Focusing their attention elsewhere, they rode up and joined the man. What lie in front of them wasn't a town, but ruins. There were white walls and towers, worn down by the extreme heat and possibly deliberate damage. The gates through which they entered were broken, while some houses showed damage by fire. The streets were like a maze, made of stone with grass growing in broken spaces. It seemed less like a city and more like a fortress of some kind. As they made their way into the innermost space, they caught a glimpse of Rakharo's people. They were a miserable lot wearing ancient garments, and some showed signs of malnutrition. The mothers were clutching their babies closely while the men stood guard, greeting Rakharo in their own foreign language.
"Wait…Here." the man said before running inside a large building as the group dismounted. Arthur was becoming aware of the gazes the people were giving their group.
"That's more people than we expected. Some are even close to death." Charles said. "What are they doing here?"
"Let's wait for this Khaleesi." Arthur replied.
The ruins looked very ancient, and so did the people. "Friends, we can now rest assured that we are certainly not in America." Dutch said quietly. He was right. The entire settlement was like a place lost in time, a time when people lived in castles and fought with swords from the looks of it.
As they waited, Arthur's eyes fell on a little boy, holding his mother tightly. Memories of Eliza and Isaac flooded his mind. It was a part of his life that the gang didn't know about, for it pained him to even think about it. He learnt a brutal lesson the day he saw their corpses- you don't get to live a bad life and have good things happen to you. This time, he decided to do a good deed. Whether it was out of guilt for a family he lost or genuine sympathy, he did not care.
He took a can of corned beef out of his saddle and made his way towards them. The mother's and boy's eyes were suspicious as they held each other tightly, and Arthur could not talk to them. To calm them down, he smiled and opened the tin can. The smell of food brought a change in their expression and Arthur offered it to them. After struggling with it for a few moments, they finally ate, and their faces showed happiness and relief. Before he could offer other kids the same, he heard footsteps and assumed it was their host arriving. He prepared himself for what could be the confirmation of those visions.
A girl came out of the building, followed closely by a man in armor. Arthur was shocked, for she really was the same girl he saw in his visions. Her hair was cropped short but silver in color, and her eyes were that same unnatural shade of violet. He noticed that Charles and the others were equally shocked, no doubt thinking on what he told them, for his theory had been confirmed. As the girl came closer and scanned their group with curiosity, her eyes fell on Arthur and for a moment, he thought she recognized him.
Could she know?
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Notes: Please do leave a review on any chapter you read, even if it's criticism. It will make the story better in future.
