Everly~
After a few minutes the beast leveled out and soared amongst the clouds toward the rising sun. Under any other circumstance the sight would have been beautiful, but the unknowns that the camp held for me prevented me from seeing beauty in anything.
Closing my eyes I was almost grateful for the time we spent in the clouds. It gave me time to gather my thoughts and wallow in self pity for a brief moment before accepting my fate. As my pulse evened out and my breathing became steady, I clung to one resounding conclusion that was going to be my lifeline if I was going to survive all of this.
I am not helpless. I am strong.
My spine straightened against Talon's chest as I accepted several truths. No one was coming for me and even if they did, they would be no match for the Thoracian war camp I was being taken to. I was on my own, but I was far from defenseless.
Soaring over the top of several Throacian villages, I looked down expecting to see the villainous horde of soldiers, the army who struck fear into the heart of man. But the villages I observed from the sky looked relatively normal. Crops and farmlands tended by what looked like human villagers.
Based on the stories that had trickled down to our small village, this was nothing like I expected.
Where are all the monsters?
Talon flew over the top of several sprawling villages that seemed very well kept around the base of a tall mountain range. He took the reins in his hand and I expected him to steer us to the left or right of the mountains...but he didn't.
Surely we aren't going over the top of this range.
I clung to the saddle, expecting a steep climb over the top of the mountain, but our course remained steady, straight for the rocky face of the mountain.
By the Gods he's going to kill us.
Tensing at our proximity to the jagged rocks, I pressed my body against Talon and braced myself for impact as we flew directly ahead without slowing. I turned my head and buried it into Talon's chest as we crashed into the side of the mountain, but my body felt no consequence other than a strong gust of air that blew my hair back.
We had passed straight through the mountain that was apparently a magical fallacy conjured to conceal the Thoracian horde of legend. I whipped my head around to study the magical barrier that we had just passed through and could have sworn that Talon had smiled at my panic. His body moved seamlessly with the beast that carried us as we circled the enormous war camp.
Soldiers as far as the eye could see grabbed my attention and stole my breath, confirming every terrifying story that had been shared with us. The only difference was there weren't hundreds of Thoracian warriors...there were thousands. Some of the monsters were in formation, some were actively fighting and training, but none were resting. It was pure violence.
We plunged down closer to the surface, passing over a massive arena and several fortresses that were covered with weapons I never knew existed. Banking hard to one side, Talon tightened his grip on me as we circled around, giving me a perfect view of the war camp that was to become my new home.
Find your peace, Everly. You won't be here for long.
