Hillsides (26)

The troupe exited the isolated valley and traversed a thick forest that seemed to be slowly changing to an incline. As they traveled Caeli realized the backs of her legs were becoming increasingly sore, unaccustomed to the constant upward hike. The incline was subtle enough for her to not notice until four days after leaving the valley, the dull ache seemingly the only indicator that they were rising.

The soreness of her muscles always made her recall her lessons with Raven in the moonlit darkness of the valley. Him instructing her to widen her stance, to learn to find balance at her core so that if attacked, she would not be caught of guard. To stand her ground.

At the recollection she typically tried her best to shake away the thoughts as soon as she realized she was having them.

But she found it difficult.

As they traveled she realized it was important to continue practicing the things that Raven had taught her, to use what she had learned and apply them as they moved quietly through the woods. Yet doing so made her dwell on their time together more than she would have liked.

She would recall the gentle touch of his clawed hand when directing her on where to hold her arms in a fight to protect her face and other vital organs, the way his arm would brush against hers when reaching to touch and identify an edible mushroom or flower.

So she practiced quietly and did her best to not feel anything at all when dredging the knowledge he had given her forward to be used.

None of the three mentioned the change in geography to each other. Although the mountain became their destination early in their journey, they also knew now that there were others, likely along the path, that could cause trouble. If there were unfriendly souls along the way, what lay ahead for them in the mountains?

A quiet agreement between the friends to not discuss the possibility that this journey could be, not only fruitless, but also very dangerous, stiffly hung over them like a thick fog. For what other option did they have but to follow this path? Caeli chased from her village, Brego having left this same village, destroyed by the great dragon of the continent, and Aurum determined by his nest mates to be of more use dead than alive.

With nowhere to return to, the only way seemed forward for the companions. And what lay ahead was the great mountains of Coruscare.

On the fourteenth day of moving through the forest, the three broke free of the thicket of trees that formed the woods they had traveled through. On the other side, the sight took Caelis breath away.

In front of them were rolling hills as far as the eye could see. Bright green grass grew over almost every surface, occasionally interrupted by rocky surfaces where the ground was opened up. A large river could be seen turning and pivoting between some of the hills, able to be seen in some spots and then disappearing behind an overlapping of humps to reappear further down the way.

Although the sight was beautiful, Caeli also noted that this meant there would be no cover for a long portion of the journey. Should they encounter bad weather or bad people, there would be no where to hide. The thought drew a dark shadow over her thoughts of how beautiful this place was.

The companions all looked at each other, the same thoughts going through each of their minds.

Far off in the distance they could see the peaks of the Ausia mountains. Slightly closer than before, but still quite a ways off. The openness of the hills made her realize just how little they had traveled.

Although she was quite sure they were at the half way point, she also realized that the second portion of the journey would be significantly more difficult than the first had been.

Brego nodded his head in the air as Caeli searched his face. They should move and move quickly. She knew his thoughts without asking.

Without delaying further, she reached down to Aurum to have him climb her arm as she reached with the other to mount the gelding.

In seconds they were quickly trotting along the hilly countryside.

The sun shone brightly and Caeli was thankful for having thought to follow the river on their journey. Without water this beautiful countryside could get dangerous in an instant.

At a steady canter Caeli scanned the horizon with her eyes, ready for anything.

She bent at the hips to speak directly into Brego's ear.

"You haven't sensed anything strange have you? Like… like before?", she asked, swallowing around the last words like a peach pit stuck solidly in her throat.

Damn the goddesses her mind constantly drifted towards Raven. His presence and his absence seeped into every thought she had.

She could not live the rest of her life like this. It would drive her mad.

Caeli clenched her teeth with determination.

"I have not sensed anything yet.", he said confidently with small huffs between every other word as he continued to weave quickly through the hills.

"But something is strange.", she whispered mostly to herself. She gripped the geldings mane tightly but was acutely aware of the seeing stone in her pocket smacking against her ribs. Knocking on her side like a fist on a door.

She wanted terribly to reach for it and feel it's smooth surface caressed in her palm but the speed at which Brego traveled was enough to require that she anchor herself on his back.

A few days went by in this way, they would travel as quickly as possible, stopping only once it was difficult to see. They would search for any area that would provide cover, sleeping restlessly and only until the sun began to rise so that they could see where they stepped. Then they would be on the move once more.

On the fourth day, looking around the countryside something struck her and she felt her skin grow cold.

"Stop.", she said firmly to Brego, she gently pulled back on his reins and brought him to a halt.

"What is it Miss?", Aurum asked, nestled around her neck.

"Isn't it strange that it's so quiet? Even stranger still that we have not seen a single living creature? Not so much as a fly?", she said quietly, suddenly feeling as though her voice was booming in the silence.

Her companions also took a look around. Bregos' ears swiveled this way and that, listening to the surroundings, searching for any indication of life.

"Besides the grass I can't find anything living here. Or at least passing through. With a river this wide running through this place we should have seen something by now. Deer stopping for a drink or birds bathing. Even in the plains where it had been dry and hot we had passed quite a few animals along the banks of the river.", she said.

"We should move quickly, and quietly.", Brego replied.

Caeli curtly nodded and then they were off once more. She continued to scan their surroundings trusting that Brego could steer himself.

As darkness fell they chose a spot to rest for the night. With no trees near by, the troupe settled in silence and in the dark. The only light from the moon.

"What is it about this place that radiates danger?", she whispered to her friends. "I just can't figure it out. I feel this urge to move quickly out of here but with no reasoning. It's as if the knowledge is just at the edge of my mind and I can't quite grasp me."

Aurum curled himself on top of her lap and turned his head to face her.

"I feel it too, but I cannot say. I know very little about the worlds geography away from where I was born. Aside from the mountains where we are all taught our king lives, not many other places are mentioned.", he said, seeming to shrug.

Caeli was suddenly struck with an idea.

She riffled through her satchel searching until she found it.

It was the book that Demetri had handed her before her departure from the village. She squinted in the dark and ran her fingers over the gold letters written "The Old World Almanac and Guide".

She had hardly opened it since beginning the journey. She hadn't found much time to read between foraging for food and sleeping off her exhaustion of traveling.

"Maybe there will be something in here.", she said softly to herself.

She opened the book to the table of contents and tried to scan the list in the dark. She crawled out into the open to use more moonlight to see what the book said.

Her heart flew as she read "Old World Map". She quickly doused her excitement as she thumbed through the pages looking for the corresponding page number. The title implied that this map could be fairly inaccurate. The world was known as Old eons ago, and from the looks of the book, it was likely just as aged.

She found the page and her heart dropped. The map shown was fairly simple, it depicted the continents and their names. It's specificity ended at listing the capitals of the Folk and human empires. These things were likely still accurate (she saw Flumen listed on Ausia) but the map detailed very little else besides small drawings of geographical changes. A cluster of trees just south of Flumen were likely the Cheshire Wood but was not labeled so. She did notice however that in the spot that would represent the area they were in, there was crudely drawn hills and a gathering of dancing fairies atop them. She wasn't entirely sure if it was intentional, an attempt to reflect the surrounding area, or if it was added for artistic reasons. She did however notice that the mountain in which Coruscare resided was labeled, and her heart sank further.

She had thought with certainty that they had been at least half way to the Ausia Mountains. According to the map they were about a third of the way.

Absentmindedly she slid her hand to the Seeing Stone. She caressed the stone as she saw the artists depiction of Coruscare himself. Atop the mountain the person had drawn a large red dragon with bat like wings. It was breathing fire, fire that had burned her village to the ground.

She wasn't sure how long she had stared at the picture, but she was pulled from her trance by the sound of hissing. She softly but quickly closed the book and quickly crawled back underneath the overhanging rock her companions sat beneath.

They all looked at each other, the same thought flashing across their minds.

*What Is that sound?*