A Mix Of Metals

Chapter Eight: The Ride

<<<<< More fighting! More violence!

This chapter was very challenging to write, it was difficult to avoid repetitions but hopefully I've managed to make it lively and diverse enough. Hope you enjoy it.

For the horse fighting scene, I was very inspired by the film "LOTR, The Fellowship of the Ring", when Arwen is carrying Frodo on her horse, trying to escape the Nazguls; brilliant moment and beautiful cinematic scene! >>>>

She stood in the doorway, half leaning on the wooden frame, her head concealed by the darkness of the corridor. Her hands were fidgeting with the doorhandle and one of her legs was swaying lightly in front of her. She was hesitant but restless. Her chest was beady with sweat in the heat of the night, lifting up and down with every breath.

She took a step forward, and then another, slowly, steadily. Her face finally came into view, revealing her dark blue eyes, patched with streaks of yellow. The depths of her irises looked like the starry sky unfolding above an orangey yellow sunset. They shone like two diamonds in the rays of the moon that came in through the window. She looked up intensely and cracked a timid smile.

She approached so closely, Mizu could smell her, a freshness that reminded her of a Japanese sea breeze. Then, with a slow movement of the shoulders, she turned around and let her shift fall off her shoulders, revealing the top of her back, muscular, firm, but soft. Mizu observed the long and fine scar that travelled from the top of her shoulder blade, all the way down to the end of her ribcage. Mizu couldn't help but stretch a hand towards it and caress the length of the healed wound. As her fingers glided down the scar, she felt chills rush from the tips, down her arm and up her shoulders, creating goosebumps all along the skin of her neck and chest. The feeling expanded down to her stomach where she could feel those butterflies she had only once experienced before. In that open field, under that apple tree, long ago.

Mizu opened her eyes and fixed them on the leaves of the trees above her, rustling in the light morning breeze. The image of Harriet's bare back lingered on before her, against the white light of the sky, and she could still sense the lightness in her stomach. She sighed in frustration at the dream that had seized her whole body. It had felt so real, and she couldn't quite explain it.

Prickling its way through her nerves, she started to acknowledge the throbbing pain from her side and her forehead again, making its way to her heart, and replacing that warmth and lightness the dream had so incomprehensibly aroused inside her. The ache suddenly took her back to the night before, and the chaos of it all.

She rolled over on her side and got up, only to notice the very object of her dream a few feet away, tying up her hair. Mizu quickly averted her eyes and looked down at the grass in front of her, fiddling with her kimono and trying to shut out the invasive flashes from the dream. But she didn't need much help as Harriet quickly snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Mornin', sleep well?" Mizu grunted in reply. Harriet rolled her eyes and started fitting her leather shoes on. Mizu walked soundlessly to the edge of the clearing which was thick with trees and circled it, making sure there was no imminent danger. Fowler was stirring from his sleep, groaning slightly in the process, and the boy was already at the fire, cooking.

The horses trotted on restlessly for most of the morning. They passed a few signs which read London, indicated to be only a day's ride away. Mizu's mood matched the sky, grey and brooding. Fowler was focused on the road ahead, deep in thought and strangely silent. A locked frown spread widely across his forehead. He had removed the cloth on his shoulder entirely, now that it was almost healed. Yet, he could still feel a constant pain which caused some discomfort, especially on horseback. His mount was leading the way, with the groom's following closely behind. Mizu, in third position, observed the surrounding landscapes, going from grassy green hills to overgrown forests, the track sometimes muddy, other times dry. They crossed paths with a few travellers heading south, eyeing Mizu as they passed her by. The road grew busier as they approached the capital.