One Night with the King -- Book One: Fire

Chapter One

          Placing my hand on the wall once more, I moved forward. The mouth of the cave became wider and brighter the closer I came, and I found a slightly spring in my step. 

         A single word bounced in my head then, causing me to take a pause.

        Freedom.

          Freedom from what? The cave was something that I would be free of, but it was not a burden. It had given water and shelter, and though it had been uncomfortable, it had given me a place to rest. Freedom from the cave was not what my unconscious thought of. A bubbling below the surface stirred something in me. But as soon as it was there, it was gone.

          Stepping into the light, the firm stone left my feet, and I felt the soft strands of bright green grass slide between my toes. The wind blow slightly, moving the blades in a soft dance as old as life itself. Trees and hills surrounded the meadow of which the cave sat in. Beautiful, bright, warm, and full of life.

          Turning my head to the left, I looked around, only to have my eyes follow a trail of grey clouds rising above the treeline. Smoke. And where there was smoke, there was fire, and fire meant people. With a growl from my stomach, I took the next step out of the cave and towards the smoke.

         Oh please, let there be food.

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         Time had passed as I followed the smoke trail, having it lead me into the forest only to have found a road that had seemed to gather quite a fair amount of traffic. The further along the road I had went, the more things started to seem less... organic. Trees seemed to have been cut down, and wooden wheels that had started to rot littered the decline of a ditch.

          My feet and bones still protested with each step, but something knew came into the mix. I could smell the smoke, as well as cooked beast. There was a camp near.

          The road curved and changed into a bridge as the forest seemed to clear. The smell of smoke became stronger, the growling of hunger became louder, and my courage grew. The roar of water moving rapidly filled the air, becoming louder with each step, seeming to call me towards it. As my feet carried me forward, the birds followed me with their song, singing different notes and tunes to help me along my journey to food. 

          Perhaps I would have to work for a meal, but I do believe it would be far more than worth it. If not, truly it cannot be that hard to kill a beast of the forest and start a fire. The growling returned, seeming to give protest to that thought. Placing my hand on the source of the sound, I let out a sigh. Not much further.

          With the forest behind me and the bridge directly ahead of me, I stopped to look at the man made structure of a log and pieces pointing in different directions. A road sign.

           To the left and right I could see where the road split off, sending you to different parts of the world. But, the smoke was not coming from either direction, so the bridge it was.

           I couldn't make out all of the words, but the one that pointed in the direction of the bridge.

        Namaria. 

          Warmth spread across my chest at the moment a pair of golden, caramel eyes flashed in my mind. With a skip of my heart I reached up to trace the letters of that name. Namaria. What ever it holds, it seemed to be quite important. The warmth left me as I removed my fingers from the carvings into the wood. Stepping onto the bridge, I listened as the water crashed over rocks and made ribbons of foam, causing the light to glisten off of the soft blue color.