Scales and Swords ✓

57: Time's Playground

When I was little, five boys from my village were taken away to be enlisted into the king's army. When they were returned to their parents their broken lifeless bodies were veiled by white cloths and paraded through the village. Warriors, they were called. Heroes, their parents received many medals for their brave sacrifice. Children, their lives barely lived.

Dad promised he'd never have me go. Not his kids. He served time for our sake, despite his age. And even to this day, that guilt hangs on my heart. Because he tried his best to hide what the war did to his body and still insisted I avoid the heavy work. Always told me to keep my hands delicate, that he wouldn't be able to bare having to marry me off with such hands. I never listened of course. Not when he took my burdens for me.

And now I understand better than ever why he did what he did.

"How old were you during your first battle?" I asked Philip at an attempt to fill the silence of our dismal surroundings.

He didn't respond for a moment. Then he let out a dry laugh. "A kid. A dumb kid. Barely made it out alive. But I was stubborn and I went back, again and again. Whatever could have happened it was all on me."

"But you left willingly, right? You weren't injured or anything?"

"Worried about your man I see." I could practically hear the smirk in his voice. I groaned and he laughed. "My dad didn't want to lose his only kid to the war. He only allowed me so many years before he guilted me into leaving."

"Your father," I said hesitantly, "where is he now?"

"We're originally from a beach side village in Lotus, he's currently keeping himself busy so to not start thinking about me or his runaway wife. He's a worrier, my old man."

"I guess I know who you get that from."

He laughed and I broke out into a grin. "I guess so."

The horse clip-clopped through the ruins towards our destination.

"Do you think Lady Higgins will be back by the time we return?"

He hesitated. "I can't be certain. But, I know for sure that that woman will return. And we will too, I promise you that."

As soon as we turned the corner of the abandoned town we were met by a dense forest buzzing with life and emanating something older, something distinct from the living and dead. Certainly not magic. Something unlike anything I've felt before alive. Something very similar to Death.

"What is this place?" I whispered.

"They call it Time's Playground." His voice had dropped and became heavy and careful. "Beyond it lies Ogalsia."

"Why aren't there any barricades then?" If Dad's tales by the fire were any truth then Kreatier and Ogalsia's borders were heavily guarded constantly.

"Because it is it's own barricade. No man dares to lay claim upon the property of such a primal being as Time."

The horse whined and halted at the entrance. He threw his front feet in the air and turned wildly. I latched onto Philip to keep from slipping off.

"It's alright boy," Philip cooed, "we're not going in."

The steed calmed enough that Philip climbed off and helped me down. As soon as my feet met the ground, a chill skittered up spine and filled me with a sudden urge to enter the forest. As if Time itself were extending its arms towards me, reaching to grasp what it owned.

"Don't," came Philip's voice, "fall for its traps. You don't belong to it."

A tremor crawled towards us. Cyr, Nareem and Dolce arrived. They dismounted and approached us.