The Dark Days

Chapter Seventeen

 We slept a total of three hours that night before we decided to get moving again. The sooner we got to the sea village, the better. We didn't know what wild animals lurked in the dark forest. Nothing had ever attacked me but Druig wasn't willing to tempt fate.

The village came into view just as the dawn sun began lighting up the dark night.

"I know the owner of a really cosy inn near the second circle. He's a cranky old man but he serves food straight to the rooms." Druig said over his shoulder, "If you don't have any objections, I think we should stay."

With my hands still wrapped around his waist, I gave him a quick squeeze. "No objections from me. I am a bit tired. So maybe we should rest today and do our shopping tomorrow."

"Anything for you, my lady." He said, nudging Apple forward. Apple wasn't running anymore, there was no need. Instead, he trotted at a leisurely pace down the sunbaked path out of the forest.

"It's always so beautiful here," I whispered, more to myself than to Druig. It was cold, but the dawn sun found a way to warm the land. I could hear the wind feathering through the wild grass and clumps of dandelions that could break apart with one sharp blow.

"It has no reason not to be." Druig's words were soft, his eyes wandering around us. Not just for threats, I realised, but at the scenery too. As we drew closer and closer to the gated sea village, the sun climbed the horizon and I could separate the sea from the sky. The blue of the sea was much darker than the sky, and that darkness should have been scary but I couldn't fear something that was here before I came into being. I couldn't fear something that would outlast me by millennia. That type of agelessness was something I envied.

I hated the idea that everyone had an approaching ending and that for humans, our ending approached a lot faster than anything in nature. After Papa died, I realised how little our lives meant in the grand scheme of things. Papa's death only truly affected Mama, Isaac, and me. His death taught me to cherish the ones closest to me, the ones who would be left to mourn me because once they moved on, and I disappeared from all thought, the world would go on as though I never existed.

It comforted a lot of people to know their supposed life-altering mistakes wouldn't follow them for eternity but in the vein, it frustrated me that regardless of the effort I put in, I would always be forgotten.

At some point, maybe years after my death, someone will think about me for the last time and then I'll be gone.

"When do they open the gates?" I asked, hoping the depressing tone of my thoughts hadn't filtered to my voice. The sea village's gate was still closed but I could see movement through the bars. They were definitely awake.

"They usually wait for the sun to be a bit higher. Don't worry, it'll be open by the time we get there."

He wasn't wrong. The men at the gate had either opened it because the sun had climbed high enough or because they'd seen us. The gates were heavy, for it to be manned by two men aside, it would have to be.

The village was bigger than Wrights and Daysa together. The village had three main circles that the houses and stores were built around. The circles weren't anything more special than ponds. But it made navigation easier.

The village was situated along low cliffs, the beach within walking distance. I knew the inn that Druig spoke of but I'd never brought enough money with me to afford any of the inns in the village. My usual lodging was at the edge of the forest. There were a handful of inns, mostly owned by young couples, converting the extra space in their homes to temporary lodgings.

Once we passed the gates though Druig slid from the makeshift saddle. The village became very small and I felt extremely exposed, vulnerable even. I moved to follow him but he stopped me, "Stay." I must have looked hesitant because he held my gaze and took a step forward, pulling Apple with him. He wouldn't give me the chance to dismount. I huffed a sigh, a laugh at him and he just grinned.