Chapter Five
It took two days to travel through the Spine; its heavy brush and winding pathways made it a roundabout trip. At every rustle of the wind in the trees, Kairin's heart leapt. At night, she laid awake, rigid stiff, watching the trees around her as if she expected Durza to slink out from their shadowy cover. Soon after he had vanished, Leaire had reluctantly informed her that Durza was not dead; Shades were not so easy to destroy. They traveled in a weary, uneasy silence, with Faeria flying above as close to the treetops as she dared. It wasn't until the trees thinned and the ground became level that Kairin thought to ask the obvious question.
"Where are we going?" Leaire took a moment before she answered.
"I told you that I was taking you to Farthen Dur, yes? Farthen Dur lies in the Beor Mountains, quite far southeast of here."
"You're taking me to the Beors? That will take months!"
"I would take you to Ellesmera, but I don't believe you're ready yet."
"What is that supposed to mean? What kind of a city is Ellesmera if it won't take us in?" Kairin asked scathingly. Leaire searched for the right words and smiled.
"I have no doubt that you'll eventually visit it. And when you do, you'll understand." Kairin furrowed her brow.
"Elves are impossible to understand. I'd heard it before, and now I can personally testify: You're completely incomprehensible." Leaire's mouth tightened, and she narrowed her eyes as if trying to think of what to say. Kairin suddenly worried that she's hurt the woman's feelings.
"You'll understand," Leaire repeated tightly, before changing the subject.
"We're half a day's walk from Therinsford. We'll buy horses there, but it's a small town. We won't be able to get what we need there. We'll continue on to Yazuac to buy food and such. We're going to need to stock up before we reach the desert." Kairin's ears perked up.
"We're crossing the Hadarac? That's exciting!" no sooner than she had spoken, she realized how childish she sounded. "I mean, I've never seen it before." To Kairin's surprise, Leaire turned to beam at her.
"You're a Rider now, Kairin. And it is my hope and dream that someday you will be able to freely see the world." She spoke with such avid zeal that Kairin felt slightly embarrassed. "I'm going to set my life to bringing back the time of the Riders. It was an era that should not have been lost." Kairin got the feeling that Leaire was speaking more to herself than anyone else, and said nothing. Leaire fell silent as well, musing, her face the picture of hope.
"I feel a little bit overwhelmed, now." Kairin said to Faeria, who was waiting some miles back until nightfall. As they moved nearer to the town, she had to keep herself more hidden.
"Leaire didn't mean to make it sound as if it was your job to change the world."
"But she did," Kairin said with a bit of a laugh. Leaire's voice jerked her out of Faeria's mind.
"Look, we've reached Therinsford." Indeed, they had just turned a long corner and a small town was now visible a quarter of a mile away. It was mostly a trading post with a few small cottages set around the outskirts, and so small that Kairin could see straight through the village to where the road continued on the other side.
"Kairin, look here." Kairin turned to see Leaire crouched by the side of the road, her fingers dipped in a pool of mud left over from the last rainstorm. She stood up and her hand was dripping with it.
"What are you doing with that?" Kairin asked, inching towards the woman, who was now rubbing it in between her hands into a sort of wet powder.
"Put this on your face," she said, extending her hands full of dirt. Kairin was nonplussed.
"What? Why on earth?"
"If someone sees you, all they're going to remember is a girl with a dirty face. It's what they'll notice." Kairin raised an eyebrow. "Trust me," Leaire said. Kairin reluctantly allowed the elf to smear a long trail of grime on her cheekbone.
"What about you?" Kairin demanded, feeling her now crusted-over skin. "I'm not going through with it if you're not." In response, Leaire pulled a vivid orange headscarf out of her bag and tied her hair into it.
"If anyone asks, they'll remember a woman with an orange scarf, and forget my face entirely."
"I don't see why I couldn't have the scarf and you the mud," Kairin grumbled, making Leaire smile.
"This way they can't see my blonde hair. Blonde hair is more memorable than brown," she said, indicating Kairin's long brunette locks. "And you're not as muddy as you think you are, I'm sure," the elf smiled.
The two strode into town, drawing many more looks than Kairin had expected. Her heart began to flutter with nervousness; did they know? As if she had read her mind, Leaire whispered to her.
"Strangers are probably very unusual these days. Not many people travel anymore." Her fears scarcely alleviated, she allowed Leaire to lead her to a wooden stable under a sign emblazoned with a picture of a running horse. Inside they found a man combing the mane of a sleek black mare.
"You're new," the man said obviously, giving the two women an appraising look before setting down his comb. He brushed his hands on his apron and offered one to Leaire, then Kairin, shaking hands roughly.
"Name's Haberth," he said, and left a polite silence for Kairin and Leaire to give theirs. When neither of them spoke, he raised his eyebrows and continued. "What can I do you for?" he asked.
"Two good horses, that can stand up to distance, and full sets of tack. Please," she added in a last-ditch effort at politeness. Haberth nodded and set to work collecting tack from the shelves behind him. He spoke as he worked.
"It's pretty strange seeing travelers out nowadays, especially so far north of the capital. What business brings you up here?"
"Yes, well, my sister and I are heading south for our cousin's wedding," Leaire lied skillfully. Haberth turned around for a moment to look at her before continuing his work.
"You're packed awfully heavy for just a trip."
"Yes, well our cousin's new husband has a flour mill," Kairin jumped in. "He says he can give us work there, and a place to live. We're moving." Haberth nodded in a disbelieving but disinterested way. He set the two sets of tack on the counter with a thud before moving to the horses. He looked each one over, his back turned to them, and continued.
"You two remind me of another pair traveling through here a little time ago. Needed two horses, 'strong and fast', they said. Said they were doing a lot of traveling." Haberth paused for a moment. "They didn't give their names either."
Kairin was puzzled as to why the man would even mention that to them, and tried to shoot Leaire a inquiring glace. The elf, however, had her eyes fixed on the man in awe.
"Was one an old man? He would be quite old, but still strong." Leaire was frowning. Kairin realized that she obviously was missing something.
"Come to think of it, he was. Tough old fellow, but he was sharp as a tack. He bought my best horse for two hundred crowns."
"You don't remember his companion, then, do you?" Leaire spoke like a person very close to uncovering some sort of secret.
"A young boy, he was. Only about your age, miss," he indicated Kairin. "Skinny sort of bloke, bright-eyed. Very quiet." Leaire exhaled slowly, her eyes glittering with indiscernible emotion. Kairin longed to probe into her mind and uncover her thoughts.
"Will these do, then?" Haberth led two young, strong horses from their stalls. One was a proud-looking bay who tossed his mane and the other a silky, deep black with a star on its face.
"Those will be perfect, thank you," said Leaire, dropping the previous subject abruptly. But, as she counted money out of her purse, she asked in a carefully nonchalant manner, "When did you say those two passed through here?" Haberth took the money from them and began to count it.
He clinked the coins in his hand. "You've given me extra," he said, dawning comprehension on his face. He paused before saying, "They went though about a month and a half ago. No more than two months." Leaire nodded without meeting his eyes.
"Thank you for the horses, Haberth. I enjoyed our conversation." Leaire led the two horses from the stable. Kairin snatched the tack from the countertop and followed her. They were scarcely out of earshot when Kairin pounced.
"What on earth was that about?" she demanded.
"I knew a man named Brom who lived in Caravahall. I came all the way up to this part of Alagaesia to see him. He was once very important to the Varden, you see. Well I did manage to reach Caravahall soon after I realized that Durza was on my tail. But Brom wasn't there, and no one seemed to know where he had gone. I couldn't imagine him leaving so quickly except for one reason." Leaire paused, and let the silence grow until Kairin protested.
"Oh for pity's sake, go on!"
"It was his job to teach and guide the new Rider of the Varden, if one ever came about." She said it in a quiet, pensive tone so that Kairin had to think twice to realize the actual magnitude of what that meant.
"He left to find me?" As she spoke those words, something in her mind started to click. "But no… the boy that traveled with him? Was he… could he even be…" Leaire shook her head.
"I believe it's altogether possible." Kairin's breath flew out of her in a giant whoosh. Even her thoughts were speechless. She wasn't alone.
"Faeria, Faeria, were you listening?"
"Of course I was. Oh, Kairin."
"This is incredible."
For the next three days, thoughts of another rider followed her. Haberth's words which at the time had seemed so inconsequential now rung in her ears. A young boy, he was. Skinny sort of bloke, bright-eyed. Leaire spoke to Kairin almost nonstop while they rode, and Kairin attempted to listen if only to draw her thoughts away from the boy in her imagination.
Leaire told her about dragons. She explained their growing cycle, their childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. She explained how Faeria would breathe fire some day. She told Kairin that once she had an adequate saddle, Faeria would become a better mount than any horse she had ever ridden. She also tried to explain how Faeria would change her.
"Dragons and Riders have a bond unlike anything else. They grow closer by the second. Soon, you will be as one spirit. Some of Faeria's magic will pass to you, and you'll become stronger and faster than you could have imagined."
"Will I be as strong as the elves?" Kairin wondered. Leaire began to say something, and stopped herself. She tried again, and stopped herself again. She eventually resigned herself to saying nothing, to Kairin's annoyance.
"If the answer is no, then just say no."
"The answer isn't no." She paused again. "Kairin, I want to tell you something, but I…" Leaire was cut off by the sound of a roar from up ahead. Suddenly, Faeria was upon them, flying out of the twilight sky like a hawk diving for prey.
"I've just seen Yazuac," she said, obviously distraught. Yazuac was not far ahead; Leaire had predicted that they would reach it by that night. Faeria had flown ahead to meet them on the outskirts.
"What's wrong?" Kairin asked, reaching out her hand and placing it on Faeria's silver nose. She was kneading her claws into the dirt like a distressed cat.
"It's horrible." She would say no more. She took off and sped toward the town again, cutting through the air. Kairin spurred her horse onward to gallop after her. Leaire was not far behind.
It was a four-minute gallop to the entryway to the town. Once her horse had passed through the outer gate, she slowed to a trot. The town was deathly silent, and eerily still. Kairin felt as if each hoof beat against the ground was a cannon blast in the night. Leaire pulled up close behind her, and Kairin could hear her quickened breathing. As they moved toward the center of town, the first thing Kairin noticed was the smell. It hit her like a wave, making her gag and her horse shy back. Leaire made a small noise of disgust beside her, but kept her composure. Kairin was suddenly afraid to move onward.
"Go," Faeria urged. "Look and see what they've done." Her mind shook with rage.
Kairin urged the horse farther, and a huge shape began to come into focus. In the fading light, it wasn't until she was very close to it that Kairin realized what it was. She gasped as tears instantly came to her eyes.
Before them was a giant heap of human skeletons. Bodies of bone and mostly decayed flesh were thrown unceremoniously on top of one another, until the entire town was gathered in the mass grave. Flies and carrion birds flew about the pile, squabbling over the last remaining bits of flesh. Kairin could do nothing but stare in awe, her hand clamped over her mouth in an attempt to stave off the stench. Leaire edged her horse closer to the pile and picked up a barbed spear wedged into the skeleton of an infant child. Her arm began to shake, and she dropped the spear as if it was hot.
"Urgals have done this," she breathed, "but the tracks are old, and the bodies are mostly… decayed… as you can see." She shook her head tragically. "There's nothing we can do for them now." She turned her head away from the gory scene and trotted her horse towards the far end of the city.
"Where are we going now?" Kairin asked, tearing her eyes away from the pile to follow Leaire.
"Daret is close. We can get what we need there before heading for Hadarac."
Faeria took the longest to move away from the bones in the square. She caught up with Kairin farther up and flew circles around her like a vulture. The great dragon continued to snap her jaws together in distress, throwing the horses into a slight panic. Kairin's horse let out a long, low whinny that caused Faeria to snort with smugness.
"Look at that skittish creature. I could snap it in two with my tail."
"You know that I would rather be riding you. But you're a little eye-catching, did you know that?" Kairin smiled up at her. "Horses are a safer bet."
"I can see you have no affection for it; you haven't even named it yet."
"Aye! It's bad luck to ride a horse without a name. I like Eriere. I once wrote a story where the hero had a horse named Eriere."
"How sweet," Faeria teased, her teeth bared in a reptilian smile. Kairin was thinking up a reply when something on the ground caught her eye. Another skeleton lay broken on the ground. This one was different from the others; it was huge, with strange short legs and a massive skull from which sprouted two curled horns. Kairin recognized it as an Urgal from those. The bones weren't white like the humans were, but totally charred to an ashy black. An Urgal breastplate lay not far from the body, burned almost out of recognition.
As her gaze fixed upon the breastplate, her palm began to tingle. She looked down at her hand to see that her gedwey ignasia was glowing faintly. Her eyes widened as she watched her skin glow, and she ran her left index finger over it. As soon as she'd touched it, she pulled away with a sharp gasp. Her palm was hot as flame. Intrigued, she kicked her heels into Eriere and caught up with Leaire.
"Look, Leaire, look at my hand." She flung her palm into Leaire's face so that she could see. "It's glowing. Why is it glowing?" Leaire took Kairin's hand in hers to study it. "And look, touch it. It's burning hot!" Leaire cautiously put her finger to Kairin's skin, pulled it away quickly, and put it back. She paused with an expression of curiosity before pressing her whole hand onto Kairin's.
"Doesn't that burn?" Kairin asked suspiciously. Leaire shook her head.
"No, Kairin, it feels absolutely fine." Kairin stuck her finger back onto her palm stubbornly. She held it there for a moment, frowning, before pressing her hand to her face. It was utterly normal.
"I swear it was scorching hot a moment ago," Kairin said almost inaudibly. She was beginning to doubt herself.
"Kairin?" Leaire was looking down her slender nose at her. "We should be going; staying here much longer does not seem appealing." Leaire tugged Eriere's bride gently while nudging her own horse, spurring both animals slowly forward.