with Bayne and Andral, and Julieth flying overhead. She remained close though, so that if something startled them she could quickly join the others.
The road wound steeply up the black rock’s face.
As they reached the first abandoned village Riad waved for her to come to them. She stood on the road, arrow cocked, watching as Riad searched the clay structures near them.
“They have seemingly been abandoned for years,” Riad spoke with a chill in his voice. The torn cloth flap of the structure’s door rippled in the wind as he held it open. “It has been a long time since I was last here, but this.” He stood, breathing for a moment, as the others were silent. “There are no bones. There is no blood. I did not expect this. Whatever has eradicated this civilization may still be near. Stay on the ground,” he instructed Julieth. “Bayne may need your protection quicker than can be given in flight.”
Julieth felt anger well in her chest. “You do not command me.” She gave him a hard look, striding to him and lowering her voice. “And there is more than one boy. If you do not value Andral as you do Bayne, then the least you can do is not vocalize it aloud.”
“And what would you have me do?” he asked, walking past her and continuing on the road climbing the steep black rock. “These are days for honesty.”
“Then honestly be a man who cares, instead of one who does not!” she shouted to him, causing him to turn and face her. “You speak of wanting to save this world from those who would cause darkness with the abilities given from the essences, but what would you rather have in return? I know my person, and my heart, but what drives you? What would you have this world be?”
“This is not the time,” Riad spoke, turning and looking up the looming mountain before returning his gaze to her.
Sweat dripped down Julieth’s back as the suns’ heat beat down on her. Her eyes were heavy with exhaustion. She dragged a hand over her brow, wiping more sweat away. “We may never have time, but I need to know your soul, your past and why you hate this Samuel, before I follow you beyond Olan and this black mountain.”
Riad turned from her, continuing his climb up the crag. “Tonight you and I will speak alone. I must focus. We all must focus and be alert.”
Julieth decided to walk, not because Riad ordered it, but because if Bayne and Andral needed protection, she wanted to be close by in order to provide it.
The day sat over them in a haze as they walked, black dust wafting up from the mountain as their feet hit road that Julieth was uncertain had been traveled for a long time. They passed several other villages, all abandoned like the first, and then, just as Julieth knew she must sit and rest, they reached the vast mouth of the cave that curved into the mountain’s chest.
Cool air wafted out of the cave’s mouth, curling over Julieth’s body and ruffling the feathers in her wings. She held her bow level, eying the shadows intently for some unseen enemy. “Are you sensing anything living yet?” she asked Ivanus.
“Nothing,” he spoke lowly. “And what’s more, I am having trouble seeing with my future-sight at all beneath our level of the ground. I sense nothing below.”
They stepped from sunlight into darkness, moving without light to avoid detection. Behind them the light from the mouth of the cavern’s opening was cut off as they turned.
Time passed. They walked on. And then, just as Julieth thought they would never emerge from the cavern, a light in front of them opened up from a pinpoint, slowly bringing illumination to the forms of the rock wall a distance before them.
Julieth squinted as they walked toward it. The light was hard on her irises. As they exited the tunnel, looking out over the large city of Olan, she saw nothing moving but the same weather-worn white flags that were also scattered over the other side of the mountain. The bareness of it all, the vacancy of movement
The road wound steeply up the black rock’s face.
As they reached the first abandoned village Riad waved for her to come to them. She stood on the road, arrow cocked, watching as Riad searched the clay structures near them.
“They have seemingly been abandoned for years,” Riad spoke with a chill in his voice. The torn cloth flap of the structure’s door rippled in the wind as he held it open. “It has been a long time since I was last here, but this.” He stood, breathing for a moment, as the others were silent. “There are no bones. There is no blood. I did not expect this. Whatever has eradicated this civilization may still be near. Stay on the ground,” he instructed Julieth. “Bayne may need your protection quicker than can be given in flight.”
Julieth felt anger well in her chest. “You do not command me.” She gave him a hard look, striding to him and lowering her voice. “And there is more than one boy. If you do not value Andral as you do Bayne, then the least you can do is not vocalize it aloud.”
“And what would you have me do?” he asked, walking past her and continuing on the road climbing the steep black rock. “These are days for honesty.”
“Then honestly be a man who cares, instead of one who does not!” she shouted to him, causing him to turn and face her. “You speak of wanting to save this world from those who would cause darkness with the abilities given from the essences, but what would you rather have in return? I know my person, and my heart, but what drives you? What would you have this world be?”
“This is not the time,” Riad spoke, turning and looking up the looming mountain before returning his gaze to her.
Sweat dripped down Julieth’s back as the suns’ heat beat down on her. Her eyes were heavy with exhaustion. She dragged a hand over her brow, wiping more sweat away. “We may never have time, but I need to know your soul, your past and why you hate this Samuel, before I follow you beyond Olan and this black mountain.”
Riad turned from her, continuing his climb up the crag. “Tonight you and I will speak alone. I must focus. We all must focus and be alert.”
Julieth decided to walk, not because Riad ordered it, but because if Bayne and Andral needed protection, she wanted to be close by in order to provide it.
The day sat over them in a haze as they walked, black dust wafting up from the mountain as their feet hit road that Julieth was uncertain had been traveled for a long time. They passed several other villages, all abandoned like the first, and then, just as Julieth knew she must sit and rest, they reached the vast mouth of the cave that curved into the mountain’s chest.
Cool air wafted out of the cave’s mouth, curling over Julieth’s body and ruffling the feathers in her wings. She held her bow level, eying the shadows intently for some unseen enemy. “Are you sensing anything living yet?” she asked Ivanus.
“Nothing,” he spoke lowly. “And what’s more, I am having trouble seeing with my future-sight at all beneath our level of the ground. I sense nothing below.”
They stepped from sunlight into darkness, moving without light to avoid detection. Behind them the light from the mouth of the cavern’s opening was cut off as they turned.
Time passed. They walked on. And then, just as Julieth thought they would never emerge from the cavern, a light in front of them opened up from a pinpoint, slowly bringing illumination to the forms of the rock wall a distance before them.
Julieth squinted as they walked toward it. The light was hard on her irises. As they exited the tunnel, looking out over the large city of Olan, she saw nothing moving but the same weather-worn white flags that were also scattered over the other side of the mountain. The bareness of it all, the vacancy of movement
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