Tesaldia looked down. The mountain stretched beneath her. She swallowed. The three were setting out again. Tesaldia was going back to Thastaer.
The night before she had told Shai she wanted to go back, but now she wasn't so sure she was ready.
"Shai, how much farther do we have to go, my feet are killing me."
"Tesaldia, we have to go down the other side of the mountain."
"Can't we rest for a little bit?"
"I guess so."
Tesaldia sat down and rubbed her aching legs. She had wanted to ride Sharaes but Shai pointed out it would be too dangerous on a mountain, Tesaldia wasn't strong enough for that kind of maneuvering.
The three rested for a while and then continued down the mountain. It was hard and Tesaldia fell more times than she cared to count. Her hands were turning raw and her legs felt like jelly.
"Shai, are we almost at the bottom?"
"We have about one more mile to go, then we can rest."
Tesaldia groaned. She didn't even want to walk one more foot. Tesaldia looked toward the sky, it was a bright blue. She wished she could go back to Palasade Lake.
Tesaldia, Shai, and Sharaes were at the bottom of the mountain a while later. Shai, and Tesaldia were both panting from the effort, but Sharaes was bucking and ready to go.
"Let's just take a short break here, wake me up in three days."
"Tesaldia, we have to keep going if we want to get to Thastaer."
"Why do we have to rush there, why can't we just slowly wander over there?"
"Because we want to get there before everyone knows about the bounty on you."
"They probably know about it already. Vyrdaes won't take a chance with me."
"I guess not, but we need to find someone that hates Vyrdaes and will help us."
"Well that narrows it down to everybody in the world."
"Okay, okay, everyone may hate Vyrdaes, but some people want the money more."
"Shai, do you think if someone really hates Vyrdaes they'll want to help him?"
"Tesaldia, five thousand pylas is a lot of money for one girl."
"Well I guess I'm just that important," Tesaldia tossed her hair over her shoulder.
"Only important until you refuse to help Vyrdaes, then he'll kill you."
"You are so negative. You always look at the dark side of things."
"It's kept me alive in Vyrdaes Castle for all of these years."
Tesaldia smirked at him. He was so cocky. She rolled her eyes and swung up onto Sharaes back. Shai looked at her in surprise.
"What are you doing?"
"I am going to ride to Thastaer if we're in such a rush."
"What about me?"
"What about you?"
"You can't just leave me here."
"Well then we'll ride double."
"Oh, great, I feel really safe now."
Nevertheless Shai got up behind Tesaldia and held onto her shoulders. She clucked and Sharaes lurched forward.
The three of them rode through the forests. It felt as if they were floating above the ground. Tesaldia didn't know how to get to Thastaer but she knew where she wanted to go and she trusted Sharaes to get them there safely.
Soon Sharaes was slowing to a stop. Tesaldia got off and so did Shai. Tesaldia walked forward. She had thought of the place where she had always felt safe. It felt as if no one else could come here. She stood by the shores of Palasade Lake. It stretched on into a never-ending blanket of water. The mist hung over the quiet lake all the time, even in the winter. It was so quiet, and the only noise was the soft sound of the water moving.
"Why did we come here, we can't stay at this lake."
Shai had broken into Tesaldia's thoughts.
"What's wrong with right here?"
"It's too open, besides, Vyrdaes will think of coming here to look for you."
"No, he won't, he will think it's too simple."
"Well, maybe he'll think, you'll think, he thinks it's too simple."
"Or maybe he'll think, I'll think, he'll think, I'll think it's too simple."
"Or maybe, you're ridiculous."
"Why thank you, that's very nice of you."
Shai laughed and went over to the woods to look around. Tesaldia was so close to her home it made it unbearable. She knew she couldn't go back home though. Life would be a long unending road of sorrow and fear until she defeated Vyrdaes.
Tesaldia looked at Shai as he collected sticks. He dragged sticks from the forest to a spot near the lake, finally Tesaldia asked what he was doing.
"I'm making a shelter."
"Why, we don't need one."
"What if it rains?"
"Well I'm water so it won't matter and you're earth so, you can water the dead matter inside your head."
He glared at her.
"Oh, ha, ha, that's very funny Tesaldia."
Tesaldia laughed, Shai was not one who could take a joke. He was too serious and logical. It made him a bit edgy and defensive when Tesaldia did make a joke. He finished bringing sticks from the forest and started stacking them up, to make something that looked like a house. The other thing about Shai that bothered Tesaldia was the fact that he thought he knew everything.
Shai had built the shelter in case it rained, but the sky was cloudless that night. Tesaldia lay on her back looking at the millions of stars that were in front of her. They twinkled and seemed to be so close, but when you went out to grab one they were too far away. The clear sky let Tesaldia think about things.
Tesaldia thought about Vyrdaes, she was not so ready to get into a fight with him now that it was near.
Tesaldia also thought about Sharaes, she was so brave and so caring, Tesaldia wouldn't trade her for anything else in the world.
Tesaldia thought about Shai, why did he want to help her? Was there some other motive, other than defeating Vyrdaes? Did Shai want to rule over Thastaer once Vyrdaes was killed? Maybe Shai was hoping that both she and Vyrdaes would die in the fight. Tesaldia shook this feeling off though, Shai would never do that to her.
Tesaldia yawned and stared at the lake. She had started her journey in Thastaer, but she hoped her journey would not end here. What if her story ended permanently? No, she wouldn't let that happen.
She was thinking about the lake as she started to doze off, she had been to many places since she had learned of her talent, but there was something magical about Palasade Lake.