The clouds seemed to animate into different figures as Calysse examined each one of them. A set of bobbling heads trailed in front of her stiffly. Shadows flickered and moved on the ground in fluid motions as they rode along the trail. Calysse snapped her head forward as she noticed the two stone dragons she’d been so frightened of earlier. Now that the terror she once associated with the objects had gone, she could now look at them without seeing fearsome creatures. The tree’s outstretched arms distended around the wings of the beasts. Their clawed hands seemed as if they’d been trying to reach for the other before their hearts were frozen in stone. Now more than ever, she saw them as lonely.
She’d stopped paying attention to the conversation that Cassiara and Narunis were having when the castle had become wrapped behind the trees. The buzzing of the bees and other insects felt like earth’s heartbeat as she listened and looked.
“There’s a town up ahead.” Adian grumbling voice drifted through the silence of her thoughts. Town? There’d been no town when they’d come this way earlier. Narunis’ face darkened as she hid further beneath her cloak.
“I didn’t see one when we came this way.” She felt a lurching tension in her stomach as Adian glanced back to her. With every beat the horse’s hooves made on the ground, Calysse felt her gut churning.
“You didn’t see it because I didn’t tell you it was there.” A dull, misguided sense inside her burned with curiousity. Calysse looked down at Aislin, who paced a bit behind the horse. The wolf so far hadn’t slowed or seemed to be tired, but that was to be expected from a bred-to-be monster. Her attention was once again lured up to Adian as he held up his hand and brought his stallion to a halt. Narunis and Cassiara did the same. Calysse pulled back a bit on the reigns.
“There.” He pointed to a tree-clustered hollow shrouded in vines and tendrils. At first, she thought it was a joke. It looked like any other part of the forest. But as she looked closer, she could almost make out the ruins of a wall. A wall covered in moss so thick that it looked like a barrier of lush green plants.
“Like anyone could live in those conditions willingly. Speaking of willingly, why are we going near that place?” Cassiara scoffed and flicked at the reigns. Calysse held tightly to the mane of her horse as he whinnied. Her eyes peered out from under the dark curtain of hair that had fallen in front of her face.
“We aren’t going there unless we’re lucky.” He snapped the reigns and cantered forward to approach the gate. Calysse pursed her lips as Adian swerved through the opening in the wall. Was this the extent of the Great Divide? She didn’t have long to think before he came back. Adian’s face had notably brightened.
“So?” Narunis lifted her head and pulled back the hood of her cloak.
“He’ll let us pass.” He squeezed his lips together as his horse pivoted. Calysse clicked the reigns lightly.
“Why are we going in that dreadful place?” Cassiara had a hint of a whining tone in her voice. Calysse snickered as the prisoner began to sound a bit like Narunis, who was surprisingly silent.
“The path we would’ve had to take can’t be tread by horses.” Adian mumbled gruffly. As Calysse’s horse trotted through the gate, she got a real glimpse of the civilization inside. Beyond the wall looked like the wreck of an old war site. Trees had grown and rooted themselves deep in the middle of collapsed houses. The wood that wasn’t broken in pieces had mold and moss all over. The metal rails for horse ties were rusted a sickly orange color.
Despite the little noise they made, people began to filter out of the decrepit homes to examine the newcomers. After a little inspection, Calysse could conclude that none of them were legal Tyzalian. They were either half-blooded or without the golden-eyed trait like Adian. She wasn’t surprised that there were no immigrant golden-eyed, those who hadn’t been born within the lands had been pushed into Indignor or into Nytteot territory despite their genetic iris color.
How long had this place gone overlooked? By the looks of it, the village had been trampled over by an army and left a safe place for outcasts in its wake. But why? Surely Nesami knew it was here and decided to have pity on the poor citizens and not crush their homes, she couldn’t be that cruel? With each face she looked in to, Calysse could almost see her own pain reflected back, the pain that she thought made her special and driven. She’d always known that so many had been affected by the Great Divide, but this, this was seeing it. This was not hearing it as some campfire story, she was here in the belly of the beast.
They steered clear of Aislin as she prowled in the back of the company. Calysse cast a couple glances over her shoulder to make sure the animal wasn’t devouring a child when she wasn’t looking. Adian led the way through the winding labyrinth of roots, not tripping up once. Cassiara seemed to become more reckless as the roads got clearer, and even tried to speed ahead.
The other side of the small, crumbling town lay yawning ahead of them. Calysse leaned forward as the ground became more uneven. She noticed as Adian gave a slight nod to the gatekeeper, who forced the creaky metal opening just wide enough for the horses to get through. Did she want to be a Champion to such a decaying nation? Champion was another word for heir, and to be heir was to inherit all the destruction Nesami had caused. Was the power worth it? The better question was if there was anything moral left in the snake queen.
The sky had darkened considerably and was now decorated by the shining stars that glittered like thousands of jewels. Calysse could feel the heaving breaths of her gelding as she sat. Her hands ached from holding at the reigns for so long and were still bound in loose bandages. Cassiara slumped forward on the horse as if she were half asleep. Calysse felt her eyelids droop, but as she noticed how alert both Adian and Narunis were, she forced herself to stay awake. Even Aislin had begun to drag her paws on the ground when Adian finally signaled for the horses to halt.
“Are we stopping for the night?” Cassiara mumbled before she draped her arms around the neck of the horse.
Adian nodded and slipped off the saddle of his stallion. Calysse eagerly jumped down from the back of the horse she barely knew how to ride. Her arms wrapped around her body as she sat by the road.
“Are you cold?" He asked from behind her. Calysse then noticed how much she was shivering and exhaled slowly. She watched her breath as it faded before replying.
"I'm just worried about what might happen in Indignor. I don't want to run into anyone I know," She said as she turned to face him. Cassiara slumped onto a patch of grass beside the path as if unaffected by the temperature, though her skin was riddled with bumps. Calysse curled her legs to her knees as she noticed Adian unpacking stiff blankets.
"I asked if you were cold." Adian said as he finished laying out the cloth. Calysse didn't bother saying anything more. They were all too tired to say anything.
Narunis tied the horses to the nearest tree. Calysse narrowed her eyes at how slow and grudging the Tyzalian’s movements were as she went to assist her brother. The dark silhouettes of the trees in the moonlight cast gaunt shadows over the makeshift camp that made Calysse envision all sorts of monsters in the gloom. Aislin prowled to Calysse’s feet and tread her paws into the dirt. Calysse almost stepped back as the beast lay down, her eyes closing. Was this trust?
“Your feet are freezing.” Calysse could only guess at what Aislin would say if she had the capability of speech. How insufferably lonely it was to only want to communicate with a wolf. The one being that couldn't be verbally bitter.
She heard the breaking of air behind her and turned to catch a blanket Adian had thrown at her without warning. He seemed a bit surprised she’d noticed, but just began to coax Cassiara out of the grass. Calysse inched a bit away from Aislin and laid her cloth out on the ground. She was too tired to even look at the stars, as they had become a familiar sight and nothing new. Her ears picked up the slight sound of shuffling as her companions finally let their exhaustion take over.
*****
Calysse felt a boot on her jaw as her eyes shot open. She growled as she saw Adian through squinted eyes. With a bit of a struggle, she forced his foot off her face.
“What?” She said flatly.
“You took too long to wake up.” He stepped back as Calysse hoisted herself up. She clicked her tongue as she noticed Narunis and Cassiara had already mounted their horses. Aislin had a hint of blood around her jaws indicating that she’d already hunted. With a frown on her face, Calysse gathered up the bag of clothes she’d taken from the castle.
"Don't torture the poor girl Adian." Narunis said as she adjusted her poistion on the horse. Calysse untied her already-equipped horse from the tree and rancorously got on. It was easier than the first time she’d done so, but the practice of riding a horse was still difficult. Cassiara and Narunis seemed to find amusement in her struggle, which infuriated her nonetheless. Assortments of brightly colored leaves crunched beneath the hooves of her gelding as she steered him over to the others.
Adian swiftly mounted his horse and without delay, began to trot down the path. The further away they went from the Tyzalian castle, the thinner the trees seemed to become. They were scrawny and bare of most leaves as if they’d been deprived of nourishment. As the dust lands of Indignor came into view before her eyes, Calysse spat under her breath. She’d seen what the wilds of nature was, she’d taken a drink from the cup of freedom, and now she’d be deprived of it once again. The world already seemed much bigger than it had days before, when she wasn’t even sure of Golden Eyed existence. Going back to Indignor felt like trying to wear clothes she’d worn as a child; once she could fit in them, but once she’d outgrown them there was no turning back.
“What’s so interesting?” Cassiara shot a look over her shoulder at Calysse.
“Hm?” She looked up, a bewildered expression on her face.
“You’ve been staring at the ground for far too long, I don’t think the pebbles are that beautiful.” A smile crossed the lips of the half-Tyzalian. Calysse choose not to respond. It wasn’t any of Cassiara’s business.
When the forest ended, Calysse could feel an impending dread festering in her stomach. Adian drove his horse forward without a second of hesitation, the same could be said for the others. Calysse was the only one who seemed to recoil. Aislin seemed at home in the sparse heath. Her paws seemed to glide over the dirt and patchy grass as if she’d been born to do so. Small bits of conversation broke out but nothing Calysse bothered to pay attention to.
She did see when a few dots appeared on the horizon. The others didn’t pay attention to them at first, but as the shapes slowly came in to focus, they were on high alert. The Chytir, or more commonly known as humans, were coming to intercept them. She hadn’t yet calculated the chances of anyone from Indignor recognizing her, but she’d assumed it wasn’t likely.
“Good afternoon.” The unfamiliar man spoke through barely parted lips. His hand was on the hilt of his lion-crested sword and the rest of his men seemed on edge. Adian pulled on the reigns of his horse and signaled for Calysse to slow.
“We have answered your king’s call for peace, let us through.” Narunis narrowed her eyes and flicked at the reigns. The men took one look over the party and nervously parted to make an escort path.
“Of course, let us escort you to the palace.” The way he spoke made Calysse want to rip out his vocal cords. It wasn’t smooth like Adian and Narunis’ voices, or fierce like Cassiara. It was rough and distorted so badly that it cracked with every syllable. Narunis apparently noticed as well, which Calysse anticipated, Narunis seemed to notice everything.
“As you wish.” Cassiara sounded forcibly calm as Adian and Narunis proceeded forward. The men circled around the party, seeming overly nervous around Aislin as she waded in the middle of the horses. The horses were skittish at how close the wolf had become at first, but found themselves pressed back in by the other riders.
The tension in the air kept them quiet. Every stride the horses took lurched her stomach on the uneven ground. Calysse felt a lump rise in her throat as the peak of the castle came in to view. The hill sloped down into a path that bordered a roaring river. As the shadow of the castle loomed over them, Calysse tilted her head down. She couldn’t look to it. So much pain was present beneath those walls. Pain that she couldn’t bear to witness.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and cocked her head back up. Her eyes met Adian’s and she pulled away instantly.
“What do you want?” Calysse growled as she noticed how he’d gone back to meet her horse’s pace. The Chytir escorts turned their heads slightly as they heard her recoil.
“You were trembling.” Adian didn’t turn back to the path ahead. His torso was twisted a bit to face her. Calysse cursed under her breath as he began to speed his stallion up.
“Was I?” She tried to sound as unaware as she could. Calysse didn’t want to sympathize with someone who would side with Nesami in the end, especially not receive compassion. Adian just shrugged and pulled ahead to the head of the visitors. How much did he know about how she got to the Wilds? With no knowledge on Narunis’ abilities to detect her presence, Calysse could only assume he knew everything and work backwards from there. The dirt turned into winding paths as they entered the small side gate to the town. Houses were cramped up on the ever inclining slope up the hill to the castle. Had her hearing gotten better? Or had she always been able to detect every noise, every creak of the houses and stores that moved ever so slightly in the wind?
Calysse could feel the eyes of the humans on her. They searched every inch of her, she was a Tyzalian not in chains. She had a feeling that was a rare sight.
Sooner then she would have preferred, the dark gates of Indignor castle became so close she could touch it. But she didn’t. Calysse felt her throat constrict as they swung open with a thud. Cassiara, Narunis, and Adian didn’t flinch in the slightest. The horses walked through the front garden slowly. The sentries stepped aside as the Chytir dismounted their horses. Servants swooped in from the now open doors of the main hall to lead them to the stables. Adian did the same, followed by Narunis and Cassiara. Calysse felt frozen to her saddle as Adian tugged at her arm.
“Get off.” He then yanked her arm nearly out of its socket. Calysse fell awkwardly out of the saddle and the gelding reared up. She didn’t find it necessary to reply with words, as the glare she gave him said all she needed. A slight rumble of laughter broke out behind her and Calysse felt her cheeks flush red. Even the stone cold Indignor guards couldn’t resist a chuckle at how clumsily she’d been grabbed off of her mount. Her shoes rubbed against the gravel as her eyes flickered to a balcony high on the tower. Calysse squinted as her eyes detected movement. Someone was watching them? Her head tilted further up as she watched the figure snake over the edge of the balcony and crouch. She could have sworn it was a girl. From the flowing hair to the fuzzily muscular form, Calysse knew that no ordinary palace maiden had taken an interest in them.
As the horses were led away, their escorts swept them through the doors. The marble beneath her feet clicked loudly. Aislin had followed them into the castle as the guards had been too scared to approach the wolf. There were sentries posted at every entrance to the hallways that branched off from the main entry. A glass chandelier the size of a stallion hung above their heads, the crystals sparkled as they reflected the light. Cassiara made a few comments on how unnecessarily extravagant the whole castle seemed, but Narunis and Adian didn’t say a word. Aislin naturally didn’t speak, she only began to seem more and more comfortable with her surroundings.
“Rooms have been prepared at the end of the left hall.” An approaching servant dipped his head. The guards dispersed until only two remained. “The king will hold council once all the visitors have arrived.” The first council of the so called ‘peace’ meetings would take place. How would she stand being in the same room as both the royal family and the royals from other nations? She’d have to restrain her magic, which seemed uncontainable and uncontrollable. Calysse felt Adian nudge her forward through the narrower hall as they turned. The walls were lit with blazing torches that warmed the air and lined with silk banners. It was such a beautiful place, more beautiful than any other part of the slums Calysse had grown up in.
Calysse claimed the chambers closest to the end where the hallway branched again. There were only six rooms, two of which were filled with clothes and other tasteless accessories. Each chamber seemed suited to fit at least three people, which wasn’t necessary. Aislin prowled into the corridor after her, and with this action, a bout of nervousness rose in Calysse’s mind. Adian and Narunis attempted to follow her into the room she’d claimed to make sure she wouldn’t try and walk out on Nesami’s deal, but that was where Calysse drew the line. There were no locks on the doors, but she made due by propping a chair up against the knob. Calysse discarded the bandages that wrapped around her hands quickly. At first, she examined the escape routes she’d have to resort to if anyone found her out. Then, she gave in to the luxury and changed out of Narunis’ robes.
Sure the fashion in Indignor was dreary and dull, but she couldn’t complain. After all the years spent with only rags, this was like living as the queen herself. Calysse chuckled as she imagined the panic Narunis would be sent in to when she found out about the wardrobe they’d been given. Aislin’s pelt brushed up against her legs as the wolf examined the room. Calysse paid no mind to the animal and shifted her position to face the barred window. From the arched opening in the wall, she could see over the whole of the ruined lands. Had she ever seen this much at once? No, not even close. Maybe trying to assassinate the prince with no skill whatsoever was a rash move, but ever since then, Calysse had felt her world widen and stretch to new limits.
But when things stretch too far, they tend to break.
ns 15.158.61.23da2
