Aldoursaea: A Journey Within

Chapter X: The Rumbling Silence

We were eating dinner outside because it was still warm, and Na made stew. I had two big chunks of meat in my bowl, and I was making a boat out of bread when I heard hooves. Real fast ones.

I looked up and saw two people riding horses. They wore big cloaks and didn't say anything. They just sped past us like the wind that forgot to stop. Their hoods were down real low, like they didn't want anyone to see their faces.

Ta looked at them for a second, then kept eating. Na didn't say anything either. But I kept watching. I felt something in my stomach. It wasn't bad, just... I don't know, like I was about to sneeze or laugh but didn't.

Then, out of nowhere, someone flew by.

Not on a horse. Not on a dragon. He was floating. Just a man, flying by himself. His clothes flapped all over like sails. Light shimmered around him like soft magic.

He stopped right in front of us, just floating a little above the ground. His cloak moved even though there was no wind. He looked at us. I think he looked at me! Then he winked.

And then he was gone, faster than anything I ever saw.

I just stood there. My spoon fell into my bowl and I didn't even care.

"Was he... flying?" I asked. My voice came out small.

Na didn't answer. Ta rubbed his eyes like he thought they were playing tricks on him.

"And he winked," Ta said.

We all looked down on the road. It sparkled a little, like the dust glitters in the night.

Then the ground started to shake. Just a little at first. Then more. A rumble in my feet, like thunder coming close!

Soldiers on horses came next. They were slower, and they held big lanterns. They stood on both sides of the road and made a glowing path. What thundering hooves!

Then more riders came. A lot more. They rode fast, their cloaks flying behind them. Their faces were hidden too.

I stared at them as they passed. My mouth was open. I didn't even blink.

"Cool," I whispered. And I meant it. I didn't know who they were. I didn't know where they were going.

But I knew one thing.

I didn't want to be like the soldiers holding the lanterns. I wanted to be like the cloaked ones. The quiet ones full of mystery. At that moment, I knew. When I grow up, I want to be like them.

The moon hung high that night, casting silver light across the stone walls of the Southern Lumen Patrol Outpost. The air was colder than usual. Still. Waiting.

Then I saw them. Three cloaked figures, gliding through the gate like they belonged to the dark between the stars. They didn't dismount right away. Just sat there, cloaks still, masks catching the lanternlight. I recognized the masks immediately. Explorers. High-ranked ones. Their arrival didn't just mean orders, it meant something big was unfolding.

I stepped forward before I could second-guess myself. My boots echoed across the stone. Fresh from the Academy or not, I was the second-in-command of this outpost. I had a job to do. I snapped into a salute.

"Head Explorer, I presume?" I said, keeping my voice firm. "Veteran Tersen Larwin. Outpost in charge. The outpost is yours."

The one in the center, tall, burly and relaxed yet sure of himself, lifted a hand in an easy wave.

"That's not necessary..." he said, like we were bumping into each other at a market.

"You're given full martial command, sire," his companion with a smaller frame reminded him. She was calm, efficient. The apprentice, I realized. Tamsin. Her face barely visible beneath the hood, but she has her voice sharp.