A Shattered Dawn

Chapter 18

Gabriel was stuck.

Not in the figurative sense, but in the literal sense. It had been too long since Gabriel last navigated the Celestial lands, and he was riding directly south. He was several days into his journey to the royal grounds when he encountered a wide, treacherous river across his path. The current was strong, with foam forming atop the waves. He knew he could not cross there. He was not in possession of a map of these lands, either, and therefore could not check to see if the river diverged or ended anytime soon.

He resolved to head east along the river and hoped that soon enough, he would be able to cross it. He had been using the sun for directions in combination with a small, handheld compass in order to avoid asking anyone for directions. A foreign man asking how to get to the royal grounds would be a recipe for trouble.

So he kept riding, stopping to let the horses rest from time to time, but the river did not change in his favor, rather, began sloping north, back to where Gabriel came from. He sighed and cursed under his breath.

He decided to cross rather than waste time turning around, where the waters could have been rougher. He led the way on his horse, holding tight to the ropes connecting the horses and hoping they wouldn't resist. If they did, they would all go down and everything would have all been for nothing.

He urged his horse forward, and it tentatively waded into the choppy river. Within seconds, Gabriel's legs were soaked. The river was much, much deeper than he initially thought it would be. Luckily, the horse did not turn around or back up to the riverbank, but rather kept pushing on at a slow and steady pace. 

The four horses were approaching the middle of the river when one of the horses trailing behind them stumbled. It was a younger, smaller horse. It was as if everything had slowed down at that moment, when the horse went down and the current started to take over. He knew he had seconds before the rest of the horses were carried away, so while it struggled in the water, losing its footing, Gabriel pulled his dagger out of his boot and sawed at the rope. The horse had completely fallen now, and attempted to swim against the current, anything to regain its footing. Gabriel could feel his own horse sway from the tension. He sawed, faster and faster at the rope until it finally tore loose. 

His horse finally pushed on through the remainder of the river while Gabriel watched the lone horse go under again.

He lay on the opposite bank, chest heaving. Once he had caught his breath, he stood up to see if the drowning horse survived. Sure enough, it had reached the bank of the other side and was ambling away into the sunset. Gabriel cursed aloud. He could only hope that the royals would not turn him away—that his royal would not turn him away since he did not bring all of the goods desired by the royal family.

He knew he could not stay by the river for long—rivers were common for setting up camps, as well as for travelers to find their way. If he were to stay along the river, he was sure he would find a village, but that was not Gabriel's goal. He only needed to lay low and stay unnoticed until he reached the southernmost tip of the continent: the royal grounds.

~~~

He woke with a start. Something was licking his face.

He sat up abruptly, blinking the sleep from his eyes. His horse was trying to wake him. He almost laughed aloud because of how comical his situation was. First, they almost died trying to cross a river, then, his horse licked his face to wake him. The sky hadn't lightened, and the sun hadn't even started to rise above the yellowed plains. He figured that he might as well get an earlier start, even if he was only half awake. Strapping the horses together and checking to make sure his supplies were all intact, he set off for another day of traveling.