The Cold Light Fades - Book 1 of the Crystal Chronicles

Chapter Nine - The Quest Begins

After the survivors of Scorvain had finished their lunch, they all began to prepare to leave the way station and travel north towards the icy city of Antar.

Alesson stood outside in the warm red sunlight that was flooding over the desolate tundra on top of the cliffs above the city. The rocky ground was mostly covered in a thick carpet of multi coloured moss. Hues of red, orange, yellow and green streaked across the uneven surfaces and made the ground look like a living and slowly growing patchwork quilt of colour. In some of the more sheltered areas about an inch of snow had piled up in the shadows from the previous night's storm. The red sun had melted away a lot of the snow making the moss slick and slippery. In contrast to the mossy patches on the dark stone floor, a few trees had managed to squeeze through the gaps in the earth, they were thin and scrawny, and their bark was bright white. The tree's arms clawed at the sky, desperate for as much sunlight as they could grasp, but they were firmly rooted in the thick, rocky earth, absorbing the sparse amount of nutrients from the soil.

The way station stood in one of the thin thickets of trees, Alesson had not really noticed how run down the building was, when he had arrived early that morning. The roof was sagging at one end of the house and some of the walls between the structure and the stables had collapsed. The young prince felt a lot more refreshed after a few hours of sleep and the feel of the sun on his skin made him feel more alive. He raised his head to stare at the large red disc that hung in the sky off to the south of the way station. A few wisps of grey-white cloud floated listlessly across the pale bluish sky.

Alesson looked down and concentrated on the hustle and bustle that was happening in the forecourt of the station. Rakk, Deltain and Narlia were carefully loading the group's belongings into three small carts that had been kept in the stables. While Garlent and Razza were herding the three large horses into position at the front of each four-wheeled cart.

Alesson thought the carts looked far too old and rickety to support much weight, but Narlia had assured the party that each cart had been able to hold four fully armoured cadets and would easily be able to carry the six people and a few supplies. The wheeled vehicles were covered with a thin canvas roof that was held in place with thick rope and the wooden frames of the body of the cart were bolstered with steel.

The three big horses were not made of crystal; they were made of flesh and blood just like the humans that they were going to pull along in the carts. The two larger horses were a dark shade of grey and the smaller one was a light chestnut brown colour. Alesson remembered one of his earlier lectures with Deltain about the origins of humanity and the animals and plants that they had appeared with, and he wondered what other things man had brought with him.

"Alesson, it's time to go," Linta shouted from the other side of the forecourt and pulled the boys attention away from his idle musings.

"I'll be right there, Linny," he called back, then he jumped over a pile of rubble and moved towards the three carts. Frostbite was lying on his belly near the building and when he saw the young prince coming, the young white wolf bounded over to the boy and nuzzled around Alesson's legs. The dark-haired boy looked down lovingly at his friend and patted the wolf's head affectionately.

Garlent had finished securing the last horse to its cart and was muttering under his breath. "Carts, I hate these slow-moving things, we'd get there so much quicker on horseback," said the giant man as he rubbed the bandage on his baldhead.

Deltain was on the other side of the cart and heard the commander's mutterings. The old Sage was clutching the wineskin that he had managed to keep hold of from earlier; he took a short sip and walked round to Garlent. "Yes, Garlent, horseback would be faster, but it would also make us very visible to prying eyes. In these covered carts, we can hide and pretend to be travelling merchants. You of all people should be able to see the tactical advantage of blending in and staying hidden."