Throne Out 2

Nortia: Part 1

            Zineth walked back to the campsite and shook Anix carefully. “Wake up, spoiled prince. An hour is over. We have to head to town right this moment. Oh, and I’ll be sharing a horse with you. It’s not like I had much of a choice.”

            Anix sat up, his eyes wide opened. “A prince should only share his horse with a damsel-in-distress or a princess, not some stupid thief.”

            Zineth rolled her eyes. “I would go with Neph, but his horse is carrying most the bags. That wouldn’t be very fair. I don’t feel like riding with Ian, so quit being selfish and get ready to leave whether you like it or not.” She walked over to Neph and yawned. “Let’s plan out the day. I’ll head out first and search the town for any clues on the thief. I’ll come back to wherever we’re staying. Then, we can all head to the library.”

            Neph nodded. “Of course, and in the end, we’ll all baste in the happiness of your return and of the information gathered.” He flicked her forehead and sighed. “You’re being ignorant as always. Sometimes, I wonder how you became the leader of our group. Let’s come up with the plan after we get there. Besides, someone with the ability to sneak past all four of us and manage to take valuable items away might be someone you’re not strong enough to go against alone. Think more logically, Zineth.”

            Zineth sighed. “Alright. I guess that’s fine with me.” She grabbed onto Anix’s arm to pull herself up onto the horse. She yawned, trying to hide it to herself.

            Anix leaned his face beside hers and whispered, “If you’re still tired, I’ll let you rest while we ride towards town. Just lean against me, and close your eyes. I won’t let you fall off of the horse. I’m too much of an experienced rider to do something like that. You have nothing to worry about. You can think of it as--” He paused after he noticed Zineth already asleep. He smiled and led the way to Nortia. Once they past the gates, he shook Zineth. He said softly, “Wake up, thief. We’re inside now.”

            Zineth opened her eyes and stretched, yawning. She looked at her surroundings and furrowed her eyebrows. “This looks more like a ghost town. Are you positive we’re in Nortia? I mean, I can feel something unusual about this place--something eerie, even.”

            Anix raised an eyebrow. “Well, towns aren’t exactly supposed to be active at night. Everyone is probably just asleep.”

            Zineth shook her head, looking back at the gate. She looked up at Anix. “Hey prince, were there guards in front of the gates when we entered here?”

            Anix shook his head. “Of course not. Why would there be guards if the entrance here was the secret passage? Why?”

            Zineth grabbed the reins of the horse and stopped them from going any further. She jumped off of the horse, standing in defense position. “Anix, we’re inside my dreams again. You guys! Neph… Ian… We’re inside my dream. We’ve fallen into a trap. There are monsters here. Stay with me as close as possible. We have to get out of here.”

            A sword flew by Zineth’s face, only scratching her cheek, landing in the middle of a door. A new monster jumped by them. It raised his arm, returning its sword to its hands. It grinned back at Zineth.

            Zineth’s eyes widened. She quickly grabbed everyone, pulling them into a house and escaping behind the house into an ally. “That creature… I haven’t fought it before. What should I do? I only know how to use fire… I don’t know any of the other words. I wish I had Yang with my right now.”