Because I Love You✔️

Chapter 162: Fantastical Terror

"Are there rivers nearby where we can refill our skins and water the horses?" she asked. "If so, may we redirect our course to it?"

"Of course, there's one not far from here," Gus said, giving a nod and flicking his reigns to turn his steed a little bit further to the west. "Follow me."

Ella nodded, then leaned back, casting an occasional glance at Xaphile.

A good long hour passed as they rode, riding across grey slopes with sparse plant life, until the eventual sound of distantly flowing water met her ears. When they rose over a stony hill, it was almost as if the land came alive again: the distant river came into view, and down the stone slope they'd crested stood a great deal of trees and other flourishing plant life.

She stared, since the water was still fairly far away and down inside a shallow gorge.

Gus stopped his horse on a rocky outcrop overlooking the distant stream.

With a sigh, he dismounted, but Ella took a moment to bask in the sight before her.

The mountains of the Nimikan Border rose gently... then very, very steeply into the sky. Peak after peak soared up, like the spikes of a giant dragon, and the mountain range beyond it was higher still, its snow-covered slopes glittering in the early morning sunlight.

Xaphile shook Adariel awake, who mewled in displeasure and yawned; but then the brothers dismounted one at a time and stretched their stiff, sore limbs.

"We seem to be going the right way," Ella said cautiously, looking around with a sigh. "Not a sign of anyone else. Not even a road."

"Isn't that a road?" Xaphile asked, pointing at something just beyond the distant river, something that she'd missed in her observation. "See it?"

She squinted.

"It looks like one," she said, surprised; then she frowned dismissively, "then again, it looks as if no one's been along that for of years. I would assume that it's no longer in use."

"It's a major merchant's highway," Gus said slowly, pulling his map out. "I brought us here because I was sure there would be a great deal of people traveling along that road. Is this map outdated? Unless something has changed during the last six years since I've been here, that road is supposed to be one of the most well-traveled roads leading down from the mountain pass."

"That's odd," Ella agreed. "If that's the case, why does it look so disused?"

"No idea," Gus shrugged, then sighed and settled down in the shade of a large tree. "This map was cheaper than most, though, and if you recall, back in Calcoon it didn't match the landscape. I think I might have been robbed of my coin back in Ordin."

"We'll do something about it once we find Vrael's family," she assured him. "They must have a more recent map."

"We'll see," he muttered, then sighed yet again. "My word, I'm tired! I've done too little sleeping and too much riding these last few days. I feel as though my eyes will never open if I close them."

She felt her heart soften.

"Get some sleep... we can afford a small break," she murmured, looking at his tired face affectionately. "I'll wake you up in a few hours."

He nodded, smiling at her in a sleepy way.

"You're growing into a fine young woman, Ella," he said absently. "Your father would be proud if he could see how much you've changed these last few months."

Ella flushed, heart doing a back flip at the unexpected praise, but before she could say anything, he relaxed, bearded chin tucking into his shirt, breathing going deep and even.