I awoke to find snowflakes covering my cloak, and quickly sat up, as the cold flakes fell off of my face. I turned over to Alexandra, finding her oblivious to the flakes. I shook her awake, and she rolled over, at first groggy, but soon was wide awake, as the flakes fell down upon her.
"It's snowing." I said, pointing out the obvious.
"I can see that." Alexandra said, brushing the snowflakes off of herself. "C'mon, we need to get going. We might even be able to get to Korfos today."
I stood up with her, brushing the snowflakes off of myself, grabbing the food bag.
"We'll eat on the go to make better time." She said, and I grabbed a sausage from the bag, slicing it into two pieces with my knife and handing one half to her.
"Okay, let's go." I commanded, saddling up my horse, and within a few seconds we were off, quickly making our way through the forest, shooting the few creatures that had lunged at us from out of the trees. At about midday, we stopped at a lake, and as we gazed out across its frozen blue waters, we saw smoke rising from the distance, high above the trees.
"Look at that." I said, pointing out the smoke. "That might be the city."
"It must be." Alexandra said, leaning against a tree. "It looks like we made it."
"Well, then let's go!" I exclaimed, and jogged back to my horse, as Alexandra followed behind me.
I prodded my horse, and he quickly set off into a gallop, Alexandra following close behind. Several minutes later, the wood thinned out, and in front of us lay a massive city, a thick wall built up separating the city from the forest. Alexandra and I rode up to a small gate built into the wall, and I unsaddled my horse, walking up to the blue and gold-clad guards, standing formally with their long rifles standing at their sides.
"Halt!" the guard at the right called, snapping out of attention and walking up to me. "Cas le ca?" he asked, and I looked at him quizzically, forgetting that he might speak the other language.
"Sorry, I don't speak that language." I said, and he raised an eyebrow, before coughing, and asked, in perfect English, "Who are you?"
"My name is Collin Alastair McKinnon, and this here is my friend Alexandra." I said, and the guard relaxed a bit. "We're here to seek shelter from the woods, on our way to the capitol."
"You may not be that welcome there." The guard said, leaning his rifle against his shoulder. "Rangers aren't that welcome in the city anymore."
"Oh, don't worry about that." I said, grinning. "I'm not technically a ranger. Just dressed as one."
"What, did you kill a ranger?" the guard asked, appalled.
"No!" I said, taking a step back. "I was given it."
"May I ask by whom?" the guard asked.
"I'm sorry, but that's my own business." I replied, and he frowned.
"Very well, sir." He said, standing back at attention. "As long as you swear not to disturb the peace, I'll let you pass."
"I swear." I said, and he nodded,
"Very well." He said, before returning to his post. "If you follow this road up to Korf Street, then turn right, you'll find a hotel that should have a few rooms for you and your companion."
YOU ARE READING
Cǽrvelle-The Journey
FantasyA young boy named Collin is sent to a private boarding school in Scotland. However, when his school is bombed during the Great War, he and his friend Holly fall into a world unlike anything they have ever seen, ranging from desolate wastelands to th...
