The Road After

13

"We're almost half-way through." Indri, riding beside her, tried to keep Chisi's spirits up. "It'll be over soon. Just keep riding. Focus on us and the horses."

She tried, but the closer they got to the centre of the city, the more the sense of oppression increased. She began to wish she had made them go back the other way, but she had only wanted it over and done with, like pulling a needle thorn out of a foot. Right now, though, she felt like she could hardly breathe.

They burst into an area that looked like it could have been the city square, a large expanse with towers in what would have been the four corners and, in the centre, the top half of a statue depicting a woman of extreme beauty, its hands held out to the sides, palms facing the sky. And this was where the horses stopped, rearing onto their hind legs and whinnying aloud.

Chisi saw what the horses had seen. Glowing, ethereal, humanoid figures floating all around them. Some were very clear and distinct, almost solid. Others were more effervescent and misty. Some looked as if they were walking several feet below the surface and others stood upon the ground as normal.

It was truly a city of the dead.

ii. Breena.

There were so many of them, she didn't know where to turn. She looked towards her friends and saw their heads turning in all directions. No sooner had they entered the city square than the way back had filled with the mist-like figures.

"We have to keep going!" She tightened her grip on the reins and pulled her horse's head tighter, trying to bring it under control. "Whatever they are, they don't look solid, but try not to touch any of them."

She kicked her horse with her heels and forced it onwards, aiming for an opening direct opposite. The horse balked at first, but soon began to gallup forwards, tossing its head, wild and fearful. She could hear the hooves of the other horses following suit and they all raced forward.

Almost half-way across and she heard a terrible sound. Looking behind her, Chisi's horse appeared to have grazed one of the figures and, screaming, its legs collapsed under it, sending Chisi tumbling to the ground.

"Don't stop!" She shouted, pulling her horse around and returning back the other way.

Chisi's horse seemed sluggish, trying in desperation to regain its footing. Chisi had shot to her feet and immediately went back to her horse, laying a hand upon its head. The horse then calmed down, somewhat, and the plucky Fae climbed back into the saddle only for another wispy figure to appear next to her.

Breena raced towards them, pulling out her lavender sword. She didn't know why. What good would a sword do against these things? Still, she tore up to the figure slicing her sword through its body, straight through to the other side without touching anything in-between.

It did something, though. The figure stopped moving for a split second and wavered. Only long enough for Chisi to regain control and send her horse sprinting after Indri and Haavo. Breena was not so lucky, though. One of the figures made a glancing touch against her boot and she knew what Chisi's horse had felt.

A searing cold shot up her leg, sending it numb and feeling like the worst case of pins and needles she'd ever suffered, at the same time. It felt like her leg had become drained of energy. As if she had been running for hours and couldn't take another step.

Ignoring the pain, she turned her horse and gave it its head, letting the horse run at its own speed. She knew the horse wanted to get away from these things as much as she did. She tried to guide it as best she could, but, with the pain in her leg, it was for the best to let it make the decisions right now.