Eternally Luminous

Chapter 4

Ana woke from the nudging of Lumen, who stood gloriously above her with her white mane flowing freely. The sun had risen and the lands of Ashen had sprung to life. It had been several days since Ana left the estate and she was now a short distance before the border between Ashen and Copper. Each night she had let Lumen graze generously while she found shelter in the branches of big, swollen, grey trees. She had always wondered how Ashen came to have it’s name but she now understood that it was because of the grey trees that occupied the borders and were strewn across the luscious green fields. She had decided to sleep within an abandoned stable she stumbled upon when desperately seeking shelter from the storm that dawned upon Eltaron. She found the comfort of hay underneath her body was much more peaceful than a rigid branch as well as she didn’t have to worry about falling out of a tree. The only worry that crossed her mind was if someone found her and Lumen. They would realize that she was far too young to be out by herself and suspect the horse was stolen, as she did not look like she could afford such a majestic creature. Luckily she had only encountered one person since she left. It was when she decided to follow the main path that lead to Copper, she came across an old man heading towards the markets in Deliah, which was a two-week journey from Ashen. He was thirty older than her and looked as though he were dying of a disease. His fragile body clung to the reigns of his horse, which lead the carriage that was full of juicy and colourful fruits. Ana talked to him briefly but decided it was best to make her own path through the fields and forestation, some distance away from the main as she was scared that word may have carried about her and the mishap with her Master.

Heading towards Copper, the sun was as bright as it had ever been on her journey so far. It lingered above her while she and Lumen rode west. Sweating from the treacherous heat, she heard the sound of a stream ahead of her. As she forced Lumen to gallop as fast as she could, the sight that came to her was astounding. It was the Lunar stream, which ran south from the Eltaron Sea and connected with the Lunar Lake then continued south-east towards Mortali. From Ana’s map, it appeared to separate the north and south lands of Tustille, which were directly below Ashen and were west of Mortali. She climbed down from the saddle and ran towards the stream. Cupping her hands into the stream and letting the water gather in her palms, she splashed it onto her face. The feeling was exhilarating and refreshing. She cupped her hands again and watched the water fill as though it were doing an intricate dance within her palms. Before splashing it onto her face she looked over to Lumen, who had also gone to the streams edge and she was now gulping the water and had her two front hooves completely engulfed by the stream.

They followed the streams edge north until they came across the bridge that connected Copper to Ashen. It was long and hung from two great oak trees above the water. Ana imagined that in the storm season, the stream would inundate the middle of the bridge. It was wide and was strong enough to carry a horse as well as carriages filled with goods heading to the Markets in Deliah. It was bustling with people, all of various shapes and sizes and some carrying obscure items. She approached the bridge and walked across it, absorbing the looks the people were giving her, she also heard the murmurs of peoples conversations, talking about disappearances of people within their villages and the revelation of people with abilities. Suddenly, a man grabbed her arm and she flinched. She held Lumen’s reigns very tightly and the great mare could sense her uneasiness, as it stood closer to her. “That’s a mighty fine mare ya got there”, he said in a thick accent Ana had never heard before.  “It’d be a real shame if she were ter’ magically go missing”, he continued eying the horse and then looking Ana up and down. His hand tightened around her arm and the smell of his unclean self stung her nostrils. She slowly let go of Lumen’s reigns and reached for the saddlebag closest to her. The man was too bewildered by her eyes and breasts to realize that she was reaching for a dagger. She felt the hilt of the dagger and grabbed onto it, thrusting it out of the bag and at the mans neck. She stopped just before the blade sliced his throat. It startled him and he gasped as he let go of Ana’s arm and ran towards Copper. She looked around to see if anyone else had seen the incident but fortunately no one had, as they were too concentrated on crossing the bridge.

Copper was even more beautiful than Ashen, It’s trees were a reddish-brown and encompassed the entire land. It had an inviting feeling and Ana felt comfortable within this land. She continued west until it was nightfall and decided that it was safest to sleep within a tree that was not in sight of the main path, which she had predicted would lead to a small town further ahead. Within that small town, was where Chloe was supposed to be. Before falling asleep Ana thought about Chloe and how she never realized the extent to which they resembled each other. Doing calculations in her head, Ana figured that Chloe must be twenty-four now. She tried to picture what she may look like now but found it hard, as all that was clouding her thoughts was the sight of the Master when she killed him. As she dozed off to sleep, Ana became aware of the fact that she had been avoiding for the past couple of days. She had an ability. She couldn’t die and her wounds healed almost instantly, even though, the bruises she had on her face from the Masters fists remained for a couple hours before completely healing.

The next morning, her and Lumen made it to the small town before midday. The cottages and stores were in two rows down the main dirt path. Behind these cottages and stores were the houses of the people who owned them. She saw a stable across from the inn and took Lumen over to it and wrote down her name and gave it to the stable hand. She pulled out a couple of gold coins and told him not to let anyone get close to her or let her go anywhere. He nodded eagerly and understood completely when she handed him the coins. She made her way over to the inn, looking around at the town, which seemed to be very quiet.

She opened the door of the inn and was greeted by an overly vivacious woman who Ana towered over. The short stumpy woman pulled her over to the front desk, which had stacks of paper and keys on it. The woman disappeared behind the desk and then reappeared, pulling out a small wooden stepladder from under the desk. Ana assumed she was the innkeeper’s wife. “What can I do for you my dear?”, she asked Ana. “Oh I’m only planning to be here for a short while, I’m just looking for someone”, Ana replied, observing the various animal heads that were mounted upon the walls. The stumpy woman asked Ana who she was looking for in particular and Ana told her about Chloe. The woman stared at her. Her face now turned into something slightly frightening as she squinted at Ana inspecting her up and down. She got down from her stepladder and disappeared behind the desk again. “Follow me”, she said and Ana did so.

When Ana saw her, her heart sunk and tears welled in her eyes. She was extremely happy. Chloe was crouching down in the herb garden that was behind the inn helping a young boy of about three or so pick off some leaves and place them into a small basket. Chloe picked up the basket from the boy and turned around to stride towards the inn.  When she looked up, her face became overwhelmed with happiness and sadness at the sight of Ana. Her long brown hair was tied at the back with hair flowing down her right shoulder. Her golden eyes filled with tears and she dropped the basket and ran towards Ana. Chloe embraced her while who stood there too dumbfounded to speak or move, her chest heaving into Ana’s shoulder. “Sister, you’re here”, Chloe said between breaths. She couldn’t help notice, despite the emotional reunion that Chloe bulged at the belly. She looked up at the garden behind her sister and saw the small boy, who watched her curiously, then he ran towards her but clutched onto Chloe’s leg. Their embrace broke and Chloe patted the little boy on the head, who looked terrified at Ana. “Mummy, who is she?”, he asked Chloe.