Caleb had been in just about every dangerous, awful, and tight situation one could imagine. Pinned down by gunfire in wet, cold trenches, clutching at his throat as a loaded carriage sank under the frothing white rapids of a raging river, and cornered by hermeneuta beasts in nothing but his smallclothes. Perhaps his least proud moment, he thought, pink coloring his cheeks even now.
He had however, never been in a smellier place than this dark, dank tunnel. Which, he noted in slight, but gathering fear, was getting smaller as they went further down it. Still that fact was nothing compare to the damn smell of the thing. The closest comparison his memory could dredge up was a fish kill off of a lake near Carhaiz, which was not comforting in the least. Aldarn had cut off part of his ratty coat and fashioned himself a sort of face covering in the hopes of blocking the overpowering stench from his lungs. As his coughing fits bounced off the walls, Caleb gathered it hadn't worked as well as he'd hoped. It was just the sort of stink that just couldn't be denied, and being trapped underground with it made it that much worse.
Neither man was brave enough to ask the other what they thought the stink was, as it lingered to close in their minds with the rot of death. Caleb blocked the idea from his brain completely, knowing worrying about it would do him no good now. They could only go forward or back at this point and so Caleb focused upon that; going forward in the now barely visible light.
Surely the tunnel must go somewhere, what would be the point of a tunnel if it didn't lead somewhere? But...as far as he knew there were no settlements out here, save perhaps Kahedrin ones; which was another unsettling thought. Right into the belly of the beast, Caleb thought glumly, swinging the torch around in a desperate bid to keep it lit.
There was barely enough air to keep a whole piece of Therbite lit, and certainly not their shattered bits, but moving it seemed to help to an extent. The rest of his fuel was still in the saddle bag, still attached to Lady, far above them. Although as Aldarn had pointed out roughly half a mile ago, the tunnel was starting to slope towards the surface. Caleb hadn't decided if that was a good thing or not. He hated places like this, it gave one time to think. Caleb had spend most of his adult life trying not to think. To think of blood, and bones and vengeance, and all those dark thoughts that hung under his bright surface. For a long time they had been his only friends, his only family; and while Caleb had tried to evict them, they were difficult thoughts to buck.
You must love to play the hero, Cornelia's voice echoed in his mind. If only she knew, that he needed to play the hero to make up for…so much.
"I kept thinking that smell must have been some sort of gas, but it shouldn't be getting worse the higher we go." complained Aldarn. Despite what must have been a poor upbringing, the galhot had a very logical mind and only brought suggestions or comments to Caleb after mulling over them for fallacies. Caleb didn't know the first thing about gas and tunnels but he nodded at Aldarn's assessment all the same.
"I was stupid to think we could find her, you know." Aldarn finally said, kicking at a loose rock. "I just thought, if we could find her alive, it would make up for everything else."
Caleb understood that, he understood it well. It was the dream of the young and innocent when hurt before they turned to blood in their rage. For whatever reason, as his conscience griped at him in the back of his head, he could not let that happen to Aldarn. He'd stopped him once, he could do it again.
"We will find her. I promise."
He heard Aldarn hold back a snort, but otherwise didn't respond to his reassurance. Caleb knew how empty the words must feel, when they didn't even know where they were but it was better than nothing.
"Why did you bring me along in the first place?" Aldarn asked as the last of their light flickered away. Caleb swore, and tried blowing life into it, but to no avail. Sighing he dropped the lantern and continued his march, his hand against the wall for guidance.
"I thought you just said you wanted to come." Caleb said, a pinch of aggravated humour entering his voice
"I did," he admitted. "But that doesn't explain why you brought me here instead of someone else. I don't know how to fight or shoot a gun or anything."
"Look, when you're going on fair damsel hunts, I find it's best to bring someone with a good heart," Caleb laughed. Aldarn just grunted from somewhere in the darkness behind him.
"Look," he began again, "i-when we get out of here, I'll teach you to shoot. It's a useful skill out here."
"Why?" his companion intoned.
"What is with all this why business? Does everything have to have a tenfold reason? I just told you it's a useful skill. Could save your life out here." Caleb snapped. He'd never been the best at camaraderie, and the ever tightening tunnel frayed at his nerves even more.
"Yes, fine, but why do you care?" Aldarn sounded as peeved as he felt now.
"Nevermind. Forget it." Caleb said harshly, partly from annoyance and partly because he'd smashed his head against a low hanging ceiling. He thanked the Light for the first time in a long while that he wasn't claustrophobic.
"I think we must be getting close to the end, and the surface." said Aldarn, running his hands on the changing rock formations. The smooth rock was starting to give way to muddy but still hardened clay, and he could have swore he felt a deep tree root poking through. The tunnel had narrowed to the point the men had to stoop; Caleb blindly grasping the walls for purchase.
What if it just ends? He thought to himself in a panic, then quickly told himself in a stern voice; then we just turn around and try the other end.
He could hear the clay walls start to crumble as he grasped at them, and Aldarn frantically hissed at him to stop. Both men halted and listened as the tunnel slowly and slightly disintegrated around them.
"We need to move quickly, but don't touch the walls if you can help it." Aldarn said, somewhat needlessly.
That was easier said than done, the tunnel was growing narrower still and Caleb could barely fit his shoulders through its width. His breath was catching in his throat and it took everything he had to keep it even. Calm calm.
"Okay lets-"
He froze. He could feel heavy clods of dirt fall unto his back, slowly, then faster and faster and Aldarn was pushing into his shoulders, pushing them both forward as Caleb lurched into the collapsing tunnel. The smell of fresh dirt blocked out even the rank of the tunnel and all Caleb could think about was fresh graves as dirt fell on his face and into his clothes.
The tunnel was so narrow here Caleb had to dig his boots into the dirt to get through even with Aldarn pushing his whole weight against him in panic. It was arching up fast too, nearly vertical and impossible to climb in such a frantic state. Aldarn cursed and cried out below him, and he gave one final heave and the two pushed through the gap. However, Caleb's face smashed into something hard and solid. True, dreadful, dark, panic set in.
It did just end, he thought horrified. The dirt was piling up to the end of his boots, and his fear was so strong he could think of nothing else but the ground swallowing him whole as he clawed desperately at the end of the tunnel. Caleb could only focus on trying to dig himself out as he heard Aldarn start to gag on the soil covering him up. His fingers tried to dig into the soil but it was too hard and they only came back bloody and splintered. Caleb yelled and kicked at the tunnel until the dirt was up to his waist and he could barely move.
Wait.
Suddenly sense flooded back into Caleb's brain. Splinters? He thought, even as the tunnel closed in around him. It's a door.
He ran his fingers along the length of the door praying for an iron handle or something, anything. Please please please.
He couldn't exactly recall how he found the handle, but he must have because the next minute torchlight flooded the tunnel and he was blinded as he pulled himself out. He paused for a heart-beat, top air filled his lungs and he was too pleased to notice the stink had returned full force. His peace lasted only a millisecond, and then with his eyes still stinging from the light, he turned back for Aldarn.
His companion was completely covered and still stuck in the tunnel. Caleb dug into the soft but dense earth madly, feeling for a hand or a face or anything to grab hold of. His bleeding fingers scrambled and found nothing. Fuck Fuck Fuc-
"Aldarn!" he yelled, hoping his voice would spur the other man into an action that would reveal his presence. He had no choice but to keep digging, surely Aldarn couldn't be that far below the surface. He was right behind me.
Despite his digging, he could hear movement behind him. Voices, in high but yet gravelly tones surrounding him, all around him. But he couldn't look up, couldn't fight; not until Aldarn was safe. Not again.
Finally through the dirt he felt fabric, and pulled with all his might to free his companion. Aldarn popped out of the tunnel filthy and out of breath, but otherwise uninjured. He collapsed on the ground, coughing grime out of his lungs while Caleb reached for his pistol and pivoted towards the voices.
That's when the screaming started.
They were in some sort of grotto, with murky stagnant water filled with rotting lily pads and odd and ends pieces of refuse. Along the sides of the cave vast amounts of stuff lined the walls. Wheels, fabrics, wood, rusted metals, and all manner of trash was heaped everywhere. And all amongst the trash was little, green, people? Caleb wasn't sure exactly what they were, but as they ran about their camp screaming, and waving their long arms about wildly it wasn't easy to tell either.
Not a single one of the maybe twenty creatures was in anything resembling a state of calm, and Caleb could do nothing but watch them run into each other and their trash piles as they recklessly attempted to flee.
"Passlings." Aldarn coughed out the unfamiliar word from beside him.
"What?" he asked incredulously, covering his nose. The alarmed beings seemed to be the cause of the stench, and it was far worse up here than it had been in the tunnels.
"They're-," Aldarn relapsed into another coughing fit before continuing. "Scavengers, they like to hang around mines and swipe things. They're harmless."
"Urg, except for the smell," Caleb complained.
Aldarn stood up and surveyed the situation. He waved his own arms in the air in an attempt to gain the passlings attention. One stopped, and as his huge yellow eyes bulged out, promptly fainted before them. Many screamed louder and threw themselves upon the floor at the mercy of the 'invaders'.
"No no, it's okay! We aren't here to hurt you!" Aldarn said gently, as if to children. Ugly, smelly, screaming children.
"We just...got lost. We fell in your tunnel and-"
The passlings attention shifted to the collapsed shaft, and they let lose another collective wail as they gathered around the fresh mound of dirt.
"The safety burrow!" an older, vaguely female looking one yelled, throwing the dirt up into the air, fat tears leaking from her eyes. Others threw themselves face first into the dirt and pounded their wart covered fists, shaking and crying madly. Aldarn looked positively mortified at the scene and Caleb was fighting with all his strength to stop from laughing. He wasn't winning.
"Um, yeah. Sorry about that." Aldarn said, scratching his head.
"It was shitty construction anyway." Caleb added, mostly for his own amusement.
A few of the Passlings had gathered in front of them now, presenting them with their finest pieces of trash. A moldy top hat, a old watch with teeth marks, and the barrel of a shotgun wrapped in vines.
"Oh thank you-" started Aldarn.
"Please oh tunnel giants, no eat Passlings!" One cried, throwing the top hat at Aldarn who reluctantly caught it, his face curled in disgust.
"We aren't here to hurt you," Aldarn tried to explain again.
Caleb surveyed his surroundings more closely as Aldarn tried to reason with the creatures some more. They were definitely still in the forest proper, but in some cavity, a natural sink hole or very small cave, but he could see the great trees hanging overhead and protecting the grotto from rain. Surely they could make it back to the horses from here on the surface since the tunnel had been in a straight line.
"We are sorry about your...burrow." Aldarn told them, having gathered quite an audience of wide-eyed gawkers by now.
"Safety burrow allows passlings to go across empty lands to lake without being seen. Very sneaky!" said the older female passling.
"Yes, very clever passlings!" answered a few of her fellows.
Aldarn cocked his head at the passlings curiously. "Why do you go to the lake? Don't you hate water?"
They obviously haven't taken a bath in a hundred years, Caleb thought to himself harshly.
"Come on, we have to get back to the horses before something else finds them." he told Aldarn. He could only imagine Cornelia's ire if her horse was injured or worse under his watch.
"Right." he agreed, looking down at his following. "Umm, well. We have to go. We are looking for someone. A young woman like us, with dark hair?"
Caleb rolled his eyes at the thought that these beings would have any idea what they were talking about, but before he could even take a step forward the Passlings erupted in a excited manner, about ten all trying to speak at once.
"Yes, yes! Miss Cook!"
"Yes! She passling friend!"
"Brave Blunk take Miss Cook to the big lights in empty lands!"
Caleb and Aldarn exchanged surprised looks, somehow this distraction had led them right on the trail. Caleb would have thanked the Light, but he remembered almost being buried alive and decided to hold his breath. Maybe when he was safe back in his tent. Aldarn gestured with his hands for them to remain calm, and turned to the older woman, who seemed the most coherent of the group.
"Is this the girl?" he asked, as Caleb fished out the picture to show her. The likelihood of more than one girl running loose here was low but he had to be sure. This was enough of a wild goose chase without adding to it.
"Yes, that her." the woman confirmed. Relief flooded Caleb's veins again and then disbelief. He didn't think they would actually find her no matter how hard they tried despite his promises to Aldarn.
"What are the big lights? Is Blunk one of you? When did they leave?" Caleb asked her roughly. Suddenly the older woman turned cool, and looked nervously about the camp. Caleb could feel the atmosphere change, and subconsciously reached for his pistol though the little passlings could pose no threats to him.
"Why should tell tunnel giants where nice girl is? Ruined safety burrow, and could be hunting nice girl like the bad ones." she told him, and Caleb had to admire the erratic creatures bravery even as it infuriated him.
Aldarn stepped in, calm and gentle as he had been before. "I am very sorry about your tunnel, but it was falling in even without our help. You are lucky none of you got trapped in it and died."
It was obvious the Passlings liked him more, so Caleb let him work his magic and leaned against one of the few empty and (relatively) clean places on the cave wall. The irony of his words didn't escape Caleb though it might have for Aldarn. It was too unsteady, just like those rocks.
"We found this girl's family by the river, dead. We are looking for her to help her. We don't want to hurt her or you. Please help us, there are...bad people looking for her too, and your friend won't be able to fight them off by himself."
The passling woman looked stricken, and then relented, her eyes close to tears again. "Yes, please help them. Momma doesn't want her Blunky-boo hurt."
"We will, I promise. Just tell us where they went." he told her softly.
"Blunk took nice girl towards the big lights that sit on the plains to the East. A few hours ago." she told him.
"That must be Haven," Aldarn told Caleb. "Looks like this was a wasted trip."
Caleb shook his head. "No, that's still fifteen miles to get across with no horses, and anyone can see them out there. They are in more trouble now than they were before."A fresh sense of urgency filled him now, and his mind started formulating the game plan.
"Alright, we go back and get the horses." This would not have been so high on his list had it been his own horse (if he had one) and not Cornelia's out in the woods, plus, he reasoned, they needed the speed advantage. "Then we circle back and follow the sun, it should be up soon. We should be able to catch up with them relatively quickly." I hope.
Aldarn nodded his approval, and thanked Momma for her time; apologizing about the tunnel once more as he did. He collected their trash offerings with only a slightly wrinkled nose and joined Caleb at the foot of the depression. Caleb was thankful to leave the grotto and its hyper-odiferous denizens behind, and thankful they had a straight path to follow in both directions.
Aldarn had taken a torch from the grotto and used it to light their way as they trekked through the black forest. The huge pines loomed high above them, so tall Caleb couldn't even reach the start of their first needle growth. They were old, very old. A sole sentinel of the endless plains that surrounded them. The two were quiet for the most part as they made their way back to the horses not wanting to give away their position or not hear incoming threats.
Once Caleb could hear the erie cries of the Vulpixes he knew they were getting close again. He could only hope that the horses were still there and okay. He didn't even want to imagine Cornelia's face if he had to tell her that Lady wasn't coming back. He should have known better than to take her horse on something that might have turned out dangerous, he berated himself as they passed silently among the great pine giants. Even if the horse was an ass. I guess we make quite the pair then.
However when they finally reached the spot that they had fallen into the tunnel, it appeared that the Light was done being kind to them. The horses and the body of the fallen Kahedrin were missing.
"God damn it!" was only the first of a stream of curses that Caleb let loose. Furious, he kicked out at tree trunk with enough force that he nearly broke his toes. Red hot pain shot up his leg, but his fury was too great to truly feel it.
"Hold on," said the ever observant Aldarn as he examined where the horses had been tied up. The ropes had been cut cleanly but the ground showed a struggle and horse tracks led off into the forest without any boot prints following. "I doubt that monster of a horse of yours took too kindly to strange men trying to corral her." he laughed.
Caleb was still too nervous to laugh. It just meant that she was loose in the forest somewhere, putting herself and the woman they still had to find in danger.
"They could be anywhere by now." he said, keeping his voice low.
"We just have to follow the tracks." Aldarn said. Caleb snarled and snatched the torch from his hands.
"I know that," he snapped, and Aldarn recoiled from his harsh tone. Caleb was too distressed to notice or apologize and stalked off after the tracks.
If she never speaks to me again, I don't know what I'll do.
She's not even your woman, argued another part of his brain, the logical part of him that also told him Cornelia was off-limits and even his thoughts of her would end up hurting them both. The rest of his brain was predictably less rational. She was a miserable woman, with an awful husband, and was clearly interested in him. What was the harm? He ignored the part of his mind that started listing the consequences as he walked on.
"Your horse, where did you get her? She's something else." Aldarn said finally, trying to break the ice that had formed over Caleb in his worried rage.
"She's not mine, Corne-Mrs. Escanor lent her to me." Caleb explained, the hard edge still in his voice. And will kill me if she doesn't come back.
That quieted Aldarn; Caleb could only guess he was mulling over the implications of that statement but the boy was too smart to push the topic.
Or so he thought.
"She's very beautiful, Mrs. Escanor." he said tentatively, pushing the edge of the border.
"Yes." agreed Caleb simply. She was beautiful, but there was more under the surface if Caleb could just peel past those rigid and ruffled layers. If he ever got the chance. She's a smart woman, surely knows better than to mess with men like you. Talking and laughing was one thing, but certainly they could never be anything more. Not fair. Silence enveloped the two again, and it made Caleb's skin itch. He didn't want to think right now, he just wanted to be.
"You from Carhaiz?" he asked finally, unsure of where else to go with the void eating him up inside.
"Yeah, born and raised. You?"
"Grey Woods, around Leetiz." he answered. The Grey barely seemed real to him anymore, like distant memories of a childhood long past. Maybe it was better that way.
"Do you miss it?" Aldarn asked, unaware of the depth of the question. Caleb mulled over the answer for a time, and finally came back with the truth.
"Not anymore."
Aldarn had fallen silent again, thrown by the melancholy air that surrounded the other man.
"I'm sorry. It was like that with my home too. Our house was okay, but our neighbors burned to the ground, and my favorite bakery, our shop in the market. It feels like there is nothing left now, with him gone too."
Caleb swallowed, well aware that he might have been a part of that. The guilt racked him so hard he could feel his shoulders shake. He wished he could just forget the war, but deep down he knew he didn't deserve the relief of forgetting it. He wished he could bare his problems to the world like Aldarn but he held the pain too tightly, punishing himself for crimes no one else even knew about.
"Sorry," Aldarn said again, looking embarrassed. "I know you fought in the war, I didn't mean to make you-"
"It's fine." He hated how easily Aldarn brushed off his service, that they were justified cause they won. He wanted someone to yell at him, to hit him, to-
A familiar nicker cut through the dark of his thoughts and the night. "Lady!" he shouted, forgetting himself for a moment. Both she and Aldarn's chestnut were happily shifting through a pond for the rich strands of Filney grass. The grey mare lifted her head at the sound of his voice and promptly pinned her ears and snorted at him indignantly. Caleb didn't even care, he was so happy to see her.
The saddles and bags were still attached to them by some miracle, though Lady's was hanging sideways on her belly, and she complained loudly when Caleb adjusted and tightened it. He'd never been so relieved to find a damn horse before.
Aldarn was up on his horse before Caleb, and pulled out a compass from his bag. They'd gone off course looking for the horses, but that was rectified easily enough.
Due East, and Haven was straight ahead.
Caleb swung his arms over Lady, and heaved himself over her gently. Not gently enough apparently because mid-swing the great grey mare bucked up high and tossed him into the pond. The water was oddly warm and filthy in a way only standing water could be. Caleb wiped the water from his eyes, and glared up at the horse who continued her grazing. Aldarn gave a small chuckle from behind him.
"Fucking horse." he mumbled under his breath. Maybe it would have been worth Cornelia's wrath if they hadn't found her.
Aldarn had to help him mount her again, the little shit that she was, and then they were off. The horses were still not comfortable riding in the night, but Caleb could see the first glimpse of the sunrise through the trees. They trotted at a reasonable pace trying to make up for lost time. A few quiet hours passed before Aldarn was ready to pick up conversation again.
"So, you and Mrs. Escanor know each other well?" he asked. Caleb wished he would have chosen something else to speak of.
"No," he said, honestly. "We've only spoken a few times."
"Oh." Was that disappointment he heard?
"What about you, have any ladies in your life?" he asked, half joking, certain Aldarn had never even seen a naked woman.
Instead, he flushed red and looked away, not answering the question. Caleb gave him a half amused, half surprised look, and merely shook his head. The forest had cleared now, and gave way to the familiar softly rolling hills of the plains. The sun was blinding over the horizon and Caleb had to shield his eyes to scan for the girl. Nothing yet, but there was a very faint odor that informed he that they were on the right trail.
"Listen!" hissed Aldarn, gesturing to the ridge to the north. Caleb halted Lady and peaked his ears. For a while, he heard nothing, just the winds whispering through the tall blades of grass. Then as the wind changed and blew towards them, he could hear it. Hoofs, men and screaming.
"Come on!" he yelled and spurred Lady into action. For once the beast responded and charged with all the strength and will of a great war horse and even through his focus he was surprised at her vigor. Aldarn and his older chestnut were left behind by an increasing margin, but that was for the best. He didn't even have a gun, Caleb remembered.
Lady rounded the ridge, it took Caleb a deal of strength to get her to halt for him to analyze the situation for a moment. Four men, one...passling thing, and sure enough the woman. The Kahedrin had them surrounded and…
And he was off, he and Lady careening down the hill with all the force of the train that had brought them here. Caleb aimed his pistol as best he could at the full gallop, but before he could get a shot off, the horse rammed into the man closest to them so hard he could hear the man's bones crack at the impact.
The other men scattered and yelped at the intrusion, as Caleb and Lady wheeled back around. The grey mare moved like she'd done the maneuver a thousand times, never pausing to allow the men to target her as she danced and whirled around the plain like a thunderstorm. Caleb made no moves to control her, but instead just followed her lead as she charged the men again. She was so fearsome, like a vengeful grey spirit, the men jumped out of her way without raising their guns against her.
Caleb took aim at one of the men, and took advantage of his surprise. His gun boomed in that ever-so-familiar way, and the man spat blood and fell to the ground, dead. The other two whirled around to face man and beast, one raising his shotgun and firing a blast. Lady reared at the sound, and Caleb felt a shower of shots fly past him, a few finding their mark in his arm. He gritted his teeth and yelled, Lady screaming with him though he could see no blood on her. Aldarn came charging down the hill now, armed with a large, heavy stick he must have found. Caleb almost laughed, what a brave, stupid, idiot. This one is gonna give me a run for my money, he thought.
Lady was moving again, placing herself between the men and the two on the ground. The passling was screaming at the top of his lungs, hiding behind the dark girls torn and muddy skirts. Her eyes were filled with fire though, clutching a bloody knife in a tight fist.
Whack!
Aldarn was upon them now, and swung his makeshift club in a perfect arch, catching one man square in the face. With a sickening crack his head exploded into a shower of blood, and he screamed in agony as he fell to the ground, clutching at what was left of his face. The last man knew he was beaten, and turned to face Caleb defiantly. Caleb put an end to it with another bullet and he fell alongside his comrades.
Aldarn was panting, his eyes wide and aghast at the carnage before them. Caleb however, wasn't even batting an eye. He slid off Lady, who had finally come to a rest, and turned to the girl and passling. She was almost as calm as him, outwardly anyway, holding her knife so steady Caleb didn't doubt she would use if she thought she must.
"Who are you?" she asked, her voice a rich, thick accent that brought gold, and spices to Caleb's mind.
"I'm Caleb Hansen, foreman of the Escanor Rail, this is...Aldarn, my...um companion. We came to look for you, we uh, found your family. By the river."
The woman didn't soften, her doe brown eyes tapered with suspicion.
"Prove it," she told him. Caleb liked her, not in the same wide-eyed way he liked Cornelia, but her fire was completely different from Cornelia's soft, spring gaze.
"Okay," he told her, his mind reeling for anything to prove his statement. He fished in his pocket while she watched him carefully. He heard Aldarn gagging behind him as the dying man coughed up bits of blood and teeth.
"Here," he told the girl, throwing her a crisp, white letter, assuming she wouldn't dare come close enough to take it from him. She quickly grabbed the paper and scanned the words written there. She frowned.
"This only proves that the rail wanted you for foreman, not that you are." she told him. Caleb huffed.
"Look, it's the best I got. Either you come with us or you walk back by yourself." he told her, impressed by her gall.
She looked down at her own companion, who was still glued to her skirts and then to Aldarn who was fighting down a dry heave. She looked conflicted for a moment, biting her dry, cracked, lips in thought. Finally she looked back up at Caleb with a deadly certainty.
"There's no time for that," she told them, her voice urgent now. "Your town, if it is, is about to be attacked by those men, the Kahedrin. They told me just now. We have to help them."
Caleb froze, the blood in his veins suddenly too thick to keep moving through them. Cornelia.
"Are you sure?" he asked her, desperately. She look slightly offended by his questioning of her, but she shook her head in the affirmative. "Yes, please we have to go!"
"Okay," he told her. "Get on."
"Wait, wait. I don't know. I don't know how to ride." She looked down embarrassed at her confession.
Caleb blinked at her, then looked back to Aldarn who may have finally come to terms with himself.
"Okay, you ride back with him. You can go slow," he told her. She nodded worriedly, but was determined. "Aldarn, I'm going to the cut. I'll rally everyone and bring them back to town. You take Miss…"
"Taranee Cook," she told them, "and this is Blunk." The passling looked shell shocked, trembling like a fallen, ugly leaf.
"Miss Cook, and leave her on the outskirts, somewhere safe, then come join us if you can."
Aldarn responded with a dip of his head, perhaps still too weak to speak. Caleb turned Lady and prepared to race off in the direction of the work crew to gather reinforcements.
"Caleb," Aldarn finally said catching him before he could gallop off, "be careful."
Caleb kicked his feet into Lady's sides, and with a cloud of dust both she and Caleb were gone. That was one promise he would never make.
AN:
I told you the next chapter would be up sooner than the last! I hope to stay on a once a month (or sooner) update schedule, but I'm also hoping to stay around a 6,000 words per chapter minimum. So that you guys actually can get some characterization, and action in the chapters. I'll try to keep the balance of that from now on. Also, you might be interested to note this is the first time I have ever made it to a chapter 7 in any of my fics; and here's to the rest of it coming out as well. So see you next time on Manifesting Destiny! Thanks for reading.
-RoR.