Beyond Sector 7

Chapter 15- The River

Sorry for the wait everyone! here's the next chapter!

Peace, Love & Music!!

Sophie B.

We woke after a few hours. We barely had enough sleep to make our stop worthwhile. Zarek brought us all together before telling us that we would be taking a more difficult route now that we were being pursued.

            “But why would we take the harder route, they’ll only have more time to catch us when we slow down.”

            Remil agreed with me, it didn’t make much sense to anyone.

            “If we take the easier road, they’ll expect that and cut us off. If we go through the mountains, it’s a harder terrain and a less likely option. We just need to stay ahead of them until we lose them all together.” Iara’s voice was calm and even. Which helped everyone come to an understanding. I was still upset about it, but I’m never pleasant in the morning so I kept my grumbling to myself. We all grabbed our gear and started of towards the mountains. We still had a long way to go; I couldn’t even see the mountains that Zarek was forcing us to trek through. We all walked in the same quick pace as before and no one spoke. Erman chose to walk in front of me and behind his sisters to keep an eye on all of us at one time. Every few minutes or so he’d glance back to make sure I was where I was supposed to be. The attention annoyed Ryuu.

            “If he looks back here again I’m going to bite him.” He growled, which made Erman turn around again. My giggles trickled through the trees. Zarek glared back at me from the front of the line, I stopped making so much noise.

            We walked all day. It was hot within the trees because the wind didn’t reach us. The smell of hot sweaty bodies was overwhelming. If we didn’t reach a river soon, we’d all smell like common farm animals. Around high sun I began to smell fresh water in the air. I perked up and sniffed the air like an animal would.  Ryuu did the same. Erman turned and smiled at me.

            “Can you hear the river ahead?” His smile widened with excitement.

            “No, but I can smell it. Can you tell how far away it is?”

            Erman nodded before listening harder.

            “We should get there before dark. If we keep this pace, but this is the largest river I’ve ever heard. It’s at least as wide as one of the Sectors in Oscuro.”

            “Then how will we cross it?”

            Erman glanced back once more before calling ahead to Catori. It seemed that the guides had a plan. I only hoped it worked.

            When we reached the edge of the trees the river that lie in front of us was huge. It looked more like a lake because I couldn’t see the other end. I stopped at the tree line. I couldn’t swim. My father’s love for the ocean was so strong that it kept my mother far away from any large bodies of water.

            “Afraid of water?” Ryuu joked.

            “I’m not afraid, just cautious that’s all.”

            “I could carry you across. Dragons are excellent swimmers.”

            “You’ve never even been near water deep enough to swim in. How do you know that dragons are excellent swimmers? How many dragons do you know?”

            Ryuu hesitated before chuckling. I acknowledged his avoidance but didn’t push further. We inched forward towards everyone else because I wasn’t quite ready to hear how we’d cross the massive river. I heard Iara talking to the others, pointing and giving orders. When she pointed at me she didn’t say anything. Everyone went in different directions to complete their tasks and we both just stood there looking at each other.