We stepped out onto the dirt track between the first two fields and all eyes were on our surroundings. We looked like a pack of meerkats, searching for potential threats everywhere. Which I guess there could have been. I glanced back to Merkell and could see him muttering under his breath.
I turned to Blaike, "He's doing magic, isn't he?" I asked quietly.
He peered quickly to Merkell and then back to the surrounding fields. "Yes he is, most likely a protection spell for crossing this open area," he replied just as quietly.
Magic made me extraordinarily curious.
"Can't we have one on us all the time? Like the one Emy and I grew up with?"
I didn't know if he knew about that but from recent experience, it was likely he did.
"No, because that would presumably have been a specific spell for specific threats. Out here we don't know what we might run into and cannot account for them all."
"I think I understand, for example, if he protected us from all the types of creatures and animals out here and then we got into a fight with humans, we wouldn't be protected?"
I frowned, trying to form it into a coherent sentence.
He looked pleasantly surprised however, "Yes, that's almost exactly how it works."
I nodded in understanding, still thinking about all the possibilities it could cover out here and Blaike turned back to watch the fields.
"So why can't magic just take us to the village where our parents are? Seeing as you know where it is and who's going?" Emy asked out of nowhere, looking to Blaike and Kaleb and then Merkell.
"Because there are different magical protections set up all over the Sector and especially around our village, if we tried to get passed with magic we would be in grave danger." Blaike explained.
Confusion and horror were mirrored on mine and Emy's faces, I didn't fully understand what he meant but I wasn't sure I wanted to.
"It is also difficult to explain to you until you have a better understanding of how magic itself works," Merkell chimed in from behind. He must have sensed our confusion, "And that you will learn later, if you choose."
I sighed loudly, "More things to wait to be told."
I glanced over my shoulder at him, I didn't mean to get annoyed but it was getting so aggravating being told half truths and still having things kept from us.
"Yes, Cassandra, I am afraid so but our present situation demands our attentions much more than your understanding of magic," Merkell replied in a stern but not unkind voice.
I supposed he was right, the explanations could wait until we were somewhere safe. The first chance I got when we reached the village of Hawksend, I was taking it.
We steadily crossed the dirt tracks and passed field after field, we were coming up to a much wider and open dirt road. We turned right in a new direction and kept going without a word, though I was starting to notice changes in the landscape.
There were more bushes and trees around, much smaller than the giants in the forest which was dropping into the distance behind us. Fields still stretched for miles on either side of us but their content was varied, from corn and wheat, to fruit and vegetables.
The tension in the group lightened fractionally, civilisation seemed to be cropping up around us but I could tell they were all still wary. We walked the dirt road until it was dark and Merkell had said we would reach Hawksend by that night, had we already reached it and were just waiting for the buildings?
"What is Hawksend?" I asked, searching in front of Kayle for a sign of something resembling a village. I couldn't see anything through the darkness.
"It's a smallish village, well known for its lookout posts, they're the best in the Sector without question," Kayle answered.
"It is also a place where we can rest and resupply our food and water," said Merkell with an approving look up ahead.
I'd forgotten how long it had been since we'd eaten and drank last, I was painfully reminded by a growl in my stomach that I covered with a cough.
We soon reached the crest of a hill and I got my first glimpse of Hawksend. From what I could see in the dark it didn't look small, I couldn't count how many houses there were but it looked like hundreds. I wondered what their idea of a big village was when I noticed the lookout posts Kayle had mentioned; towering stone structures spaced out on the outskirts of the village. I could see the silhouettes of two or three people moving at the top of the nearest lookout.
"Maybe you and I should swap places now, Kayle," Merkell suggested, moving forwards.
"Yes, sir," Kayle responded as he moved to the back of the group and Merkell took the lead.
I noted the use of the word 'sir' again, and wondered about the change in formation.
"Okay, so what's with the switch?" Emy asked after nobody offered an explanation, I smirked and waited for one of them to answer.
"It is necessary for this particular village."
Was all Merkell offered before he started walking down the hill towards the village. We followed and I decided that asking Blaike might be better.
"Why is it necessary with this village?"
He turned a thoughtful gaze to me, as though he was considering how to answer. He shot a quick glance at Merkell who was a few feet in front.
"Let's just say, Merkell is much more well known than the rest of us and that will help, especially considering our arrival is in the middle of the night."
He turned back to scouting the land in front of us, leaving me to ponder his words. 'More well known'? What did that mean? He'd been here before? He'd been gone from this world for over two years, surely they wouldn't remember one man from so long ago.
We kept going with Merkell a little in front the whole time. I could hear Kayle humming behind us. Emy looked back at him with a bemused expression then turned to Kaleb and asked quietly.
"So, why do you keep calling Merkell, sir?"
I turned to watch his reaction to her sudden question, he glanced to Blaike questioningly and we turned to see him looking unsure. Kaleb hesitated a moment more then turned back to Emy.
"It is hard to explain but he's sort of our commanding officer, we do it out of respect. Manners are important."
He smiled politely to emphasise his point and returned to his scouting, I smiled inwardly. He had managed to give us a fairly good explanation without revealing enough to get him a lecture; he was fairly intelligent and cunning under all that muscle.
We drew closer to the village and I was able to see the people in the lookout posts had stopped moving around. I could now hear shouts, they went up at the exact moment Merkell stopped in front of us. We walked to him and I looked passed him, in that second an alarm bell sounded somewhere within the village. People were already coming out from between the houses. I couldn't tell what was going on but it looked like they didn't appreciate visitors.
Merkell was perfectly calm, he stood still with his arms crossed, waiting for the people to reach us. A tall, imposing looking woman was walking ahead of the others. She wore a long, light green cloak that billowed behind her. As she came closer, I could see that her face was just as calm and impassive as Merkell's, though she was a lot younger than her expression led me to believe.
When she came within speaking distance, she stopped, as did the other people behind her almost instantly.
"Who are you and what are your intentions? Arriving here at this time of the night is inappropriate and frankly dangerous." The woman's voice was stern and there was a hint of the power that Merkell's had had when he was subduing Blaike and Kaleb.
Strangely Merkell was smiling warmly at the woman.
"Do you not recognise me, Sabella? Or have I grown to look as old as the trees of the West, finally?"
This mysterious answer didn't seem to make sense to anyone else but it seemed as though he knew this woman; and she lost all of her composure at his reply. She looked dumbstruck and stood that way for several minutes. She finally regained herself, her expression unreadable but her eyes held the fire of a strong and protective woman.
"Fire in the North," she said suddenly, almost too quickly for me to catch.
Merkell quickly replied, "Water in the South."
It was even quicker than the woman had spoken and I barely caught it. They proceeded to raise their hands to face the other for barely a second. Before their hands reached their sides, the woman, Sabella was returning Merkell's smile and her relief was clearly etched into her face.
"They are friends, it is alright, go back to your homes!" She called to the people behind her and slowly they disappeared back into the village.
Only a small number remained and I had the oddest feeling they weren't just ordinary villagers. Their outfits were more imperious and I was sure I saw a glint of metal on a few of them when they repositioned themselves. Sabella turned to us and moved forward to place her hands in Merkell's, shaking them happily.
Merkell smiled softly at her, she was slightly taller than him and much younger. Her slight build should have made her look lanky but it just made her look more intimidating somehow.
"Ever the cautious leader, Sabella," Merkell said kindly.
"As you taught me to be, sir," she replied and her voice had become softer, lighter even.
"I'm glad you remembered, we can never be too careful of whether-"
"Our friends have become enemies, yes I remember that part too," she interrupted him, laughing lightly.
Her laugh, I'd never heard such a beautiful laugh before, it was like tinkling bells. It left me particularly stunned.
"Ahh, some things do not change," Merkell said with that same soft smile curving his mouth. "I have said it many times, if you bottled your laughter and traded it, there would be many more happy people in this world."
This made her laugh louder and I wholeheartedly agreed with Merkell, everyone in our group was smiling- while Kayle had a strange look on his face.
Sabella slowly glanced between our little group and Merkell glanced back.
"Oh forgive me, introductions are required." He gestured to each of us, "This is Blaike," who bowed to her and she nodded back. "This is Kaleb," who did the same. "This is Kayle," who also bowed but still had the strange look on his face. She didn't mention it if she noticed, simply choosing to nod back. "And this is Emily," Emy smiled to her, "And this is Cassandra," I smiled at her too.
When Merkell finished on us, a calculating look crossed Sabella's face, she stared at us then at Merkell.
"Are they-?" she asked.
It seemed like half of a question and yet Merkell must have understood because he responded.
"Yes, they are. The, ahem... circumstances changed somewhat and we are heading to Dumair as soon as possible," he told her.
It was the most open I'd seen him be but it didn't explain who this woman thought we were.
"Well, you can rest yourselves here and replenish your supplies, anything you need will be provided." Sabella replied, still taking quick glances at us.
"That would be most helpful, thank you," said Merkell, not mentioning that we were coming for that purpose anyway.
Sabella signalled to the few villagers that had remained behind her and they encircled us, which seemed to make Blaike and Kaleb uncomfortable.
She turned back to us with the same smile she had given Merkell.
"Shall we?"
It didn't seem like anyone needed to answer but Kayle nodded rapidly. Emy and I held back a giggle as we started walking to the village.
We moved through the first few houses and onto what looked like the main street. I noticed the houses were made of grey stone, with darker slate roofing. For some reason I had expected them to be wooden with straw sheltering, or something similar. They differed in size and shape; some had two floors, some had three, some looked longer or wider.
Each had a little garden at the front, some were filled with flowers or enclosures for pets, I hoped. Others contained machines but I couldn't make out what they were or what they might be used for. There were lights on in some of the windows and people peering out at us.
I turned to Blaike after I spotted them staring.
"Why are they watching us?" I asked quietly, Merkell and Sabella were only a little way in front and I didn't want another lecture about knowing things I shouldn't.
Blaike followed my gaze to the people in the windows.
"This is a quiet village, they are most likely not used to visitors in the middle of the night, especially unannounced visitors."
He turned back to watching their surroundings and I nodded slowly, it made sense but I couldn't shake the chills on the back of my neck.
I turned to say something to Emy but she was busy staring down the people in the windows.
"You'd think they'd never seen people on their street before," she said and didn't bother to keep her voice down.
I told her what Blaike had told me and she shook her head.
"That's silly, I'm sure people travel at night all the time. What do they think we're going to do?"
She was still staring them down and a few stepped back from the window in response.
"I don't know, but it's their village and they're probably protective of it so can you not stare them down? Just let them be curious," I advised her.
But I was still keeping my eyes open, something felt not quite right. I nudged Emy in the side to make sure she listened.
She turned to look at me, "Alright, I can't see why we would be of any interest that's all, they need to just chill," she said quietly.
I couldn't see it either but everyone we'd met in this world so far appeared to have an unusual interest in us. I was starting to think that whatever Merkell was keeping from us, on our parents' request, had something to do with it.
We passed a few more houses and came to an intersection, where another main street crossed with the one we used. Sabella stopped and turned, she made a signal to the guards around us, they appeared reluctant but they left.
She turned to us once they had disappeared.
"You will be staying with me this night, I can supply you with the things you need. You can rest comfortably and then continue on with the remainder of your journey in the morning."
She smiled at Merkell and he returned it with an appreciative nod, in one movement they turned and headed down the left path, we followed. We'd only walked a minute or two more when Sabella and Merkell stopped in front of a huge house. It was so much bigger than the others we'd seen; three floors and the length of two houses joined together.
The garden was filled with flowers of every colour, some I could recognise and others I'd never seen before, a few grew taller than Kaleb. We walked towards the large wooden doors and the house seemed to get bigger. We followed Sabella up the front steps and through the doors, which seemingly opened by themselves when she approached them.
I knew they couldn't be automatic doors without any electricity and I looked at Emy who had the same questioning look on her face.
She shrugged and mouthed the word, "magic?"
She was probably right, there was no other explanation unless they had invisible people here. I shuddered at that thought and couldn't help looking behind the doors when we walked through- of course there was nobody there.
When I turned my attention to the inside of the house, my jaw dropped, it was like a scene from an old film. We stood in a giant hallway, large ornate portraits hung on the walls, older men and women stared out of them. Gas lamps, or were they just filled with fire? I wasn't sure but they illuminated a grand staircase that led to the second floor.
I tried to take it all in when my eyes landed on Emy's face and she looked as shocked and awed as I was. I raised my brows at her, indicating the hallway and she nodded in agreement. It was the most impressive room we'd ever been in and it wasn't even a room.
When my attention had returned to the group, I saw Merkell had moved aside and appeared to be deep in conversation with Sabella. The guys were talking amongst themselves and were acting like our surroundings were perfectly natural. I hoped they weren't because I certainly didn't belong in a world like this.
I tugged on Emy's arm and we walked over to the guys, stopping just next to Kayle and catching part of their conversation.
"Is it true what they say about her then?" Kaleb asked.
He seemed to be directing his question to Kayle, whose eyes kept darting over to Merkell and Sabella.
"From what I've heard, yeah, she was his only apprentice, she knows all kinds of things that nobody else does. I just didn't expect her to be so-"
"So what?" Emy interrupted him with a smirk, I laughed as we watched Kayle's face turn scarlet red.
He spun around to look at us, "Nothing, never mind. How long have you been standing there?"
He must have been trying to aim for seriousness but his blush ruined that, we were all laughing now.
Emy shrugged and tried to hold hers back.
"Long enough to know your keen stone throwing senses don't work when you fancy someone," she giggled and nudged his side with her shoulder.
We laughed again and watched Kayle turn a brighter shade of red at her words.
"I do not fancy her, I just-" he stopped abruptly and stood straighter.
Merkell and Sabella were walking over, stifling another laugh I stood aside and we watched them rejoin us.
"Sabella has kindly arranged all of our supplies and sleeping arrangements for tonight."
Merkell announced, smiling softly at her. I wasn't aware until that moment how much I missed sleeping in a bed, I'd took it for granted until I didn't have it anymore.
Sabella smiled brightly and gestured towards the stairs. "If you will all follow me, I will show you to the guest rooms."
She turned with Merkell and made her way to the staircase. We fell in behind them, Kayle made a beeline to get in front, with that strange look on his face and I realised it was infatuation. It made Emy giggle as we moved behind him. Blaike and Kaleb were last and yet again I felt like they were guarding us but instead of getting frustrated, I made a mental note to ask them about it.
I gazed around the stairs while we climbed and my eyes landed on Sabella again. She was the first woman we had met from this world, she didn't seem that different apart from the way she spoke. Her light brown hair trailed down her back and small twists crisscrossed over the back of her head, a bit like a fishing net.
She looked slim under her cloak and dress, but she was definitely taller than most women. She also had a sort of calm authority about her, like she could order an army into battle with a single nod and they'd go without question. I thought back to the way the villagers of the town had listened to her without grumbling and I realised it was probably true.
We stepped out onto the landing of the second floor, there was an arch above the opening that led onto that floor. I noticed that the stairs carried on up to the next floor and began to wonder what was up there when Emy nudged me to keep going. We walked under the arch and into a corridor that had doors spaced at intervals like a hotel, none had numbers on but it had the same feeling.
"You can stay in these rooms tonight, they are ready for you," Sabella called back to us, she gestured to the last few doors in the corridor. "You three will stay in this one," she stopped and gestured to Kayle, Blaike and Kaleb, then to the first door. "And the young ladies will stay in this room," she gestured to the next door on the same side.
She glanced to Merkell for what looked like confirmation, which she must have gotten because she continued.
"Merkell will be staying in this one," she pointed to the last door, one after mine and Emy's.
I realised that put us in the middle of them, I wondered if that was on purpose or that I was actually becoming paranoid.
"If you need anything do not hesitate to ask and the maids will get it for you, if they can. I must take my leave as I have business to attend to, it was nice to meet you."
Sabella smiled at each of us in turn and turned to talk with Merkell for a moment. I turned to Emy and mouthed the word "maids" at her with raised brows. She shrugged with a look of equal surprise then beckoned Kayle over to us; punching his shoulder when he almost walked into her, not watching where he was going.
"Do you think you could tear your eyes away from her for one second and answer something?" Emy asked him.
He finally turned to look at us, blushing profusely and rubbing his shoulder as he did. Blaike and Kaleb had walked over when they saw the punch and smiled as they caught the back end of Emy's question.
"Yes, of course but I wasn't staring... what is it?" His voice sounded a little deeper, as though he was trying to sound more manly or something.
"You have maids here? Like to clean and cook and bring things that you could get yourselves?" She asked, the smile slowly fading to dismay.
He dropped his hand from his shoulder and frowned. "Yes, but only in the bigger houses and it's not as bad as you think, it's a good job and very well paid."
Emy and I looked at him in disbelief, we didn't agree with the idea of servants.
"Sabella also treats hers very well, some of them even live here with her," Merkell's voice crept into the silence.
We turned quickly, we hadn't even heard him come over, he was smiling though and Sabella was nowhere in sight.
"Remember, some things are quite different here, what might seem strange or wrong to you is perfectly ordinary to the people here... and the same could be said vice versa."
He arched his brow and smiled, I thought back to his conversation with Blaike by the fire, about me rescuing a dog being something he found strange.
He spoke again through the silence, "Any other questions can wait until morning, we all need a good night's rest, we have a few more days travel ahead of us."
We reluctantly agreed and he bid us a goodnight before retreating into the room Sabella designated as his.
The guys said goodnight too and went into their room, leaving Emy and I outside of ours.
She turned to me once their doors closed and smiled. "Shall we go in and see what they call a bedroom here?"
I grinned and rolled my eyes, "Sure, unless you want to sleep out here?"
She stuck her tongue out at me and opened the door to the room. It was simple at first glance, two single beds, two sets of drawers, a wardrobe and a large fireplace across from the window. On closer inspection it could also be seen as simply beautiful; the lamps on the walls lit the room with a pretty orange glow and the fire was crackling away as if someone had just lit it. I walked over to one of the beds, I dropped my bag on it and sat down, I sighed deeply at how soft and comfy it was.
Emy grinned at me, "What were you expecting, straw?"
I crinkled my nose at her and laughed, "Maybe, something like that, I just don't know what to expect of anything anymore... These are definitely comfier than sleeping against our bags on the ground though."
She grinned and dropped her bag on the floor before bouncing down on the other bed.
"You're right, definitely comfier but I was kinda getting used to sleeping under the open sky and stars, there are so many more here."
She took her boots off and started getting ready to sleep, I did the same but my thoughts kept pouring out as I did so.
"I doubt that there are more here, it's probably just because they don't have streetlights or other light pollution," I replied.
I carefully took my cloak off and draped it over the end of the bed.
Emy shrugged and changed into a pair of pyjamas. "Either way it's still nice to be in a bed."
I nodded as we climbed into our beds and looked over at her as I laid down, "Has it sunk in yet for you? What we're doing and where we are?"
I could hear the curiosity in my own voice but there was something else that I couldn't put my finger on, possibly hope or reassurance.
She fluffed her pillow up and a grey feather flew out of it. We watched it slowly fall to the ground before either of us spoke again.
"I don't think it has or will for a long time, I keep expecting to go to sleep and wake up at home, having to get up for work."
She smiled a little sadly and I knew how she felt.
"I know what you mean, it's just not quite real yet, maybe when we get to our parents it will feel better."
She nodded through a yawn and I saw how heavy her eyes were, these beds were more comfortable than we'd first thought. I felt myself starting to drift off, I rested my hand under my head and spoke softly, "Goodnight, Emy, see you in the morning."
I heard a murmured reply of goodnight before I dozed off into a dream filled sleep of landscapes and people whose faces I couldn't make out.