“I’m saying, it’s going to get harder and-,”
“Yes, it’s going to get harder, and as soon as we leave this town, we are on our own, which means it’s going to get a lot more dangerous,” her voice rose as she felt the anger welling up inside her. “But I didn’t leave my uncle surrounded by monsters to give up now. I didn’t watch my best friend nearly get killed to walk away,” she took a few big breaths and let herself calm down. It had been a stressful few hours, and the lack of sleep wasn’t helping. The prince stood still with a stern look on his face.
“Look,” she said finally “I’m afraid you’re stuck with me, your grace.”
“Very well.”
“At least until we meet up with your father, Elle and my uncle in Fylin.” Shaya started walking across the groaning wooden bridge again.
“Then you can go back to your farm,” the prince walked beside her.
“And you can go back to your castle.”
“If it’s still standing,” he muttered.
Shaya looked at the prince, his head was hung low. She had been through so much lately that she had almost forgotten, he’d been through it too. He didn’t know where his father was, he’d been driven from the only home he knew, and his friend and bodyguard had been last seen fighting off an army of eight-foot armoured lizards. Not to mention their shared dream of the castle burning.
“The castle will be fine. King Leon won’t let it fall without a fight. You’ll see, you’ll be back to doing whatever princes do when they’re not adventuring across the kingdom before you know it.”
“Whatever princes do?” he smirked.
“Well, I don’t know what you do. Something tells me you’re not planting carrots and turnips and feeding farm animals.”
The morning sun was warm as they walked and talked. They mostly kept off the roads and paths. They followed them so they wouldn’t get lost, but kept to the trees when they could. When they came to areas with no trees, they walked faster and kept a watchful eye on the horizons. They talked about anything and everything. It was a long walk to their destination, so they passed the time by telling stories. It helped keep Shaya’s mind off the constant nagging worry that seemed to follow her south.
Shaya told the prince about the time Jinx had spooked one of the bulls in Uncle Benjin’s barn, and it smashed through the doors and went on a mini-rampage around the farm. It was safe to say that they hadn’t kept a bull since. The prince was reluctant at first but eventually told Shaya about the first time he had been given lessons with a sword. Elle had left him for no more than ten seconds when she was training him. He’d began to spin the sword around as fast as he could. It had flown out of his hands, through a window and smashed into a glass sculpture of the Queen. A present Rowan’s father had gotten sculpted for her birthday. He was six.
The path south was mostly flat, save for a few hills they had to trudge up and then run down. Further ahead was the southern plateau, which would not be so flat. Shaya’s uncle said he had been there once. He’d told her that it was a tall hill that looked out over the southern part of the kingdom. Sat at the top of the plateau was a monument he had said, a statue of the Goddess, a tribute to the deity that gave all things life. Shaya looked at the map of the kingdom she’d grabbed from her house. Marked by a rough sketch of the Goddess, was the plateau. She estimated they would reach the plateau before sunset, or at least she hoped they would. That’s where they would make camp. They had already passed Sparren’s dairy, which meant she was already further south than she had ever been.
They had been walking for miles, and they hadn’t seen any signs of danger. A few people had been out for morning walks into town, and they had seen some travelling tradesmen wheeling their carts full of various foodstuffs. Different kinds of cheese, vegetables, bread and fresh milk mostly. A handful of small houses and the odd farm had been a few miles outside of Ki Town which they assumed was where most of the travellers had been coming from. As they got further south, they saw less and less people and fewer houses. In fact, it must have been an hour or more since they had seen the last house, they were truly in the wilds.
The trees they had clung to were gone, they were now striding across open grasslands. Purposely they had strayed from the path and were walking through grass that went up to their knees. The wind blew the tall strands of grass this way and that. The breeze was nice against the warm sun beating down on them. Large boulders stuck up out of the grass like the backs of giant creatures in a sea of ever moving green. The young girl clambered up one and stood atop it, bright blonde ponytail flapping in the breeze. She scanned the area with her deep blue eyes, there was nothing following them. Prince Rowan climbed up and stood next to her also taking in his surroundings, this was all new to him as well.
“What are those?” he asked as something caught his eye. He pointed over to a herd of tall, long-necked creatures in the distance near what looked to be a watering hole. Shaya squinted against the afternoon sun and used her hand to block the glare from her eyes.
“Tree Grazers,” she said, awe in her voice.
“They’re magnificent,” smiled the prince as he stared at them.
It must have been a family. The tallest one with the antlers was the male, the one without antlers was the female. There were three smaller ones, not much taller than an adult human, drinking from the pond. Their skin was silvery grey, their necks narrow and long. They had long faces with tusks sticking out from their jaws. The male’s antlers were jagged and black. Their legs were thick and looked strong, holding up a bloated body. A hooked tail stuck out at the back and arched up like a crescent moon. The male moved over to a nearby tree next to the pond and raked his tusks and antlers against the branches. A shower of green leaves fell to the ground. The children quickly bounded over and began to eat their fill.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” uttered the prince, in awe of the majestic creatures and their family.
“Me neither. I’ve read about them, but I never dreamed I’d see one. They usually live further south I think. Near forests or woods if I remember rightly.”
The prince looked around, there were small collections of trees dotted about the fields, but nothing that could be considered a wood.
“I wonder what made them come all the way out here,” he thought out loud.
The female nuzzled her three youngsters, and the male scanned the area. His gaze locked on the two humans standing on a rock, in the middle of a field. The pair froze, they didn’t say a word or moved a muscle; they didn’t want to startle it. The Tree Grazer tilted its head back and forth slightly and made a high-pitched throaty chirp that echoed across the turf. With that, it went back to drinking from the watering hole. The pair exhaled in unison and were left with smiles on their faces.
Shaya looked up at the sky, she could tell by the position of the sun that it was long passed mid-day and they had barely eaten a thing. No wonder she could feel her stomach grumbling with hunger. She knelt, pulled off her backpack and sat it in front of her. She pulled out a piece of malt loaf for each of them and an old leather flask. Shaya handed the bread to Rowan who immediately began devouring it, he must have been hungrier than she was. They both sat quietly watching the animals and eating their meagre meal. The bread was dry and tough, but they didn’t care. Shaya could have eaten another few pieces, maybe even the whole loaf, but she knew they needed to save it. They would at least need some food at supper time that night, and breakfast time the next morning. She hoped there would be something to eat at Fylin Forest, that whoever they were going to see would cook up some delicious food. Her backpack’s supply wouldn’t last forever. The two of them washed down their slightly stale bread with the water from the flask. It had been cold when it was filled, but now the hot sun had warmed the not so refreshing liquid.
Shaya got Jinx out into the sun and gently rubbed some more crushed Sun Root onto the tiny spites wing. She opened her eyes for a split second, then Jinx slipped back into a deep sleep. Shaya
sighed and rested her friend on the rock between her and the prince, letting the light from the sun wash over Jinx’s body. Almost mesmerised, Shaya watched as the mashed Sun Root glowed a beautiful gold that matched the colour of Jinx’s tiny dress.
As the two youngsters brushed the crumbs from their garments, the family of Tree Grazers began to slowly walk away, heading further north. They watched the majestic animals until they were little more than grey blurs in the distance. Shaya and the prince had seen such violence and pain, this was the first beauty and calm that they had experienced in what felt like forever. Even if it was only for a moment, as they sat on the warm rock, enjoying the late summer breeze, they forgot about the worries of the land and the darkness that followed them.
Shaya looked back down at her injured friend, and it all came rushing back. The soldiers twisted bodies in the castle, the Krarg’s snarling hideous forms, Benjin’s expression of fear and sadness as the monstrous swarm enveloped him.
“We need to keep moving,” Shaya said as she put on her backpack “We’ve wasted too much time already.”
She slipped Jinx back into her pocket, hopped down from the boulder and began hiking south once more. The prince took one final fleeting look at the Tree Grazers, then followed the young girl as she marched on.
Four long, tiring hours went by, and the sun was finally starting to make its journey down, beyond the horizon. The temperature was slowly dropping, which was a welcome relief from the summer sun. In the distance, they could see it, a towering hazy blur against the darkening deep blue sky.
“Is that it?” asked the prince, a little more than irritable by now.
“It must be,” said Shaya with a faint smile on her face. As they got closer, she could make out the detail. The Goddess, depicted as always, wrapped in her massive wings, arms outstretched and the three suns in her open palms. Her hair hung long, down past her shoulders, her flowing dress billowed onto the grass below. It was made from marble, the brilliance of the white had faded over the centuries, now it was weather-worn, with moss and vines snaking up from the ground below. After what felt like an eternity, the pair finally arrived at the base of the statue. It was standing on a five-foot-high circular stone plinth. On it was a silver plaque that read Our Goddess, giver of life. They both craned their heads upwards, staring up at the colossal monument, it must have been fifty-foot-high. It was beautiful, breathtaking.
“Wow,” uttered Shaya.
“Impressive,” nodded the prince.
Shaya walked to the edge of the plateau. There in the distance was a vast forest, trees stretching out for miles in all directions. Beyond the near endless green were the southern mountains. She looked out at the ground they still had to cover, put her palms on the top of her head and blew out a long sigh. She ran her fingers through her yellow hair and flicked her long ponytail off her shoulder. Looking to the west, she watched the setting sun, slowly sinking, its job done for one more day.
“I suppose you should start making camp here, yes?” said the prince, hopping up onto the stone plinth.
Shaya looked at him and frowned. Me? She thought to herself.
“No, we’re too exposed your highness.”
“Then where?” The prince sat swinging his legs impatiently.
Shaya bit her tongue for what seemed to be the hundredth time since they had left the castle. Without saying another word, she looked down the edge of the plateau. It was a good sixty, seventy-foot drop.
“We’re not climbing down there,” the prince was watching her with an irritable glare.
“I think we’ll have to.”
“No, absolutely not,” the prince crossed his arms “We’ll break our necks, we’ll have to find a way around.”
Shaya pulled out the now quite tattered and creased map and studied it as the prince watched her, quietly tutting to himself. Shaya tried to ignore his constant tuts and groans, but every time he did it, she felt herself twitch. Eventually, she scrunched up her face, unable to mask her annoyance and looked back up at him with eyes that said it all.
“No. No, we can’t, you can’t expect me to-,” Rowan trailed off.
“It’s at least two miles to the east before this plateau flattens out and another three miles to the west. We need to get down before nightfall. We’ll need to light a fire to stay warm, we’d be spotted a mile away from up here.”
“Well I’m not climbing down anything,” huffed the prince, folding his arms tightly across his chest.
♦ ♦ ♦
Shaya smirked as she looked up to see the prince awkwardly clambering down the rock face. It was actually secretly satisfying to see his panicked expression every time he tested a rock, or grove with his tiptoes before he put his full weight down. Of course, he was grumbling the whole time, but Shaya had other things on her mind. She was struggling. The heavy backpack was a little more of a burden than she had expected. Every time she had to stretch to the next suitable foothold, she could feel the weight of the bag dragging her down.
She had somehow convinced the stubborn prince to climb down, perhaps the thought of being ambushed in their sleep by a pack of angry Krarg had changed his mind. She planned to make camp at the bottom of the plateau in the shadow of the cliff, they would be hidden well. Shaya made it look like she knew what she was doing and where they were going, but the truth was, the girl was making it all up as she went along. Somehow she had found herself climbing down a seventy-foot high cliff face, and she hadn’t mentioned that she wasn’t very good with heights. That was why Shaya hadn’t looked down half as much as she probably needed to. As soon as she had swung her legs over at the top and started her descent, Shaya had suddenly thought it was a terrible idea. They could easily fall, and that would be the end of their little adventure, but there was no way she was going to admit that to the prince.
“How are you getting on up there your highness?” She shouted up as she moved her right foot another few inches down.
“I hate this,” he shouted back angrily.
“I know you do.”
“If I break my neck, you’ll have to explain to the kingdom that the Prince of Arrolyn wasn’t killed in battle by monsters. Or defeated defending a town from murderous bandits,” he shifted down a little more “But he fell off a damn cliff.”
Shaya tried not to laugh.
“Hardly a fitting end for someone of Royal birth.”
“Not quite your highness” Shaya let out a short burst of giggles.
“Are you laughing at me?”
“I wouldn’t dare your highness” she giggled more.
“Oh, by the Goddess, how did I end up here?” the prince howled at the sky.
“It’s alright, just take your-,” Shaya’s foot slipped. She fell.
“Shaya,” exclaimed the prince. He looked down. He couldn’t see her. “Shaya,” the panic in his voice was rising. He shifted down quickly and called her name again. He leaned back as far as he could and peered down.
“I’m alright,” Shaya popped her head up a few feet from where she’d been.
“Oh, my-,” Rowan exhaled in relief.
“It slants in here, I lost my footing, you best go around,” she tried to sound like she hadn’t just had the fright of her life. Her hands were shaking.
“Don’t you die,” Rowan said annoyed.
“Thank you for your concern, your highness.”
“I don’t want to be trapped up here on my own,”
“Thanks very much,” she said sarcastically.
It was good to have their feet on solid ground again, it had been a nerve-wracking climb down, but they’d made it. The sun had almost disappeared behind the mountains, but it was already dark at the bottom of the plateau. The cliffs surrounded them on three sides in a large semi-circle of towering rock. The only direction that wasn’t blocked was straight ahead, south towards their destination. Nestled under the great Goddess, they had found the perfect place to make camp. The ground was dry and flat, mostly dust and dirt, very li
ttle grass grew in the shadow of the plateau. There was the odd large boulder laying on the ground, probably fallen from the cliff face decades ago. They kept close to the overhanging walls and began to set up before the dark blanket of night truly fell. Shaya hacked pieces of wood from a nearby dying tree and piled them on the ground. She pulled some of the dry moss from one of the boulders and placed it on the bark. Finally, putting the finishing touches to their makeshift campfire, she surrounded it with an assortment of rocks and stones she found lying around. The prince laid out the blankets on the cold hard ground and sat down while she worked. Shaya resisted the urge to toss one of the stones she’d found at the bone idle boy’s feet, which were wagging petulantly. It was going to be a long uncomfortable night.
The flint sparked, sending shafts of light reflecting off the cliff walls. As Shaya hit the stones together, the noise reverberated all around them. Prince Rowan huffed impatiently as it took a couple of minutes until smoke finally rose from the moss and wood. Shaya bent down and blew it gently. The wood smouldered and soon small licks of flame could be seen escaping from the heap. Shaya sat back with a satisfied smile on her face, more than a little proud of herself. The prince shuffled forward, and they both reached out and warmed their hands, rubbing them together. The temperature had dropped quite a lot, summer was drawing to a close and with its end came the colder nights.
Shaya placed a handkerchief on the ground near the fire, put pebbles on it so it wouldn’t fly away and finally placed Jinx down and began to apply the last of the Sun Root. She fed her some and rubbed every single spec of the powder she had left onto the Sprite’s delicate wing. Jinx moaned something about “disgusting” then tossed and turned as she lay in the warm glow of the red and yellow flames. The firelight made her dress sparkle even more than usual, like golden twinkling stars.
The prince watched Shaya as she silently stared at her tiny friend, waiting for her to open her eyes, speak, anything. A few minutes went by, and Shaya’s gaze hadn’t left Jinx’s frail form. He cleared his throat quietly.
The Shattered Moon (A Divine Legacy Book 1) Page 9
