Glow

Chapter Five

Estoy cansado hoy. No me gusta me clase de matemáticas. Es muy fácil, pero no me gusta mi tarea.

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The horses pounded across the plain, muscles rippling under their sleek, short, chestnut hair. Grass rippled beneath their hooves, a sea of gold dried by time. The sun beat down overhead. Mountains, off in the distance, were encircled with trees, green and lush. Samara, as he learned the princess's name was, rode ahead of him, her short hair flushed out behind her. Arvind himself could feel the wind around his face, ruffling his clothing and the mane of the horse. The thunder of the hooves reverberated through his ears and thudded in tandem with his heart. All in all, it was exhilarating, and he was breathless.

It was high noon when the horses slowed to a trot. Thunderheads were gathering at the mountains, clouding their peaks. The forest was looming above them, and birdsong fluttered within. Arvind looked back at the horizon. The feeling of freedom and the flying motion he had experienced when the horse had galloped was quickly leaving him to a feeling of hollowness and uncertainty. Samara laughed behind him. He whirled around.

"What?"

"You," She shook her head and smirked. "You're uncertain. Indecisive. You acted on the spur of a moment, and you regret it."

Arvind pondered on this. What had really been holding him back, his brother or his life choices?

This was not the first time this would plague him, nor would it be the last. But Samara brought him from his funk with a tap to the boot. She had dismounted her horse, a strong mare, and had one hand upon the horse's muzzle so that she could not gallop away.

"The horses are tired," She stated, patting her horse's neck. "And I can hear a river nearby."

Arvind dismounted as well and following the princess to the pool of water. It was against the mountain, and sported rocky surfaces. Other, wild horses drank at the mini waterfalls forming from the water (No doubt a spring) running out of the mountain as one big waterfall, like mead spouting from a hole in a barrel. The horses ears flicked back and forth, and they watched the visitors warily. As the two new equestrians conversed with the wild horses, Samara sat firmly on the peak of a dry rock while Arvind splashed through the pools toward the mountains edge. Once he had trudged across the ledges and the waterfalls and immersed himself in the waterfall falling from the mountain, he sloshed back and flopped onto a smaller rock beside the princess.

"That water is cold." He shivered and grinned. "Come on in! It's.... Cold!"

Samara shook her head. "No, I'm fine up here."

He shrugged and splashed around until Samara called him over, horses in hand, and they began their walk again.

The forest seemed endless, trees tall, with trunks thicker than the horses body widths. Moss clung to tree limbs like green beds. Nests high in the boughs, woven into long baskets, glowed at their ends. Tree roots heaved from the ground, displacing the earth. Flowers grew in unnatural places among the plants, some beautiful, with scents sweet, and some simple, fragrance subtle.

They trudged across the roots and rivers throughout the forest until Samara stopped. Eventually, Arvind noticed why.

A giant dome of vines towered before them, thick and unyielding to even the strongest of blows either of them could force. Trees bent around the hemisphere, adding to the strong shell, and their branches curved the top, making a sort of wooden crown. Samara gasped.

"What is that?" She asked Arvind, terrified and wide-eyed.

He surveyed the creation and blinked in realisation. "It's a house."

"A house?!"

"Not a house for one family, you understand. This is a home for a village. A place where thousands of people would reside," He explained, gazing across the structure. "But it's silent."

"Who would have lived here?" She asked, in awe of the giant living settlement.

"Wilde men," The boy stated, nodding in self-confidence. "The ones who belong to no realm."

"The sons of the disowned son of Chi?"

"Correct."

They looked at the hemisphere for some time before Samara mounted the horse once more and motioned him to do the same.

"Eerie," He muttered, nudging his horse into a slow trot once more.

                                      *                      *                    *

"Where are we?" Called the boy to his companion.

"Somewhere in the Unknowne countries, I am sure," She replied, looking out onto the grassy terrain.

They had stopped for a few minutes and Arvind was waiting for her as she looked at something from her saddlebag.

"What is that?" He called over.

"A map. Now quiet. I'm trying to read."

He twiddled his thumbs. Then patted the horses neck. Then sorted his saddlebags.

"Are you done yet?"

"By Aphorel, you are impatient!"

"I apologize, but you're taking longer than I expected."

"It's only been a minute or two!" She snapped. He sighed audibly. After a second she rolled up the map and stowed it in the bag.

"We're not very far from our kingdom, maybe a day's journey by mule. That means this expedition might take a few weeks."

"And you didn't care to tell me that before you whisked me away from my brother?"

"You had a choice, Arvind," She reminded him. "And you chose. Whose fault is that?"

He grumbled and nudged his horse forward.

They rode on.