Silver Lines (Sky Forever Volume 2)

Chapter 29: Familiar Land

Luckily for us, "The Ace" boarded at The Green Coast, which was on the North side of the Division. The two days that it took us to sail across from Beran were uneventful. I didn't have any more dreams, but the one I'd had haunted me for the rest of the trip. I kept seeing the skull every time I closed my eyes.

I still had no idea what it meant.

We were back on dry land at The Green Coast and it felt good. No more constant swaying. There were no major cities near this coast, just the small town of Greenfort. The nearest city was our home, Archery City, but it was several miles south. We needed to go north to the City of Ashes and Gold.

The ship had docked in the evening so we stayed in an inn at Greenfort overnight. Neo still had plenty of gold left, so the next morning we stocked up on food and other supplies and bought a horse and cart to take us up The Trayl, the road that led us up through the Ash Plains and ultimately to the City of Ashes and Gold itself. Again, Neo and Kay took turns driving the cart.

The horse and cart felt a lot slower after our experiences with the Beranian vehicles, especially since we had to keep stopping to feed the horses, but at least it gave us time to properly appreciate the scenery again.

"It feels like forever since we were this side of The Division." Amber said.

I nodded in agreement, "I've totally lost track of how long it's been since we left Archery City."

As the sun was setting, we were travelling across The Ash Plains. I was getting slightly nervous at seeing the city again. The city that I was imprisoned in. The city where I made a man fall to his death.

My nerves increased as the top of the Beehive started peeking over the horizon, slowly growing until we could see the rest of the city.

"There it is," Neo said, "It looks different from the pictures."

It looked different to us too. The walls that surrounded the city were no longer there, it was just buildings out in the open, and the Beehive hadn't been rebuilt. The gaping holes that the fire had created were still there.

"You mean you haven't seen it yourself?" Lonely Soul asked.

"Yes," Neo replied, "But I was sent away as a young child, so I can't remember it. Is my father still the emperor?"

We all exchanged glances.

"No." I said, "We should have mentioned this earlier...but your father died during the battle here."

"Battle?" Neo asked.

"More of a revolution, really." Lonely Soul pointed out.

"A revolution?" Neo said, "Against my father?"

I slowly nodded.

Neo turned back to facing the front and didn't reply.

We trundled along the road until we reached the first buildings, where the huge gate used to stand. Kay jumped down and tied the horses to a nearby rail. The rest of us jumped down and entered the city.

It had improved since we'd last been here a year previously; there were more houses, the streets were cleaner and easier to walk on, and the people walking around seemed happier.

One woman spotted us enter and stared at Amber and I for a moment. She walked closer to us and her eyes widened.

"Our saviours..." She said, "You are our saviours! I remember!"

She suddenly turned and started calling out to everyone in the street.

"Our saviours! They have returned! It's our saviours!"