The Lonely City

The Convoy's Departure

The next morning there was a gloomy atmosphere around the town, spread by the news that the inn would  not be open. The mood was even worse for the lookouts and Yilia, for outside the gates of Sodemview there was a group of horses, and with them a group of humans and two elves. The humans were Trilid, Silria and Yilia, and the elves were Elewen, Allethan's mother, and Nembor, who was guiding them back to Nimtras. At the gates, Allethan and Thilhan were waiting to say goodbye.

"We will take the eastern road to Nimtras, away from the borders of the Forest", Nembor told them, fastening supplies to his horse.  "If our luck holds, and there is no storms, we will reach the city by nightfall".

"What about the evil in the east?", Allethan asked, leaving the gate and walking over to them.

"We will move as quickly and as stealthily as we can", Nembor re-assured him. "Do not worry about us, we will be safe". Allethan turned to Yilia, who was talking to her parents. When she noticed him coming she walked towards him and hugged him.

"You will come back, won't you?", she asked, her eyes beginning to well up.

"Yes, of course, of course... Even if something happens I will find you. I promise you", she kissed him before getting on her horse, along with Elewen. Even she was finding it hard to keep back the tears in her eyes.

"Goodbye, my son", she said, her voice trembling terribly.

"Goodbye, mother, I will return", he replied, trying to stop tears forming in his eyes.

"I know, I know...", then the horses departed, first went Nembor's, then Yilia and Elewen's, then finally Trilid and Silria. Allethan watched them go until even he could see them no more before turning towards the gate and walking back, where Thilhan was waiting for him.

"Everything will be fine, they'll be fine", he assured him, patting him on the back before opening the gate and leading Allethan inside. Once inside they went straight to the watchtower and began their shifts, constantly watching just the forest and hearing nothing about the east or Nembor's journey to Nimtras.

When 10.00 O'clock came that evening there was no inn to go to, so there was no-one to go and see. At the end of their shifts they went their separate ways, and the next day it took Thilhan around an hour to find Allethan. He was sitting at the side of a large pothole, a blanket around him and with his sword laid beside him. 

"Allethan?", Thilhan asked quitely, approaching quitely. Allethan turned slowly, his eyes were red from a night of no sleep.

"Yeah?", he mumbled, his face was sullen, and he did look extremely fatigued. "You look horrible, what did you do all night?", Thilhan asked, now walking over at normal pace.

"Look, the pond is gone", Allethan pointed out, that was what the pothole was, it was the dried out pond. It had evaporated.

"What the...?" Thilhan began but stopped when another voice came from behind them.

"Shouldn't you two be somewhere?", it was Doren, the general of Sodemview's defences. He had never like Allethan, mainly because he didn't like his mother as she was an elf. He had an inherited hatred of the elves.

Perhaps it was because he was once a citizen of the now destroyed city of Kenttol.  The city bordered The Goblin Country- The Grey Marshes, on the elven border. One night the city was attacked, they called for help, but no elves came. Not even a scout came to look at what was happening. Doren was one of the first to be evacuated via a passage that leads into the Long Mountains, since he was only a small child at the time, in the year SA 729, he was only 12. Then, after many days of walking, he and many other women and children reached Mooncaster, a human town set up on the southern borders of the Dark Forest. Once old enough he moved to Sodemview and worked his way up the ranks by going to help the Men fighting in Mooncaster against the Goblins in SA 740. While stationed there, he helped the army defeat the Goblins at Darkhill. Thus returning a hero in the year SA 742. Since then he has not seen very much action, occasionally a tribe of goblins strayed too close to his borders but other than that there was nothing to do. 

"Yes, sir, I was just helping Allethan here", Thilhan explained, back in the present.

"And what could Allethan have possibly been doing that got him here?", Doren walked over to him and bent down, Allethan stared him in the eyes. "Your good at drinking games but maybe you overestimate yourself". He grabbed his shirt and pulled him up, picking up his sword as he did so and pushing into Allethan's hand, which was dangling limply from his side.

"I was not drinking, sir, the inn is closed, but I suppose if you left your study you'd know that", Allethan was much taller than Doren, but that did not stop Doren from delivering a painful blow to his stomach, causing Allethan to double over in pain.

"Talk to me like that again, and your punishment will be much more severe", he whispered in his ear before walking away, back to his study. Once he was gone Thilhan rushed towards Allethan and helped him up.

"You alright?", he asked as Allethan steadied himself.

"I can't wait for day we can leave", he said. They could both leave leave then, but their presence would be missed, not for social reasons, but for the fact that the watchtower is always visible and if there was no-one there then it wouldn't be long before Doren would find out. So there was no point.

"Should we get back to the tower?", Thilhan asked, pointing to the tower, which was visible above one of the houses.

"I suppose", Allethan answered, sheathing his sword and walking up the small bank to meet him.

"Are you hungry?, I could get you something from the market", Thilhan offered, but Allethan waved his hand as a 'no' gesture.

"I'll manage", he said as they began to walk.

"So why did you sleep outside?", Thilhan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't laugh but, when Elewen left, I might have given her the key to the house by accident". He told him and watched as Thilhan burst into laughter. When they reached the watchtower Thilhan went to get breakfast for himself, then returned with a loaf of bread which they ate throughout the day. At the end of the day Thilhan went to his house, and Allethan simply slept in the watchtower. They kept the same routine for the next week until something happened that changed their lives...