King of Days: The Veiled Guardians

9. From Here to There

Karíto lay asleep, but slowly a sweet and savory smell awoke him. Memories flooded back to him, it was like his childhood, when his father used to cook breakfast. Rolling over he saw Old Man Trout stirring something on the pot.
Getting up he walked over "mhm, it smells delicious" Karíto paused "What should I call you, I must admit I feel uncomfortable calling you Old Man Trout"
The man laughed "Mr Trout be fine, must people don't call me anything! They usually point and grunt" He made a show of his example, they both laughed at the silliness. "Anyway, would you like to sit down at the table Karíto?" pointed Mr Trout. There was two soft biscuits on the plate. Sitting down Old Man Trout came and poured a gravy on the biscuit. It had mushrooms and some meat on it, and it smelled delicious. Old Man Trout signaled to Karíto to begin to eat, so he dove right in.
After a while Karíto spoke up "This is fantastic! Don't mind my asking, but what is in this?"
Old Man Trout cracked a smile "Well you know there is biscuit, and mushrooms, but you may not like the last ingredient."
Karíto scoffed, as he took a large bite "What is it, I am adventurous!"
Old Man Trout looked at Karíto square in the face "Opossum..."
Karíto's face blanched as he began to cough. "Opossum!" he exclaimed. "I guess that is one way to deal with pests!" The two laughed as Old Man Trout turned around to clean the dishes. Karíto looked down at his food, he never had opossum before, and now that he had known what it is, it did taste funny. But he did not want to be impolite, so he finished his portion.
Old Man Trout came wandering back, "Oh you finished, here have s'more" He said this as he plopped a huge helping. "I hate leftov'es they ne'r taste the same to me." Karíto looked with quiet disgust, as two eyes looked back at him from the plate. Old Man Trout stood by, waiting for his guest to eat, Karíto discovered an eyeball, he looked up at Old Man Trout who met his gaze with a look of expectation, Karíto smiled and popped the eyeball into his mouth. When he began to chew his face turned sour, he began to cough and spat it in a handkerchief.
Old Man Trout laughed. "I was wondering if you would eat dem eyes, I for one never tried dem, usually I throw dem out!" Karíto grimaced and reached for the glass of water that was now waiting in Old Man Trout's hand. After Karíto finished eating, which he found much more difficult the second time, he helped Old Man Trout finish cleaning up. Karíto gathered his things and thanked the old man for his hospitality. He left a small amount of money on the table and headed outside.
Karíto got on his horse as Old Man Trout saw him off. "If ye ever need a place to stay, or warm food to eat, you know where to find me."  "Oh" he exclaimed.  "I left a present for yah in your bag, it isn't much, but I like it, heheh."
Karíto smiled "I do, thank you for your offer, maybe one day." Old Man Trout laughed heartily, waving goodbye as Karíto rode down the river path.
It had been a couple of hours since Karíto had left the lake-side house, and he was feeling a bit peckish. He remembered that he had a few scones left over from earlier. As he was rummaging through his bag, he spotted a glass container. He pulled it out, it was an old jelly jar, and it had a note stuck around it. The note read "Thanks for a few good laughs, I See You!" Karíto became worried, as he opened the jar. Looking into the jar, he saw exactly what he feared. There lay, one single eye, suspended in a pool of water. Karíto chuckled, "That old man is crazy after all." He tightened the jar, placed it in his bag, and reached for a scone. He munched on it as he looked over the river onto the rolling hills of the Crystal Plains. From a distance, he saw a cloud of dust moving across the path. Focusing his eyes he looked into the dust. He saw within the dust a carriage moving at a high speed and it had no driver. Chasing the carriage were three assailants on horseback.  Karíto racked his brain as to what to do, but then it dawned on him. His father had given him a sword before he had left; luckily he kept it wrapped in cloth on his horse. Otherwise Old Man Trout might have hesitated at being so hospitably. Karíto rode fast, galloping through the River Pass, which was a small pass between the Salvas River and the Gray Mountains, and rode into the Crystal Plain. He pulled the sword from the cloth, the steel shown in the sunlight. It was rather light, it had a darker hand-guard and a red and yellow hilt. He swung it a bit, then rode swiftly toward the ensuing danger. As Karíto got closer, he had not really come up with a plan, he thought that the riders would be terrified by another rider running toward them. He simply hoped that the sword would be enough to scare them off. As Karíto came upon the trio he lifted the sword high and began to yell "Get away!" He rode near the riders, they were still unaware of what was happening. He reached into his bag with his other hand and threw the first thing in his hand. Slowly he saw glass and water shatter on the face of one of the thieves. At the force of the impact the thief fell off of his horse. The other two, realizing what was happening, turned and saw Karíto riding at them with full force. They turned their horses just as Karíto rode past. The two men looked at each other and rode away. Meanwhile the caravan was still speeding away. Karíto turned, put his sword away and pursued after the caravan. As Karíto came up to the two horses dragging the caravan, the horses reacted and turned. As they did the one wheel hit a rock and shook the cab violently. Karíto tried again, this time staying behind the sight of the horses. He jumped from his horse onto the cab, and slowly made his way toward the reigns.  Quickly lowering himself down to the seat he noticed that the reins were down between the two horses. Holding the rim of the seat he reached down and grabbed the reins, he took control of the horses and slowly calmed them down.
As he pulled the carriage to a stop his horse came up beside him. There was a small window behind him that had curtains drawn. He pushed the curtains open and looked in, the interior was a mess, he could not see anyone, because there was a smoke of spices and silk scattered around the cab. As he was looking he heard a groan from under the silks. He hopped from the driver's seat and went around back, there was a door at the rear of the cab. He turned the handle, and opened the door. Getting in he began to move some of the clothes, it was much more spacious than he realized. There were two seats on the side, which were divided by the door, and what looked like a single seat toward the window. He heard the groan again, this time right in front of him. He moved the clothes more hastily, until he saw a hand. He pulled the clothes from around the hand and found a young woman, about his age. She had a gash on the side of her head, and wore a red and white dress. He couldn't tell the color of her hair, as it was stained by blood or spices. He tried to wake her by tapping her shoulder, but she did not budge.
He looked at her head and saw where she was bleeding, so he set about trying to bandage her. He took one of the clothes and ripped it. He bent down and lifted her head to wrap the wound. As he did so, the girl's eyes snapped open and she screamed, her fist flew up and hit him on the side of his head. With the hit he fell right on top of the girl. She let out a surprised yell, and tried to push him off of her. As she tried to push Karíto off he regained consciousness. She began to panic again and flailed her arms.
"Wait wait" Karíto Yelled "I saved you, I am just trying to help you...mfhm"
The girl stuffed a piece of cloth into his mouth. "You're not a robber? Can you prove this?"
Karíto pulled the cloth from his mouth and saw away from her "Do you really think that a robber would make up such a story, or that he would care about your wellbeing?"
She looked at him. "I suppose you're right" The girl tried to get up.
"Wait, you're still hurt" Karíto implored. But as the pain struck her she fell back down. "I was about to bandage your head," he said.
The girl nodded and squeaked a response, "What are you using?!" Karíto showed her. "You did what!" she said as she winced in pain, "nevermind just do it". Karíto took the cloth, and lifted her head gently. Slowly he wrapped it around her head, careful to keep her hair back.
"Is that better?" Karíto said.
She nodded again "mhm, thank you." With Karíto's help she sat up on the chair.
"What happened, where is your driver?" Karíto asked.
"He was thrown off the horse when those bandits surprised us! I guess they knew what was in here." She replied. Karíto looked intently at her, making sure there was no other wound.
"You mean they were after the silks and spices?"
She looked up at him. "Yah of course the silks and spices" her voice trailed off "that is what I meant."
"Do you mind if I ask, but where are you from, and where are you going?" asked Karíto.
She looked around, as if searching for something. "I am just a merchant's daughter, I am going to Trinitas."
"oh" exclaimed Karíto. "I am going there as well, maybe I can take you there?"
She nodded her head. "Since you are asking questions, I think it is my turn now. What is your name and where are you from?"
Karíto smiled. "My name is Karíto, and originally I am from Salvas Wood. What is your name, if you don't mind me asking."
She shrugged her shoulders, "My name is Vella, and I am from the city Trinitas" Vella looked at Karíto, "Well, are you going to help me back to the city then, or are we going to talk all day?"
Karíto laughed, "Of course, but why are you all the way out here?"
Vella scoffed, "Can't a girl travel?" Karíto agreed, he got out of the cab and tied his horse to the back of the kart, then they both climbed on the driver's seat and continued their journey.
It was in the afternoon when they arrived at the city gates, as the gates opened a band of seven knights ran outside. They were in full military regalia. They wore a dark steel composite armor that was mined in the Sable Mountains, it was said to be impenetrable, and had the price of a small village. The knights had a purple tabard with gold trim, and on the center was the king's crest. Karíto and Vella got off the carriage, he looked at Vella, she looked pale and anxious. He worried that she was more hurt than she really was. Karíto turned and saw that the knights were hurrying toward them, and soon they came up to the duo. One of them drew his sword, and motioned for Karíto to back away, Karíto stepped back perplexed. The other six knights surrounded Vella, they were speaking to her, but Karíto could not hear what words were being exchanged. He then heard a booming voice coming from one of the knights, "Leave him" upon hearing the command the knight who had drawn his sword sheathed his sword and turned away. The group of knights then began to make their way with the carriage, as they walked one untied Karíto's horse, the horse turned and walked back to Karíto.  Before he knew it, he was left alone with his horse, still mesmerized as to what had just happened. Did he just meet a royal and not know it? Was she a wife or daughter of one of the knights, or was she from the royal family? But why would anyone so important be on their own, or have guards that were so easily defeated? Brushing it off he made his way home.
Once he got home his family greeted him with great joy, his brothers and sisters were delighted that he had returned. It seemed that everyone wanted to know about the old house, and about his short adventure. Toward the evening there was a celebration, there was much food and drinks around. As the evening winded down and everyone had gone about their own business, Karíto called Fortìle and Hidía aside, Tèrrìll was not around because she had gone out with some friends. He told his sisters how he had found their old treasure trove, but that he had found it empty.
Hidía expressed her intrigue. "You mean you didn't find anything?"
Karíto thought for a moment, "well I did find this coin." From his pocket he revealed a small coin, the light of the candles danced off of the coin, so much that the symbol shone on his face.
Fortìle laughed "It seems the coin likes you!" she jested. Karíto realized what had happened and turned the coin. As he turned it, it shone on the wall. However, they realized that the light from the coin was brighter than what a normal reflection should be. Karíto covered the coin, and the spot on the wall slowly faded.
"Are my eyes tricking me?" Hidía exclaimed.
"No, I saw it too" said Fortìle "That spot on the wall glowed, even after the coin was covered." Karíto revealed the coin again, and slowly walked toward the wall. As he got closer, he put his hand out intending to put it on the wall.
"What are you doing?" spoke a voice from the darkness. Karíto jumped. "whow sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" Hûstin stepped from the shadows with his two young daughters. Grinning from ear to ear. He did mean to scare Karíto, he always loved to play pranks. "Karíto, let me get you a drink. The bronsone ale is particularly good this year." Karíto agreed and went with his brother. Hûstin's daughters Mira and Jun went with Hidía and Fortìle. The girls hugged each other, they had been helping their mother in the inn.
Hidía thought to herself "If he didn't touch it, I will." She got up and went toward the wall. Hidía reached out and placed her hand on the spot where she remembered the glow. As she touched it Hidía tried to push the wall. When she did so the ground began to shake.
Fortìle screamed as Mira and Jun grabbed onto her "what did you do?!"
Hidía jumped, "Nothinnnnng, I just touched a wall!" That night there was a terrible earthquake, one that the people of Trinitas had never felt before.