Rebellion (After the Haunted FF)

Chapter 4

I heard a loud yawn. Our heads moved to face the bed, where Grayson sat up and stretched out his arms. He, too, had bags under his eyes that weren't there the day before.

  "Morning, Grayson." Drake said, his voice unintentionally low in tone.

He rubbed his eyes and yawned "Good morning. Ready to get the day started?"

  "I'm so ready!" I said, then looked down at Drake.

He looked out of the window, and seemed to hesitate in answering. "Yeah. I guess we could plan on what we're doing exactly."

He stood up, and cracked his spine. It still surprised me with how tall he was. It was strange seeing him sitting down, seemingly average in height, then seeing him stand and getting towered over by him.
Grayson got out of the bed, then got down on his knees and searched through his bag. He pulled out a small sack, and opened it, then pulled out a raisin cookie. He bit into it, quite loudly.

  "Really? A cookie for breakfast?" I said, knowing that a simple cookie wouldn't fill his stomach.

  "What?" He said. His mouth still full. "Cookies are delicious!" He swallowed the bite, then stuffed the rest in his mouth.

Drake chuckled at this as Grayson closed the small sack and placed it back into the bag.
  "So, anyways..." Drake said, but was again interrupted.

  "Yeah. I have the map here." He pulled a rolled up piece of paper from the satchel and unrolled it. Drake and I got close to see the old map.

It had large walls and and many small buildings from a bird's eye view. Beyond the walls was a path leading off of the bottom of the map and pictures of plant life.

  "Is..is that the entrance to the empire?" I asked. I know that place all too well, and I know he does too.

Grayson nodded. "Yeah. It is exactly that. When I took this from the magic library, it was a picture of where I could hatch the dragon egg, but it changed. I'm positive that this is another enchanted map. Just like the one that got us to the magic library."

  "That's amazing." Drake said. I didn't know if it was the changing map, or the picture of the empire. I don't think he's ever been there.

He spoke again. "Wait. How are we going to get an airship? I've heard that ever since we stole that one, they've had restrictions. They're heavily guarded now, and they can't be left in camps for long anymore. They're only allowed in empire territory."

Grayson looked down and sighed. "You're right. That means we have to get past the Red keep in order to get to empire territory."

My eyes widened. No. I don't want to go to that place. They put men, women and children to agonizing work as slaves. I've heard that the cultists that took it over even go as low as raping the woman.

  "No! I refuse to go to that h**l hole! I don't want to be a slave in any way. Women are rare! Do you know what happens to women in those places?"

Grayson rolled up the map, and looked into my eyes. "Don't worry about it Mia. We won't go into the Red keep. We can go around it. I wasn't planning on going into that horrible place anyways. That place used to be nice, but they've turned it wicked."

I sighed in relief. Good. Now all I have to worry about the journey around that place. Grayson turned around, and put the map away. I heard a soft groan, and looked up at Drake, who was rubbing his head.

  "Do you have a headache again?" I asked.

He nodded and sat down on the bed, closing his right eye in pain. "Yeah. Just a bit."
Grayson turned back around as his put his own backpack on, and upon seeing Drake in pain, he gave a look of concern.