A Savior of Flames

Chapter 2

I'm woken up by the smell of the fire going out, and the sharp smoke smell attacks my nostrils. I wipe a hand under my nose, trying to get rid of the intrusive smell. The light that was coming inside the cave when I went to sleep has almost faded to complete blackness. I slept for too long. I go to push my cloak off of me, only to find that Rowan has placed his over me. I look across the cave, and his bedroll has been picked up and is ready to go back on his horse. I squint into the darkness, looking for Rowan. I stand wrapping Rowan's cloak around me. The temperature has fallen while I was asleep, and his cloak is warmer than mine. I notice that my other shirts I was wearing are missing. I stand from my bedroll, and I pull on my boots. I gather up both mine and Rowan's bedrolls and take them out to the horses. Once they are strapped securely on the saddles, I wander out of the cave, looking around for Rowan. I pull the cloak tight around me, and watch my breath drift up in a cloud in front of me. It's colder than usual for this time of year. I hear footsteps coming from my right, and I look over to see Rowan, clad in one of my shirts and an extra pair of pants he must have found on one of the horses. His curly black hair is hanging with the weight of water, and he's carrying his other clothes loosely draped over his arm.

"Good morning, Princess." I give him a sleepy smile, still not having woken up completely yet.

"Morning." I don't know how I feel about him taking the liberty of swapping clothes. Although I do enjoy how much nicer his cloak is. Mine barely does the job of keeping me warm. He tilts his head, mouth opening to say something, but the words seem to get stuck on his tongue. "We should get going. I overslept." His mouth closes, and he nods with an unreadable look on his face. I walk into the cave to untie my horse, and he follows me to do the same. Before I untie the reins, I reach up and begin to untie Rowan's cloak from myself, I look over to him, and he's pulling on my tattered cloak. I begin to protest but he cuts me off.

"I'm part Dragon, Princess. I can keep myself warm." I bite back a remark, and tie the cloak back onto myself. He's doing that thing where he is trying to protect me again, even though I've told him that I don't need help from him. Instead of saying anything, I just toss him an apple to give to his horse. We lead our horses out of the cave, and back to the main road. At the edge of the road, I jump up into my saddle and swing my feet into stirrups. I hear the sounds of Rowan doing the same, and I kick my horse into motion. I hear the sounds of the other horse following, and Rowan's horse falls into step beside mine.

"So tell me Princess, where are we headed today?" I cast a side glance at him, and see a playful grin on his lips.

"Just follow along and try to keep up." I kick my horse again, and we set a fast pace. I know where we are going, and it will take almost all night to get there. Rowan doesn't try to ask me again, but I can feel that he is frustrated with me.

The sky has begun to lighten by the time I veer off the main road, and slow my horse to a steady walk. I turn and pull a strip of dried meat out of the saddle pack, and gnaw on it. I pull another piece out and extend my arm to Rowan. He takes the piece without a word, but he nods in thanks.

"It's only a short ride from here. We should be there by sunrise." He doesn't respond again. We settle back into silence for the rest of the ride. Almost at the same time I see the sun peeking over the horizon, I see the barrier wall that surrounds my hideout not even a half a mile away. I turn to Rowan, and point to the wall. "It's right behind that wall. We're almost there." He nods, a tired look in his eyes. It only takes a few moments to cross the rest of the distance across the field to the wall. Once we reach the wall, and dismount our horses, I lead Rowan towards the break in the wall where we can enter. He follows silently. Once inside the wall, I feel the anxious ball in my center release, and I know that the wall marks my forcefield, and we are protected and safe as long as we are inside the walls. Usually, I don't have a horse, but now I have two. There are two small buildings that take up most of the land, those being my cottage and a barn. Thankfully there is a store of hay that will keep the horses fed for a while. I walk towards the barn, knowing the horses will need a good brush and sleep. I take off the saddle and the reins, hanging them in the small area with the tack left behind by the previous owners of my land. Rowan does the same. We lead our horses into their own stalls, and then grab them a bale of hay to last them for the day. I sling my bag over my shoulder and the saddle packs over the other. Rowan follows behind me as I make my way out of the barn and into the cottage. Once inside, I drop my saddle pack and bag on the table in the kitchen. I make my way over to the straw couch and just about collapse. Even though all I've done is ride, my energy feels depleted. Rowan walks over, and sits down next to me.